Tell us a bit about the current Dean facility. How many people are employed and any special machinery to build your guitars?
DZ:

MH: Dean is now offering a full line of solid bodied, semi-hollow and acoustic guitars. Did a changing guitar marketplace dictate these products?
DZ: Change did dictate a lot of things. Mostly to grow the business. You cannot be a one trick pony. That is why we have a full line of electrics, acoustics and basses from $49 to $3600. It includes one of the biggest line of resonator guitars, Jazz guitars, basses in solid body, hollow body and semi-hollow in four, five, six, eight and twelve string models. We make the finest line of guitars in the world. We have acoustics that have Sitka spruce tops, rosewood back and sides, Fishman electronics, hand applied abalone all around the body, up the fingerboard and on the head, complete with Grover tuners all for a retail of only $749. When I show this guitar to experienced retailers that don't already know the Dean line, I ask them "what do you think this guitar retails for?" They consistently say $1200 to $1500. Even experienced retailers are amazed at what a value Dean acoustics can be. That is true for the whole Dean line today. We are committed to give players more guitar for the money than any other guitar company. Anyone who goes to the front page of www.deanguitars.com and clicks on "Letters To Dean" will see literally hundreds of letters, most of them people who cannot believe how much guitar they got for the money.

MH: The new Dean "Hard Tail" is your first design since your return to Dean Guitars last year. It's an absolutely amazing guitar and really falls into the boutique line. Tell us about your conception of this guitar and why you think it is unique?
DZ: My background has always been hot rodding guitars. Quality custom guitars...not merely bodies with necks bolted onto them. The "original" Dean Guitars were born out of my idea of what a totally hot rodded guitar would be utilizing techniques I developed in my repair business since I was 16 years old. Features vintage Deans are known for including the V necks, the molded heel, the out of phase wiring, etc.. were all developed by me way back then.

As most of you know, I took a hiatus from the guitar business for nine years. When I set out to design a new Dean Guitar, I had to think what a Dean would look like if I had started Dean Guitars today. It had to be a blend of all the qualities to make a truly great guitar in terms of playability, sound and sustain plus have "the look" the market would accept today. The obvious direction was a double cutaway with a fine carved maple top. We were no strangers to figured maple tops at Dean. We were one of, if not the first, guitar manufacturer to bring back the flame maple top in the late 70's. Gibson did not make a flame top guitar at that time and only brought it back because of the success companies like Dean were experiencing. In addition, the new Dean had to embody everything I knew not only to make the finest quality guitar, but utilize design techniques I knew would make the new Dean out sustain any other guitar on the market. That is why the Hardtail has an offset cutaway with a molded in heal creating a larger marriage between the neck and body. Most guitar designers do not understand how much involvement the neck plays in the sustainability of a guitar and how critical the neck joint becomes. As a guitar designer, you go for optimum sustain. That is why I added features like our custom Caddy tailpiece that connects the strings to the body with a mass of steel.

Experts who have reviewed the HardTail have compared them to the Les Paul and PRS. To answer your question in short order, here is a list of the HardTail's features as it compares to the competition...African mahogany bodies (African mahogany is a lot prettier than the Honduras used on PRS and Les Paul's), 5/8" deeply dished and highly figured carved flame and quilt maple tops (both Gibson and PRS use 1'2"), an offset cutaway design (PRS and Gibson double cutaway Les Paul's use a half moon design), Ebony fingerboards (PRS only uses rosewood), abalone flame inlays with a combination of abalone and sterling silver at the 12th fret (no other makers are using sterling silver inlay in electric guitars), custom steel knobs (PRS and Gibson use plastic), custom Seymour Duncan pickups (many Les Paul and PRS owners replace their pickups with Duncan), a custom molded heal (PRS is a relatively simple neck joint) that allows easy access to the last fret and an undercut fret tang with a real ebony binding (PRS just leaves the tang and Les Paul uses a plastic binding). Finally, HardTail's suggested retail is a mere $2800. Comparable PRS's list for $3600 with Les Pauls going over $4,000.

We wire HardTails out of phase. This feature, while switched in the middle position, a player can keep the two volume controls parallel and achieve a beautiful single coil sound almost never heard on double humbucking guitars. A single coil sound that every player agrees sounds nicer than a coil tap. Then, by slightly rolling off one of the volume controls, you can instantly achieve a fat humbucking sound with beautiful overtones also not readily achieved on double humbucking guitars. Depending on which volume control you choose to you roll off, you can achieve two totally different sounds. You can also set up your volume controls with the rhythm pickup slightly rolled back. Then you can instantly have a beautiful single coil sound by flipping the switch to the middle position. You still have a nice full warm tone when you are in the rhythm position and you do not lose volume. By doing this, we took a position that was almost never used by rockers and made it the most versatile position on the guitar.

I have told you all the features I put into the HardTail to make it not only unique but what we feel is the finest guitar on the market. The real proof is for you readers to go out and try one. I travel the country visiting about 20 music stores per month. I have yet to hear anybody do anything but rave about the HardTails. On several occasions, I have been forced to sell my samples to salespeople who work in the stores and wouldn't let me leave with the guitar.

MH: During your 12 year departure from Dean Guitars, tell us what occupied your time?
DZ: It may have seemed like 12 but is was only nine. I really took about 2 years off trying to decide what I wanted to do. I then went into the custom furniture business, utilizing all of my wood working skills. The difference here was, instead of designing a product once and producing it for years...I was designing a product every week and producing it only once. This
actually helped to keep my design skills honed while away from the guitar business. Most of my time was occupied with designing and building "high end" custom furniture for people all over Chicago. While Michael Jordan was winning championships, we were building his furniture.

