The new Dumbles

[PhilC]

How to get the Dumble sound.

Take whatever Mesa Boogie Mark series amp you have (doesn't matter what one you have) turn off the GEQ. Turn the bass knob to 6 or 7.

Congratulations you just created the Dumble sound.

Yes it can be done better. But it gets you close enough for most applications.

I’m not a Dumble expert but I’ve had a number of clones and played 1 real ods. I agree with this. I’ve gotten closer with my iic+ with eq bypassed to the tones I was shooting for than any of my clones. My 6G6B turned up loud with a transparent boost going through 80’s g1265’s sounds more like the current cleaner type RF tones than any of the clones. It’s a case that either I’m not really a fan of dumble tones or the clones are all just meh (and I’ve owned a lot of them!)

 

[braintheory]

Guys, I made a comment earlier about the ‘horrific’, loose bottom end.

That was a dumb comment.

I fully realize the Dumble amps were made for players with a certain touch and playing style.
Ford, Carlton and others have make these amps absolutely shine with magical tone.

Someone cranking the gain and bashing out chugga power chords is not going to bring out the ultimate tone on a Dumble.


I get it?

While they’re definitely not aimed at that, I’d argue the one real ‘70’s ODS I tried still at least may not have been as loose as many stock Recto’s unboosted lol and the furthest thing from fizzy

It’s real forte imo was something I like to call 5D in quality to its notes lol and the way they connected. Even for bashing chugga powerchords, while it’s definitely not where the amp is suited, you’d still hear the inherent 5D quality and details to the notes, just with a sound that isn’t catered toward that. The big surprise though was how great shred or sweep type leads worked on it despite seeming like it wouldn’t have enough gain or compression to pull it off, it somehow really did

 

[6AM]

Dumble exclusively made amps for people who played music that I don't like. That being said, I wish I bought one when I first heard of them. You could get one for $5k.

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

Dumble exclusively made amps for people who played music that I don't like. That being said, I wish I bought one when I first heard of them. You could get one for $5k.

Yep,
I have that issue of Guitar Player Magazine which reviewed a bunch of high gain heads.
The Bogner 100B was $2500 and the Dumble was $5000.

I remember thinking, ‘who’d ever pay $5000 for a guitar amplifier’?

How times change…

 

[Jdub]

Yep,
I have that issue of Guitar Player Magazine which reviewed a bunch of high gain heads.
The Bogner 100B was $2500 and the Dumble was $5000.

I remember thinking, ‘who’d ever pay $5000 for a guitar amplifier’?

How times change…

I still have that issue. Loved the review of the Ultra Lead! "The most stupifying thrash tones we've ever heard!"

 

[mentoneman]

I still have that issue. Loved the review of the Ultra Lead! "The most stupifying thrash tones we've ever heard!"

and the Egnater TOL 100?

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

and the Egnater TOL 100?

Wish I’d have kept mine with the TOS mod.
Very nice amps.

 

[mooncobra]

Plenty of amps out there that does that much better than a Fuchs.
A good friend just bought a Two Rock Traditional Clean, and the amp sounds pretty good! Not like a Dumble at all, but more like a good sounding black face Fender with great reverb.
Now, why not just try to find a great sounding BF or early SF Twin Reverb and add a couple of OD and boost pedals to it? Trust me, I've never heard anything out there that sound as good as a great sounding original black face Fender amp for that type of tone. No Two Rock, Fuchs, Amplified Nation. Anything... Except for the ones modded by Dumble.

I’ve heard some two rocks that are EPIC, some of the best cleans I’ve heard that are as good as vintage fenders. I also heard a couple amplified nation that also have amazing cleans.

I think a lot of the dumble magic is hype like a Cameron. No doubt, they sound great, but a few hundred grand great? Then, when someone drops a huge amount on a dumble, they have to say that it’s the greatest amp they’ve ever played. Bonamassa played his new dumble at norms in a video, and he hyped the hell out of that amp. Sounded ok, but not epic. I think the YouTube channel is called the pedal guys or something like that and they had robben ford and his dumble on and the star of the show was the clean channel.

