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Dean Zelinsky’s z-glide neck... BS or what?


zorrow

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In Soviet Russia, toilet tissue wipes you out!

But seriously...

Some of y'all like Deans I guess. Was it possible to keep them in tune, with the strings going out at that crazy angle off the nut?

Maybe it's just me, but every guitar I've had with strings that go in a straight line and have a moderate angle to the tuners...stays in tune really well. Every last one that had a sharp angle... would go flat after a big bend, and sharp if you bent behind the nut. Unless you had just the magic perfect nut and some luck.

I just see a Dean headstock and think ther's no way I'd play that live, as I'd be retuning after every song.

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39 minutes ago, polara said:

Some of y'all like Deans I guess. Was it possible to keep them in tune, with the strings going out at that crazy angle off the nut?

Maybe it's just me, but every guitar I've had with strings that go in a straight line and have a moderate angle to the tuners...stays in tune really well. Every last one that had a sharp angle... would go flat after a big bend, and sharp if you bent behind the nut. Unless you had just the magic perfect nut and some luck.

I just see a Dean headstock and think ther's no way I'd play that live, as I'd be retuning after every song.

My two Czech-made Deans perfectly stay in tune. In fact, they are so good that they beat many USA-made guitars. I played with them live while my stint in the goth metal band, during the early 2010’s. We fiercely did every metal hole in the Montreal area and they never ever let me down —it was those two Deans, plus a Digitech RPG250, a custom treble booster for the solos and a Tech 21 Power Engine 60. All killer gig machines! BTW, I paid $600 for one and $400 for the other. I was such a happy guitarist back then! :)

For the record, @BTMN owns several Deans and I also performed live with him at the DOA event using one of his guitars, and it was also KILLER, no BS.

So yes, they can stay in tune and they (usually) are AWESOME. :)

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33 minutes ago, zorrow said:

My two Czech-made Deans perfectly stay in tune. In fact, they are so good that they beat many USA-made guitars. I played with them live while my stint in the goth metal band, during the early 2010’s. We fiercely did every metal hole in the Montreal area and they never ever let me down —it was those two Deans, plus a Digitech RPG250, a custom treble booster for the solos and a Tech 21 Power Engine 60. All killer gig machines! BTW, I paid $600 for one and $400 for the other. I was such a happy guitarist back then! :)

For the record, @BTMN owns several Deans and I also performed live with him at the DOA event using one of his guitars, and it was also KILLER, no BS.

So yes, they can stay in tune and they (usually) are AWESOME. :)

Thanks, that's interesting. Guess they have the art of angling the nut slots down.

Still think that neck treatment is... odd, though.

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2 hours ago, polara said:

Still think that neck treatment is... odd, though.

Odd, but if somebody likes it they likes it.  Apparently Dean Z loves his laser etching machine.  Beats the pants off of factory "relic" atrocities.  :wacko:  Some companies are doing a lot of laser etch on ukuleles these days...I don't get it when you can buy such beautiful ukuleles for low prices, but there ya go. 

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7 minutes ago, bkrownd said:

Odd, but if somebody likes it they likes it.  Apparently Dean Z loves his laser etching machine.  Beats the pants off of factory "relic" atrocities.  :wacko:  Some companies are doing a lot of laser etch on ukuleles these days...I don't get it when you can buy such beautiful ukuleles for low prices, but there ya go. 

Like a lot of things, a little bit of the laser etching would probably be cool, but all over everything just looks too busy.  

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51 minutes ago, Ed Rechts said:

...what kind of adult volunteer "judge" writes "Guitar player, don't quit your day job" on a score sheet, to a high school kid? Really, man?

Someone who never had the balls to get up there and play his guitar in front of everyone in high school.

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56 minutes ago, Ed Rechts said:

Um, yeah, those early Deans were pretty notorious for NOT staying in tune. Aside from the whacky split headstock string angle, they had VERY thin necks.

The only vintage Dean I ever owned was a Baby V, whose size implied a smaller headstock, so it did stay in tune.

I also owned a USA V, built post 2K’s, which was excellently crafted and had a cool V neck, but I moved it quickly to buy me something else, so I cannot remember whether it stayed in tune or not. :(

Besides that, I own an import Schenker V (Korean) from an early batch, which was displayed for a while in the Dean headquarters in Tampa. It’s a good one.

