Dean Zelinsky
Encyclopedia
Dean B. Zelinsky also known as Dean Z, Dean Barrett Zelinsky or DBZ, is an American guitar luthier
who founded Dean Guitars
in 1976 and founded DBZ Guitars
in 2008.
Dean's guitar creations have been played by artists such as: Michael Schenker
, Kansas
, Leslie West
, 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
. Many others can be seen playing Dean’s guitar designs in photographs, on the Internet, in music videos, and in concerts around the world today. 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. TV talk show host Mike Huckabee
(2008 U.S. presidential candidate), owns and plays a Dean Bass.
Anheuser-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
.
It should also be noted that Dean Zelinsky created the spinning fur guitars for the "Legs" video from ZZ Top
. Blender.com lists the "Spinning Furs" along with the ML as part of "The 28 Most Recognizable Guitars".
DBZ 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. 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.
, and Johnny Winter
came upon the music scene, Dean’s attention quickly turned to Rock & Roll and he became obsessed with finding out what made guitars tick. He began playing electric guitar and learned what he liked and what he did not like. 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. As bands became more avant-garde in the 1970s, it was Dean’s opinion that the design of the guitars they were playing was not keeping pace with the times.
While attending high school in Highland Park
IL, Dean began offering his services to local music shops and to Chicago area guitar players for repairs, custom paint jobs and soon gained a reputation among local storeowners as someone to turn to for services that went beyond what most of them could offer in-house. It was actually “a first” in the history of his high school that a senior left school for the day to complete their student work program at their own company; a disagreement over receiving credit for this was something that almost drove Dean to leave prior to graduating. However, he earned his diploma.
During this time, Dean’s best friend (Mathew Lynn) was battling cancer, and although he did not live to see the success that Dean would soon attain, Mathew was honored posthumously. The sadness of losing his best friend turned into a bittersweet tribute to a young man who fought cancer valiantly. What began as a tribute to his fallen friend was a guitar that in 1977, took off and is still revered today; known as the Dean ML
, taking its name from Dean’s fallen childhood friend’s initials.
Dean set up his first manufacturing shops in the Chicago area, with all work being closely supervised personally by him on a daily basis. Getting people to notice the new designs was easy, and as his other designs, including the V, Z, and Cadillac started being played by the top touring bands of the day, the reputation of Dean was cemented and quickly grew.
of Playboy
Magazine fame. While on an airplane once, Dean saw an advertisement in a magazine for a liquor company featuring a beautiful woman standing in water in a provocative pose holding a drink similar to the way Playboy posed models. This led to an idea that changed the way guitars were marketed. In addition to designing guitars, Dean also had an eye for photography and his combined skills allowed him to create his own ads that caused a wave of controversy. Guitar ads for Dean’s company were featuring bikini-clad models wearing guitars, and (tastefully) little else. His early music magazine print ads and trade show marketing used female models from Playboy, and it was this marketing that filled NAMM Show
(National Association of Music Merchants) event aisles with merchants seeking to get a better look at the guitars (and models) that were quickly becoming the talk of the industry. When Dean was warned by the trade show officials at one show that he had better tone it down in order to help keep the aisles clear, he knew he was on to something.
Prior to Dean starting Dean Guitars, most guitar manufacturing figures kept a low public profile. With the possible exception of Leo Fender
, nobody outside the industry knew their names. Dean broke this mold with his designs and marketing, leading People Magazine to do a feature story on Mr. Zelinsky when he was only 21 years old. Rather than just a young man who happened to make guitars for a living, he had become a celebrity in his own rite. In fact, Kerry Livgren
of the rock band Kansas
(Dust in The Wind, Carry on My Wayward Son), proclaimed at one time that Dean was the first guitar maker to achieve Rock Star status. He went from being known as a gifted repairman in Chicago, to worldwide guitar manufacturer, and innovative marketer whose products are recognized everywhere. This clever marketing also struck a chord with the audiences of the guitar magazines they were advertised in.
Sales increased and endorsers continued to be drawn to the way these guitars played, sounded and looked whereby nearly every top band that was touring had at least one Dean designed guitar.
Dean had been designing custom entertainment centers and high-end furniture under the business name of Dean Barrett for clientele that ranged from CEO’s on Chicago’s North Shore, to superstars like Michael Jordan
from the Chicago Bulls
. With his family firmly rooted, Dean was lured back into the music industry, taking on the challenge of helping to re-build the brand he started nearly two decades earlier when the offer came. What ensued was the successful transformation, based on Dean’s designs and marketing abilities. The Internet was in its early stages back then, but Dean built up the business with his team of Internet professionals and network that were eager to work with him again.
