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After years of anticipation, Dime Guitarz has been officially launched by the man who built Dimebag Darrell’s most cherished guitars – and it’s promising to bring his iconic electric guitars into the modern era.
The collaboration between Dimebag’s trusted luthier, Dean Zelinsky, and the late guitar great’s girlfriend and estate trustee, Rita Haney, has a simple mantra: “To build the guitars Dimebag Darrell would be playing today.”
Throughout his life, the Pantera legend played a host of guitars made for him by luthier Dean Zelinsky, including the Dean ML from Hell – the pointed signature guitar with which Dimebag was most fondly associated.
When financial problems led Dean to cease production in the mid ‘90s, Dimebag moved to Washburn, where he continued to produce ML-style electric guitars before re-signing with a revived Dean just before he died in 2004.
In recent years, the relationship between the Dimebag estate and the current owners of Dean Guitars, Armadillo Distribution Enterprises, has soured considerably. Haney sued Armadillo in 2021, citing unlawful use of the Stealth and Razorback designs.
The most recent court ruling swung in Dean’s favor, but Haney soon responded, saying she would continue to “fight for the return of Dime’s guitars.”
So, the launch of Dime Guitarz, just days after Dean’s owners filed for bankruptcy, couldn’t be more timely. And the firm has come out swinging.
“There seems to be a misconception that Dime had a relationship with the Dean Guitars of today,” Haney says in a statement. “It simply isn’t true. He was killed three weeks after signing the deal. He had a relationship with Dean Zelinsky. That is who he wanted building his guitars.”
Dime Guitarz, then, sees itself as the rightful home of the ML-style guitar, and its launch comes some 15 months after the first model, the Culprit, was teased. With a rare design masterminded by Dimebag before his death, it was first teased back in March 2025.
Here, the Culprit comes in USA and Standard Series variants, ranging from $1,999 to $5,999. Both guitars pair mahogany bodies, flame maple tops with three-piece maple set necks, and 22-fret, 12-16” compound radius ebony fingerboards.
Of course, there’s Floyd Rose 1000 series tremolos, too, along with Grover-style tuners, with Seymour Duncan Dimebucker and ’59 pickups. They’re wired with a DimeBooster, which adds 15dB via a push/push Tone pot.
The most eye-catching feature, though, is the patented laser-engraved Z-Glide neck, which is designed to reduce surface friction by 72%, keep hands cool, and encourage lightning-fast shredding. It is, though, exclusive to the USA models.
A razor blade inlay at the 12th fret and some classic Dimebag-coded finishes, including Dime Slime and Dimebolt – the latter of which pays tribute to the iconic Dean From Hell – complete the look. Oh, and of course it has that classic winged headstock design.
“Dime played Dean Zelinsky’s MLs when he had braces on his teeth, and he died with one in his arms,” the statement continues. “Dime’s innovation for tech, his love and trust of DZ’s brilliance, this is what the direction of this company is, to fulfill those wishes”
“After everything I’ve accomplished in this industry, helping carry Darrell’s legacy forward may be the most meaningful work I’ve ever done,” Zelinsky adds.
See Dime GuitarZ for more.
