Dean Zelinsky Guitars unveil the John Winter Signature, a dual humbucker guitar with custom engraved top.
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This is based on the same guitar that Zelinsky made for the popular blues guitarist, which Winter used on many of his performances, until his untimely passing in July of 2014.
The most notable feature of this signature guitar is its highly engraved flame maple top, which was specially designed for Johnny. The top looks like a fine piece of furniture with wood carvings, and has his name prominently engraved on the part where the right arm meets the body. It’s hard to miss the details of the carvings, which makes this instrument visually stand out when compared to conventional guitars.
The engraved Canadian rock maple top is set on top of a thin mahogany body that follows the shape of traditional single cutaway electric guitars. This thin body is described as being really light, while still having the look and appeal of old heavy instruments. Finally, the body is wrapped in high gloss dark walnut finish to complete the signature guitar’s earthy appeal.
Dean Zelinsky shared the story behind the signature guitar, he said, “I am excited to be building Johnny’s Signature Guitars. Johnny had been my guitar-playing idol since I was a kid, and was clearly one of the greatest players of all time. While I had met Johnny briefly many years ago, I first started building guitars for him after a chance meeting in a club parking lot in 2011. I had been designing thin guitars for a few years and knew this ultra-thin single cut was going to be perfect for Johnny. I put everything I knew he would like into this guitar, and then engraved the hell out of it including Johnny’s name prominently embossed. He told me it was the most beautiful guitar he had ever seen and started playing the guitar almost exclusively. Johnny and I later spoke about the signature line and entered into a formal agreement shortly before his passing.“
Other features of the Johnny Winter Signature include a 25.5″ scale 24-fret maple neck, which follows after traditional Strat specs, but with extra frets. It joins the body via Set-neck joint and has a 12″ radius rosewood fingerboard. Nut width is 1 11/16″ and it has 24 medium jumbo frets, while mother of pearl dot inlays serve as fingerboard markers.
To get the Johnny Winter tone right, Dean Zelinsky equipped this guitar with two custom made humbuckers, described as having hot and bright tones. These pickups are wired to a straightforward circuit that includes a 3-way pickup selector switch, a master tone knob, and a master volume knob.
Check out the official video demo:
Other features of the guitar include rushed satin nickel hardware and a set of 20:1 Ratio Locking tuners. Johnny Winter’s Manager/Producer Paul Nelson concludes, “I am extremely pleased that Johnny’s dream of having this signature guitar come out has finally become a reality. Johnny switched to this model 3-years before he left us and just loved it’s playability, tone and style. It was truly his main guitar.”
The MSRP for each Dean Zelinsky Johnny Winter Signature guitar is $2899, and each one will come complete with Tweed Tolex Hard Case. Visit Dean Zelinsky for further details.
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