And yes, I’ve played a few dumbles. I worked in the music industry. A large part of that time was in studios. Definitely nice amps, no doubt. But, the mystique of dumble, like having to audition for the guy to build you an amp, the amount of time he took to build one, the fact that not many were built over decades, etc, also has a lot to do with it. I think the dumble cleans were the star of the show.

 

[Jdub]

and the Egnater TOL 100?

and the Egnater TOL 100?

I had one of those pre rocktron Egnater TOL 100. What a great amp. IIRC you had that amp as well.

 

[GJgo]

This will always & forever be my Dumble sound. Mostly because how emotionally connected I am to the music, Lowell was a master.

 

[braintheory]

I’ve heard some two rocks that are EPIC, some of the best cleans I’ve heard that are as good as vintage fenders. I also heard a couple amplified nation that also have amazing cleans.

I think a lot of the dumble magic is hype like a Cameron. No doubt, they sound great, but a few hundred grand great? Then, when someone drops a huge amount on a dumble, they have to say that it’s the greatest amp they’ve ever played. Bonamassa played his new dumble at norms in a video, and he hyped the hell out of that amp. Sounded ok, but not epic. I think the YouTube channel is called the pedal guys or something like that and they had robben ford and his dumble on and the star of the show was the clean channel.

And yes, I’ve played a few dumbles. I worked in the music industry. A large part of that time was in studios. Definitely nice amps, no doubt. But, the mystique of dumble, like having to audition for the guy to build you an amp, the amount of time he took to build one, the fact that not many were built over decades, etc, also has a lot to do with it. I think the dumble cleans were the star of the show.

Hm my experience was a bit different and basically agree with Tiago. I've played so many Two Rocks, including many costing in the five figures and found them to be some of the most overrated amps I've played. Sure they sounded good, but compared to good vintage Fender Blackface's not as organic/lively to me in sound or feel nor as nuanced or as full of life as really any good vintage amp IME at least for what I like to hear and feel. Like many recent made boutique amp I found them a little sterile or dull/flat vs good vintage amps or some of the few recent made boutique amps that are legit. Just my experience though

I agree about Cameron's being overhyped in some ways (still really good stuff though imo), but the one '70's Dumble ODS 50 I tried was by far the best amp I've ever played. I will probably never be able to afford one, but to this day haven't tried another amp I felt was within light years of its tone or feel. When I tried it even people there who weren't musicians were equally blown away. It was a religious experience. I will say the few Dumble modded Fender's I've tried didn't have to me that same type of magic, but were great amps too. One thing to note is the ODS I played was underwhelming until I got it loud enough and then it was just a different class of amp. It was like 5D in note detail to amps others call 3D. It's sort of the basis in some ways of my analogy of it being like premium fresh squeezed orange juice, while the bludotone I played was maybe pasteurized Tropicana at best, Two Rock is from concentrate, Fuchs and others maybe Sunny D, all these "boutique pedals" maybe would be medicinal tasting orange candies lol, but I guess they're all the same flavor

Also, with the ODS I played, the clean actually left a bit for me to be desired (guessing that's why he made the Steel String Singer that the Alessandro AZZ was inspired by). It was definitely the overdrive that was the star of the show for me. We can all agree the prices are stupid and as well as those other parts of it being silly, but the sound and feel for me more than spoke for itself in me getting why their reputation is what it is

 

[mentoneman]

Hm my experience was a bit different and basically agree with Tiago. I've played so many Two Rocks, including many costing in the five figures and found them to be some of the most overrated amps I've played. Sure they sounded good, but compared to good vintage Fender Blackface's not as organic/lively to me in sound or feel nor as nuanced or as full of life as really any good vintage amp IME at least for what I like to hear and feel. Like many recent made boutique amp I found them a little sterile or dull/flat vs good vintage amps or some of the few recent made boutique amps that are legit. Just my experience though

