Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

Re: Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

the shop owner who had the DFH and did all the mods to it was a friend of dime's beforehand, thats probably why he sold it to him.
 
Re: Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

JB_From_Hell said:
He begged his dad for one. Dad ended up buying it for him. Dime won the second one in a contest a short time later (not the same day). He was 16, and wanted a car, and decided to sell one of the guitars. He liked the contest guitar better, but didn't wanna bum his dad out, so he sold the contest one for $600. Years later, he saw it in a shop, after someone had painted the lightning bolts on it. Dime ordered a custom axe from the shop owner, who never got around to doing it, and eventually gave him the lightning bolt guitar (the DFH), and informed him that it was his original one.
Click to expand...

Yes he begged his dad for one.
Won the 1st one in the competition(maroon/burgundy), got home and found out that his dad
had bought him one(probably the cherryburst)
 
Re: Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

Although I'm posting this nearly 8 years after the last post in this thread...

From an inside source, Dime came to Washburn for a few reasons not mentioned here. Yes, Dean was out of business. Yes, of course Washburn offered cash and gear (like every other manufacturer did). What set the Washburn offer apart from the others was this... At that time, Washburn's USA handmade guitar shop was run by one of the greatest living luthiers, Grover Jackson. Grover was EXTREMELY hands on when it came to how guitars in that shop were designed, the materials used, and the processes in which they were finished, assembled, and set-up. That impressed Dime, as it should have. Grover gave Washburn credibility it grossly needed, and the guitars that were coming out of that shop under Grover were top notch. Additionally, there was a young man working in the "custom" shop of that USA plant who was a friend of Dime's. I'm not saying they were best friends, but they knew each other, and I believe that young man had worked on some of Dime's guitars in the past, so Dime trusted him, too. Dime personally came to the USA shop a number of times and helped design his guitars with Grover and that dude. A lot of fantastic guitars came out of that little factory for a couple years.
 
Re: Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

teamasfalt said:
Although I'm posting this nearly 8 years after the last post in this thread...

From an inside source, Dime came to Washburn for a few reasons not mentioned here. Yes, Dean was out of business. Yes, of course Washburn offered cash and gear (like every other manufacturer did). What set the Washburn offer apart from the others was this... At that time, Washburn's USA handmade guitar shop was run by one of the greatest living luthiers, Grover Jackson. Grover was EXTREMELY hands on when it came to how guitars in that shop were designed, the materials used, and the processes in which they were finished, assembled, and set-up. That impressed Dime, as it should have. Grover gave Washburn credibility it grossly needed, and the guitars that were coming out of that shop under Grover were top notch. Additionally, there was a young man working in the "custom" shop of that USA plant who was a friend of Dime's. I'm not saying they were best friends, but they knew each other, and I believe that young man had worked on some of Dime's guitars in the past, so Dime trusted him, too. Dime personally came to the USA shop a number of times and helped design his guitars with Grover and that dude. A lot of fantastic guitars came out of that little factory for a couple years.
Click to expand...
Pretty much on target. Several other companies did build prototypes for Dime including BC Rich and Hamer but it was the Washburn USA shop that gave him the guitar he really asked for. Things fell apart after Grover left in relationship and also when Dean came back in business.
You are talking about Chewy in the friendship between Dime and someone on staff at Washburn and I have heard many stories about the shenanigans of that pair at some of the gigs.
This one was mine for a while it was from the 2000 NAMM booth and note the SN.



 
Re: Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

Love those "A Series",I think they were.Teh 'Splorer-thingies.
Almost bought one way back,I'd prolly still have it if I had.The Kramer I got instead is long-ass gone...

How many of those SuperStrats are floating around on the board?
Keeper,BloodRose,who else has some?
 
Re: Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

im a fan boi too! LOVE those guitars! would have a bunch if I had the $$. Acension was the "pusher" that got me hooked. haha
 
Re: Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

Chewy? Ha! Yes, Chewy. I forgot that was his nickname. I didn't want to write his real name here because no one else had (which is a bit of a surprise to me). Is it supposed to be some kind of a secret? Has he asked for a little anonymity here?
 