Dean also did some mentoring, which was the case when he spent some time at an in-store event in Dallas, TX with a young guitar player that appeared asking for his autograph. Darrell Abbott (Dimebag Darrell
from Pantera, DamagePlan) from Arlington, TX had won a Dean ML Guitar when he was a teenager, but the chance encounter between Dimebag and Dean Zelinsky would forge a lifelong friendship that started back in the 80’s and picked up in 2004 when Dean signed Dimebag to an endorsement deal for the company that bares his name. Dean was supposed to meet up with Darrell in December 2004 to unveil the guitar they worked on together but unfortunately, their plans were cut short on December 8, 2004 minutes after Dime took to the stage at the Alrosa Villa club in Columbus, OH when a crazed fan shot him. This tragedy had a profound effect on the music world, as well as on some of the greatest guitar players in the world including longtime friends of Darrell’s, Eddie Van Halen
, and Zakk Wylde
, and also on Dean. Dean has written extensively about his sense of loss based on the events surrounding Dime’s passing. Tyler Zelinsky, Dean's son, an upcoming film producer coincidentally had conducted the last video interview with Dimebag just weeks before his untimely demise. The video was filmed and produced by Tyler Zelinsky when he was 16 years old. It has been featured on the Internet and also excerpts were licensed by VH1 for a special on Rock Wives. The video has also been published in Guitar World Magazine.
After helping with the successful re-build of the brand, adding new designs and implementing marketing that Dean made famous, it was time to seek out partners that he could engage where he could once again have total design control, and maintain quality.
DBZ Guitars
is headquartered in Houston, TX with the USA Custom Shop in Northbrook, IL. The goal of the DBZ Guitar Company is to satisfy the needs of today’s worldwide customer-base that has (in part due to Mr. Zelinsky’s innovations), become very sophisticated. With his business partners Jeff Diamant and Terry Martin concentrating on the Diamond Amplifier Company based in Houston, TX, they have a symbiotic relationship that respects both companies by allowing them each creative freedoms and individual control. With respect to the new guitar designs, DBZ manufactures and imports a range of traditional electric (Imperial, Bolero, Venom), as well as acoustic (Verona, Tuscan) guitars. Its USA manufacturing is capable of producing hand-detailed and precision laser carved tops that resemble alligator, or crocodile skin (Bolero), to ultra thin completely balanced full body (Imperial) guitars, to guitars that Rock & Metal players demand (Cavallo, Barchetta, Halcyon, Bare Bones Religion Series, Bird of Prey). DBZ has over eight completely new designs available in hundreds of configurations, and selected models are available with custom graphics, and graphite saddles & nuts.
In the many years that Dean has been in the music business, he has seen his fair share of success and learned from mistakes. According to Dean himself, “There are those who fancy themselves as guitar makers, and there are those willing to do everything it takes to become and remain viable no matter what”.
Luthier
A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...
who founded Dean Guitars
Dean Guitars
Dean Guitars is an American manufacturer of guitars. It was founded in 1976 by Dean Zelinsky in Chicago, Illinois and is currently under the ownership of Armadillo Enterprises in Tampa, Florida.- History :...
in 1976 and founded DBZ Guitars
DBZ Guitars
DBZ Guitars is an American guitar manufacturer owned and operated by Dean B. Zelinsky, Jeff Diamant of Diamond Amplification, along with partner Terry Martin....
in 2008.
Dean's guitar creations have been played by artists such as: Michael Schenker
Michael Schenker
Michael Schenker is a German rock guitarist, best known for his tenure in UFO, in addition to his solo band. He first rose to fame as a founding member of the Scorpions, then achieved fame in the mid 1970s as the lead guitar player for UFO. Since leaving UFO in 1978, he has been leading the...
, Kansas
Kansas (band)
Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...
, Leslie West
Leslie West
Leslie West is an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter.-Biography:Originally named Leslie Weinstein, West was born in New York City, grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, and in East Meadow, Forest Hills and Lawrence. After his parents divorced, he changed his surname to West...
, The Cars
The Cars
The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band consisted of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson...
, Heart
Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
, The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band. The group has sold over 40 million units worldwide throughout their career. The Doobie Brothers were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.-Original incarnation:...
, Jefferson Starship
Jefferson Starship
Jefferson Starship is an American rock band formed in the early 1970s. The group is a spin-off from the iconic 1960s psychedelic/folk group Jefferson Airplane. The band has undergone several major changes in personnel and genres through the years while retaining the same Jefferson Starship name...
