Dimebag Guitars, Dean vs Washburn

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the4thlast1

the4thlast1

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Dimebag is one of my all time favorite players. With that being said I know very little about the guitars. Lately I’ve been considering trying one. So what are the best ones to look for? Dean, Washburn? Looks like they have been made in various countries too over the years. Rock!
 
I went through a short phase of wanting to learn pantera and damage plan tubes, which meant I needed a dimebag guitar but not necessary a digital amp since I starts all digital and then told myself once I had enough money I was all-valve.

I got an 06 Korean Dean dime -o-flame I think they call it. U shaped neck as opposed to the V shape. Required the electronics and bridge pickup (reverb seller listing debacle). Sounded good through my valve setup. Short lived phase…but last week I scored a Randall RG80ES from a great guy locally. The Dean is stored farthest away in the closet so I haven’t plugged it in but the amp is closer to Duke’s core sound.
 
Never played a Washburn but they look cool and Dimebag went through phases of Dean and Washburn. Washburn definitely sharper lines verses Deans rounded lines.
 
I still don’t own a V profile. Some people say it’s the best neck for the Dime style guitar but all this is highly subjective to each person. I have what I consider to be small hands and I actually cramp less using bigger profile necks (think 59LP profiles) whereas my nemesis is like the Ibanez RG thin, flat, wide profiles.
 
2006 saw a China built Dean lightening bolt with the soft V profile and a Korean build Dean Dime o Flame with U or D profile (not sure which it is actually because I’d consider them similar enough) but you can see the two countries used different profiles. I would have liked to have gotten the Lightning bolt but at the time, the local seller was asking way too much so I picked up the Korean.

I’m sure some will chime in with Korean v Chinese. I’ve never had any issues with Korean Schecters and the Dean of the same year and a Schecter I own of around 2018. Can say anything for Chinese because I don’t think I own any Chinese built guitars. Not that I wouldn’t so don’t read into that statement.
 
I owned 3 usa custom shop dean dimebag razorbacks, i like the V-shape neck, but overall didnt love the guitars as much as the washburn usa customshop diamond plated stealth i owned, the washburn sounded and played better. I regret selling the washburn.
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I've got a 1996 Washburn 333 and my bassist has the Dean Dime-O-Flame. The Washburn is nicer, hardware is trash on both stock. Be aware if you want to put a real Floyd on the early Washburns its offset from the body routing. The Floyd works just fine, just looks weird. The later 333's use a different bridge, so not sure about a Floyd swap on those?
 

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I've got a Dean Dime Slime Stealth I bought about 8 years ago. Bought it due to the specs and bodyshape/size as it is a larger guitar and I am a somewhat larger person...great guitar - made in the S. Korea WMI factory. Only thing not stock on it are titanium string blocks I added. Nothing bad I can say about it and any of the S. Korean or of course, USA made Deans...the Washburns are great, too in my experience, if you can find them.

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Honestly not a big metal guy...... or a big Dimebag fan......


But any of the stuff related to him I've found I like over the years..... MXR 6 band EQ..... DimeBag Wah...... Dean ML guitars..... if I do know one thing about Dimebag and I don't really know much its that Dimebag knew what good tone/gear was and what to play to get it.


About 3 years ago I tried a Dean ML in blue and black fade not expecting much as it was like the only floor model I could play..... looked at the price and it was on sale for like 400-500 bucks...... "shitty" stock Dean pups..... saw the country of origin.... Made in India.....


Wasn't expecting anything and plugged in.....



These things were fucking killer..... dirt cheap..... Made in India..... nothing wow really at first but once you dug in it just felt good and familiar even though I never played one before really and pretty amazing I have to say was really surprised as they are made in India and just wasn't expecting that level of quality.


They also make some nicer models with Floyds and Seymour Duncans and if the cheapie was amazing I figure those are out of this world and they cost like 900 bucks too, not sure where the 900 buck ones are made but should be as good or better than the 400-500 dollar one and IMO worth checking out. I think the Blue/Black fades are 600 bucks now but yeah still killer and if you can get a discount even better.


They also make a base ML in Black with a Floyd for 6 fifty....... comes with Dean proprietary pups but for 650 it should be a great platform otherwise even the 600$ Blue/Black fade is great and I can only imagine the 900 dollar models are pure butter and those come with Floyd and Flame tops too in Tobacco or Slime Green Flame Tops.



In short I've been kind of itching for an ML since but haven't pulled the trigger but may this year or sooner than later and probably checking out the Deans.
 
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