News

Regional

New designs make Dean a player

By JANET ZINK
Published January 28, 2005

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Chris Zuppa/tbt* Elliott Rubinson, Dean’s president, shows a Dean From Hell Dimebag Limited Edition guitar. All 150 of the $4,700 guitars have been presold.

They were shots heard 'round the heavy metal world. On Dec. 8, a fan gunned down former Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott during an Ohio performance with his new band, Damageplan.

But Dimebag lives on with a line of guitars that local manufacturer and distributor Dean Guitars introduced recently at a music industry conference in Anaheim, Calif.

The launch of the Dimebag line signals a new era for Dean, a once-popular guitarmaker that has been steadily rebuilding its brand. Another heavy metal guitarist has signed an endorsement deal, drums have been added to the inventory, and a line of guitars designed for women is being unveiled.

At the same time, Tampa-based Armadillo Enterprises, which owns Dean, has moved the company out of its Clearwater headquarters into the mammoth warehouse in Tampa that was vacated by Tropical Sportsware Int'l. Corp.

The Dimebag guitars are causing a buzz.

For the first time, Dimebag is featured on February's cover of Guitar Player , which includes a Dean guitar emblazoned across the top.

All 150 limited-edition guitars with Dimebag's lightning bolt graphics have been presold for $4,700 each, said Elliott Rubinson, head of Armadillo.

Dimebag's affiliation with Dean goes back to when he was 14, Rubinson said. He played them throughout Pantera's heyday in the mid '90s. He switched to Washburn Guitars late in the decade, a time when Dean Guitars had practically disappeared from the American market.

But when Dimebag's contract with Washburn ended, he inked an endorsement deal with Dean, which Rubinson had revived. Dimebag died three weeks later at the age of 38.

In the months before that, though, he worked with Dean Zelinsky, the Chicago-based founder of Dean, to develop a guitar with a unique body shape and finger grips on the volume and tone knobs so they can be easily grasped by performers sweating on stage.

He also created four graphic designs for Dean Guitar bodies. One features stripes of lime green, Dimebag's favorite color, Rubinson said. Another simulates rusting metal.

The company, which assembles guitar parts made and painted in locations throughout the country and distributes them around the world, has taken off, moving 100,000 units in 2004 and outgrowing its 20,000-square-foot Clearwater location.

In October, Dean signed an endorsement deal with Michael Schenker, former Scorpions guitarist and now leader of the Michael Schenker Group.

The Luna Guitars, which are designed to fit women better by being lighter and having smaller necks, will be in stores in 90 days. The electric guitars come in pastel colors. The acoustics are decorated with fairies and in-laid dragonflies.

Rubinson is happy to have the room to spread out.

"With the growth of Dean and two new lines we figure it's not going to be long before we fill this facility," Rubinson said.

- Janet Zink, jzink@tampabay.com

[Last modified January 27, 2005, 13:07:01]

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