The story
Dean Guitars started in 1976 and made instruments used by bands such as Heart, Kansas, the Cars, Molly Hatchet, Triumph and ZZ Top.
With the advent of the Superstrat and grunge music, Dean Zelinsky sold the business to Oscar Medeiros of Tropical Music, who gained ownership of the brand from 1991, and until 1997 focused on selling to Europe and Latin America. The company had all but disappeared from the American market at that point.
Armadillo Enterprises, under the leadership of Elliott Rubinson, then purchased the business in 1997. Rubinson, a musician who toured as a bass player for the Michael Schenker Group, Uli Jon Roth and Michael Angelo Batio expanded Dean's products to include acoustic, electric and bass guitars; mandolins, banjos and ukuleles with prices from less than $99 to more than $13,000. Rubinson had previously built Thoroughbred Music, a music retail store, music supply, and music clinic. Rubinson sold Thoroughbred to Sam Ash Music in 1999 so he could focus on Dean.
After getting a number of endorser-user guitarists (including Dimebag Darrell, Michael Angelo Batio, Michael Schenker, Leslie West, Dave Mustaine, Michael Amott, Koichi Fukuda and Jacky Vincent), Dean Guitars' popularity increased. Under Armadillo Enterprises the company outgrew its Clearwater site and moved to a larger building that includes a custom guitar shop. Today the company also assembles guitar pickups and guitar parts.
In December 2016, Elliott Rubinson's son, Evan Rubinson, assumed the position of President and CEO at Armadillo Enterprises (which includes Dean Guitars, Luna Guitars, and ddrum).
In February 2017, Elliott "Dean" Rubinson died from cancer. Richard Ash, CEO of Sam Ash Music Stores, said, "Elliott was a true genius. He would have been successful in any business but he went with his passion for music and built his business around it... He was truly one of my heroes. RIP Elliott Rubinson."
In June 2026, Dean Guitars' parents company, Armadillo Enterprises, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after facing several years of legal trouble regarding selling infringing guitar designs, with the company being ordered to stop selling V and Z instruments. Armadillo claimed that family disputes ultimately caused the decision to file for bankruptcy.
From Wikipedia’s article on Dean Guitars, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4