Dean Zelinsky Guitars

[Tonray's Ghost]

Ok...not a huge fan of LPs but this is freakishly appealing:

https://www.instagram.com/deanzelinsky/ ... 7S0o6vYH1/

[andrewsrea]

He founded Dean guitars in the late 70's, sold it in the late 90's and then worked for them as a consultant. I wonder if this is his own operation?

I never liked his 70's headstocks or shredder necks. A friend of mine briefly had a Dean Cadillac and lent it to me for a week. I didn't bond with it at all.

[Tonray's Ghost]

He founded Dean guitars in the late 70's, sold it in the late 90's and then worked for them as a consultant. I wonder if this is his own operation?

I never liked his 70's headstocks or shredder necks. A friend of mine briefly had a Dean Cadillac and lent it to me for a week. I didn't bond with it at all.

They have a few Dean guitars in the store at our local mall here, they all seem to have a somewhat exaggerated Florentine single cut and a piezo pickup in addition to the regular pickup configuration.
Yes I think this is his own operation, seems premium at nearly $2000 a pop where the Dean guitars are much more affordable in the Harley Benton price range.

[Rollin Hand]

Deans can be pricey too. Their cheap line is....well, cheap, but the US-made stuff can get spendy.

[golem]

I'd avoid the Z glide neck. Went to CME in person and tried a z glide used. It had wear only on the back of the neck and when that wears unevenly it's kind of a PITA. They tout is as a feature one pays extra for (except for occasional promotion events). Absolutely don't get it. It might be fine when new but when it wears even a bit it's stupid. Because no one wears a guitar evenly. I no longer recally exactly wear the war on that guitar was, but I promise you for someone moving around the fretboard a lot it is an annoying feeling.

[Tonray's Ghost]

I'd avoid the Z glide neck. Went to CME in person and tried a z glide used. It had wear only on the back of the neck and when that wears unevenly it's kind of a PITA. They tout is as a feature one pays extra for (except for occasional promotion events). Absolutely don't get it. It might be fine when new but when it wears even a bit it's stupid. Because no one wears a guitar evenly. I no longer recally exactly wear the war on that guitar was, but I promise you for someone moving around the fretboard a lot it is an annoying feeling.

At almost 2 grand $$ for some of his stuff...avoidance won't be difficult

[tonebender]

I like a Les Paul but not with a whammy bar.

[golem]

@Tonray's Ghost Looking at their site I was surprised they've gotten that expensive. It looks like it's hard to get one without the Z Glide neck. And used prices on these are about 25%-33% of their new price which is one of the biggest drops I've ever noticed. Last I checked they are made in Indonesia. Since they sell directly without a middleman, that feels like a huge premium over other brands from the region.

It might be they're doing something like Dusenberg does where they do some finishing and assembly in the USA.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Went to CME in person and tried a z glide used. It had wear only on the back of the neck and when that wears unevenly it's kind of a PITA.

Thanks for sharing that actual experience. I have wondered about those necks, but didn't want to just chance it unless I found a smoking deal on one. What you describe makes complete sense now, because hand contact is concentrated on much smaller areas, they'd definitely wear the finish faster where you play a lot. Now I won't keep wondering about them.

[golem]

Went to CME in person and tried a z glide used. It had wear only on the back of the neck and when that wears unevenly it's kind of a PITA.

Thanks for sharing that actual experience. I have wondered about those necks, but didn't want to just chance it unless I found a smoking deal on one. What you describe makes complete sense now, because hand contact is concentrated on much smaller areas, they'd definitely wear the finish faster where you play a lot. Now I won't keep wondering about them.

Yeah, I mentioned this on a thread in TGP and had a fanboy scoff, but really, it does make sense when you think about it, and it never even occurred to me until I tried one used and saw it firsthand. The one at CME as playable still but was already to a point where one would experience a differing amount of friction going over the neck. And honestly it just offers zero value after having experienced it.

[mozz]

Epoxy and a belt sander would bring it back to where you like, but the guitar would have to be really cheap for that experiment.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Yeah, I mentioned this on a thread in TGP and had a fanboy scoff, but really, it does make sense when you think about it

I wouldn't worry about a lot of flack on TGP. It seems a lot of people are there just to be contrary and hear themselves.

[backinit]

A have an import Soltera and it's a really nice playing guitar. I don't love the medium sized frets and the import pickups are ok. I swapped out the ceramic magnet in the neck for an Alnico 2 and the bridge pickup is a Rockfield Turbo proto. I don't love it, but I'll probably hand this one down to my son eventually along with my Edwards LP.

[solteroblues]

I bought a used Tagliere, which is their Strat clone with the z-glide neck. I didn't hate it, and I don't think it will actually wear that much, it's carved pretty deeply, and the point is to reduce the friction, so unless you're wearing sandpaper on your palms, it's not going to wear smooth for many, many years. That said, I sold the guitar fairly soon afterwards, but more because I just don't like Strats that much. I liked it more than any Fender I've ever played.

I also own some old Dean's, Solteroblues comes from my Dean Soltero, which is still one of my favorite LP style guitars. It has a thick, soft-V shaped neck which I like, and the headstock isn't crazy pointed, although every one I've ever seen has been chipped at one of the corners at least.

I'd never pay $2000 for one of these new ones, but they are tempting to think about... but then you realize it's just another Indonesian import. They do final assembly here in the US and QA/QC it supposedly, but the same guitars were around $900 when they came out and now they've more than doubled without many, if any, upgrades. I just want one of the super thin ones.