If there’s one metal electric guitar player that had it all - the scorching leads, the game-changing riffs and crushing scooped-mid tones - it’s Dimebag Darrell. Tragically, the Pantera legend was killed onstage in 2004, but his music lives on and influence is still felt in every corner of the globe to this day.
Perhaps one remarkable aspect of his tone was that he preferred solid-state amps to tube-driven ones for the majority of his career - going against trends and following his own sonic calling. Then, of course, was the bridge pickup in his Dean guitars, Dimebag himself once describing the Bill Lawrence L-500-L as the key to his sound.
So, if you’re thinking of heading down that Texan groove metal route, here’s everything you need to know…
Dean ML
“My main guitar is still my blue ’81 Dean with the Kiss stickers,” Dimebag told Guitar World in 1994, for a cover story around the release of Far Beyond Driven. “That guitar just can’t be topped. I use that on all the songs that are in standard tuning. When we tune down to D, I use my brown tobacco-burst Dean.”
Though he played a number of Deans across the years – and some Washburns while the company was inactive – that blue “Dean From Hell” ML seen on the cover of their major label debut was very much Dime’s instrument of choice.
No expense spared
On a budget
Dean Razorback
Sadly, Dimebag was never seen on stage with this modified version of the ML he co-designed with Dean in the months prior to his death, and the series was released posthumously.
And by using them at one stage or another, legends such as Zakk Wylde, Matt Heafy and even Eddie Van Halen, have paid their own tribute to the man born Darrell Lance Abbott.
No expense spared
On a budget
Amps
On Cowboys From Hell and The Great Southern Trendkill, it was a Randall RG-100ES driving Dimebag’s Dean guitars. For Vulgar Display Of Power and Far Beyond Driven, he used the Randall Century 200. Even though he would switch from solid-state to tube for his post-Pantera project Damageplan, striking a deal with Krank for his own Krakenstein signature, the Randalls were his preferred amplifier for the classic years.
“Solid-state to me is more in your face, while tube sounds like it’s surrounding your body,” he told Guitar World in 1994. “I’m not going for a soft sound. I ain’t lookin’ for a warm sound. My sound is warm, but I don’t need tubes to do it. The Randall RG-100 is the best amp for what I do.
"To this day, when people find out that I use solid-state they’ll come up to me and go, ‘Are you sure? That sounds like tubes, dude…’ The Randall has the warmth of tubes, but it has the chunk and the fuckin’ grind right in your face!”
No expense spared
On a budget
Effects
Strings
You can take your Dime worship even further with this signature Hi-Voltage set made by DR Strings. The company’s website quotes him saying, “I've been playin’ the strings of strength since 1995. I like the way DR Strings feel and the way they react, you can really get a grip on them.
"They’re great for everything, from big ol’ string bends, to huge whammy bar dives, perfect for blood curdling harmonic screams and just straight out heavy chunky riffin’. They also stay in perfect tune and remain fresh and bright for an amazingly long time."
For those wondering, the original Cowboy From Hell would use gauges 9-42 for standard tuning, 9-46 for dropped-D and 11-50 for the lowest tunings.
