Help Getting Dimebag Tone

MistaGuitah

Well-known member
I've got Makes Them Disappear and I'm Broken down so now it's time to get my tone adjusted. I am not trying to copy his sound and don't have his pickups or amp. My goal primarily is to get the EQ as close as possible. I read he used a parametric EQ as a boost in front of his amp and for lead tones he used a flanger. As it would translate to my gear, I have a BE100, 5 band EQ pedal to put in the loop, and a Strymon Mobius. If someone knows accurately how he dialed in his low, mid, and high frequencies that would help a lot.
 
Dimes tone is one noisey SOB. I had a PQ3 and the whole shebang front of my Marshall and I couldn't stand the noise and hated the whole setup but YMMV. But it was fun to try. Dime was also know to use the old blue MXR 6 band like EVH used. I would say use the BE channel turn your gain down on it and run your EQ up front into the input to tighten and drive your gain stages of your amp like dime did then adjust amount of gain on the amp once you get your frequencies dialed in, I don't know how he ran his EQ's I would guess to boost the mids in the 800 1000Hz range. Then run an ISP decimator in the loop to gate the noise cause it's gonna hissssssssssssssss and most of all you need a Bill Lawrence USA L500XL pickup but other high output pickups will get you close just not exact.

The Randall solid state heads ran three gain stages like a Marshall JMP JCM 800 but with mosfets to clip instead of 12ax7 tubes.

I should also add I ran this setup in front a a Randall amp like dimes and I still hated it. I think Dimes tone translated well in the studio. I seen him live on the Reinventing the Steel tour and his live tone sucked, it was thin and not crushing at all like you hear on the albums. I am sure alot of people on here know more but that was my experience and I think you should be able to get somewhat representative with the BE channel and the right EQ with more bottom end then Dime ever had live. The clips of the new Randall Rg1503 seems to get the closest of the new Randall's but you don't see them for sale anywhere if you're on a Dime quest, Ola got very close with that amp, check out the vids.





What pickups are you running?
 
You need a parametric EQ BEFORE the amp and the six band in the loop set in a V shape sucking the mids, I’d run 2 gates, one after the parametric and one after the graphic in the loop. The parametric will be boosting mids at a narrow bandwidth. The Randall is really needed.
 
paulyc":331o34yv said:
You need a parametric EQ BEFORE the amp and the six band in the loop set in a V shape sucking the mids



he ran both eq's out front, the 6 band in a frown shape. his mids were always on 4 or so every picture ive seen of his rig, and most live vids his tone isnt as scooped as on the records. im guessing they did a lot of scooping while mixing
 
RaceU4her":2ilugwcw said:
paulyc":2ilugwcw said:
You need a parametric EQ BEFORE the amp and the six band in the loop set in a V shape sucking the mids



he ran both eq's out front, the 6 band in a frown shape. his mids were always on 4 or so every picture ive seen of his rig, and most live vids his tone isnt as scooped as on the records. im guessing they did a lot of scooping while mixing

Yes I think there is something definitely going on in the mids that's hard to figure out. At first I thought it was low mids but tried that, then tried scooping the low mids and increasing the high mids but still not there. I don't know what frequency range the mids live but I know I hear deceptively more mids than most people seem to attribute to his (studio) tone.

I'm really not looking to copy his tone. I just want to get the EQ in the right places to do a couple of Pantera covers with a decent tone profile instead of using a generic metal tone.
 
i have an old guitar world where his tech was interviewed, if i remember right he says the flanger/doubler he used was always on and a big part of his tone as well as mounting the 500xl's backwards
 
I have no idea if this has anything to do with this or not... zero knowledge, so please ignore if this is irrelevant...

Flangers set to a really slow speed (or with the modulation turned off) can act like a comb filter and do really weird (cool) things with the mids. It's sweeping this comb filter that gives flangers their jet-like sound and, if you stop that movement (or almost stop it), it will significantly boost extremely narrow bands while significantly cutting other extremely narrow bands. I have no clue... at all... if this is anything close to what Dime was doing, but... if he had that MXR Flanger/Doubler on all the time... I've never really heard a lot of modulation in his tone (except where it's obvious, of course), so if he had the speed all the way down, maybe this explains why it's difficult to get the exact sound with just the two EQs.

