At the age of 17 years Dean Zelinsky started building guitars and founded the Dean Guitar Company in Chicago in 1976. The quality of the Dean guitars was never an issue, not even back in the days, however at first the very special shaped oversized headstock did cause somewhat of a headache with traditional buyers. Maybe the shape is the reason why the rather conservatively built guitar was first discovered by the metal players. The later introduced shapes “Dean Explorer“ and “Dean Flying V“ strengthened the connections to this scene.

Rockers love the innovative design, magnificent craftsmanship and the great value for money, Dean is seen as a rock guitar. Bands and artists such as ZZ-Top, Heart, Michael Schenker, or Dimebag Darrel made Dean to be one of the most famous American guitars.

Today Dean produce a wide variety of guitars and bass guitars. Dean Zelinsky and his team constantly develop new and unusual solutions for the individual player. At Dean no one is afraid of evolution, the creative team is always eager to try new things.

In the 80´s and 90´s Dean guitars belonged to Oscar Medeiros, at the end of the 90´s Armadillo Enterprises took over Dean and pulled Dean Zelinsky back aboard. Dean Instruments are now made in the USA, Korea and in the Czech Republic (handmade!)

At present Dean offers a wide range of electric guitars, electric basses, amplifiers and acoustic guitars, for the beginner as well as the professional. The best known models include:
Dean EVO, Dean V Michael Schenker Custom, Dean USA Schenker Brothers V, Dean Dixie Rebel, Dean Michael Schenker USA Limited Edition, Dean USA Leslie West Signature Electric, Dean Concert, Dean Espana, Dean Performer, Dean Tradition, Dean Avalanche, Dean Evo, Dean Hardtail, Dean ML, Dean Edge, Dean GA 40 Combo, Dean DA 30-4 Acoustic Amp, Dean Mean 10 Guitar Amp, Dean Mean 16R Guitar Amp, Dean Bassola 40, Dean Bass in a Box and many more.