dannyalcatraz

You misunderstand.

Dean was Mr. Zelinsky's first company, dedicated to hard rock style guitars. He left them, returned, then left again.
http://www.deanguitars.com/home.php


DBZ was his second company, with a similar focus as Dean. However, he had a business disagreement with his 2 partners. It is unclear whether he is still affiliated with DBZ at this time.
http://www.dbzguitars.com/


Dean Private Label is his newest company, and that is the one I referred to when using the "elder statesman of rock" line. There are only 3 guitars in that company's line of products: a Strat variant and 2 LP variants.
http://www.deanzelinsky.com/



Both should do you just fine.

__________________
Sturgeon's 2nd Law, a.k.a. Sturgeon's Revelation: “Ninety percent of everything is crap.”

Why, yes, I am a lawyer- thanks for asking!

dannyalcatraz

TS- near as I can tell, Tom1.0's a pretty stand-up guy. Generally has good thoughts & is helpful, so worth talking to. That's my take on him, at least.

__________________
Sturgeon's 2nd Law, a.k.a. Sturgeon's Revelation: “Ninety percent of everything is crap.”

Why, yes, I am a lawyer- thanks for asking!

Buffb

I own a venom myself which I picked up brand new for £575. It's the silver one which wasn't the colour I reall wanted but it was in the price band I could afford at the time. It plays really well and the build quality is fantastic. It's my 3rd DBZ having owned a bolero and a barchetta and it is in my opinion well worth looking at if it's a V your after. I have reviewed it on UG so have a look, but as with anything try it out. The contoured body is nice and it sounds great. It is pointy thou but your looking at Deans so I am sure that won't bother you!! Have fun guitar shopping

LIPCoelho

thanks for the info, didnt know that, always nice to know new stuff.
well, i think im going on the right direction


thanks man, appreciated it! i wanted to try one out buy i have yet to find a place near home with one. but thanks for the intel, im getting more into the DBZ. i like the Venom in dark blue, gungrey and silver, and the Venom FM in Trans Black. btw, being the main difference between them a mohogany body (Venom St) and a mohogony/flame maple body (Venom FM), how does this translate into? i mean, does this FM extra make the guitar sound better, be more robust, last longer, or it's just a matter of aesthetics and coloring options?


i'm looking for a "flying V" shaped guitar. not an explorer (my brother has a kelly also), not even a RR. im a sucker for V-guitars.

i have around that amount of money, but it depends of the deal. i'd consider buying 2nd handed guitars if i had good quality guarantees and if the deal was good (for example, buying a 1200€ guitar for 800 or 900€). but ATM im not considering "where" i'm buying it. i'm trying to figure out whats the offer from as much brands as i can find, and then figure out the best guitars (i think i'm at this point). after that, i want to focus my attention on finding a up-to-5 Top guitar list and then look for prices. but, at the time being, im just trying to know more and more

LIPCoelho

i found these prices:
- for DBZ guitars:
.DBZ venom - from 410€ to 773€
.DBZ Venom FM - 841€
.DBZ Venom GX - 841€

-for jackson guitars:
.Jackson KVMG - 700€ to 800€
.Jackson KVMGQ - 855€
.Demmeltion original - 1080€ to 1500€
.PDX demmelition - 425€ to 553€
.PDX2 demmeltion - 540€

-Schecter guitars:
.JLV 7FR - 770€ to 1300€
.JLV 6FR - 700€ to 1150€

- Dean guitars:
.corey beaulieu sign - 836€
.razorback v255 - from 775€ to 1300€

BC rich NJ deluxe JR V - 500€ to 800€

Stores/shops/sites consulted:
-guitar center
-amazon (.co.uk, .com, .de)
-carlino guitars
-guitar asylum
-neal's deal
-beyond 11
-euroguitar
-gear hounds
-thomann
-music store
-max guitars
-pro audio land
-several portuguese stores

any place i look at that i have missed?

LIPCoelho

i read this comment in another thread (http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/foru...?t-1315301.html)

"yeah, ive been loving Deans new guitars, i would buy one, but the venoms are way to big for a guy of my size, the guys on the DBZ forum say the imports play better than some of Dean Guitars USA made guitars, defiantly try one out before you order, not that they're bad, just to see the feel, the weight , like any other guitar really, but as its Mr. Dean Zelinsky at the reigns of the company and has a good eye on the imports aswell as the USA, you can be assured that the quality is there."
05-19-2010, 09:31 PM

i know that most of them have USA -made PU. can anybody tell me where the "average" DBZ Venoms are made? also, where will the Jackson Pro series be made?

Boonnoo666

Argument - Battery access. I considered your idea myself (with the Faded, '68 is out of my budget) but then thought about how will I change the battery?!

__________________


Schecter Damien FR
Kramer Imperial
Peavey Valveking Head
Marshall 1936 JCM900 lead cab

LIPCoelho

another argument - shape. i'm not hopelessly in love with it xD plus i have already played with a gibson flying V and it wasn't that great of a sensation

T00DEEPBLUE

That's easy, there is more than enough space in the control cavity to put a battery in there.

