Dime is currently celebrating 10 years in collaboration with Washburn Guitars and, man, have they got a treat for us. Limited to only 100 units, the incredible custom shop Southern Cross Signature Series guitar is a direct replica of the weapon Dime played in the 1999 Monsters of Rock tour with Black Sabbath. Its look is radically classy, and its feel is fast and thick. As for its tones, they're pure Dimebag, through and through.

The Southern Cross takes its name from the classic design inlaid on its body. First used by 11th century knights and later by Tony Iommi, who made it his personal trademark, the four-pointed cross is a universal symbol of honor, courage and ultimate dedication to duty. The "southern cross" designation came into being during the American Civil War, when the Daughters of the Confederacy adopted and modified the cross and bestowed it upon soldiers who demonstrated unswerving loyalty to the South. Although Dime and Washburn have?and intend?no affiliation with old Confederate ideals, the southern cross insignia represents Darrell's deep devotion to his craft while it simultaneously honors the godfather of metal, Tony Iommi.

Officially known as the Dime3SC, the Southern Cross is essentially a highly stylized version of the Washburn Dime3, with all the fine appointments and tone you'd expect from a custom shop artist series guitar. While this is certainly a massive instrument, it weighs in at a mere nine and a half pounds. Its medieval body shape isn't a typical choice in a world ruled by Strats and Les Pauls, but it is actually ergonomically correct in all playing positions and very comfortable for serious fretwork. Resting the guitar's waist on my left leg, the rear "V" gripped my right leg naturally and the neck sat at a perfect "conservatory" angle.

Finished with only a hard clear coat, the beautiful Brazilian mahogany used for the guitar's body and neck is specially selected for weight and appearance, and has a tightly checked grain as its distinguishing feature. The Southern Cross' book-matched rippled maple top is framed with black binding and, like the body, presented in its natural state, with just a clear coat protecting it. Given the wood's stunning appearance, I agree with the decision not to muddy it with dyes. While Washburn lists the guitar's top as AAA quality, my review copy's top was definitely closer to AAAAA, and had a curl of nearly violin quality. As the finishing touch, a large southern cross is inlaid with pure ebony bars and green abalone points on the body's left-hand lower arm.

The mahogany set neck has a 24 3/4?inch scale and is as unique and surprisingly comfortable as the body. Beginning with a rare 1.65-inch nut width, the neck features a gentle taper with a widerounded "C" shape and a soft "V" on the hill. The alien-inspired "victory" headstock meets the body at a one-of-akind scarf joint, forming a strange volute that resembles a flat-topped Mayan pyramid. Numbered on the backside, the headstock has a flamed maple veneer and sports Dime's name, barbwire accents and black binding. Strange as the headpiece looks, its shape and weight give symmetry to the body and center the guitar's resonance at the pickups and neck joint. In other words, the Southern Cross is more than just an explosion of angles; it's designed to be a premiere top-performing stringed instrument.

The thick black ebony fingerboard is cut on Dime's own bend-friendly 15 3/4?inch radius and inlaid with real abalone crosses that match the monster inlaid on the body. The 22 jumbo frets are beautifully set and crowned, providing plenty of volume and a greasy fast feel when changing positions. Side-filled fret slots maintain a perfectly smooth edge for the life of the fretboard. As with all of Dime's guitars, the Southern Cross takes advantage of the pitchclarifying Buzz Feiten tuning system, ensuring perfect intonation at every fret. How many metal guitars can make that boast?

The Southern Cross' black Washburn-built Floyd Rose is recessed into the body and set up as a true floating system, so you can power dive and pull up. Silky smooth 18:1-ratio Grover tuners complement the precision of the Buzz Feiten system, and the 1/4-inch output jack is top-mounted with a protective washer. Seymour Duncan pickups?a signature Dimebucker in the bridge slot and a zebra-coiled '59 in the neck position? reside on black rings, and black acrylic speed knobs are provided for the two volume and master tone controls. The three-way selector is located below the neck, on the body's forward point, a position that makes switching pickups a more intuitive action to be performed between downstrokes.

Acoustically, the Southern Cross was bright and full, with a fat but clear top end. Although I didn't have a Randall Warhead on hand, I achieved tremendous sonic results playing the guitar through my Mesa Rectifier. Using all the Mesa's heinous rectified gain, the Dimebucker delivered tight skull-busting chunk and supreme definition for muted rapid-fire slam rhythms and furious leads. Bending notes swelled the tone from a cry to a scream, and properly applied vibrato helped me achieve nearly endless feedbacklike sustain.

If you're into tuning down, there's no better pickup and guitar for the job. The ebony fretboard and compressed midrange translate a taut feel to the strings and deliver enough snap to keep up with even the fastest hands. Switching to a modified Marshall produced supercharged Black Sabbath tones with all of the profane power of a fallen angel's ire. The real shocker was the over-the-top performance of the Duncan '59: it bit through solos with as much pop and edge as some vintage PAF bridge position pickups. By rolling the volume down, I was inspired to explore raw and gutsy vintage honky-tonk tones that I would have never expected from such a devious tool.