The History of The Dimebucker

[Evan Skopp]

I know a lot of folks have Dime-party stories. Unfortunately, I don't. My relationship with him was professional and centered around getting the best possible tone out of his guitar. Sometimes I'd work directly with him. Other times, I work together with him and a third party like Washburn or Kim Zide at Concrete or Nick Bowcott.

There was once a NAMM show in Anaheim, California. A few of us companies, Washburn, Dunlop, I can't remember who else, and Seymour Duncan flew Dime out to do meet and greet appearances at our respective booths. A signing schedule was drawn up and Seymour Duncan was late in the day. But the time Dime showed up at our booth, there was a long line of fans waiting for him. Unfortunately, he was too inebriated to sign, and he left many disappointed fans. Needless to say, I was also very disappointed. And frustrated. A couple of days later, he called me to apologize. He genuinely felt bad and embarrassed about the situation. He also proposed a idea to make it up. He was going to do a free Seymour Duncan clinic at Guitar Center in Arlington, Texas. At first, I was skeptical about the idea, but we supported it with merchandise and swag. Our local Texas sales rep showed up to make sure it went according to plan. According the rep, Dime as a real champ. He answered every question thoughtfully and did a great job representing the Seymour Duncan company. He also stayed and signed autographs for every kid, posed for photos, talked to parents, and stayed there way longer than the scheduled end time of the clinic. That was Darrell. He was always going the extra mile. And under his Cowboy from Hell exterior, he was a total gentleman.

Another thing I'll always remember about him is that whenever he'd leave me a voice mail message, he'd conclude with this little vocalization: kind of a swishing sound. It's hard to describe. But he'd always do it. It was like his sonic signature. I thought that was cool.

[jmh151]

The reason that the Dimebucker sounds different from any Bill Lawrence pickup you've played is two-fold. First, our point of departure was the so-called XXL-500, which was a pickup custom-wound for Dime and wasn't available to the market. So you wouldn't have played that pickup unless you played Dime's personal guitars. Second, in the process of prototyping and sound testing pickups with Dime, we made numerous changes to the XXL-500. We changed the magnet type, from alnico to ceramic, and we changed the magnet wire type and gauge and various other factors. The Dimebucker is a completely different pickup and represented the pinnacle of tone to Dime.

.

I'm not at all claiming I played the XXL-500. What I'm saying is based on the Bill Lawrence and Bill Lawrence USA pickups I have, plugging in the USA I have that came stock in my 1989 Jackson Soloist, you can hear Dime, the Bill Lawrence I have that I bought from BL around 2008 sounds a bit different- not worse, but it's not Dime. I've never played a Dimebucker, so I don't know how that compares, but I might try it out. No doubt the XXL-500 was made for Dime long after the CFH album, and it was tailored to what Dime saw as improvements, the same being for the Dimebucker.

[darthphineas]

being from the area, I'd met Dime a few times. one of them was at a local music store that carried Randall. it's the one on YouTube that gets passed around so much - I've had that on VHS since the week after that clinic. what it didn't show was that after he signed everything for everybody that wanted something signed, he saw a few kids tinkering around at a stomp box display. in no time at all, the three of them or over there going through the different stomp boxes, with him being just as interested in their opinions of the ones they like as they were about his.

like Evan, I don't have any party stories with Dime. most people in this area are typically 1 to 2 people removed from someone that knew him. and I still don't hear any of those party stories. but I've always heard many stories about the quality of his character that goes back to when he was still alive... so it's not as if he suddenly gained honor after his passing, like some do. it was always there.

I've never had the impression that Duncan has tried to capitalize or cash in on the Dimebucker or Dime's name, where as there are other companies that I think have.

[freefrog]

It was L500L+ , not XXL... The Dimebucker or L+ has less inductance than the XL.

+1.

I've recently (re)measured the inductance of...
-a SH13: 6.85H
-A Bill Lawrence L500L: 6.39H
-A vintage Bill Lawrence L500 Lead (actually equivalent to the XL): 9.4H.

That said, none sounds the same. The SH13 is tighter and more focused, with a more agressive midrange. Their resonant frequencies don't look the same either.

[TheLivingDead]

Respectable and very awesome Evan. Thanks.

[Jeff5]

Evan cool stories, thanks for sharing.

[DeanSweden]

was the Dimebucker ever put on a record?
I know he prefered his Deans in the studio...

[Austy009]

Thanks Evan . I love the Dimebucker and am currently using one with my punk-band. This pickup is awesome and I'm really glad you guys are still making it because a lot of people look up to Dime (including me). Rock N' Roll!!!!!

[tubecrunch]

Wow. Thanks for sharing. I can't read this stuff too often without getting bummed out. Someday I'll tell my kids about the night I saw pantera at the paramount theater opening for skid row.

[J E C]

Thanks for the info and stories guys. I've never really heard any of Dime's stuff. I will have to make it a point now.

[sixstringsamurai333]

Thanks for the stories, Evan. I'm a huge fan of Dime - his attitude and playing were both one of a kind.

From a pickup point of view - I've had both B&B L500-XL pickups and the Dimebucker, and to be honest I preferred the Dimebucker. L500s are EQd quite flat, while the Dimebucker was a little more scooped and a little more aggressive sounding, as befits Dime's tone.

[SSgt93]

Interesting thread.

[tourettes]

Yep, i'm always impressed to read Evan stories, thanks for sharing.