[Formerly Given To Fly]

Has anyone here played through a Dumble amp? What were your thoughts? Did it sound good clean/distorted/etc.? I understand Mr. Dumble was/is a controversial amp builder. I am more interested in what people thought (or think) of the amplifiers.

 

[jono]

I've not ever even seen one, but the clips I've heard on youtube (so well know for its crystal clear sonic reproduction of actual guitar tone) mean I'm not actually that interested in them.

And you have to ask... "but does it djent?"

Wait, sorry this is jemsite not SSO

 

[BigBazz]

Never seen one, there aren't many in existence and all of them are owned by famous players or rich collectors so I doubt you will find anyone who can give first hand experience. From what I read in the guitar amp handbook it's even difficult to clone them due to the sound coming down to specific components and types of wire used in the amp, if you copied the circuit without the same wire you might end up missing the mark by quite a bit. Ultimately there is nothing special about the amps from what we hear in recordings other than they are good low/medium gain amps that like any good amp sound good in the hands of world class players.

There is a lot of voodoo surrounding these amps but hell if you blind tested some people with other high end amplifiers I'd bet you'd get everyone preferring a particular amp and no specific bias towards a Dumble. I could be wrong of course, I've only read stuff in books and watched videos/listened to recordings but my experience in playing amps so far suggests this.

 

[taracatac]

Emerald City Guitars had one for sale several months ago. Only $150K!!!! I was gonna buy it but I bought a 1960 Les Paul for the same price. I wish LOL.

 

[Formerly Given To Fly]

Never seen one, there aren't many in existence and all of them are owned by famous players or rich collectors so I doubt you will find anyone who can give first hand experience. From what I read in the guitar amp handbook it's even difficult to clone them due to the sound coming down to specific components and types of wire used in the amp, if you copied the circuit without the same wire you might end up missing the mark by quite a bit. Ultimately there is nothing special about the amps from what we hear in recordings other than they are good low/medium gain amps that like any good amp sound good in the hands of world class players.

There is a lot of voodoo surrounding these amps but hell if you blind tested some people with other high end amplifiers I'd bet you'd get everyone preferring a particular amp and no specific bias towards a Dumble. I could be wrong of course, I've only read stuff in books and watched videos/listened to recordings but my experience in playing amps so far suggests this.

Famous players and rich collectors have friends though.
I think the concept of the ODS is interesting.

I am a simpleton when it comes to amps so correct me if I'm wrong. The ODS is a 1 Channel amp with an extra gain stage that, when engaged, distorts part of the guitar signal which is controlled by a "Ratio" knob. So, the guitar signal could be 90% clean and 10% distorted or vice versa, correct? Here is the only YouTube example I have found demonstrating the ODS with an emphasis on the Overdrive (the first notes are played at around the 4:00 mark:

(I find it odd how most Dumble amp demos are on the lower end of the quality spectrum.)
Something I do not understand is how the guitar interacts with the speaker and how the speaker interacts with the guitar. Apparently, it is not a one-way street. I get the impression the "feeling" of playing through a Dumble is significantly different than playing through other amps. YouTube can be a great way to hear what something sounds like and a terrible way to hear what something sounds like. In this case, I feel the latter is more prevalent which is why I would like to hear about someone's personal experience if possible.

 

[jono]

TGP is probably your best bet!!! That place is full of guys who all own at least one Dumble to go with their 59 Les Pauls and 54 Strats

 

[Formerly Given To Fly]

TGP is probably your best bet!!! That place is full of guys who all own at least one Dumble to go with their 59 Les Pauls and 54 Strats

Jemsite is a safe place. If no one has played a Dumble or wants to share their experience, that is fine. I'll survive. I only go to TGP to ask Ibanez questions. Actually, I completely avoid TGP, but thank you for the suggestion. Although, I do have some questions about tonewoods and tone being in the fingers.....

 

[Jerseyboy]

Jemsite is a safe place. If no one has played a Dumble or wants to share their experience, that is fine. I'll survive. I only go to TGP to ask Ibanez questions. Actually, I completely avoid TGP, but thank you for the suggestion. Although, I do have some questions about tonewoods and tone being in the fingers.....

Agreed.

FYI, I haven't tried a Dumble, but if you have a good ear, the Axe Fx products can really emulate the sound quite well. I have a couple of presets that people who listen to a lot of Robben Ford say sounds very much like the Dumble. I listen to A LOT of Robben Ford, but am a poor judge of my own work. YMMV.

 

[sepulchrave]

No-one knows what a 'Dumble' sounds like because they're all custom voiced and all different. People are plenty dumb tho', $150k indeed!

