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

dean ml (usa)
ser # 79 01547
james fox (tonawanda, ny)

this is the first real electric guitar i owned. prior to this, i was playing a $150 cameo walnut explorer copy. i suppose that it looks dated because of the body style, but it plays wonderfully and it lighter and better balanced than you'd think. sounds nice too.

the ml model body style is half flying v and half explorer. ml stands for matt lynn. matt was a guitarist and childhood friend of dean zelinsky, the founder of dean guitars. when matt was 16, it was discovered that he had cancer and died within six months. dean named the guitar after him.

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 always wanted a dean. steve glor, my first guitar teacher whose family owned the holland music studio, used to tease me with the dean brochures. he'd tell me that i had to buy one from him. back in the late 70's, they were at least $1,200... more money than i had when i was fifteen or sixteen. during the summer of 1980, between my junior and senior year of high school, i saw the ad for this guitar in the local classifieds. i called the number and talked to jim fox. he told me that he had bought it within the last several months at the now defunct buffalo guitar outlet. he said he paid around $1000 for it but had to get rid of it.

he wanted alot of money for it and i was hesitating. he tried to further entice me by telling me that his friend's band, who had just recently opened for judas priest, had used this very guitar onstage at the concert. i told him that i was going to be out of town for awhile but would call him when i got home. while i was away at a summer art and photography program at the art institute of pittsburgh, he called my house several times. my parents contacted me at the dorms and said he really wanted to sell it. i asked my father to take some money out of my savings account and go pick it up. i was worried because i had never actually seen or played the instrument...i might get burned on the deal. besides, dad really didn't know much about guitars at the time.

after my father bought the guitar and brought it home, he called me in pittsburgh. it seems that the seller had some attorney's fees to pay off and really needed the money. dad told him that because of college expenses, i only had $500 and would have to borrow the rest from my parents. he was so desperate for cash that he let it go for $600... i flipped. i had a dean waiting for me when i got home!

thanks dad.

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



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