NAMM 2012: Dean Dimebag ‘Concrete Sledge’ ML
I first wrote about this a few weeks ago but I just got to check it out in person. Dean Dimebag ‘Concrete Sledge’ ML based on the guitar that Dime tuned to Drop D and used to play, you guessed it! Dime’s original had a Washburn neck on a Dean body, with a custom graphic finish covering the whole body. The new Dean version has the finish on the front and back, but not wrapping around the sides like the real deal. They’ve also changed the headstock shape. How do I know?
Cos they had Dime’s actual guitar there. See?
Oooh.
Oh and to the NAMM attendee next to me who saw it and said “Oooh look! A guitar with a KISS sticker on it,” you’re fired from metal.
Looks like Dean has some cool new stuff coming out…
Got the Dean mail-out yesterday with info about their NAMM webcast and 35th anniversary celebrations. The graphic at the top of the email looked cool enough – bitchen two-headed eagle thing, NAMM dates, booth number… but then I looked in the bottom left corner, two axes tucked away behind another:
Good lord. It’s a Dean VMNT Dave Mustaine signature with a Peace Sells …But Who’s Buying? graphic, and a version (with a different headstock) of one of Dimebag Darrell’s lesser-known but cooler Dean MLs! In fact, this was the guitar Dime was using in one of the first pics I ever saw of him, in a Randall ad back in the day when Dime went by the name Diamond Darrell publicly instead of Dimebag Darrell. You can see Dime using this axe in this video for “Primal Concrete Sledge,” and that’s what this Dean model is named: the Dime ‘Concrete Sledge’ ML. The original was actually a Washburn neck on a Dean body.
Keep an eye on Dean’s website and I Heart Guitar at NAMM time!
A Snapshot of Dimebag Darrell
Guitar World editor Brad Tolinski has written a very cool account of a snapshot taken with Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul in 2004 during a photo session for a Guitar World cover. I’m pretty sure I’ve got that issue stashed away in the study somewhere in my ridiculously overflowing stash of guitar mags. Aah, Dimebag. We miss ya! Back in high school my band used to play both “This Love” and “Becoming.” And when I was 16 I totally got loaded on masala to Far Beyond Driven while my parents were out of town. Good times. It’s like everyone has a Dimebag story too, whether they met him or not (I did not. Dammit). Anyway, check out the story behind the Guitar World photo here.
METAL 101: Face-melting guitar tones
Let’s have a look at a trio different styles of metal, and how the music influences the general setup.
CLASSIC METAL Chances are, if you’re playing less distortion-drenched heavy rock, or metal with a bit of a 70s twist, the sound you’re hearing in your head is a Gibson Les Paul and Marshall stack. This kind of rig can be assembled on a budget, but if you spend big money you’ll probably feel better about yourself, and bragging rights are fun.
For this kind of tone, it’s more about the impact of the note than the level of distortion. Try keeping the gain at moderate levels rather than boosting the hell out of it, and maybe jack your guitar strings up a few millimetres. This will add bottom end to the tone and allow you to really dig in. All that extra wallop will make for a crushing, crunchy, natural metal tone. It’s important to let the sound breathe, as this type of music has a lot more open space than later, ‘chuggachugga’ metal, so don’t go overboard on the preamp or pedal distortion. Some is good, a lot is too much. Crank your amp to get that punch and grind.
REVIEW: Dean ‘Dean From Hell’ DFH
Dimebag Darrell was one in a billion. A true metal iconoclast who took a little from EVH, a little from Billy Gibbons, a bit of Hetfield, and twisted it around until it was pure Dime. Everything about the dude was custom: for his signature tone he used a graphic EQ and heavy noise gating to get the most out of the Randall half-stack he won in a guitar playing contest. And his main guitar was a heavily customised Dean ML (he actually scratched ‘The Dean From Hell’ into the headstock) which featured new pickups, a Floyd Rose bridge (which required serious routing considering the guitar originally had a tune-o-matic bridge and thru-body stringing) and a custom paint job and further tweaks by legendary luthier Buddy Blaze. Check out the story of Buddy’s role in this legendary guitar in this great Premier Guitar article.
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I write for Gibson.com, Australian Guitar, Australian Musician, Mixdown Magazine (including my instructional column, 'Unleash Your Inner Rock God,' which has been running since 2007), guitarworld.com, Tone Deaf, Beat and The Brag. I started I Heart Guitar in 2008. I've been playing guitar since I was 8 years old, and I've been writing for magazines since I was 18 (I'm 33 now). I've also worked as a guitar teacher (up to 50 students a week) and a setup tech. I live in Melbourne, Australia. You can check out my guitar playing at Reverbnation or on YouTube.
You can email me at iheartguitarblog@gmail.com