Brief History of DEAN Guitars

What’s your favourite ‘shape’ guitar? If you grew up listening to bands like Pantera, then I’m thinking you;ll be a fan of the Dean ML, right? In fact, guitar fans of all vintages love Dean guitars: you’ve seen Billy Gibbons playing them, and you’ve seen Michael Angelo Batio using them, too. They are a flamboyant, larger than life brand, and today I’ll give you the brief rundown on their backstory. From their inception in the late 70s to today in 2026, let’s take a dive into the fun and sometimes fraught history of Dean guitars!

Our tale begins in the Midwest. A teenage Dean Zelinsky is an endlessly curious person, questioning how things are built, how they work, and how they are made. Stories online talk about how he once sawed a Flying V in half just to learn what went on inside it, and about a trip to Gibson’s then-HQ in Kalamazoo complete with notebook and pen to jot down everything he saw that he’d require for a future business.

Talk about a guy with a mission?

At any rate, Zelinksy was still in high school when he began Dean guitars in 1977. By that point, he’d already spent a few years around the Chicago area, fixing up and refinishing guitars, so he had experience under his belt. Conquering the world would be easy, if he just had the correct guitar to lead with…

The Dean ML is the iconic, definitive Dean for sure. It was also the first model to be made, and put Dean on the map almost straight away. To most eyes, this audacious instrument is basically the top half of an Explorer, the bottom half of a Flying V (chop them both in half at the waist, like) with the headstock of a rare Gibson Futura. I expect that’s entirely how Zelinksy came about his design, but however it manifested, it’s a striking looking guitar!

The ML got its name due to a loving tribute. Zelinsky’s teenage friend Matt Lyn tragically passed away from cancer aged only 17, so Dean named his first guitar model after him, to honour his friend’s memory.

Whilst the ML was the one that became iconic, Dean also released some other designs at the same time: the Z and the Cadillac. The Z - whose name hopefully doesn’t need a description - was a very close take on the Gibson Explorer, and the Cadillac was like another Gibson mash-up, this time a mix between the Les Paul and the Explorer.

Each of these shared a strong design ethic, and an attitude: these were unashamedly ‘stage pieces’. If you bought a Dean ML or Z, you wanted to be seen playing it, by as many people as possible. This showman vibe continued to be a thing for Dean guitars basically forever. They were not subtle and they had no intention of turning down!

One of the most significant adopters of Dean guitars was ZZ Top. Most visibly, you’ll remember Billy and Dusty’s matching white ‘furry’ guitars from the Legs video? Those were custom Dean Z models, but it goes further than that. The delectable tones on ZZ Top’s biggest selling record Eliminator were in fact NOT from the likes of Billy’s prized ‘59 ‘Pearly Gates’ Les Paul. Nope, Gimme All Your Lovin’ and the rest of those songs were recorded mainly with a Dean Z, fitted with DiMarzio pickups! 

NOW who wants one?

Dean Zelinsky had built up the brand, launched it into the market and enjoyed the success of his venture. He’d filled the Dean booths at every NAMM show with Playbody models (this was the 80s, ok?) and courted the media like a marketing king. By the mid 80s, he was ready to move on, and sold the business to Tropical Music.

While Zelinsky spent more time with his family and built custom furniture for top-paying clients, his previous guitar brand seemed to move away from the hard rock flash it was known for. Tropical Music marketed the brand in Latin countries, and Dean quickly fell off the radar, in terms of people seeing new guitars on shop hangars.

That all changed in 1997…

 I think it’s fair to say that nobody is more associated with Dean guitars than the late, great Dimebag Darrell. Born Darrell Abbott, but Dimebag to his friends, this Texan firebrand was a metal guitarist who genuinely had it all happening: his riffs were carved out of steel; his solos flowed wildly with both expression and precision; and his personality was huge and effervescent. He was a star, plain and simple, and his guitars of choice were Dean ML’s, including one with lightning painted on it, called the ‘ML From Hell’, in reference to his band Pantera’s breakthrough album Cowboys From Hell.

During Dean’s fallow period, Dime went across to Washburn and played what amounted to ML copies, but then came back to Dean in 1997, when the company was bought by Elliott Rubinson.

So, Elliott Rubinson. Bass player for Michael Schenker and Michael Angelo Batio. Rubinson’s company Armadillo Enterprises - based in Tampa, Florida - bought the Dean brand in 1997, and immediately set to work reinvigorating this once-great brand. The classic designs came back, the line was expanded, distribution deals struck across the world, and artist endorsements deals sought. As may be expected, Rubinson’s old touring pals Schenker and Batio were already supporters of the resurrected Dean brand, and earned signature models. Later on, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine enjoyed a fruitful partnership, as did Mountain’s Leslie West and Trivium’s Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu. 

But the main draw was still Dimebag. Routinely described as the 90s’ answer to Eddie Van Halen, Dimebag was in fact friends with his hero, and had a special ML custom built for Ed, complete with his trademark striped finish.

People were playing Deans again, they were excited about the Dean guitar brand, and in 2000, Armadillo even brought back a certain Dean Zelinsky in order to consult on R&D, marketing and artist relations.

One of the most successful projects of the returning Dean Zelinsky was the Razorback. Essentially a meaner, more aggressive-looking take on the ML, the Razorback was designed with Dimebag as his signature guitar. Tragically, Dime never got to play one. He finished up the designs, approved them and tried out a couple of prototypes, but neither the production models nor his own custom orders were ready before he was horrifically shot on stage.

One of the greatest rock players we’ve ever had, Dimebag Darrell is an immortal symbol of dedication to all things guitar and all things rock. The Razorback was released posthumously, in tribute to its  fallen creator.

Dean’s owner Elliott Rubinson sadly passed away on February 6th 2017, at only 62 years old. His son Evan took over the reins, and continued to have Dean guitars built in both Asia and the US. Evan got Slayer guitarist Kerry King to move away from his beloved BC Riches and sign with Dean, making the brand even more essential for metal fans.

Things got ugly for Dean and their parent brand Armadillo in 2019. In simple terms, Gibson sued them over producing guitars with certain body shapes. It was a messy situation: Gibson won the case, Dean appealed but then were found in contempt for continuing to list the offending guitar models on their website.

Things got uglier: Dimebag’s estate sued over trademarks relating to the Razorback. Dean ultimately won that one recently, but there is an ongoing appeal there too, so we’ll need to see what transpires. Evan Rubinson left the company in 2023, and there is still some legal noise over foreclosure due to reportedly unpaid loans. The future is uncertain for Dean, but they’ve weathered difficult waters before and managed to navigate to safety. The appeal against the Gibson lawsuit did lead to a retrial, which Dean ultimately lost. They are now prohibited from making V and Z guitars, along with one which is SG-shaped. The ML is not an issue, and never was, and that is what the company has since focussed on.

As of June 2026, Armadillo Distribution Enterprises and Concordia LLC - the companies who currently own Dean Guitars - have jointly filed for a ‘court-supervised reorganisation’, in order to be able to continue as a company. It’s a chapter 11 bankruptcy, and therefore does NOT mean that the company is being liquidised. Instead, they are seeking official ways in which to continue, while their financial commitments are restructured. Current Armadillo owner Pamela Keris said that the move was: “a proactive step to strengthen our financial foundation and position these iconic brands for long-term success”. 

It’s a sticky, complex situation, but in plain English, there is a promise there to not only continue, but to pay staff and to operate as a normal business. Fingers crossed for them, because they are an iconic company with heritage and fun built into each guitar equally.

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