The Dean Z Guitar is an

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

made by

Dean Guitars Dean Guitars, commonly referred to simply as Dean, is an American importer and maker of stringed instruments and musical products with its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida. Its products include solid-body electric guitars, bass gu ...

starting in 1977 along with its counterparts, the Dean ML,

Dean V The Dean V is a model of electric electric guitar, guitar and bass guitar, bass released by Dean Guitars in 1977. It forms part of Dean's classic line of guitars along with the Dean ML, Dean Cadillac and Dean Z. In addition to its body shape, the ...

and Dean Cadillac. It has the recognizable Dean

headstock A headstock or peghead is part of a guitar or similar stringed instruments such as a lute, mandolin, banjo, ukulele and others of the lute lineage. The main function of a headstock is to house the tuning pegs or other mechanism that holds the s ...

and the V-shaped tailpiece. The body shape is similar to the body design of a

Gibson Explorer The Gibson Explorer is a type of electric guitar model by Gibson guitars, released in 1958. The Explorer offered a radical, " futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Flying V, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, wh ...

History

The Dean Z, like its counterpart the Dean ML, was designed with the enhancement of tone, sustain and playability in mind. These models have dramatic string angles at the bridge and nut and a string thru body design featuring the original V plate. The added string length created by the exclusive

coupled with the original Dean neck design is how the Z achieves its "incredible ease of play". Dean Guitars' parent company, Armadillo Entrerprises, was ordered to halt sales of the Z in 2022 after legal action was taken against the company by

Gibson Guitars Gibson, Gibson's or Gibsons may refer to: Business * Gibson Appliance, a former American refrigerator manufacturer * Gibson (guitar company), an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Greetings, ...

. However, in July 2024, the US court of Appeals 5th Circuit Court found in favor of Armadillo's appeal, reversing the prior ruling and sending the case back for retrial. The Appellate Court found that the lower District Court had overstepped its authority in blocking certain evidence from the original trial. As part of the ruling, Dean Guitars will be allowed to resume sales of the Dean Z.

Construction

The Z shape is also available as part of the Baby Series as a scaled-down version. There is also a Z-shaped

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

made by

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

Discontinuation

In 2022 Gibson successfully sued Dean Guitars over the production of the Z model for patent violations and the model has since been deleted from the Dean model range and Dean website.https://www.guitarworld.com/news/dean-prohibited-from-using-gibson-trademarks However, in July 2024, this ruling was overturned by the US Court of Appeals and remanded back for retrial, restoring all rights to sell the Dean model Z to Dean Guitars.

References

External links

* Z 1977 musical instruments {{electric-guitar-stub

History

Construction

Discontinuation

See also

References

External links