Dumble Overdrive Special

I owned an ODS from 1997 to 2001. I was the third owner, the first went to prison for a very long time and the second bought it from his attorney. (IOW, the fourth if you count the attorney.) At that time I paid "way too much" (I actually traded it for a car whose ACV might have been five or six thousand dollars) and sold it for "More" (I agreed not to say exactly, but let's say it would buy a new economy car.) It was about ten years old then.

Do I miss it? No. I built a Ceriatone clone recently and truthfully it's a better amp, for me.

It is what it is. There is no verb (one model has it but it's rare), no trem, no flava so to speak. Just gobs of PREAMP overdrive. No power amp overdrive unless you crank the snot out of it and that isn't what it does well anyway. There are a lot of knobs but what it does well is in a fairly narrow "envelope" from clean to that Robben Ford/Larry Carlton thing.

The other variable is that a Dumble is like a British double gun or a expensive set of custom golf clubs: (part of) what you are paying for is the custom setup for your guitars, your hands, your quirks, your style. HAD is a perceptive guy and if he deigns to work with you you get first rate treatment. If he does not like you you are nonexistent to him.

The Dumble is of legendary durability. There is however no documentation and if it breaks you have to either contact HAD and see if he will accept your patronage or have someone else work on it unless you are a skilled tech yourself. I was an Avionics Tech in the Navy and worked for Audio Research in Minnesota, so I never had problems, but it is frustrating to deal with a product where all the parts are Glyptaled or RTV'd over.

Even contacting HAD can be difficult. His address and phone number are effectively secret. If you prove you own one usually one of the dealers handling used ones will give you his contact on the down low, but he is notoriously prickish.

A side note: The suede covering looks cool but think twice before buying one especially a light brown or turquoise. It's very tough to clean. Tolex is a better option.

I'm only saying 5 because it's either "Infinite" or "Zero" depending on what H.A.D thinks of you.

Dumble has a certain sound and that's what they do. You don't get great Stones-style raunch, twang or surf tones, or a really clean clean, or headbanger sounds. But, except for the better Dumble clones, which are surprisingly good, nothing else does Dumble.

You pretty much have to be a gigging, successful California regional or major label signed act before Dumble will build you an amp today. Dumble is VERY California. He never leaves home. Otherwise, you are looking at the secondary market, where a Dumble is a prestige item of the first rank. Any Dumble will bring the price of a new car today, just how nice a car depends on celebrity ownership and model.

Keep in mind too that no two Dumbles are the same. They vary a lot, because most were tweaked for a specific person. If that person was of a certain bent that Dumble isn't going to make anyone else happy without knowledgeable re-setup. The circuits are not terribly intuitive and you can really make a mess of things quickly if you aren't good.

I personally don't think buying a Dumble makes sense whatever unless you can get HAD to build (and custom tweak) you one and you can write the price off as a tax deduction. The really knowledgeable will consider you a putz if you pay the going secondary price, but if that's the kind of status you want go for it.

First off, its not a real Dumble. I could never hope to own a real one. I built this one myself. I've built 18 amps before this one...from 1/2 watt screamers to 120 bass amps...and everything in between. Most of what I've built has been in the Bassman/Plexi vein. Features: Clean Volume, T,M,B, bright sw., mid boost, clean master, drive, drive level, and presence. There are also treble, mid and bass controls for the overdrive channel, but are inside the amp on trimmers. My amp runs 2 6l6's at around 35 watts. It took weeks of changing components to get THE sound, but I did get what I wanted out of the amp. It is very particular/sensitive in terms of the components used and the values and quality of those components. Before building this amp, I thought all of that was a bunch of mojo B.S. Well, I was wrong, its true. I switched out enough components on this amp to say for sure that certain caps/resistors have tone and some don't....depending, of course, on the circuit.

For all of those who have made critical remarks of Mr. Dumble, my opinion is the guy is a genius. Its obvious that in the design of this amp, he DID NOT accidently stumble onto this design. He has a tone in his head and went about going for that tone. Otherwise, it is very unlikely that this circuit would have been concieved. My 2 cents.

I play mostly blues/rock. This amp, as others have commented...it sings. The overdrive is compressed and tight and has a lot of touch factor in that it reacts, substantially, to the pick attack and what you do with your left hand. Robben Ford tone. Oh, and the clean channel is extremely sweet as well. Smooth and creamy.

That's all on me. Time will tell. Built totally by hand though.

If this amp were lost or stolen, I would build another in a heartbeat. This one, the Deluxe Reverb clone, and the 6v6 Plexi would all be rebuilt...in that order

What I have is a late 60's 100 watt tube Dumble amp, built especially for my blond Hammond B3. I have never heard that another one like this exists. It is a screamer to say the least!

Built to Beef a Leslie Model 21 H. Clean - Powerful - Awesome.

amp has never ever broken down.

I met Howard Dumble when I was 15 years old at his house in Aptos - Quite an experience for an impressionable kid in 1968.

This amp cannot be replaced - ever. It is the only one of its kind!

I don't own one, don't even know what they look like except for pictures - as everyone on this forum I suspect. I don't mean to call anyone out who is being truly honest, but take into account the veracity of some of these reviews. "I own three of them they're grrreat!" Give me a break. Is it true that only 200 have ever been built? If so, you have to really disregard most of these reviews as pure fiction.

Now here is where it's interesting, but listen to your heros - Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, Eric Johnson... There is perhaps no more distinct sound than this amp. The pick dynamics and smoothness of the sound make it a very expressive amp and I'd love to own one. When I listen to these players, I know their talent is the issue, but it takes this amp to really express that. So I love the Dumble sound, I'd like to think it would make me sound like Larry Carlton.