MH: Any new products from Dean we can expect to see at Winter NAMM 2003?
DZ: Quite a few new products. One line that is off to quite a good start is the '79 series V, Z and ML. These are Korean made to the exact specs of an original '79 Dean. The Dean Owners of America Club members pushed us to do this. We have a forum at the Dean site www.deanguitars.com and these guys started the club. It is growing like a weed. This February, they are having the second annual meeting down in Florida. We also have live chats about once a month where people can chat with me or sometimes a celebrity guest. Another new model we will be introducing is a "Collector Series" HardTail. These will have the original Dean "Time Capsule" V neck and what we are calling an 11 top. This will be achieved by selecting only the best of all the 10 tops we buy. This will be a limited run and I will sign each instrument. We also plan on introducing a USA made 77 series V, Z and ML complete with raw brass parts, the 1977 mega V head and a real lacquer finish just like the originals! We are also working on an Exotica acoustic with a real lacquer finish, more colors on Exotica, more bass models and a new electric line designed to compete with the likes of Ibanez and Jackson. Innovation is how we keep growing.

MH: Over the past 20 years in your opinion, what is the most significant change you have witnessed in the guitar market?
DZ: The most significant change probably was the acceptance of the Korean (imported) guitar. When I started Dean, there was always foreign competition. Ibanez was cutting it's teeth by doing copies of Gibsons that were better than Gibsons. The difference was, all of us USA makers fought the foreign competition. And they were having trouble getting market share. This all changed when Fender decided to go off shore. As soon as there was a Strat for $369, it all changed. In 1969 a Cadillac Eldorado was about $7,000 and a Fender Strat was about $400. Today an Eldorado is about 40 something thousand and a Strat is about $200. Now we all import and it is a way of life in America. The guitar business is not so unique, as it is done in just about every industry. The real difference is 20 years ago, a USA guitar was a way of life. Today it is pure luxury!

MH: What do you feel has contributed to the "rebirth" success of Dean Guitars?
DZ: The rebirth was really a well-constructed and implemented plan by our company CEO, Elliott Rubinson. To combine a complete line of guitars that have more value than any other line, with a name that was synonymous with quality guitars since the 1970's. Then a marketing plan that did not include superstores. You don't see Dean in Guitar Centers, etc... and this is no accident. It is by design. The plan was, the independent dealers would stock and promote a line if they had something that was theirs and they didn't have to worry about the superstores undercutting them. Today if a player goes into an independent music store and picks out a Dean, then shops a Guitar Center store, they cannot walk out with a better guitar for a better price in any brand. Therefore, a player can rest assured if they buy Dean, they can't do any better. But don't take my word for it, Go to Letters to Dean at www.deanguitars.com and read what literally hundreds have told us. While this marketing plan has served the company well, it also hurts us. Young players tend to think that if Guitar Center doesn't carry it, it is not a major brand. We are about the only major brand that does not sell the "Guitar Centers" of the world. That is why it is important for us to get the word out that this is by design!

MH: How do you perceive the guitar market continuing to evolve over the next 10 years?
DZ: Basically more Dean acoustic, more Dean electrics, more Dean USA...more Dean, more Dean, more Dean! Truthfully, I don't know if Gibson and Fender are going to hang on to the "thing" they have had for so many years. They are both living off guitars that were designed in the 50's. They haven't come up with a new body style that has caught on in forty to fifty years. I think Fender may have finally run out of ways they can reconfigure a Strat. I don't see any young bands playing Fender these days. Fender seems to be concentrating more on getting their guitars into the Sam Goodies and Wal-Mart's. This type of marketing tends to weaken the branding.

I don't see Gibson catering to the young rocker either... they keep coming up with different configurations of Les Pauls. Les Pauls are heavy and heavy is not the trend. There were 5 or 6 boutique companies that started in the late 70's when I started Dean. Names like Hamer, Kramer, B.C. Rich. Together, we gave Gibson and Fender a run for their money. The 5 or 6 of us combined were the equivalent of another large guitar company. Today, Dean is the only one left that is a force in the industry. Companies like Dean and PRS have the ability to create "new" guitars that players want. PRS looks as if they are at market saturation for their USA Guitars. They are dabbling in imports and probably will go deeper in that category to grow their business. We are already strong in imports and getting stronger. We are just getting back inUSA and plan to grow that part of our business as well. In short it is very difficult to break into the guitarbusiness so I don't see any new competition coming from the outside. The companies that will get stronger are the ones that are broad based, innovative and can respond to the market. At Dean, we are always innovating while carefully watching our backside! As a rule, guitar design resists technology. It always comes down to a beautiful piece of wood, a couple pickups, a few knobs and then how you put it all together. We do that as good or better than anybody.

MH: In closing Dean, any special personal or business ethics you feel have been instrumental in contributing to your success?
DZ: About fifteen years ago I met an old man named Manny Okmin. Manny had sold me a building and became my best friend. He has since passed away. Manny used to always say... "Life only gets better!" In closing I can say, believe in yourself, be persistent, don't let anything get in the way of your dreams and in the words of my good friend Manny Okmin..."life only gets better!"

A very special thanks to Dean for his time and patience.

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