Re: Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

AdmiralB said:
Was Armadillo the company Elliott Rubenstein started? Elliott owned the Thoroughbred Music chain in Florida, I used to do a lot of business with them and in '96 Elliott told me he had acquired the Dean name and intellectual property, etc. He started a little shop in Florida making USA Deans, and as you say, good-quality imports. IIRC he hired Zelinsky back in '97, him having got over the nose candy issues that cost him the company in the first place (not to be hard on Dean, it happened to others too - Dennis Berardi and Kramer for one).
Click to expand...

jmh151 said:
I don't know anything about Elliot Rubenstein or the nose candy rumors, and who knows if that was true. I think the rest sounds true as there's no indication that Dean Zelinsky is an owner of Dean today, just that he's working with them
Click to expand...

Elliott Rubinson CEO Armadillo Music.

Dean left Dean Guitars again in mid 2008.
 
Re: Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

Dean improved them a little when Dime came back. Dimes original MLs were hardtails that were converted to Floyd, so the neck angle wasn't correct and the Floyd sat high off the body. Washburn copied this exactly on the USA models I saw in person. When Dime went back to Dean, Dean now used a recessed Floyd
 
Re: Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

I wanted one of his Washburns so badly when they first came out. The thing that got me was the Washburn logo. The font was really cool, like something out of a horror movie from the early 60's.

Granted, I knew nothing about basic guitar care/maintenance at the time and it probably would have fallen into a state of disrepair rather quickly.
 
Re: Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

teamasfalt said:
Although I'm posting this nearly 8 years after the last post in this thread...

From an inside source, Dime came to Washburn for a few reasons not mentioned here. Yes, Dean was out of business. Yes, of course Washburn offered cash and gear (like every other manufacturer did). What set the Washburn offer apart from the others was this... At that time, Washburn's USA handmade guitar shop was run by one of the greatest living luthiers, Grover Jackson. Grover was EXTREMELY hands on when it came to how guitars in that shop were designed, the materials used, and the processes in which they were finished, assembled, and set-up. That impressed Dime, as it should have. Grover gave Washburn credibility it grossly needed, and the guitars that were coming out of that shop under Grover were top notch. Additionally, there was a young man working in the "custom" shop of that USA plant who was a friend of Dime's. I'm not saying they were best friends, but they knew each other, and I believe that young man had worked on some of Dime's guitars in the past, so Dime trusted him, too. Dime personally came to the USA shop a number of times and helped design his guitars with Grover and that dude. A lot of fantastic guitars came out of that little factory for a couple years.
Click to expand...

Makes perfect sense those Grover era Washburns are the real deal. I remember seeing some one playing a fantastic Grover designed Washburn Bass, with some cool active Bartoloni circuit. I think It was made of Swamp Ash.
 
Re: Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

I've owned several import deans... from the cheapest bolt neck to a custom Dean Forum limited run... I have loved them all. All made well, all played spot on, and a few were remarkable players. My ATF3000 for instance was flat amazing! as is this Blue V... Crazy necks on a few of them, but I love them all.
 
Re: Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

I have to comment- when I said they were better than PRS, I made that comment in 2006. The guitar at the time was a USA made Dean Hardtail costing $2400. At the time, their quality had to be better than PRS in the hopes they would be able to compete. I liked the jumbo frets on the Dean, and everything on this Dean- the flame maple, mahogany, tone, and fretwork slayed PRS, even more so considering a similarly appointed PRS would go for $3600.

I can't say the same for current Deans vs PRS as I havent seen a USA Dean in a store since 2006
 
Re: Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

I wish I could own a real deal dean ML with Floyd, like dime. Sadly it's a luxury I can't afford.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Why Did Dimebag Leave Dean for Washburn?

jmh151 said:
Dime's first guitar when he was 16 was a Dean ML-.
Click to expand...

That might have been his first "decent" guitar but I have seen pictures of a young Dimebag playing a Hondo II Les Paul.
 
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