I agree about Cameron's being overhyped in some ways (still really good stuff though imo), but the one '70's Dumble ODS 50 I tried was by far the best amp I've ever played. I will probably never be able to afford one, but to this day haven't tried another amp I felt was within light years of its tone or feel. When I tried it even people there who weren't musicians were equally blown away. It was a religious experience. I will say the few Dumble modded Fender's I've tried didn't have to me that same type of magic, but were great amps too. One thing to note is the ODS I played was underwhelming until I got it loud enough and then it was just a different class of amp. It was like 5D in note detail to amps others call 3D. It's sort of the basis in some ways of my analogy of it being like premium fresh squeezed orange juice, while the bludotone I played was maybe pasteurized Tropicana at best, Two Rock is from concentrate, Fuchs and others maybe Sunny D, all these "boutique pedals" maybe would be medicinal tasting orange candies lol, but I guess they're all the same flavor

Also, with the ODS I played, the clean actually left a bit for me to be desired (guessing that's why he made the Steel String Singer that the Alessandro AZZ was inspired by). It was definitely the overdrive that was the star of the show for me. We can all agree the prices are stupid and as well as those other parts of it being silly, but the sound and feel for me more than spoke for itself in me getting why their reputation is what it is

he may have been the most meticulously gifted amp builder who ever lived but it’s like talking about Cleopatra being the most beautiful woman in 50 B.C.

the part that makes the “mr. dumble” story sad for me is tiptoeing around his obviously compromised mental state.

trust me when i say i know how difficult it is to manage someone with mental illness, but the guy could have made 7 figures easy, had he cut the fender design/consultant deal instead of dying a recluse and taking his proprietary methods to the grave. Would’ve had his own respectable home and independence, been able to take better care of his health, and would have probably still been with us and more able to build a few custom amps a year, teaching others his craft while making more people happy.

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

i poked around a little but honestly there are no clips i’ve heard that do justice to the sound i heard LC get in the room that night with his 335.

this one comes closest to the way the dumble sounded with his settings and touch, but you have to let your imagination fill in the blanks to add the fatter hollowbody 335 quality!



our old pal AW did a vid on the recent buzz around D tone here:

Pat,
I was playing that YT video of Larry Carlton and my wife said,
‘Wow, that’s beautiful, honey… how come when I come home and the house is shaking, you’re not playing like that’?

?

Mr Dumble would have never allowed me to buy one of his amps.

 

[mentoneman]

Pat,
I was playing that YT video of Larry Carlton and my wife said,
‘Wow, that’s beautiful, honey… how come when I come home and the house is shaking, you’re not playing like that’?

?

Mr Dumble would have never allowed me to buy one of his amps.

i’m not agreeing that you wouldn’t deserve a dumble, and now we’ll never know,
but of all of his eccentricities ,
that audition part i can kind of understand.

besides avoiding a bunch of weekend lawyers flooding the market with a river of nasty dumble demos,
i’d like to believe that he may have spared many an amateur potential buyer from dumping thousands of dollars into an amp that was way above their playing ability to justify,
and could have been served equally well with a nice and way more affordable fender bassman or twin or jtm 45.

like you don’t convince a kid picking up gtr for the first time that it would be imperative that they need a diezel. i gave my grandson a jackson and a katana. perfect.

another example.
when i had my fuchs ods 100 i could set it to sound very much like Robben Ford’s talk-mystic era tones. i had a friend who worshipped Ford and strived to get his tone. i had him come over and play my gtr-rig and after demoing the fact that i was nailing that sound,
he began to play through the exact same rig and was absolutely not sounding like RF at all. he knew the notes and chords, but his hands played right through the nuances of a rig like that, and had no idea how to correct it.

just because an amp “can” produce a great tone doesn’t mean everyone who plays it can do so successfully.