A rumble with a Dumble

[Xpensive Wino]

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[JTele]

I'm not so sure there are many Dumble fans in these parts of the interwebz.

 

[mikeslub]

I think there are people like me who are intrigued by the mystique behind Dumbles but realize it is an unattainable holy grail.

 

[corpse]

Who plays that long without a clam? Not I.
Definitely something lost in translation with an iPad speaker. Impressive for the player I am sure.

 

[ampdan]

TBH I can't think of one Dumble amp video that made me say..."Damn! I have to have one of those."

 

[jb_abides]

There are so many Dumble designs with particular voicing, specifically tweaked to embrace the original owner's style, it's really a moot discussion.

David Lindley on Jackson Browne stuff, YES. But I don't want to sound like that, either. Nor do I believe I would plugged into his amps.

I do particualy enjoy Robben Ford's use of the ODS! Here's a 1984 interview discussing the tone from the 'Talk To Your Daughter' album --

-- Interviewer: How did you get the guitar sound?​

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-- Robben: Well, the lion’s share of all the guitar work on that record is through the Dumble Overdrive Special amplifier, and important to that is the 212EV cabinet that Howard Dumble built for me. I discovered at Montrose a couple of days ago how important a cabinet is – I mean, it’s half your sound….half your amplification anyway, so I really missed not having it there, I used this guitar, it’s called the Fender Ultra Esprit….do you know it?​

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-- Interviewer: It’s like a double-cutaway Les Paul….​

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-- Robben: That’s right, three quarter size body. It’s got sound chambers in it and a pickup splitter. That’s the guitar through the Dumble amplifier and the only exception is the song called “Getaway”. I did the guitar overdub in New York and we just used whatever amplifiers were available there – I think I used a couple of Twins in stereo.​

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[And the Twins were modded by Rivera, IIRC]​

~~ Also on the Mystic Mile album ~~

“When the Air Becomes Electric, That's the Right Sound”: Howard Alexander Dumble’s 1985 ‘Guitar Player’ Interview in Full

 

[ampdan]

IMO....SRV best sounding era,"Live at the El Mocambo" no Dumble. Lowell George sounded horrible live through his Dumble.
I'm with you on the Lindley though. I just never got the Dumble "mystique".

 

[Señor Verde]

Robben's Talk To Your Daughter tone is my favorite of his. Some of his later stuff with G12-65 speakers just isn't as open and dynamic to me. Lots of great Dumble tones on record, but I've had a couple Dumble clones and a Fuchs and just couldn't get a good sound out of them. Guess I'm just a schnook.

 

[Xpensive Wino]

 

[F-Hole]

I’ve played five different Dumbles, four at length.

Every time I shrug and wonder what all the fuss is about.

 

[corpse]

Compare Lindley to Ry Cooder for a second. I don’t think Ry could have found a lower cost rig. They are very close on some recordings.
I feel inadequate however when it comes to their phrasing- particularly passing tones.

 

[Dave P]

I never had any interest in Dumbles until I saw Larry Carlton in a very small venue 35+ years ago. This was around the Last Nite/On Solid Ground era. His tone was astonishing that night, and played his ass off that night. My 2 guitarist friends that were with me were blown away too. I had never seen a Dumble before, so I made a good mental image, and even put my hand on his tan amp head when nobody was looking hoping some of the mojo would rub off (Didn't work-LOL). He played a brown Valley Arts guitar the entire show. Larry had 2 Dumbles stacked on top of each other sitting on his rack that night, a tan ODS, and another ODS covered in tweed looking tolex like a Peavey. I'm pretty sure he was using the tan head that night. Had a small rack with a Dumbleator, a Roland SDE1000, and an Audioworks parametric EQ. Also a small pedalboard. 2 1x12 Dumble cabs with EV12L's down by his feet pointed up at him like monitors, with the monitor in the middle. I have a couple of Dumble clones, but a little over a year ago I built a #102 clone that I tweaked to my liking. The Amp Garage was an invaluable source of info, I never could have built it without their resources, Mark Kane gave me a couple tips as well. I pretty much have used that amp 95% of the time the last year. It might not be real, but I built it by myself with my own hands and what few brain cells I have left, and means more to me than just plopping down money and buying one.

 

[jb_abides]

Kudos on a very clean, nice layout there, Dave.

Congrats on a job well done, that means something to you.

 

[Dave P]

Kudos on a very clean, nice layout there, Dave.

Congrats on a job well done, that means something to you.

Thanks. I tried to stay true to how Dumbles were wired. especially the preamp tubes. There are reasons why they were laid out the way they were.