Bass Gear Review

Reviewer	Brett Rice
Experience	16
Email	snailplow@earthlink.net
Review date	August 13 2002
Manufacturer	Dean
Model	Razor Standard NT
Price	$400+tax.
Item owned for	Less than 1 month

Bass type	4 string fretted
Neck join	Bolt-On
Neck construction	3 piece maple with 2 mahogany laminates.
Fingerboard	Rosewood/ 24 frets/ 34" scale.
Body	Two pieces of Swamp Ash.
Finish	Natural satin.
Pickups	Humcanceling jazz/ manufacturer unknown.
Hardware	Grover tuners/ Schaller type bridge/...all are gun metal gray.
Electronics	Active/ One volume per pickup,and Bass,Mid,and Treble.

I bought this Dean because I use to own a Gibson/Tobias Growler 5 string with a Swamp Ash body and I LOVED the way it sounded.I play metal and hard rock, and in my experiences Swamp Ash has the perfect tone for these styles of music.Like maple, the resonant frequency is higher than the darker looking woods, and it has an open tone, with an aggressive bite to it. I searched the web for an inexpensive 4 string that had a Swamp Ash body.It came down to three options that fit my budget.An Ibanez SR-810,an Aria Pro IGB-68,and the Dean. I went to the local Guitar Center and played the Ibanez.It sounded pretty good,but it didn't live up to the $650 price tag.I went to three different Aria dealers before I found the IGB, and even though it smoked the Ibanez,it was still overpriced in my opinion. At the Dean dealer,the Razor Standard stood out among all the other basses on the wall,even though it's "petite" in size.Maybe it stood out because it was what I was looking for,but never the less it did. At close inspection,it had only three flaws that I could find.The cheap,plastic nut was slotted too deep on the G string, and two frets weren't completely seated.No problem;easy fixes.I can overlook these flaws on a Korean made bass that retails for $600.Everything else was fine constructionwise. It needed a set up, but that considered it played fine.I would describe the neck feel as splitting the difference between a jazz neck and precision neck.The satin finished neck and body feels very good to me. One of the coolest features about Dean's Razor line, is how small the bodies are.The distance between the strap locks is a little less than 21 inches.If you measure from the top edge of the bass, directly above the back edge of the bridge pick up, down to the bottom edge directly below(this is the bass's widest part)it measures just over 11 inches. It's about 1&1/4 inches thick. The shape and contour of the body reminds me of an Alembic Epic, but stretched slightly longer. The grain lines on the swamp ash body aren't as dark as other basses I've seen that are made of the same wood, but I happen to like that. The headstock doesn't have a swamp ash laminated plate to match the body.It's black, but it blends well with the darker rosewood fretboard. Both, the dot fretboard markers,and the "Dean" inlay on the headstock (which has a cool cursive font) are made of what I assume to be some sort of abalone look-a-like material.Who knows, it might be real abalone, but I doubt it on such an inexpensive bass. The hardware has a "gun metal" gray color to them that really looks cool, but I couldn't find a company that made a drop-d extender system in the same finish....That blows. The Razor sounded even BETTER than I thought it would.I played it through a newer Fender Bassman 200 combo at the dealer, and it sounded good enough to convince me to buy it. My rig consists of a Furman PL-Pro, a Tech 21 RBI pre-amp (soon to be replaced by an Ampeg SVP-Pro), a Rane PE-17 parametric eq, and a Stewart World 1.6 power amp. My cabinets are an Avatar 2x10, and an Ernie Ball/Musicman Audiophile Systems 2x12. Through this rig,the Razor sounded [expletive deleted - MW] GREAT!!! I get boat loads of that jazz bass growl that we rockers love so much. The stock pick ups that are in this bass are the only ones I haven't had to replace like I normally do on a inexpensive bass.They're double-coiled jazz pups,that are quiet when soloed. Dean uses EMG-HZs on some of their other models,but these sound like a marraige of the EMG and Bartolini sounds........go figure.

Go to your local Dean dealer and ask if they've got a Razor Standard NT.They're absolutely perfect for smaller players, and beginners who are ready to step up from they're first bass.I think you'll be impressed enough to take one home with you.

Construction	95%
(Only the two high frets,and the bad nut slot kept it from perfect.)
Appearance	100%
(If it was a woman,it'd be Jessica Alba. )
Playability	95%
(Plays almost as good as my Ken Smith 5,which IS perfect.)
Sound	95%
(Articulate, and full of the jazz bass "growl".)
Value	100%
(Best $432 I've ever spent.... and I got a Dean case for free.)
Overall	98%
(I've tried tons of basses in this price range, and this one beats them all ha
nds down.......try one out and see for yourself.)