charles h. root, iii music/recording > gear > dean elite guitar

dean elite (usa)
ser # 80 01911
top shelf music (buffalo, ny)

this is about the best electric guitar i've ever played. the action from the nut to the top fret is consistent, and the neck has that classic dean feel. it has a full bodied sound that makes it stand out from any other instrument i own... even my dean ml. if i could only keep one guitar, this would be the one. i like to let people play it through my marshall so i can see the looks on their face. especially les paul snobs.

the dean elite model body style is half les paul and half explorer.

if you dont know about dean guitars, they were hands-down the best instruments made in the late 70's/early 80's. they were noted for their superior quality, playability, custom wound dimarzio pickups and distinctive feeling necks. their finishes were so beautiful rumor has it that gibson tried to buy the finishing process, but dean wouldn't sell. if you've ever seen a dean cherry burst, you know what i mean.

dean guitars was started in the 1976 by dean zelinsky. He was a senior in high school when he started the company in a chicago suburb. early on, the guitars weren't built until an order came in because they were handmade. his instruments caught on quickly after notable rock guitarists of the era tried them at trade shows. if you're old enough, you'll also remember the ads from guitar player magazine. there were only 6000 or so of the original 'made in the usa' deans crafted before the company was sold. after the sale, they were mass produced over seas.

i was in top shelf music on hertel avenue in buffalo buying strings one day and my ex-wife said, "hey... isn't that one of those dean guitars like yours hanging on the wall?" i didn't even see it. after i bought the strings, i asked the man behind the counter how much it was and if i could take a look. he said it wasn't one of the early 'made in the usa' models, so it wasn't worth that much.

he pulled it down and i took a look. when i wasn't being watched, i flipped it over to look at the back of the headstock. i was quite surprised to see that it was, in fact, an earlier 'made in the usa' model. you can tell by the dean serial number scheme... the first two numbers are the year it was built, and the last five digits indicate the instrument number. oh yeah... it also says 'made in the usa' on the headstock. anyway, this one was from 1980 and was the 1911th dean built. i guess they didn't know that.

i asked if i could trade some stuff for it... so i swapped a peavey t-40 bass, backstage 30 amp, an acoustic 150 amp head, and some old footpedals and tuners for it. not bad for one of the first 2000 deans ever made.

thank god michelle saw it.

as always, custom setup and maintenance by bob "guitar doctor" schaefer.



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