DEAN GUITARS CEO Talks DIME Amp; Video Available

Premier Guitar's Rebecca Dirks conducted an interview with Dean Guitars CEO Elliott Rubinson at this year's NAMM show, which was held January 15-18, 2009 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. They spoke about the new Dime amp which was designed after the legendary sounds and tones of "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott (PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN). With the help of Darrell's longtime tech Grady Champion and Dean's technicians, they feel these amps will get guitarists as close as possible to his epic tone.

Commented Elliott Rubinson: "We've been wanting to do an amp that replicates Dime's tone for many, many years. I met Grady about a year or two ago, and Grady was Dime's guitar tech for 13 years — all through the PANTERA years, all through the time that Dime developed his sound. The key is, he had the ears — he probably knew Dime's sound better than Dime knew it, because he dialed it in every night. So we found the engineer who designed Dime's original amplifier 13 years ago, brought him out of retirement, had him build us an amp, had Grady come over. Grady listened to it, and with a couple of tweaks, I think this thing is just dead nuts on, it's Dime's sound."

"I'm in total agreement. It's a monster," added Grady.

Video footage of Grady Champion demonstrating the Dime amp can be viewed below.

Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP) on the Dean Dime amps:

100W Head - List $530.00 / MAP $349.99
412 Cabs (straight or slant) - List $530.00 / MAP $349.99
100W Combo - List $780.00 / MAP $499.99

"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott was shot to death along with three others during a DAMAGEPLAN performance at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio in December 2004.

Dimebag was posthumously inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk in May 2007 in a ceremony attended by Dimebag's brother Vinnie Paul, their father Jerry Abbott and Dimebag's longtime girlfriend, Rita Haney, along with members of ALICE IN CHAINS, ANTHRAX, KISS, SLAYER and Ozzy Osbourne's band.

A bronze bust of Dimebag was unveiled during the ceremony and later installed on the RockWalk's posthumous inductee wall, alongside luminaries such as Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix and Robert Johnson.

A special one-time only all-star tribute to Dimebag was held on August 9, 2008 at the one-day Ozzfest at Dallas' Pizza Hut Park.

The tribute to "Dimebag" Darrell featured Vinnie Paul (acting as musical director and playing drums),along with an array of prominent hard rockers, including HATEBREED's Jamey Jasta, SLAYER's Kerry King, SOULFLY's Max Cavalera, King Diamond, ANTHRAX's Scott Ian, ALICE IN CHAINS' Jerry Cantrell and METALLICA's Lars Ulrich.

Premier Guitar's interview with Elliott Rubinson:

Grady Champion demonstrating Dime amp: