Dean Fretless Basses

[Cornwall Steve]

Does anyone own or has played one of these? Are they any good ? Where I live it's slim pickings for choice when it comes to picking up a half decent 5 string fretless at a reasonable price however a couple of Dean's have recently come up for sale within driving distance. I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts please 🤔 Thanks

[Hellzero]

Which model as there can be a huge difference?

 

The Brian Bromberg signature was and still is excellent.

[Cornwall Steve]

Well, the one nearest to where I live, and prefer out of the two, is simply described as an 'Edge' and is a kinda blue-green colour in the photo looking almost teal. For the £250 price tag I can't imagine it's terribly brilliant quality however the headstock says its made in Korea (by Cortek perhaps?)

[Hellzero]

It was an entry model, so I guess it's more a Vietnamese model.

 

Here is all the data I have.

 

[lemmywinks]

15 hours ago, Cornwall Steve said:

Well, the one nearest to where I live, and prefer out of the two, is simply described as an 'Edge' and is a kinda blue-green colour in the photo looking almost teal. For the £250 price tag I can't imagine it's terribly brilliant quality however the headstock says its made in Korea (by Cortek perhaps?)

 

 

You'll be able to tell where it came from be the serial number, a lot of Deans were made in the Unsung factory so it may start with US. In general for Korean basses an S denotes Samick, C would mean Cort, I or IS would be Saein (Shine) etc.

 

 

Unsung made a lot of decent guitars, did quite a lot of Epiphones IIRC.

[lemmywinks]

If it has an E or W then it's most likely WMI who made superb budget instruments, either way if you like it and it's £250 then grab it. 

[Cornwall Steve]

Hi Lemmywinks

Very many thanks for the info 👍

[Cornwall Steve]

On 01/07/2025 at 07:40, Hellzero said:

It was an entry model, so I guess it's more a Vietnamese model.

 

Here is all the data I have.

 

Hi 

 

On 01/07/2025 at 07:40, Hellzero said:

It was an entry model, so I guess it's more a Vietnamese model.

 

Here is all the data I have.

 

Good morning

Thank you very much for sharing the data on Dean Edge fretless basses, which is very helpful and informative. My apologies for not responding sooner.

Thanks

Steve

[Grahambythesea]

Did you buy a Dean in the end? I got a 4 string in a trade and I must say the quality, playability and sound is excellent, right up there with the Fender ( MIM) & Spector ( MIK) that I own.

[MightyMeatyMatey]

I have a 6 string fretless Dean Edge as my main bass and I must say its fantastic! Its from around 2006-2009 (those years are a little hazy...) The original model was black but I brought it from my friend after he swapped the necks on the two that he had because he thought the pickups would work better thay way round and he wasn't wrong. So mine is red with emg-hz pickups

 

Neck is smooth and flat, very easy to play and sounds great DI, or amplified alone or with effects. 

 

For their price now, you can't go wrong!