Dean EAB Fretless Acoustic-Electric Bass (Used)
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- Product #515949
A great way to get into fretless on a budget.
With its EAB Acoustic-Electric Bass, Dean has put together a topnotch fretless acoustic-electric bass guitar for an incredibly low price. It's just the right instrument if you're been wanting to add a fretless to your arsenal but have a tight budget. The EAB fretless bass has lines to mark fret positions which help you learn to place your fingers correctly. Its 34"-scale neck and large body deliver a deep, full unplugged tone and its preamp with EQ and built-in tuner lets you plug in and dial it up.
Features
- Set neck
- Lined fretless fingerboard
- Built-in preamp with tuner/EQ
- 34" scale length
- Die-cast tuners
Experience a well-crafted acoustic-bass without breaking the piggy bank. Get yours today.
Review Snapshot®
by PowerReviews(based on 19 reviews)
Ratings Distribution
80%
of respondents would recommend this to a friend.
Pros
- Good audio (5)
- Fun to play (4)
- Good feel (4)
- Stays in tune (4)
- Consistent (3)
Cons
Best Uses
- Jamming (3)
- Practicing (3)
Most Liked Positive Review
Impressive
Overall its a great bass, Playability is really nice. Have to be more accurate with the fretless, something to get use to. I wouldn't recommend the fretless to a beginner but I played ...Read complete review
Overall its a great bass, Playability is really nice. Have to be more accurate with the fretless, something to get use to. I wouldn't recommend the fretless to a beginner but I played my friends fretted dean acoustic before I bought mine and it would be a great buy for anyone. (has a more raspy tone) If your looking for a great sounding cheep solution for a fretless, you found it. Buy some good strings, I recommend the Fender 9120 Nylon Tapewound Bass Strings, for 20 dollars you can't go wrong.
EQ is simple and works. Tuner works well with ADG but for some reason on E its really hard to get it just right(9). The Omega-II Spiral Piezo Caple Pickup is really impressive, Worked well through my distortion and overdrive pedal. Sounds really good plugged in and can be heard when playing along with another acoustic unplugged.
Well put together bass, Plays very smooth and sounds good. Paint imperfections are somewhat noticeable but not too big of a deal.
Cheepest new fretless bass you can buy and i have to say im not going to regret it.
VS
Most Liked Negative Review
My fretless Dean bass
For the money, it is worth every penny(including the waranty)
The pick up is insanely sensitive, and picks oup every littl adjustment of your fore arm, if you rest your forear...Read complete review
For the money, it is worth every penny(including the waranty)
The pick up is insanely sensitive, and picks oup every littl adjustment of your fore arm, if you rest your forearm on the bodywhen you play, and I am still experimentin with the built in EQ, but the range of sound is a lot of fun for me...not so much for my neighbors. Ha.
I should really have titled it my replaced fretless Dean Bass. Thankfully I spent the extra bucks on a waranty, bwcause the first showed up with a back bend in the neck, making the fiorst 5 frets unplayable. I returned it for an exchange, and put a set of flat wound strings on it, and it sounds great. It gives the sound of an old upright bass, wich is what I was hoping for.
If you are thinking about getting one, by all means, it is worth the extra bucks to buy the replacement waranty.
I have seen comparable acustic bass guitars for $800.00 in stores.
Reviews
Reviewed by 19 customers
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Displaying reviews 1-10
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Pros
- Fun To Play
- Good Feel
- Rich Sound
- Stays In Tune
Cons
- Needs A Little Work
Best Uses
- Jamming
- Practicing
- Recording
- Small Venues
Comments about Dean EAB Fretless Acoustic-Electric Bass:
I'm really diggin' this bass, other than a few minor and easily fixable problems it is surprisingly awesome for the price. 2 issues; I wish they would have left the fret markers off, they are made of plastic and are not glued into the fretboard. When my bass arrived every one of them was popping up a bit (I'm assuming due to lack of humidity) causing buzz all up and down the fingerboard. A few I had to remove and glue back in, then I isolated the rest with masking tape and gently sanded them flush to the fingerboard; problem solved! The tuning pegs feel a little wimpy but do stay in tune. You will want to change strings immediately; the roundwounds will very quickly chew up your fingerboard. I replaced with the Fender 9120m tapewound, super quiet and feel great. The electronics are good, I get a balanced response and pleasing tone from all strings. I play mine like an upright, leave it on the stand and sit with it like a cello. I achieve much better tone like this, plus I feel this bass is just too big for me to sit with on my lap. I've only had this for a few days so it's hard to comment on reliability, but it seems to be built very well; top is flat, neck is dead straight... still in awe of the low price, well worth it.
Pros
- Consistent
- Fun To Play
- Good Feel
- Rich Sound
- Stays In Tune
Cons
- NONE
Best Uses
- Jamming
- Playing Bluegrass
- Practicing
- Small Venues
Comments about Dean EAB Fretless Acoustic-Electric Bass:
Great Bass for the money! I own the 5 string model and now the 4 string.
Pros
- Rich Sound
Cons
- Poor Construction
- Poor Quality Control
Best Uses
- Decorative Wall Hanging
Comments about Dean EAB Fretless Acoustic-Electric Bass:
GORGEOUS INSTRUMENT!
