More importantly, while some would have paid anything to get their hands on a vintage Gibson Flying V, Dean not only had one in-hand, but he also sawed it in two, right down the middle to start measuring and setting his sights on making a better instrument. He began playing electric guitar and learned what he liked and what he did not like. When the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and Johnny Winter came upon the music scene, Dean’s attention quickly turned to Rock & Roll and became interested in guitars. Today ĭean Zelinsky currently owns and operates Dean Zelinsky Private Label Brand Guitars under the corporate name The Real Dean LLC. He founded DBZ Guitars and left in 2012 because he needs a company where he has 100% control. In 2008, Dean Zelinsky, founder of Dean Guitars, parted ways with Dean Corporate. His trademark guitar shapes not only look unique, but also add to the sound of the instrument, as in the radical tailpiece and headstock angles that increase sustain of the strings as they are vibrating. Ĭean Zelinsky is often cited as an influential figure in the development of modern electric instruments, bringing innovations like custom-wound electric pickups and radical shapes/designs to the musical instrument industry. lists the "Spinning Furs" along with the ML as part of "The 28 Most Recognizable Guitars".
#DEAN 1981 DEAN GUITAR HISTORY TV#
Dean’s guitar designs have been featured on the Howard Stern Radio Show, on TV at the Grammys Awards show, in books including a recent book by James Bond novelist Raymond Benson, and in countless magazine articles spanning over 33 years.Īnheuser-Busch once commissioned Dean (DBZ) to design and make a limited set of specially shaped Budweiser and Busch Beer guitars used in promotions across North America.ĭean Zelinsky created the spinning fur guitars for the "Legs" video from ZZ Top. Many others can be seen playing Dean’s guitar designs in photographs, on the Internet, in music videos, and in concerts. His widow raised three boys, Dean, Glenn, and Roger in the wake of this tragedy.ĭean's guitars have been played by various artists: Dimebag Darrell, Michael Schenker, Helloween, Kansas, Leslie West, Glenn Dean ( Motor City Bad Boys), The Cars, Heart, The Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Starship, Dave Mason, Triumph, Iron Maiden, Sammy Hagar, Def Leppard, Nils Lofgren, Larry Crane ( John Mellencamp Band), ZZ Top and Karl Sanders of Nile. When Dean was 12 years old, his father died in a plane crash while piloting his own twin-engine plane. Dean began tinkering with electronics early on in his childhood he was taking radios apart to see what made them work & reassembling them at age eight. Robert was a successful executive and business owner, whose company designed and manufactured custom fasteners some of which wound up in early United States space program rockets. 9.3 Dean Zelinsky Private Label Guitarsĭean Barrett Zelinsky was the second of three boys born to Robert and Sylvia Zelinsky in Chicago, IL.