Dimebag Estate & Dean sever relationship

[scole]

Just saw this on IG:

[scole]

[d8200]

Well, without doing a deep dive into research or being a huge fan of either side, this sounds like a business decision on Dean’s part. Darrell inspired a lot of players, but Pantera’s legacy hasn’t exactly aged well. Plus, Dean has always struck me as a brand that’s constantly teetering on the verge of going out of business. I don’t wish ill will to either side, but they gotta do what they gotta do. Haney seems to take this as a personal affront to Darrell’s memory, but the CEO is right…it’s been 16 years. Music and the rest of the world are moving on.

[Randy]

Dimebag Darrell posting from the grave? The man was way ahead of his time.

[Ken]

Looks like a sad final chapter. I honed in on the money part, and wonder who brought it up first. I can't imagine Dean giving it up for irrelevancy, like they have so many other cool irons in the fire. I wonder if his estate was looking for a raise and Dean said they couldn't do it, but that she was welcome to shop around.

Anyway, he has been gone 16 years, but I still throw up the horns when that shit comes on.

[mpexus]

Its more than that.


"In the lawsuit, Haney calls Dean's current CEO Evan Rubinson, the son of the late Elliot Rubinson, "incredibly disrespectful and often times belligerent to the legacy of Abbott. He acted without regard for the success Abbott brought to his father's company, and to which ultimately contributed to his inheritance," the complaint reads. "Given the misdealings uncovered by Ms. Haney, she felt that Dean Guitars had taken complete advantage of Abbott over the years and refused to continue a business relationship with Dean Guitars unless Dean Guitars was willing to right its wrongs.""

"The complaint goes on to accuse Dean Guitars of breaching its endorsement agreement with Dimebag in that it "never paid the contracted amount for each full cover photo that have been printed with Abbott playing a Dean guitar, with the Dean Guitars' logo and/or trademark prominently displayed; failed to provide the imported and domestic models for each line of Abbott endorsed guitars produced by Dean Guitars, and other guitars for personal and promotional use; fraudulently, in conjunction with Concordia and without the knowledge of Abbott, registered the trademark for Razorback and the Razorback guitar design, both of which were the sole property of Abbott, in Concordia's name; in conjunction with Concordia, transferred the Razorback trademark, which was the sole property of Abbott, to a third party without the knowledge of Abbott; and in conjunction with Concordia, acquired the registered trade dress for the guitar design known as the Dime3 in its own name, without Abbott's knowledge and without recognizing Abbott as a joint owner."

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/dimebags-estate-files-lawsuit-against-dean-guitars/

[Chris]

At a glance this feels like 50/50 Dean being douchebags and Dime's family wanting to max monetize his legacy.

I haven't paid much attention, but I do seem to recall a ton of "Dime signature" products coming out long after his death.

[jacksonplayer]

"The complaint goes on to accuse Dean Guitars of breaching its endorsement agreement with Dimebag in that it "never paid the contracted amount for each full cover photo that have been printed with Abbott playing a Dean guitar, with the Dean Guitars' logo and/or trademark prominently displayed; failed to provide the imported and domestic models for each line of Abbott endorsed guitars produced by Dean Guitars, and other guitars for personal and promotional use; fraudulently, in conjunction with Concordia and without the knowledge of Abbott, registered the trademark for Razorback and the Razorback guitar design, both of which were the sole property of Abbott, in Concordia's name; in conjunction with Concordia, transferred the Razorback trademark, which was the sole property of Abbott, to a third party without the knowledge of Abbott; and in conjunction with Concordia, acquired the registered trade dress for the guitar design known as the Dime3 in its own name, without Abbott's knowledge and without recognizing Abbott as a joint owner."

Keep in mind that the word "Darrell" in that passage refers almost entirely to his estate, as he died shortly after re-signing with Dean in 2004. My sympathy level thus decreases dramatically.

Regardless of whether the company acted properly, they have a point on how much lower Darrell's commercial profile is, now.

[RevDrucifer]

Ola The Swede would do the guitars justice! If there’s one dude who is going to respect Dimebag in either his memory or visions for the guitars, it’d be Ola.

