Dean Zelinsky is a legendary man, who founded Dean Guitars and DBZ. He is 61 now and he likes to share his experience with journalists. Here is what we managed to find out.
Dean started his own Business when he was 16
In fact, Dean started playing the guitar at the age of 10. By the age of 16, he knew the guitars so well, that he managed to start a small workshop. The high school could have been a problem, but an exception was made for Dean. He was allowed to leave early to work. His whole workday (school + workshop) could have lasted up to 14 hours.
Dean believes he was really lucky
After graduating Dean rented a bigger workshop and started working on creating his own guitar. His purpose was to combine the design of the most popular guitars of that time (Flying V and the ML models were the main inspiration) and the materials of high quality. After several month guitarists of “Kansas” purchased a guitar from Dean and went to a huge tour with it. That is when Dean`s guitar was noticed first.
He started getting a lot of orders. “The Cars” and “The Doobie Brothers” ordered Dean`s guitars as well. The fame started spreading.
Dean always preferred Sound over Looks
Although the design is considered to be an important part of a guitar, Dean always paid the most attention to how the guitar sounds. While designing ML guitar he consulted with experienced guitar players. Dave Mason tried to play six or several test samples and picked the one that sounded the best.
Dean sent the model to Billy Gibbons, the member of ZZ Top. Billy was the man who started using this guitar on regular basis. He was also the one, who helped to create and develop the design of stage guitars.
Dean left Guitar Business for 9 Years
In 1991 Dean decided that he had had enough of guitar business. He says that the business has changed a lot since he started, and that he felt out of motivation. Dean sold the business and started devoting more time to his family and friends.
Also, he found a great alternative to building guitars, which was designing and creating furniture. Dean had a lot of skill because he had been working with wood for his whole life.
The Break didn`t last forever
Although Dean completely ignored the World of guitars for nine years (he did not respond to calls, did not read the magazines and didn`t even play the guitar). One day he realized that he was tired of furniture business and decided to get back to what he had been doing for his whole life.
Dean started his comeback with time-capsule series. These were three guitars, which he designed and made back in the 1980s. All the original materials and construction decisions were used. To complete the series, Dean signed each of the fifty guitars that were released first.
Dean thinks that Music determines what the Instrument will be like
Although there is a lot of arguing around this subject, Dean has always been straight. He believes that it is the music that decides which instrument will be popular the next season. Not vice versa.
Being an experienced engineer, he saw a lot of guitarists and manufacturers. Dean has lived through several eras of music and had seen it all from inside. All the things he had learned during that time say to him that the talent of an individual musician is the most important aspect of music.
Dean loves simple Guitars the most
Although he doesn`t speak about it often, Dean enjoys casual guitars the most. During thirty years in the music business he had designed hundreds of different guitars, but still Electro-Acoustic Bass remains his favorite. Zelinsky like to say, that six strings, reliable body, and a couple pick-ups are all a talented musician needs. He spent a lot of time walking around small workshops and talked to their owners. They inspired Dean to create instruments for inexperienced players.
Dean`s EAB is a rather cheap guitar, that is suitable both for beginners and advanced players. It is reliable, it sits comfortably, and it sounds like a more expensive device. If you are a musician, trying to pick a guitar, you should definitely check this musiety.com article out. It contains all the necessary information; you need to know about guitars for beginners. Good luck.