MEGADETH's DAVE MUSTAINE Splits With DEAN, Partners With GIBSON

MEGADETH's Dave Mustaine has apparently parted ways with Dean and signed up with Gibson guitars.

Earlier today, Mustaine tweeted out a teaser video for what appears to be an official announcement that will come on February 23. Captioned "Countdown. 2.23.21," the 14-second clip features the MEGADETH mascot Vic Rattlehead walking through a cemetery before drawing a katana to reveal "Rust In Peace" etched on the blade. The video closes out by directing the viewers to visit Gibson.com.

In November 2019, Mustaine sold off much of his gear, including several Dean prototype signature models that he had used over the years. Two months ago, he confirmed that he was going separate ways with Dean after spending 13 years with the company.

Mustaine's Gibson announcement will come two months after a employee for the American guitar maker accidentally leaked an image of a guitar that some devoted guitar aficionados speculated could be Mustaine's new signature model. (See video below.) The same prototype model was also spotted in an Instagram post by Gibson CMO Cesar Gueikian.

When Mustaine's deal with Dean was first announced back in January 2007, he said he chose Dean over other guitar companies "because they understand the value of Dave Mustaine and MEGADETH. And it's mutual," he explained. "I know that this is the right place for me to finish out my career, endorsing their products, and having my guitars made by Dean."

Ranked No. 1 by Joel McIver in "The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists" book, Mustaine godfathered fast-heavy-metal guitar generations, first as the original lead guitarist for METALLICA, and then as the founder of legendary MEGADETH.

In 1983, Mustaine founded MEGADETH, and the band released its first album two years later, established Dave and his bandmates as pioneers in the thrash metal movement. The band has since sold 38 million albums worldwide, including five consecutive platinum or multi-platinum albums in the U.S., while garnering 12 Grammy nominations. MEGADETH also landed a 2017 Grammy for "Best Metal Performance" for "Dystopia", the title track of the band's 2016 album.

Prior to MEGADETH, Mustaine was an early member of METALLICA. Before leaving the band in 1983, he had co-written a half dozen songs that would appear on METALLICA's first two albums.

In the video game arena, Mustaine composed the Grammy-nominated MEGADETH track "Sudden Death" for the 2010 release "Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock". The game also featured two other Mustaine-composed MEGADETH songs: 1990's "Holy Wars… The Punishment Due" and 2009's "This Day We Fight!"

MEGADETH is currently working on its 16th studio album.