FOUR DECADES OF DEAN ZELINSKY

 

I started building professionally in 1976. As soon as I got Dean Guitars up and running, I spent my days building guitars and my evenings backstage at big rock shows hustling my guitars to major rock bands. Kerry Livgren of Kansas was the first to purchase one of my guitars and the first to play one onstage. Soon after, I was working with top bands of the late '70s and early '80s like like Heart, The Doobie Brothers, Elliot Easton of the Cars…and many more. Then a bigger break was hanging out with Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. I made him an ML model guitar and shipped it to him. He phoned me when he was recording the Eliminator record and said he used the guitar for the entire album. I was soon making guitars for their tour. With the advent of MTV, ZZ Top had a big resurgence and their 'Legs' video featured the Spinning Fur Guitars I built for them.

 

Why I only Sell Factory Direct...

 

I’m offering you my guitars factory-direct…saving you money on my latest designed, top-quality guitars. Eliminating the unnecessary cost of distribution, sales commissions, and retail store markup here in the USA…You save big money!

 

Selling direct came down to a few factors:

 

#1: Music Industry State of Affairs

 

Like all industries, the Independent Dealers have been on a steep decline for years and are now to a point where they fall into two categories.

One, too small or broke to have any sort of a selection on the wall.

Two, a viable store who feel they need the bigger brands to be competitive. 

 

Gibson and Fender know this…so every January they go in and make these guys buy $100,000 plus of their guitars to keep the line one more year. If the dealer does not buy in, Gibson and Fender threaten not to sell them. After Gibson and Fender and a few other brands do this to them, the dealers have no money nor wall space left for Dean Z. Furthermore, Gibson and Fender are not letting these dealers buy the guitars they want. They make dealers buy what Fender and Gibson need to sell. Gibson and Fender make a lot of bad judgment calls and force it on their dealers! Then the dealers are pushing this crap on to you...most consumers don't know this!

 

So I decided - ENOUGH! I am well known enough to sell my guitars direct. I offer you better pricing because a dealer is not making $300 on the guitar. I give you a 30-Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee and a 5-Year Warranty. If for any reason you don’t like the guitar, we take it back!

 

 

#2: Natural Selection  

Because I only sell direct, I have to offer a better guitar!

 

Lets face it, when my competition ships 50 guitars into a Guitar Center Store, they don’t have to be good. Know why, because there is a natural selection process. The players 'in-the-know' will cherry pick the better ones, the lesser informed and beginners will walk out the door with the rest. You are forced to choose from a compromised selection. Simply the guitar quality does not have to be all that good for them to be successful and the consumer loses in this scenario!

 

Our situation is totally different. If I ship a guitar to someone’s house, I don’t know who they are. They can be a seasoned player, a beginner, an amateur or the pickiest guy in the world…we simply don’t know. All I know is that guitar has to be perfect! My reputation is on the line #1, and #2 it costs me $50 in round-trip FedEx bills! So the end result, because of our factory direct approach, we have to be very selective and picky on the guitars we send out…and you the player benefit!

 

#3: Guitar Center

1.7 billion in debt if you believe what is written on the internet.

 

A company in total retraction mode, but they are the sales arm of Gibson and Fender. These guys are so in bed with each other but now they're all hurting. Guitar Center cannot sell enough to get these companies out of trouble nor get themselves out of trouble. Guitar Center is not looking for the next cool guitar, innovation or technology…it is also owned by 'bean counters' looking at how to get back their investment! You can read more about the End of Guitar Center here...

 

 

#4: No Middle Man

No amateurs between me and my guitar-playing customers

 

It always bothered me having a dealer in the middle of me and a guitar player. Why have anything get lost in translation? We like to communicate with the players and get them what they want. If we are not delivering, they will let us know. I love the fact that there is no one between the Dean Zelinsky Team and our guitar-playing customers.

 

No inexperienced sales guy to filter your questions or telling you what can or cannot be done cause he doesn't have the guitar company at his fingertips! No amateur guitar tech at the counter trying to get your guitar to play good enough for you to make it to the cash register!

 

 

#5: From our Setup Bench to Your Door

You can go through our site and have the guitar customized the way you like it. Choose your finish, fingerboard, pickups, hardware, pickguard, string gauge, etc. not just what's hanging on a wall. Delivered to your door as you like it… If you have questions, communicate directly with us! We have an expert staff of experienced guitar player/builders. Every guitar is shipped to your door, expertly set up and stage ready. You can take it out of the box and play Madison Square Garden!

 

INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

 

My job is to make you Play Better, Sound Better, and even Look Better...

Because I am a guitar builder, I constantly look to innovate and improve the guitar. A tall order because the guitar business resists technology. Players are looking for a nice piece of wood with some great pickups and a few knobs... and I know this. However, the only way I can be viable is to build a guitar that PLAYS better, SOUNDS better, and LOOKS better... If I cannot do this, I have no business being in business!

 

The Z-Glide Neck

Years ago I incorporated a laser into guitar building. The laser became a valuable tool in the manufacturing process of guitars. I mostly used it for cutting wood and plastics but soon started using the laser for graphics…3D graphics. I began thinking about the neck. Not for decorative graphics but for improved playability. I thought about reducing the surface area so your hand wouldn't come in contact with so much neck. Reduced surface area meant reduced friction and would allow your hand to glide effortlessly up and down the neck. I patented the concept and started building Z-Glide Necks. We reduce the surface area by 72% and your hand only comes in contact with 28% of the neck, the rest is air. We are the only guitar company on earth with a laser engraved Z-Glide Neck.

You know when you pull up on the coil-tap of a humbucker and your volume drops in half... what did you expect? You don't have a single-coil, you have half a humbucker! But with SideKick, you don’t get that. The volume matches and you have a true 7.2ohm single-coil with the magnets in the pole pieces! No voodoo, no batteries or circuit board, just old-fashioned windings and magnets.