Dimebag Darrell

Floods

Dimebag Darrell · The Great Southern Trendkill · 1996

What Makes This Sound Unique

One of the most emotionally devastating guitar solos in metal — Dime moves from the crushing verse tone to a clean, almost jazzy melodic lead in the outro. The solo tone is warm and open, a stark contrast to the aggressive rhythm sound, built on a clean Randall channel with volume swells.

  1. 1Dean ML or Washburn Dime signature
  2. 2Randall Century 200 (clean channel)
  3. 3MXR Flanger/Doubler (subtle modulation)
  4. 4volume pedal (swells)
Gain / Volume2
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6

Clean Randall channel for the outro solo — gain very low for warmth without breakup. The emotional weight comes entirely from phrasing and vibrato. MXR flanger set very subtle, almost below notice, adds a slight bloom to held notes.

How to Play It

Wide, slow vibrato on bent notes in the solo — Dime's clean-tone vibrato is slower and deeper than his driven tone. Volume pedal swells on sustained notes for the orchestral quality.

Achievable With

Any guitar with a humbucker → clean amp channel → MXR Flanger → reverb. The tone is simple; the phrasing is everything.

Adapt to My Amp

Other Song Rigs

Mouth for War

Vulgar Display of Power · 1992

The opening track of Vulgar Display of Power established Dimebag's rig as the de

View rig →

Walk

Vulgar Display of Power · 1992

Walk's main riff is one of the most recognisable in metal history — a low, slow,

View rig →

Cemetery Gates

Cowboys from Hell · 1990

Cemetery Gates contains Dimebag's most emotional and dynamic playing — the clean

View rig →

Cowboys from Hell

Cowboys from Hell · 1990

Tight, hyper-articulate groove metal — the riff that put Pantera on the map. The

View rig →

Domination

Vulgar Display of Power · 1992

Groove metal at its most hypnotic — the down-tuned half-time feel riff locks in

View rig →
← All Dimebag Darrell SongsSound Like Dimebag DarrellAmp Settings →