Unfortunately, the first one I got was PERFECT! EXCEPT there was no battery compartment cover, so I couldn't use or even test the electronics.
Second one - face of instrument so SEVERELY warped, bridge tilted down toward sound hole. EASILY visible warpage - don't see how this could possibly have been missed before packaging at manufacturer.
THIRD one - neck warped severely on one side- first string unplayable at octave and above. Also slight warpage of face (detectible with straightedge).
Returned for credit.
MF customer service was excellent (as always)- they arranged UPS pickup prepaid for all three, and credited me 10.00 for future purchases for each mishap.
Pros
- Consistent
- Fun To Play
- Good Feel
- Rich Sound
- Stays In Tune
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Dean EAB Fretless Acoustic-Electric Bass:
If they told me it was new, I would have believed it. The strings were still like new but I switched over to the Fender nylon strings to get the sound I am looking for. Playing through an old Gorilla 30watt amp and really enjoying the results.
Holding this big body acoustic bass still seems awkward but with more practice and playing time, I am sure it will start to feel more comfortable.
Pros
- Consistent
- Excellent acoustic sound
- Fun To Play
- Good Feel
- Rich Sound
- Stays In Tune
Cons
- It's very big
- Requires a battery
Best Uses
- Jamming
- Practicing
Comments about Dean EAB Fretless Acoustic-Electric Bass:
Big body = big acoustic sound. Most acoustic basses sound very lame unplugged. This one and the Tacoma Thunderchief are the exceptions that I have found. Good quality, nice fretless tone, an overall well made instrument for much less cash than just about anything else out there.
Comments about Dean EAB Fretless Acoustic-Electric Bass:
Incredible value on a fine instrument. This bass is quite large, but to get a good acoustic bass sound a large body it is needed. Dean has a winner here.
Built in tuner is extremely handy. Nice deep acoustic tone.
Well built instrument. Nice finish. Plays great but I had to change to flatwounds - roundwounds on a fretless will chew up the fretboard.
No better value on this type of acoustic that I was able to locate.
Comments about Dean EAB Fretless Acoustic-Electric Bass:
For the money, it is worth every penny(including the waranty)
The pick up is insanely sensitive, and picks oup every littl adjustment of your fore arm, if you rest your forearm on the bodywhen you play, and I am still experimentin with the built in EQ, but the range of sound is a lot of fun for me...not so much for my neighbors. Ha.
I should really have titled it my replaced fretless Dean Bass. Thankfully I spent the extra bucks on a waranty, bwcause the first showed up with a back bend in the neck, making the fiorst 5 frets unplayable. I returned it for an exchange, and put a set of flat wound strings on it, and it sounds great. It gives the sound of an old upright bass, wich is what I was hoping for.
If you are thinking about getting one, by all means, it is worth the extra bucks to buy the replacement waranty.
I have seen comparable acustic bass guitars for $800.00 in stores.
Comments about Dean EAB Fretless Acoustic-Electric Bass:
It did come very clean with out nicks even thou box had a big dent.
But G string sounded dead even after replacing strings. Finaly, on recomendation of local guitar shop, I took sadle off and pulled pick up wire all the way across. I saved myself an expense and agravation of return...
Neck might be little thin, compared to my elctrics and I still playing a little with adjustment to get clean sound. Acousticlaly it sound fantastic and even amplified I can get sufficient power with out feedback for little jamming.
Nice fun bass. BTW it is much bigger than you might think!
only because of pickup, see below
Comments about Dean EAB Fretless Acoustic-Electric Bass:
This is my first foray into fretless bass. I wasn't sure what to expect at this price, but I was thoroughly wowed when I got this out of the box and started playing it. It looks nice, and it sounds great. Compared to more expensive acoustic basses I checked out, this is an under-priced gem. It is large and that gives it volume and projection right down to low E. Mine didn't buzz like some reviewers complained. Like anything (even expensive instruments) you could get a bad one I suppose, but mine was a good one for sure. Comfortable and easy to play. Unplugged it sounds more like an upright bass than anything else I've played at any price. Plugged in, it sounds like a classic electric bass guitar. The electronics are adequate for my needs (jamming with buddies) and the built-in tuner is very much appreciated. I see no quality issues at this point on day one. I am completely satisfied. Get the bag to protect it a little.
Comments about Dean EAB Fretless Acoustic-Electric Bass:
While it may take a little work to make it a really nice instrument, this is a great bass. It seems loud enough to use with a couple of acoustic guitars without amplification (although I've yet to use it for anything other than practice so far). I look forward to trying this out in some real gigs.
I'm using this purely as an acoustic bass, so the built-in tuner is basically all I need. That seems to work fine. I do wish it had a second strap pin on it though.
Overall, this bass is nice. My only complaint is the tuning heads. One of mine broke on the first day. I just happened to have another set of old tuning heads from another bass and put those on. While this is disappointing, for the price of this bass I can afford to replace the tuning heads.
The other thing that really needs replacing are the strings. The G string on mine had a very different tone than the rest of the strings. I installed some flatwound (Fender 9120) strings and it made a huge difference. It sounds very much like an upright bass now.
For this price, this was an excellent buy. I picked it up on a Christmas sale for a great price. Even with having to buy strings and a set of tuning heads, this is a great deal.