There’s also a limited edition they did for the DOA 2008 (a goldtop V, made in Korea too). I own one. It seems to be a decent guitar, and I even rehearsed with it a couple of times, but I frankly don’t remember if it stayed in tune properly... or not. Its headstock is quite big though. I might try it later tonight, just to see.

In short, it seems the only Deans I can speak about are the Czech ladies!? Hum! :) 

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5 minutes ago, Ed Rechts said:

If there are Czech made Cadillacs, I plan on getting one in white-bound black to get the Cars jones out of my system. Always dug that look.

There are Czech-made Cadillacs and they are great too —for example: https://reverb.com/ca/item/2281850-dean-cadillac-quilt-rare-hand-made-czech?locale=fr Those Czech guys knew their craft. Sadly, I think Dean guitars were built there only from 1991 to 1992.

16 minutes ago, Ed Rechts said:

ETA: Zorrow, aren't you kind of a robust, hearty lad? How did that Baby look on  you?

:lol: No, I’m reasonably athletic, but I’m just 5.7’ and 187 pounds. The big bald guy here is @diablo175, :lol: Well, there are others too, but definitively not me —not that that Baby V looked great on me though :P:lol: 

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I HATED that Dean headstock from 1978 until I bought my first Dean in 2003 a Czech made V. There are actually 3 sizes over the years. Series I is the original ones and some custom orders and runs of recent. Series II are like my Czech made V and Zs and Zorrows Schenker and Goldtop V. A third I am not sure of the period right off the top of my head, it was almost the same as a Series II IIRC, and the Baby  headstocks of course. It has been suggested by more than one person that the Baby headstock is mearly the big one with it's ears clipped and the tuners mounted differently. :)The V headstock, to me, gives the illusion it is bigger than it is and I always thought that the stings hit the tuners and strings before them on the way to their tuners but they do not. Duh on my part. I have a '79 Z that is a lil tune happy at times and only good for a couple tunes before retuning. Great with new strings but after a week only a couple songs. My Czech stuff is real reliable and my USA Deans are all 1996 and newer and very reliable. I however must say I ony get to play out a couple times a year and am by no means a measure of what needs you might have. Wanna talk about reliable, I REALLY wanna show up at the next Dean deal with my Shishkov. :ph34r:

I will respect that as a paid performer, and in need of a reliable tool to make your craft, a good tuning guitar must be sought above all else. 

 

Bunch of USA, Korean,  and Czech here.

 

1deanfamily4.jpg

 

ETA: Czech Deans made 1997 to about 2000.

 

Pair of Czech V cuties Tanya and Tatiana. ;)

 

tanya4.jpg

 

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Sloppy and quick tryout of my goldtop DOA 2008 V, which I just played because of you guys: :)

 

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Been thru a few Deans. I brought a NOS ‘82 ML ( CAR, shrimpfork head, rounded neck) back from Chicago to SF in ‘94. Had a coupla of early 2000’s, US Masters-era TC Vs ( cherry and Brasília bursts, V-neck profiles), and a “Water V” RI.

The ML ruled the roost. That thing played killer, sounded deadly, but was the hugest guitar ever made. A bit ungainly on my small frame. There’s a vintage E’Lite locally I’m considering. I’ve always liked those retarded-looking guitars. They’re the Rodney Dangerfields of the Dean lineup. 

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Yep, I had those same Nike Hightops! What does your shirt say? "Nuke the...?

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15 hours ago, BTMN said:

Czech Deans made 1997 to about 2000.

Pair of Czech V cuties Tanya and Tatiana. ;)

tanya4.jpg

Hey! Thanks for the precision about the dates Dean built those guitars in the Czech Republic. Three or four years is more than one or two. They are less rare than what I thought then —which is good for the working players. ;)

BTW, I think the guitar I played when we jammed together at the DOA was the one to the right, right? Is that Tatiana? What a great guitar! 

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1 hour ago, Ed Rechts said:

Nuke The Bops

BITD, in my circles, "Bops" were the kids that participated in all that school spirit rah rah bullshit, you know, the ones who actually studied for the SAT and wanted to go to college.

Those people were anathema to me.

Hey, man, do you want to start a new band?

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Zorrow post a shot of you at the Dean Jam. I know you have one the wife took that we are both in. I can not find it.