What didn't you like about it? I've never played a Flying V that sounded bad and they've always played nicely.

__________________

Boonnoo666

What I meant was the annoyance of always having to take the plate/pickguard off every time you need a change of batt. But it doesn't matter anyway, cause I just remembered EMG's external power supply

__________________


Schecter Damien FR
Kramer Imperial
Peavey Valveking Head
Marshall 1936 JCM900 lead cab

T00DEEPBLUE

Not a big deal. The battery pulls barely any amps, so it lasts for hundreds, if not thousands of hours. You can get away with having the same battery in there for over a year if you play daily.

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LIPCoelho

i just found out that Portugal does not have a DBZ dealer, and thats a huge boner breaker...

DBZ owners, since i cannot try out one of these guitars, can you tell me how is the guitar's neck? if possible, another guitar brand that has similar necks to the DBZ Venom.

thank you!

dannyalcatraz

Given who we're talking about, my bet is that DBZs, Deans And Dean Zelinsky's Private Stock necks are all pretty similar in overall dimensions- the man has been pro-shred minded his whole guitar-making career- the only major difference being DZPS' new speed necks, which are dimpled like a golfball.

So my best suggesion is check out a Dean V (or any pointy Dean) of some kind.

__________________
Sturgeon's 2nd Law, a.k.a. Sturgeon's Revelation: “Ninety percent of everything is crap.”

Why, yes, I am a lawyer- thanks for asking!

LIPCoelho

thanks man, didn't know that. i'm not sure i dig the dimpled concept but thats just me.
you know where the majority of the DBZ guitars are made? i cant find that info

dannyalcatraz

My bet is that the MAJORITY of DBZs are made in Korea- just like most manufacturers- and as I recall, their top of the line models are made in the USA.

As for the golfball neck, remember, that's not DBZ, that's from his third company only.

__________________
Sturgeon's 2nd Law, a.k.a. Sturgeon's Revelation: “Ninety percent of everything is crap.”

Why, yes, I am a lawyer- thanks for asking!

LIPCoelho

just commenting the idea, which doesnt seem that good, but i shouldnt diss before i try it

made in korea are generally good or bad guitars? i heard mixed reviews

dannyalcatraz

As I understand it, the top countries for mass-produced guitars* are the USA & Japan. Korea & Mexico would be second tier, and China would bring up the rear, with everywhere else somewhere in between those extremes.

Sometimes, that has more to do with available options & materials as workmanship. The USA and Japanese factories will get the best materials, followed by Mexico & Korea, etc.

Still, this is just a rule of thumb- you can get a gem or a lemon from any maker, any factory, any country.

I know I just got a MiK Fernandes Ravelle Elite (I may do a NGD thread on it.) for my birthday. If it hadn't been stamped as a product of Korea, most people probably couldn't tell. The main difference between it and the MiJ version is the MiJ version has a better rated maple being used for the top.







* if it's actually handmade, the luthier matters more than the country, natch.

__________________
Sturgeon's 2nd Law, a.k.a. Sturgeon's Revelation: “Ninety percent of everything is crap.”

Why, yes, I am a lawyer- thanks for asking!

LIPCoelho

thanks for the info. i get that the USA made guitars must be better due to better quality control, that in places where there's mass production, number comes before quality.
about DBZ, i only saw like 4 or 5 specific made-in-USA DBZ guitars, and those are around 4k to 5k$.

tried out the Eric Petterson sig Dean, the C7 Jeff Loomis sig Schecter and a X series Randy Rhoads yesterday:
-the Petterson has a cool sound, i digged the fast neck, the guitar doesn't weight too much, neither is uncomfortable. i liked the PU EM81/85, they have a great metal sound for rhythm and lead, the clean sound isn't that great but i think its good enough. if the DBZ necks are similar to the Dean necks, i bet i'll like them a lot.
-the Loomis was a surprise, i wasn't expecting i'd like it. the neck is wider and thicker, obviously, but not that much. i was expecting to play a ironing board but it was cool. the sound is a big too fuzy with distortion, but with a little bit of noise gate it will be great i'm guessing. the cleans are really nice also, and the guitar doest hinder fast paced picking. the only cons were, besides a neck that i'm not used to, the whammy bar seems set too far for my grasp.
-i only played the rhoads for a bit (the king v they had was a very weak one), but it felt good, really light and with good sound. didn't have the chance to try the LFR out though. i bet the Pro series will only have AMAZING guitars by the look of it

going there again in two weeks to try out a Dean VMNT and the King V JSsomething, and see what else is new (i bet not much though).

dannyalcatraz

Just to be clear, even the USA factories are factories- they'll be using much of the same kind of machinery & techniques as the foreign factories. The difference will be in terms of higher quality materials, more hand-finishing & personal attention to detail in each of the QC procedures at each step of manufacture.

Or, to put it differently, even $5000 guitars from most makers have significant CNC work done on them.

__________________
Sturgeon's 2nd Law, a.k.a. Sturgeon's Revelation: “Ninety percent of everything is crap.”

Why, yes, I am a lawyer- thanks for asking!