Anyway, like I said above, I have absolutely no idea if this is/was the case. Just thought I'd throw it out FWIW (which isn't much). :)
 
Which Dimebag tone? Lol. His tone changed quite a bit over the years. You really need a Randall for that dry SS tone. Right now I use a Randall Century with a 10 band in the loop and the old blue MXR in front. That mxr is very key, but it’s a noisy bitch. I get very close. Still need a flanger/doubler. Easiest way is to get the Randall X2 full stack, put it on the Dime settings and turn it up. Loudest fucking amp I ever had, but it needs both matching cabs to sound right. That one got the cops called on me more than once. Lol
 
RaceU4her":2udfvfgi said:
i have an old guitar world where his tech was interviewed, if i remember right he says the flanger/doubler he used was always on and a big part of his tone as well as mounting the 500xl's backwards

Ola said this in his video and now you... about mounting the L500XL backwards... whaaaaaaaaaaaa :confused: Aren't both coil winds the same on a BL 500XL. Is there really much of a difference if so what????? I have heard alot of Dime discussion over the years and never heard of him doing this. I guess I didn't dig deep enough to uncover this tidbit of info. Ola is running a frown on the MXR then I guess into the PQ4 then into the Randall HT100. I had the Randall HT 100 when I tried the whole PQ3 thing but i never went as far as getting a L500XL. I couldn't stand the noise, let says I like Dimes tone form him. Me not so much... I am a Marshall guy thru and thru, but I did try most of the main pieces of Dimes tone enough to find that I personally did not like it. I like it when Ola gets it though... :rock:
 
harddriver":1yh59zds said:
RaceU4her":1yh59zds said:
i have an old guitar world where his tech was interviewed, if i remember right he says the flanger/doubler he used was always on and a big part of his tone as well as mounting the 500xl's backwards

Ola said this in his video and now you... about mounting the L500XL backwards... whaaaaaaaaaaaa :confused: Aren't both coil winds the same on a BL 500XL. Is there really much of a difference if so what????? I have heard alot of Dime discussion over the years and never heard of him doing this. I guess I didn't dig deep enough to uncover this tidbit of info. Ola is running a frown on the MXR then I guess into the PQ4 then into the Randall HT100. I had the Randall HT 100 when I tried the whole PQ3 thing but i never went as far as getting a L500XL. I couldn't stand the noise, let says I like Dimes tone form him. Me not so much... I am a Marshall guy thru and thru, but I did try most of the main pieces of Dimes tone enough to find that I personally did not like it. I like it when Ola gets it though... :rock:



i cant remember exactly what it was supposed to do, if i didnt have literally 20 years of guitar world/player's id find that article. i watched a spectresound vid recently and one of the engineers that worked with pantera said dime ran into a mackie mixer and that was part of his tone too, probably for more eq'ing.
 
You need the Randall RG100ES. I have one and you can hear that core Dimebag tone. The cool thing is you also get early Savatage and Dokken tones in spades as well.
 
harddriver":u0xrofy7 said:
RaceU4her":u0xrofy7 said:
i have an old guitar world where his tech was interviewed, if i remember right he says the flanger/doubler he used was always on and a big part of his tone as well as mounting the 500xl's backwards

Ola said this in his video and now you... about mounting the L500XL backwards... whaaaaaaaaaaaa :confused: Aren't both coil winds the same on a BL 500XL. Is there really much of a difference if so what????? I have heard alot of Dime discussion over the years and never heard of him doing this. I guess I didn't dig deep enough to uncover this tidbit of info. Ola is running a frown on the MXR then I guess into the PQ4 then into the Randall HT100. I had the Randall HT 100 when I tried the whole PQ3 thing but i never went as far as getting a L500XL. I couldn't stand the noise, let says I like Dimes tone form him. Me not so much... I am a Marshall guy thru and thru, but I did try most of the main pieces of Dimes tone enough to find that I personally did not like it. I like it when Ola gets it though... :rock:

Yes, he had the L500XL backwards because it makes the tone a bit fatter. Kind of like how the Dimazrio DSonic or Crunch Lab is.
 
Here's a SD dimebucker thru a PRS Archon with no EQ up front according to the guy in the vid, it's not his SS tone but you hear elements of Dime here. So I guess the Pickup along with an EQ up front of the BE100 may get you there if you can tighten up the BE100 sag with the EQ. You should be able to get close IMO after seeing this vid which was your original question of how to get close to Dime tone with your BE100.
 
The Dimebucker is horrible compared to the Lawrence, either version, Wylde or BL USA. Don’t waste your time with that pickup. It’s got a cracked wha eq and is over 16k as compared to the Lawrence at 13k. I think they were trying to make up for the blue mxr boost using the pickup. It fails miserably.
 
Dimebucker with the RG100ES is really close without any external EQ. When I run the Randall into my Suhr Reactive Load and Wall of Sound somehow the tone is closer to the Century Albums than RG. You should be able to pick up an RG100ES for $3-400.
 