, Dave Mason
Dave Mason
David Thomas "Dave" Mason is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic...
, Triumph
Triumph (band)
Triumph is a Canadian hard rock power trio that was popular in the late 1970s through the 1980s. Eight of the band's albums were certified gold or higher, and Triumph was nominated for multiple Juno Awards, including Group of the Year Award in 1979, 1985, 1986 and 1987.Like their fellow Canadians...
, Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
, Sammy Hagar
Sammy Hagar
Sam Roy "Sammy" Hagar , also known as The Red Rocker, is an American rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Also sings Country Music....
, Def Leppard
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...
, Nils Lofgren
Nils Lofgren
Nils Hilmer Lofgren is an American rock music recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
, Larry Crane (John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp, previously known by the stage names Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American rock singer-songwriter, musician, painter and occasional actor known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock that eschews synthesizers and other artificial sounds...
Band), ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
and Karl Sanders
Karl Sanders
Karl Sanders is an American musician, most widely known as the founding member of the American Egyptian-themed death metal band Nile. He was born in California, and lives in Greenville, South Carolina. Karl is endorsed by Dean Guitars, and has two signature models by KxK Guitars...
of Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
. Many others can be seen playing Dean’s guitar designs in photographs, on the Internet, in music videos, and in concerts around the world today. Dean’s guitar designs have been featured on the Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
Radio Show, on TV at the Grammys Awards show, in books including a recent book by James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novelist Raymond Benson
Raymond Benson
Raymond Benson is an American author best known for being the official author of the adult James Bond novels from 1997 to 2003. Benson was born in Midland, Texas and graduated from Permian High School in Odessa in 1973...
, and in countless magazine articles spanning over 33 years. TV talk show host Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
(2008 U.S. presidential candidate), owns and plays a Dean Bass.
Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. , is an American brewing company. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and 18 in other countries. It was, until December 2009, also one of America's largest theme park operators; operating ten theme parks across the United States through the...
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
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
It should also be noted that Dean Zelinsky created the spinning fur guitars for the "Legs" video from ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
. Blender.com lists the "Spinning Furs" along with the ML as part of "The 28 Most Recognizable Guitars".
DBZ 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. 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.
Today
DBZ Guitars is a new guitar company founded by Dean, Jeff Diamant of Diamond Amplification along with his partner Terry Martin of Houston, TX. In 2008, Dean Zelinsky, founder of Dean Guitars, parted ways with Dean Corporate. DBZ Guitars[1] was launched in order to give Mr. Zelinsky "personal control over design, direction and quality". The company website features an interactive home page and a forum, where Zelinsky can personally communicate with fans of his guitars.Early years
Dean Barrett Zelinsky was the second of three boys born to Robert and Sylvia Zelinsky in Chicago, IL. 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. 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. When Dean was 12 years old, his father died in a plane crash while piloting his own twin-engine plane. His widow raised three boys, Dean, Glenn, and Roger in the wake of this tragedy.Influences
When the Rolling Stones, The BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, and Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter
John Dawson "Johnny" Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters...
came upon the music scene, Dean’s attention quickly turned to Rock & Roll and he became obsessed with finding out what made guitars tick. He began playing electric guitar and learned what he liked and what he did not like. More importantly, while some would have paid anything to get their hands on a vintage Gibson Flying V
Gibson Flying V
-External links:*, , , , and , from the Gibson website*, a June 2001 article from Guitar Collector magazine*, a tribute site that lists all models and re-issues and most notable players**...
, 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. As bands became more avant-garde in the 1970s, it was Dean’s opinion that the design of the guitars they were playing was not keeping pace with the times.
While attending high school in Highland Park
Highland Park, Illinois
Highland Park is a suburban municipality in Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. As of 2009, the population is 33,492. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located on the North Shore of the Chicago Metropolitan Area.-Overview:Highland Park was founded...
IL, Dean began offering his services to local music shops and to Chicago area guitar players for repairs, custom paint jobs and soon gained a reputation among local storeowners as someone to turn to for services that went beyond what most of them could offer in-house. It was actually “a first” in the history of his high school that a senior left school for the day to complete their student work program at their own company; a disagreement over receiving credit for this was something that almost drove Dean to leave prior to graduating. However, he earned his diploma.