Keep in mind that the word "Darrell" in that passage refers almost entirely to his estate, as he died shortly after re-signing with Dean in 2004. My sympathy level thus decreases dramatically.

Regardless of whether the company acted properly, they have a point on how much lower Darrell's commercial profile is, now.

Yeah, I think Vinnie was handling it with Rita and when Vinnie passed she took it all on.Well,Hey

[Darren]

The company probably recognized that:

1. They made the ML model long before Dime ever played them.
2. They can continue to sell the ML model without Dime’s name attached, and not pay a cent in royalties for a design that they legitimately own the rights to.
3. Dime fans will continue to seek out and buy ML models whether Dime’s name is on them or not, so they might as well continue making them as long as it makes business sense to do so.

The other models that Dime participated in the design process, well… that’s another situation, and if the company is screwing his estate out of royalties on those, then they’re dickbags.

[Leon]

Ola The Swede would do the guitars justice! If there’s one dude who is going to respect Dimebag in either his memory or visions for the guitars, it’d be Ola.

That was my first thought

[Shawn]

Damn, that's too bad. His legacy will still live on though.

[Mattayus]

To echo other's sentiments, I can't tell who's worse here.

Dimes "legacy" at this point is a million and one horrendously cheesy posthumous signature models, one of which I seem to recall having an inlay made from an oak tree from his backyard. Extremely limited edition.

I used to get pissy at Dean for perpetuating this farce, but after gleaning more about Dime's "estate" and the sentiments it gives off, I'm leaning far more towards them as the culprits for the continued milking of his name.

To that end, this really smacks of their cash cow running dry. Dean simply want to cut loose from rinsing a dead man's name, and the estate seems somewhat put out by that.

It's all a bit tasteless anyway if you ask me. I prefer to think of Dime circa 1992 when he was an absolute fucking force of nature. Not this tacky shit.

[Ghost.]

I don't know...
I think there's more to this?

Why would Rusty Cooley (who had one of the best selling models), Dave Mustaine, Vinnie Moore (looks like he left), Michael Angelo Batio all leave out of nowhere?


That's quite a few artists and it's been over time but never the less it happened.

Yeah, the whole "Dime Guitars" thing is weird. He's passed on years ago and it's not like Wolfie who carrying-on what his Father created and is just sustaining his Legacy for what it is properly. Not to mention Eddie designed and played these guitars with Fender manufacturing them.

I guess if you are doing it for the "fans" you could make a name brand of your own like EVH or Wylde but it would be super weird because Dime didn't play them.
It would make more sense to make tribute models with Washburn, since he did play those.

It all seems messy either way but whatever. I don't play ML's. Loved the Razorbacks or V-Backs (whatever they're called) but it all feels weird. Really it seems like it should be laid to rest. Unless they're gonna make the Culprit! I love that guitar.

[Dbwells]

That was my first thought

I was thinking the same thing!

[Toshiro]

Dean has an in house pickup designer/winder(who is really great), but they still put Duncans in their mid range guitars as an "upgrade" instead. They're stupid.

[Greg McCoy]

Pro-tip: Before you die, especially if you are famous, get yo-self a solid will/living trust arrangement. There are a bunch of ways to add what is functionally a "DON'T FUCKING EMBARASS ME AFTER I AM GONE" clause. (not the technical term)

Frank Zappa and his wife didn't, they didn't even add something like, "Don't bitch about the will/trust in public because that shit is confidential as enforced by the executor and you getting anything is contingent on you not making an embarrassment of yourselves and divulging everything like the attention whoring drama queens you are" and now we have to listen to their 4 kids bitching about how two of them got 30% stakes and two got 20% stakes.

The only saving grace is listening to his kids complain about shit is still better than listening to his music.

Liquid Assets > Memories for like 99% of the population. Even if someone tells you "DON'T WORRY MOM/DAD/GRANDMA/GRANDPA/UNCLE/AUNT, WE AREN'T TURNING THIS SHIT INTO A TACKY AIR BNB MINI MUSEUM BED AND BREAKFAST THE SECOND YOUR BODY IS COLD" they are almost certainly lying.

Fuck, even if you aren't famous that is still good advice.