Bloodrock":38d483g5 said:
The Dimebucker is horrible compared to the Lawrence, either version, Wylde or BL USA. Don’t waste your time with that pickup. It’s got a cracked wha eq and is over 16k as compared to the Lawrence at 13k. I think they were trying to make up for the blue mxr boost using the pickup. It fails miserably.

I hear more clarity and definition with the BL USA and the Wylde BL. The Dimebucker seems to have more grind to it though, that probably the extra mids from the overwinding. Is there much of a difference between the epoxy potted BLUSA 500XL and the Shielded Wylde BL 500XL? I would think the epoxy filled coils would be a tighter tone and less prone to squealing feedback. I guess Bill Lawrence didn't agree with the epoxy process either before or after their split in 1984.
 
Bloodrock":2dvkg8fo said:
Which Dimebag tone? Lol.

Well for now the two songs that mentioned learning. Makes Them Disappear and I'm Broken. I just need to dial in a decent rhythm and solo tone to record and play the covers.

harddriver":2dvkg8fo said:
Here's a SD dimebucker thru a PRS Archon with no EQ up front according to the guy in the vid, it's not his SS tone but you hear elements of Dime here. So I guess the Pickup along with an EQ up front of the BE100 may get you there if you can tighten up the BE100 sag with the EQ. You should be able to get close IMO after seeing this vid which was your original question of how to get close to Dime tone with your BE100.

That guy is a monster player and I loved the tone he was getting on that video. There aren't too many really gainy tones that I like, but his technique seems to work well with it.

harddriver":2dvkg8fo said:
Bloodrock":2dvkg8fo said:
The Dimebucker is horrible compared to the Lawrence, either version, Wylde or BL USA. Don’t waste your time with that pickup. It’s got a cracked wha eq and is over 16k as compared to the Lawrence at 13k. I think they were trying to make up for the blue mxr boost using the pickup. It fails miserably.

I hear more clarity and definition with the BL USA and the Wylde BL. The Dimebucker seems to have more grind to it though, that probably the extra mids from the overwinding. Is there much of a difference between the epoxy potted BLUSA 500XL and the Shielded Wylde BL 500XL? I would think the epoxy filled coils would be a tighter tone and less prone to squealing feedback. I guess Bill Lawrence didn't agree with the epoxy process either before or after their split in 1984.

I like the Wylde pickup better than the Duncan but the Duncan Dimebucker has that built in Dimebag EQ. Maybe it will make it a little easier to get a halfassed Dime tone with it.
 
harddriver":b8p1np56 said:
Bloodrock":b8p1np56 said:
The Dimebucker is horrible compared to the Lawrence, either version, Wylde or BL USA. Don’t waste your time with that pickup. It’s got a cracked wha eq and is over 16k as compared to the Lawrence at 13k. I think they were trying to make up for the blue mxr boost using the pickup. It fails miserably.

I hear more clarity and definition with the BL USA and the Wylde BL. The Dimebucker seems to have more grind to it though, that probably the extra mids from the overwinding. Is there much of a difference between the epoxy potted BLUSA 500XL and the Shielded Wylde BL 500XL? I would think the epoxy filled coils would be a tighter tone and less prone to squealing feedback. I guess Bill Lawrence didn't agree with the epoxy process either before or after their split in 1984.

I had all 3 versions years ago, and I remember the Dimebucker was in the same realm but was definitely brighter, and more extreme overall. The BLUSA was the most tame, and sounded a little more weak. The B&B version was kind of the mid road. It was stronger and more present than the BLUSA, but not as extreme as the Dimebucker.

In the end, I decided though that I really didn't prefer any of them compared to other pickups. They all have so much treble/presence that they kind of sound like they always have a fuzz pedal turned on before an amp. Drove me crazy after awhile. The Duncan Custom or Nazgul can do these types of sounds pretty good also.
 
The biggest key are the Randall amps, IMO. Any of the older 80's or 90's Randall amps have that core tone that is hard to mimic. I had a Century 200 II for years, and I could easily get Pantera tones with it, regardless of pickup, guitar, boost, etc....

They are kind of JCM800ish, but at the same time, the mids are set at a lower frequency, and can get more scooped than the Marshall. He set the mids on 4, but that was probably like a setting of -2 or something as compared to a JCM800, lol. He set the bass on 8, the treble and presence around 7, IIRC. Everyone seems to think his tone is majorly scooped, but it really wasn't... you cannot get those squeals and crunch and such with no mids. The EQs before the amp were mostly used to boost the mids before the amps to increase gain. At the end in Damageplan he was using a MXR Wylde OD pedal instead for the same purpose.
 
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