 

[Drew]

I dig the sound of the one in that video, but it definitely adds some credence to the claim I've heard that the Mesa Lone Star was loosely Dumble-esq in flavor. Those things are spectacular sounding (and feeling) amps, so that might be your best bet for not-stupid money.

That said... There's a Dumble model in the AxeFX, and Cliff modeled it off an actual Dumble I think he managed to buy for that person. I haven't played through his, but I understand he wasn't really blown away by the original, and I wasn't really blown away by the model. Fine, but nothing special. Then again as someone pointed out there's a lot of range in what a "Dumble" probably sounds like. :lol:

 

[jim777]

I used to play in a rehearsal studio in Manhattan through a Dumble Steel String Singer head back in the late 70's - early 80's. It was an amazing sounding amp that didn't require a boost or anything other than maybe a chorus pedal. I was in two bands at the time, an original punk band and a band that wanted to be Yes when it grew up. It fit for everything and may have been the best amp I've ever played through (tough to say though, it was a while ago and I love my Mark IV) I asked about buying it once and was told $4000 for the head. Now, this was when a '59 Les Paul could still be had for 10-12 thousand dollars. Mid 70's wine red Les Paul Custom with a DiMarzio PAF neck, DiMarzio Super Distortion bridge, straight into the amp. Bliss

I would say, if you really, REALLY want a Dumble, save up and get a Fuchs. It's 99% of what you get with a Dumble, and may be better to your ears as well. Dumble really just rewired a Fender amp and it sounded amazing, so to keep people from copying what he did (and what anyone could do with the instructions) he covered his changes in gobs of epoxy so no one would see his change to the original Fender's schematic. It's fair to say that people have guessed correctly over the years, there's only so many ways to rewire an amp and have it still work after it all.

 

[Formerly Given To Fly]

I used to play in a rehearsal studio in Manhattan through a Dumble Steel String Singer head back in the late 70's - early 80's. It was an amazing sounding amp that didn't require a boost or anything other than maybe a chorus pedal. I was in two bands at the time, an original punk band and a band that wanted to be Yes when it grew up. It fit for everything and may have been the best amp I've ever played through (tough to say though, it was a while ago and I love my Mark IV) I asked about buying it once and was told $4000 for the head. Now, this was when a '59 Les Paul could still be had for 10-12 thousand dollars. Mid 70's wine red Les Paul Custom with a DiMarzio PAF neck, DiMarzio Super Distortion bridge, straight into the amp. Bliss

I would say, if you really, REALLY want a Dumble, save up and get a Fuchs. It's 99% of what you get with a Dumble, and may be better to your ears as well. Dumble really just rewired a Fender amp and it sounded amazing, so to keep people from copying what he did (and what anyone could do with the instructions) he covered his changes in gobs of epoxy so no one would see his change to the original Fender's schematic. It's fair to say that people have guessed correctly over the years, there's only so many ways to rewire an amp and have it still work after it all.

Very cool! I'm glad you got to have that experience. I just wanted to hear from someone who had played one, what their impressions were of a Dumble amplifier. There is usually some substance behind the myth when it comes to musical instruments and I'm interested in the substantive part. I had the chance to play a Fuchs Viper (it has a different name now) which was a great sounding amplifier. It was also completely unintuitive in how the channels worked making it difficult to use in a practical way.

 

[Jerseyboy]

No-one knows what a 'Dumble' sounds like because they're all custom voiced and all different. People are plenty dumb tho', $150k indeed!

I attribute the "Dumble" sound to what Robben Ford sounds like. Listen to his stuff with The Blue Line and you will get an idea what I mean. "Start It Up" is a good showpiece on the first "Robben Ford and The Blue Line" record.

 

[sepulchrave]

I attribute the "Dumble" sound to what Robben Ford sounds like. Listen to his stuff with The Blue Line and you will get an idea what I mean. "Start It Up" is a good showpiece on the first "Robben Ford and The Blue Line" record.

So the modded Blackface sound in essence, a little Fender on Fender action, SRV et al.

I'm familiar with it.

Prefer Larry Carlton myself but I get your gist.

 

[musiclab]

If you're interested in the Dumble sound check out the Fuchs ODS line, he currently makes an ODS II and an ODS classic. These amps are as good as it gets, and get the Dumble sound and maybe beyond. I own a Fuchs Triple Drive Supreme Custom, it is a killer. The cleans are beautiful the distortion is warm and sweet and can get VERY hairy. One thing though these amps are very revealing, so make sure your chops are really where they should be.