Dean Guitars

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Dean Guitars is a manufacturer of musical instruments. Primarily famous for their electric guitars they also make acoustic guitars, electric and acoustic basses, amplifiers, jazz guitars, resonators, banjos and mandolins.

1 History
2 Guitar Designs
- 2.1 Classic Dean Guitar Designs
- 2.2 New guitar designs
3 Famous users
4 External links

[edit] History

Dean Guitars was created in 1976 by luthier Dean Zelinsky who began building guitars at an early age. Zelinsky thought that rock guitar design had stagnated and decided to do what he could to change things. The first Dean guitars were released in the mid-1970s and featured designs including "pointy" guitar bodies and large V-shaped headstocks. These designs quickly gained in popularity because they looked great and because they were designed and engineered to improve the tone and sustain of the guitar. They also have a unique fast-playing "V" neck. (A different style "forked" headstock was used by Gibson designer Ted McCarty on prototype Explorers and Flying V's, but was dropped from production due to the company's unease with such a radical design feature.)

Dean's marketing campaign, which featured scantily clad female models holding the guitars in provocative poses, was widely copied by other guitar manufacturers until the onset of the grunge rock movement in the 1990s. (Advertising-heavy magazines from this time, such as Guitar for the Practicing Musician, bear a strong resemblance to "lad mags" such as Maxim.) Dean has since revived this practice, and once again many manufacturers employ scantily-clad women (including porn actress Jenna Jameson) to model their instruments.

In 1986, Zelinsky decided he did not want to continue making guitars and sold the company to make furniture. He has attributed his decision to the popularity of the "superstrat", which he derides as a "Floyd Rose trem with a guitar attached to it." In the late 1990s, Armadillo Enterprises revived the brand name, later bringing Zelinsky back aboard as an executive and creative consultant.

In the late 1990s, Dean introduced the Exotica series of acoustic guitars, many of which feature exotic hardwood tops and modern electronics. The Exoticas have been one of the reconstituted Dean's most successful products.

[edit] Guitar Designs

[edit] Classic Dean Guitar Designs

Z (copy of Gibson Explorer) and inspired by the 1973 Hamer Standard
ML: This guitar is perhaps the most well-known Dean model. Its shape is similar to the front half of a Gibson Explorer merged with the back half of a Gibson Flying V. The mass of the guitar is spread out over a wider area than most guitars in order to maximize sustain. The "V"-shaped headstock and "string-through-body" design are also used to increase sustain and improve tone. In a 1994 article on 1970s musical equipment, Guitar Player famously derided the ML's appearance as "Gene Simmons 69ing with a midget."
V (copy of Gibson Flying V)
Cadillac: This model is almost as famous as the ML. It resembles the front half of a Gibson Explorer merged with the back half of a Gibson Les Paul. This offers better upper-register access than the Les Paul, among other benefits.
Baby Series: These guitars are smaller, less cosmetically detailed versions of the V, ML, and Z. They are popular among guitarists who like the aggressive styling of the classic Dean designs, but prefer a lighter guitar.
E'Lite
Hollywood

[edit] New guitar designs

Hardtail
Vendetta
EVO ("Evolved, of Vintage Origins")
Psychobilly
Razorback (A radical variation of the ML model)
Razorback V
Custom 450
Icon
Nashvegas Zone
Razor
Exotica
Mach 7
Mach 5
Muddy Bullseye (Custom built model for Zakk Wylde by the late Dimebag Darrell. Resembles the top body section of a Gibson SG merged with the bottom section of a Flying V)
Playmate V (acoustic/electric)
Sarasota 12
Soltero
Palomino
Performer
Tradition