Starting Up
Having had several years of repairing and re-building guitars under his belt, Dean set out to create a guitar that would sound better and equally important, play better than what he had experienced testing all the brands he could get his hands on in the repair business. In the 1970s Gibson Guitars had a factory in Kalamazoo Michigan, where they used to provide tours for people. Dean took one such tour to learn what machinery one would need in order to accomplish setting up a production run of their own designs. After two trips to the Kalamazoo factory, this quick study yielded a plan to seek out similar equipment to start his own company.During this time, Dean’s best friend (Mathew Lynn) was battling cancer, and although he did not live to see the success that Dean would soon attain, Mathew was honored posthumously. The sadness of losing his best friend turned into a bittersweet tribute to a young man who fought cancer valiantly. What began as a tribute to his fallen friend was a guitar that in 1977, took off and is still revered today; known as the Dean ML
Dean ML
The Dean ML is an electric guitar made by Dean Guitars in 1977 along with its counterparts, the Dean V, Dean Cadillac and Dean Z. This is the most well known Dean Guitar due to the radical look and V shaped Headstock and V shaped tailpiece. It was popularised by the guitarist Dimebag Darrell of...
, taking its name from Dean’s fallen childhood friend’s initials.
Dean set up his first manufacturing shops in the Chicago area, with all work being closely supervised personally by him on a daily basis. Getting people to notice the new designs was easy, and as his other designs, including the V, Z, and Cadillac started being played by the top touring bands of the day, the reputation of Dean was cemented and quickly grew.
Marketing 101
Dean took a cue from another famous Chicagoan, Hugh HefnerHugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...
of Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
Magazine fame. While on an airplane once, Dean saw an advertisement in a magazine for a liquor company featuring a beautiful woman standing in water in a provocative pose holding a drink similar to the way Playboy posed models. This led to an idea that changed the way guitars were marketed. In addition to designing guitars, Dean also had an eye for photography and his combined skills allowed him to create his own ads that caused a wave of controversy. Guitar ads for Dean’s company were featuring bikini-clad models wearing guitars, and (tastefully) little else. His early music magazine print ads and trade show marketing used female models from Playboy, and it was this marketing that filled NAMM Show
NAMM Show
The NAMM Show is one of the largest music product trade shows in the world, founded in 1901. It is held every January in Anaheim, California, USA, at the Anaheim Convention Center...
(National Association of Music Merchants) event aisles with merchants seeking to get a better look at the guitars (and models) that were quickly becoming the talk of the industry. When Dean was warned by the trade show officials at one show that he had better tone it down in order to help keep the aisles clear, he knew he was on to something.
Prior to Dean starting Dean Guitars, most guitar manufacturing figures kept a low public profile. With the possible exception of Leo Fender
Leo Fender
Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender was an American inventor who founded Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, or "Fender" for short...
, nobody outside the industry knew their names. Dean broke this mold with his designs and marketing, leading People Magazine to do a feature story on Mr. Zelinsky when he was only 21 years old. Rather than just a young man who happened to make guitars for a living, he had become a celebrity in his own rite. In fact, Kerry Livgren
Kerry Livgren
Kerry Allen Livgren is an American musician and songwriter, best known as one of the founding members and primary songwriters for the 1970s progressive rock band, Kansas.-Biography:...
of the rock band Kansas
Kansas (band)
Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...
(Dust in The Wind, Carry on My Wayward Son), proclaimed at one time that Dean was the first guitar maker to achieve Rock Star status. He went from being known as a gifted repairman in Chicago, to worldwide guitar manufacturer, and innovative marketer whose products are recognized everywhere. This clever marketing also struck a chord with the audiences of the guitar magazines they were advertised in.
Sales increased and endorsers continued to be drawn to the way these guitars played, sounded and looked whereby nearly every top band that was touring had at least one Dean designed guitar.
Globalization
In the mid 1980’s Guitar manufacturers were seeking to meet an ever-increasing demand for musical instruments. This led to major manufacturers like Gibson and Fender as well as others to begin importing guitars from the Orient. Dean was determined to keep production in the U.S.A. in order to maintain quality; at least until he could assure that the (import) quality was as good as he knew he could deliver. While he did import for a time, he wound up selling the company in 1991 to take some time off to raise a young family of his own, with his wife, Playboy Playmate - Suzi Schott (Zelinsky).Dean re-enters the Guitar Business
In February 2000 Dean Zelinsky returned to Dean Guitars on a consultant basis primarily to oversee Marketing, USA production and Artist Relations. Zelinsky also designed new models for the Dean Guitars line up. Zelinsky used his past connections to bring top artists to the company including Dimebag Darrell, Michael Schenker, Leslie West and Dave Mustaine…all who received artist models with the company. In May 2008, Zelinsky left the company over a contract dispute. In August 2008 Zelinsky founded his new company DBZ Guitars and is currently the company CEO.Dean had been designing custom entertainment centers and high-end furniture under the business name of Dean Barrett for clientele that ranged from CEO’s on Chicago’s North Shore, to superstars like Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
from the Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
. With his family firmly rooted, Dean was lured back into the music industry, taking on the challenge of helping to re-build the brand he started nearly two decades earlier when the offer came. What ensued was the successful transformation, based on Dean’s designs and marketing abilities. The Internet was in its early stages back then, but Dean built up the business with his team of Internet professionals and network that were eager to work with him again.
