Dean Edge Hammer Bass Guitar Review

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Reviewed by Stuart Clayton in The Bass Guitar Magazine
Issue Nov/Dec 2003

Dean Edge Hammer

The new Korean-made Edge Hammer bass by perennial rockers favourite, Dean, is an excellent example of something we're seeing more and more of lately - nice looking basses at very reasonable prices. But is it as good as it looks? Stuart Clayton sets off on a weekend of gigging and invites the Dean along for the ride

At a reasonable 559.00 GB Pounds, price-wise the Dean sits happily in the mid-range market, making it an ideal instrument for either the complete beginner looking for something respectable as well as comfortable, or as a first upgrade bass. Either way, you're not going to feel let down by it's appearance - the first thing that struck me as soon as I got it out of the box was how good it looked. With it's mahogany body and natural oil finish the Edge Hammer has looks that belie its relatively low price - you could imagine it being right at home sat next to a couple of Warwick or Spector basses! The finish is complemented by black hardware, a suitably chunky bridge, the Dean crest at the twelfth fret and two high output, humbucking, soapbar pickups. Perhaps because of their large exposed pole-pieces, these are reminiscent of Music Man - whether affected by association or not, they certainly lend an extra element of cool to the bass! The bolt-on neck is also mahogany, secured by four screws, and features the same natural finish as the body. A wise move, since this makes it easy to get around without being too slippery, the way lacquered necks can sometimes be. The only thing that slightly detracts from this bass in terms of appearance is the headstock. Put simply, it's just too big, and I am at a loss to explain why. It looks disproportionate to the rest of the bass and does little for the balance of the instrument - as a consequence it's fairly neck-heavy, despite the use of the relatively lightweight Grover tuning pegs.

Dean Edge Hammer

In terms of build quality and finishing, the Edge Hammer scrubs up well. To its credit, our test bass had a securely fitted neck, and well seated and polished fretwork. On the downside, it had a few rough patches on the body that, while not obvious, were nonetheless noticeable. It would only have taken a little longer in the finishing stage to have avoided this, so points lost there. I also found the contouring around the edge of the body a little harsh, and the side position marker dots on the neck edge were in some cases poorly seated. The control cavity was in pretty good shape however, and aside from some decidedly average soldering, it was well screened and, above all, tidy, even to the extent of small cable ties being used to keep bundles of wires together. It doesn't take much to keep these important aspects of an instrument in order and it's always nice to see when someone has taken a little time over it. A separate compartment with a nice flip-up cover for the 9-volt battery was also present - love 'em or hate 'em (and I love 'em!) they do make battery changes very quick and easy!

Dean Edge Hammer Review Ratings

Of course, the more important aspects to consider are the sound and performance of the instrument. Our test bass arrived with an action more suitable for tightrope walking, so a few adjustments were required. Once the action was lowered and the instrument adjusted to my preferred specifications it responded well to most styles of playing, but definitely seemed to prefer a more aggressive approach. Despite having a low action, the distance between strings and body remained too high for my particular style of playing - whether slapping or playing fingerstyle it's both reassuring and more comfortable to have your fingers close to the body. With that in mind, this bass is certainly one that you would be able to 'dig' into on a live gig and would suit plectrum and aggressive fingerstyle playing very well. It's certainly well suited to slap as well, although as previously mentioned I found the distance between strings and body at the end of the neck uncomfortable.

Control-wise the bass has volume, pan and a 2-band EQ. With the back pickup soloed and a sensible mix of bass and treble, I came up with a very respectable fingerstyle tone that cut through satisfactorily in a band situation, despite the lack of any kind of mid-range boost available. The tone had a mild growl to it, which again suggested to me that this bass would suit a modern rock player who doesn't necessarily like to stay in the background playing eighth notes. (I'm thinking of bands like Incubus, Audioslave and Tool here). This was exemplified by the fact that using the same settings and grabbing hold of a pick yielded an excellent plectrum sound that retained the growl and accentuated it with the biting tone that you naturally get from a pick. Although personally I like to be able to tweak the mid-range in my settings I have to admit that this bass certainly delivers the goods in terms of fingerstyle playing. Going in search of a slap setting I set the pan selector in the centre position and increased the bass and treble controls to maximum - not quite right, but backing off the bass a little resulted in a close approximation of what I was looking for. The slap tone was satisfactory but that was it - it was definitely lacking the punch and 'balls' that the fingerstyle tone had delivered so ably. Slightly disappointing since today's rock player is usually unafraid to occasionally unleash the thumb as well. It's worth bearing in mind, however, that I am very picky about my slap tone ...

Dean Edhe Hammer Review

I tried this bass on a couple of different gig situations with mostly pleasing results. It didn't seem to mind a mix of reggae and funk, and, as expected, the fingerstyle tone worked well and cut through the overall mix without the bass having to be too loud. The slap tone worked well enough but just didn't seem to have the enthusiasm of the fingerstyle tone. The Edge Hammer wasn't quite so at home on a quiet jazz gig, but to be honest I expected as much.

While the tones available from this bass are on the whole quite respectable, it does like to be played loud and hard, which really goes back to my original point about it being perfect for modern rock players. Overall it was by no means disappointing, but certainly let me know what it prefers to do!

The Edge Hammer is a respectable entry into the middle price range. With good tones and a very pleasing aesthetic appearance, I have a feeling that this is one bass that is going to appeal to a lot of newcomers to the instrument, particularly those inspired by modern rock/numetal - this comes as no surprise considering Dean's existing legion of rock player endorsees. While it's quite possible to get hold of a cheaper instrument, finding one that offers these levels of sound and looks at this price will be difficult indeed.