Dean Guitars

Dean Guitars, commonly referred to simply as Dean, is an American manufacturer of stringed instruments and musical products. It is known for its solid-body electric guitars, bass guitars, and acoustic guitars such as the Dean ML, the Dean V, the Dean Z, but more recently the Dean Razorback, Dean Stealth, Dean Icon, Dean VMNT, Dean Zero, and Dean Mako Acoustic Guitar. Its headquarters are in Tampa, Florida. The company also makes and/or distributes a full range of products to include resonator guitars, basses, banjos, mandolins, ukuleles, amplifiers, guitar cases, accessories and custom guitar pickups.

The company was founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1976 by Dean Zelinsky but came to prominence under Elliott Rubinson in 1997 when his company Armadillo Enterprises purchased the trade name. The Dean family today currently employs over 100 people: guitar luthiers and techs, distribution and sales staff, customer service providers, office admins, and tech and marketing personnel, almost all of whom are practicing musicians, artists, and artisans. Armadillo Enterprises today is a privately held organization with Evan Rubinson serving as the Chief Executive Officer.

History


Dean Guitars started in 1976 and gained worldwide recognition by being used by bands such as Heart, Kansas, The Cars, Molly Hatchet, Triumph and ZZ Top.

With the advent of the superstrat and grunge music, Dean Zelinsky sold the business to Oscar Medeiros of Tropical Music, who gained ownership of the brand from 1986, and until 1995 focused on selling to Latin bands overseas. The company had all but disappeared from the American market at this point.

Armadillo Enterprises, under the leadership of Elliott Rubinson, then purchased the Dean trade name in 1997. Rubinson, a professional musician who has toured as a bass player for the Michael Schenker Group as well as for Uli Jon Roth and Michael Angelo Batio, saw an opportunity to re-boot Dean Guitars by expanding its offerings to include a full line of acoustic, electric and bass guitars, mandolins, banjos, and ukuleles with prices ranging from less than $99 to more than $13,000. Rubinson had previously built Thoroughbred Music, a world-renowned music retail store, music supply, and music clinic center. A pioneer in the music retail industry, Rubinson sold Thoroughbred to Sam Ash in 1999 so he could focus his efforts on Dean.

After steadily growing a team of respected guitarists (including Dimebag Darrell, Michael Angelo Batio, Michael Schenker, Leslie West, Dave Mustaine, Michael Amott, and Jacky Vincent) and music industry professionals, many of whom came from Thoroughbred, Dean Guitars' popularity surged. Under Armadillo Enterprises the company grew exponentially, outgrowing its 20,000-square-foot Clearwater location and transitioning to a new 100,000-square-foot building complete with a state-of-the-art USA Custom Guitar Shop. Today the company also assembles guitar pickups and guitar parts made and painted in locations throughout the country and distributes them around the world.

As of December 2016, Elliott Rubinson's son, Evan Rubinson, has assumed the position of President and CEO at Armadillo Enterprises (which includes Dean Guitars, Luna Guitars, and ddrum).

In February 2017, Elliott "Dean" Rubinson died from cancer. Richard Ash, CEO of Sam Ash Music Stores, said, "Elliott was a true genius. He would have been successful in any business but he went with his passion for music and built his business around it... He was truly one of my heroes. RIP Elliott Rubinson."

Instruments
Dean is widely known for the line of electric guitars that includes the ML, V, Z, Cadillac, Splittail, Soltero, EVO, Icon, Custom Zone, Vendetta and Deceiver models.

Dean also has many signature electric guitar models. The company offers numerous Dimebag Darrell models, including some signature ML models and his own original shapes, the Razorback and Razorback V.

The company has also worked closely with the grammy-awarded frontman and guitarist of Megadeth, Dave Mustaine, to offer a line of guitars: the Dave Mustaine Signature Series Dean VMNT, Dean Zero, and Dean Mako, ranging in price from around $300 to over $6000 for the USA instruments. The Dean USA Dave Mustaine Signature VMNT Holy Grail electric guitar, a more recent incarnation of the V introduced in 2016, is an example of the superlative nature of the brand.

Dean also has signature models for Bret Michaels, Michael Schenker, Leslie West, Michael Angelo Batio, Michael Amott, Rusty Cooley, and other artists.

The company's bass guitar models include the ML, V, Z, Cadillac, Edge, Metal Man / Demonator, Hillsboro, Entwistle, EVO, and Custom Zone. Dean has extended its range of products to other string instruments such as resonator guitars, mandolins and banjos.

In 2017, Dean unveiled several new musical instruments to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the company.

Notable guitars

 * Dean Cadillac or "Cadi"
 * Dean Craig Wayne Boyd Acoustic
 * Dean Custom Series
 * Dean Dave Mustaine Mako Acoustic
 * Dean Dave Mustaine VMNT
 * Dean Dave Mustaine Zero
 * Dean Demonator Bass
 * Dean Edge Series Bass
 * Dean Eric Peterson Series
 * Dean HardTail
 * Dean Hillsboro Bass
 * Dean Icon
 * Dean Jacky Vincent Signature Guitar
 * Dean John Entwistle Bass
 * Dean Michael Amott Tyrant
 * Dean Michael Angelo Batio MAB
 * Dean Michael Schenker Series
 * Dean ML
 * Dean ML Acoustic
 * Dean ML Ukulele
 * Dean Razorback
 * Dean RC Series
 * Dean Sledgehammer Bass
 * Dean Soltero
 * Dean SplitTail
 * Dean Stealth
 * Dean Uli Roth Sky Guitar
 * Dean V
 * Dean "Vinman" Vinnie Moore Signature Guitar
 * Dean Z

Dean artists
Notable artists from the Dean roster (present and past) include:


 * Bret Michaels of Poison
 * Craig Wayne Boyd
 * Dave Mustaine of Megadeth
 * David Vincent of Morbid Angel
 * Dimebag Darrell of Pantera and Damageplan
 * Eddie Veliz of Kyng
 * Elliot Easton of the Cars
 * Eric Peterson of Testament
 * Jacky Vincent of Cry Venom
 * John Connolly of Sevendust
 * Karl Sanders of Nile
 * Kerry Livgren of Kansas
 * Leslie West of Mountain
 * Lucca Maida of Alley and Gully
 * Michael Amott of Arch Enemy
 * Michael Angelo Batio of Nitro
 * Michael Schenker of Scorpions, UFO, and MSG
 * Rik Emmett of Triumph
 * Rusty Cooley
 * Uli Jon Roth of Scorpions
 * Tyler Morris
 * Vinnie Moore of UFO

Affiliated companies
Armadillo Enterprises, the parent company of Dean Guitars, also owns Luna Guitars and ddrum.