Dean also did some mentoring, which was the case when he spent some time at an in-store event in Dallas, TX with a young guitar player that appeared asking for his autograph. Darrell Abbott (Dimebag Darrell
Dimebag Darrell
Darrell Lance Abbott , also known as Diamond Darrell and Dimebag Darrell, was an American guitarist. He was best known as a founding member of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan. Abbott also contributed to the album Rebel Meets Rebel, a collaboration between Pantera and David Allan Coe...
from Pantera, DamagePlan) from Arlington, TX had won a Dean ML Guitar when he was a teenager, but the chance encounter between Dimebag and Dean Zelinsky would forge a lifelong friendship that started back in the 80’s and picked up in 2004 when Dean signed Dimebag to an endorsement deal for the company that bares his name. Dean was supposed to meet up with Darrell in December 2004 to unveil the guitar they worked on together but unfortunately, their plans were cut short on December 8, 2004 minutes after Dime took to the stage at the Alrosa Villa club in Columbus, OH when a crazed fan shot him. This tragedy had a profound effect on the music world, as well as on some of the greatest guitar players in the world including longtime friends of Darrell’s, Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
, and Zakk Wylde
Zakk Wylde
Zachary Phillip Wylde , best known by the stage name Zakk Wylde, is an American musician, songwriter, and occasional actor who is best known as the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory,...
, and also on Dean. Dean has written extensively about his sense of loss based on the events surrounding Dime’s passing. Tyler Zelinsky, Dean's son, an upcoming film producer coincidentally had conducted the last video interview with Dimebag just weeks before his untimely demise. The video was filmed and produced by Tyler Zelinsky when he was 16 years old. It has been featured on the Internet and also excerpts were licensed by VH1 for a special on Rock Wives. The video has also been published in Guitar World Magazine.
After helping with the successful re-build of the brand, adding new designs and implementing marketing that Dean made famous, it was time to seek out partners that he could engage where he could once again have total design control, and maintain quality.
A New Day for DBZ
Today, Dean has a completely new factory with all the familiar tools used in his first guitar company, working to support their line of USA and Import Guitars.DBZ Guitars
DBZ Guitars
DBZ Guitars is an American guitar manufacturer owned and operated by Dean B. Zelinsky, Jeff Diamant of Diamond Amplification, along with partner Terry Martin....
is headquartered in Houston, TX with the USA Custom Shop in Northbrook, IL. The goal of the DBZ Guitar Company is to satisfy the needs of today’s worldwide customer-base that has (in part due to Mr. Zelinsky’s innovations), become very sophisticated. With his business partners Jeff Diamant and Terry Martin concentrating on the Diamond Amplifier Company based in Houston, TX, they have a symbiotic relationship that respects both companies by allowing them each creative freedoms and individual control. With respect to the new guitar designs, DBZ manufactures and imports a range of traditional electric (Imperial, Bolero, Venom), as well as acoustic (Verona, Tuscan) guitars. Its USA manufacturing is capable of producing hand-detailed and precision laser carved tops that resemble alligator, or crocodile skin (Bolero), to ultra thin completely balanced full body (Imperial) guitars, to guitars that Rock & Metal players demand (Cavallo, Barchetta, Halcyon, Bare Bones Religion Series, Bird of Prey). DBZ has over eight completely new designs available in hundreds of configurations, and selected models are available with custom graphics, and graphite saddles & nuts.
In the many years that Dean has been in the music business, he has seen his fair share of success and learned from mistakes. According to Dean himself, “There are those who fancy themselves as guitar makers, and there are those willing to do everything it takes to become and remain viable no matter what”.
Guitars Designed by Dean Zelinsky
- DBZ Barchetta
- DBZ Bird of Prey
- DBZ Bolero
- DBZ Bolero "Croc Skin"
- DBZ Cavallo
- DBZ Cavallo "Peacemaker"
- DBZ Halcyon
- DBZ Imperial
- DBZ Imperial Aliento
- DBZ Mondial
- DBZ Royale
- DBZ Tuscan
- DBZ Venom
- DBZ Venom "Snake Skin"
- DBZ Verona