 

It was the one the left the Amber one and yes that is Tatianna. :)

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1 hour ago, BTMN said:

Zorrow post a shot of you at the Dean Jam. I know you have one the wife took that we are both in. I can not find it.

It was the one the left the Amber one and yes that is Tatianna. :)

I stumbled upon the shot somewhere in my files a while ago, and since then I haven’t found it again. :( Need to comb all my electronic media support devices, one by one. :( 

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On 13/03/2018 at 12:06 PM, scottcald said:

The Dean history is confusing.  There's Dean now owned by , then there's DBZ (now Diamond) and now Dean has Dean Zelinsky Private Label.   I emailed them to ask about the guitars.  This is part of the response:

Dean makes most of these models including the LaVoce in a small factory in India, with the exception of the StrettaVita Hollow Body, Tagliare "The Private Label," Dellatera Engraved Paisley, and Johnny Winter Signature. He set up the factory to build guitars "old school" like he did in the late '70s and '80s. 
 

Hopefully that helps anyone looking to buy them.  

  1. can the back of the neck be used as a nail file?
  2. He can now declare his trips to India as a biz expense
  3. Dean this, Dean that, Dean Wormer 1226079731_1.jpg......I kind of admire the guy, Zelinsky that is, not Wormer 
  4. DZ is sticking his neck out there building a brand with his name.  Who cares if he's having them built in India?  Maybe he really, really likes curry.  Maybe that will be one of the options offered on his Private Label line, case covered in gen-you-wine Cobra Hide "had a cobra snake for a necktie" (props to Bo). The Cobra Case comes with a bottle of DeanZ AXE curry scent and a bottle of DeanZ Sauvignon Blanc Private Label from the DeanZ Vineyards of Highland Park, IL (home of Ferris Beuhler)
  5. Play one of his guitars.  If you don't like it at least you'll know why.  If you do like it, admit it, maybe even buy one.
  6. You go DZ... pay no attention to the nattering naybobs of negativism (props to our 39th VP Spiro Agnew)

Cheers! with a glass of DeanZ Sauvignon Blanc Private Label of course!

caddie

 

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On 12/03/2018 at 11:54 AM, hirah said:

I tried a used one. Not a fan. As mentioned, I can't see how to keep it clean. Plus there was not less friction  and it felt weird.

Wanna keep the neck of your guitar clean?  Wash your hands before you play.

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6 hours ago, Caddie said:
  1. can the back of the neck be used as a nail file?
  2. He can now declare his trips to India as a biz expense
  3. Dean this, Dean that, Dean Wormer 1226079731_1.jpg......I kind of admire the guy, Zelinsky that is, not Wormer 
  4. DZ is sticking his neck out there building a brand with his name.  Who cares if he's having them built in India?  Maybe he really, really likes curry.  Maybe that will be one of the options offered on his Private Label line, case covered in gen-you-wine Cobra Hide "had a cobra snake for a necktie" (props to Bo). The Cobra Case comes with a bottle of DeanZ AXE curry scent and a bottle of DeanZ Sauvignon Blanc Private Label from the DeanZ Vineyards of Highland Park, IL (home of Ferris Beuhler)
  5. Play one of his guitars.  If you don't like it at least you'll know why.  If you do like it, admit it, maybe even buy one.
  6. You go DZ... pay no attention to the nattering naybobs of negativism (props to our 39th VP Spiro Agnew)

Cheers! with a glass of DeanZ Sauvignon Blanc Private Label of course!

caddie

 

I don't dislike the guy.  I don't care where something is made as long as it's good.  If I see one around, I may try it out, but I may wait until he has his next company, "No, Really, It's Actually Me This Time, Dean.  I'm Over Here Now, Not the Other Companies with My Name."  You know, since he's already had a brand or two or three with his name.   :lol:

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On 12/03/2018 at 11:41 AM, BubbaVO said:

Hmmm...  From the abstract: 

Abstract
Some or all, of the surface area of the back neck of a guitar is reduced to for a continuous geometric pattern, with spaced depressions or raised ridges, leaving less surface area for the palm of the hand and/or thumb to contact, thereby reducing or eliminating tackiness so that the grip on the neck can be better controlled.
 
Smelling some snake oil here.

The Dr Sheldon Cooper Theory.

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