Who cares, you've got the most unique amp ever built.

"Oh, Howard's great, my great friend." - yea right. Honestly, I've never really heard anything about him or his support. I don't think Eric Johnson has trouble with customer support. I don't think anyone on this forum has ever played one or owned one. Now perhaps a couple have, but certainly not 18. I apologize in advance if you're one of the truthful ones.

I love the sound these amps produce when played by the guys who own them. The key here is pure artistic expression, and it sounds like these amps are an excellent extension of the artist. In fact, when I think of the few artist who have been able to create this living, expressive sound, they seem to have these amplifiers.

Here is a link with info on Dumble Amps and an interview with Mr. Dumble from a 1985 Guitar Player mag:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumble_Amplifiers

And for Christ's sake, stop whining and leave the guy alone. If you can't afford his price tag that's YOUR problem, not his!

NOTE: I haven't played a real Dumble, but I have built a clone from photos and the available schematics, and this is the amp I'll be reviewing.

50 watts, channel switching. Volume, bass, mid, and treble controls with bright, deep, and rock/jazz switching in the preamp. Footswitchable overdrive channel (adds an extra 2 stages of gain to the end of the clean channel). Drive and level controls for the overdrive. Master volume and presence for the power amp. The effects loop requires an external buffered in/out (Dumblelator).

Pretty much everything you'd need in an amp. Enough controls to give you plenty of tonal variation, but not so many that you'll have a hard time setting it. Some people have said that the tone stack controls are "interactive," i.e. the setting of one knob affects how the others work, but I haven't found this to be the case.

I play two guitars through it: an Ibanez AF120 jazz box and an Ibanez RG170 solidbody. It sounds killer with either one. Even a $200 Ibanez sings through it. The guy who said you need a vintage guitar to get the best out of this is full of crap.

I've recorded several sound clips of it. Words people have used to describe it include "clear" on the clean channel and "rich" and "clean" on the overdrive channel. I've heard these described as BF Fenders on steroids, but I don't think it necessarily sounds like anything else. It's a Dumble.

The defining characteristics for me are the endless sustain and the harmonic balance of the amp.

On other amps, when I crank them up into distortion, the amp seems to run away from me; I have to work to make it do what I want it to do. If I play a single note, I often get a note feeding back that I don't want to be there. Single notes will sustain, but they're very difficult to control. Dumble sustain is different. It seems like the amp "knows" which note to feed back, and the attack of the note determines the character of the tone. Hit it hard, and it doesn't just break up at the attack, it stays that way. Hit it soft, and it will sustain forever, but softly. When people say that a Dumble has "tight" gain, this is what they mean. The sound is loose and open, but the amp never leaves the control of the player. In my amp, I made the preamp's negative feedback loop switchable to be able to control how "loose" the amp feels.

The amp sings. The distortion, even at high levels, isn't brutal. It's musical. Some people have said that the amp sounds compressed at higher volumes, and I agree. It isn't a stuck-inside-a-box compression, though. It's more like when you blow a trumpet hard: the tone compresses, but the high harmonics start to come through. Because of the design of the amp, the overdrive channel is just a continuation of the clean channel: the amp grows when the overdrive is engaged, but the character of the tone doesn't really change from clean to dirty. It retains the character of the guitar that you plug into it.

From what I can tell, Dumbles are built like tanks with impeccable workmanship. If it breaks, it's not that difficult to fix.

I've heard that Dumble can be a bit reclusive and difficult to reach, but understandably so. I'm fortunate enough to have the skills and time to build and voice an amplifier for myself. I started the project with a good concept of the tone and response I wanted to achieve, and I got it. I can see why Dumble might not want to deal with someone unless he can play well enough and has enough of a concept of the tone he wants for it to be a pleasure to build the amp for him. Instead of being the next PRS, selling to people who want the best status symbol money can buy, Dumble has chosen to build amps for musicians.

A Dumble isn't rocket science. There's really no secret to the tone; it comes from doing everything right. A good design, good parts, and good construction. All this hype about special wire, special tubes, special capacitors, and special transformers is just that: hype. Look at some photos of Dumbles to see what I mean. Good quality transformers, good quality capacitors (Atoms and Orange Drops, mostly), carbon comp resistors in the signal path and metal films everywhere else. Impeccable lead dress. A good layout. All potential noise sources located far away from the signal path.

I built my clone for $500, including the speaker. I made my own aluminum chassis, used components from Mouser and WeberVST, transformers from WeberVST, and a Ceramic Michigan 12 speaker from WeberVST. I can honestly say it's the best amp I've ever played. Build it right and you will be rewarded.

I've never owned a Dumble amp, but I've played thru two in the past year, and one other a few years back. All were fairly good, but only the one I played recently was outstanding; I think it was about 11-12 years old, and was recently "refreshed" with tubes, biasing, etc. It had great midrange clarity and punch, even at low volumes, on the clean side, and almost sizzled with violin-like bell tones on the overdrive side, a great compressed natural sustain. I suspect that this great overdrive is because it had carefully matched tubes and a recent tune-up. This amp was born for classy blues and jazzy rock!

I played a G-400 SG with large humbuckers and an American Standard Strat thru this amp, and I found the Strat sounds a bit thin. The SG, however, really SANG; I wish I could have tried my Les Paul with 'Dirty Fingers' pickups thru it. Sounds are good, but the distortion can get to be too much on the higher settings, so carefully balance it out.
Earlier tonight I went to see Robben Ford playing guitar with Gregg Allman in Asheville, NC. I've known Robben for many years, and he's a truly great player, but tonight he was playing a Les Paul thru his Dumble, and that great sound of his never cut thru, even after they re-mic'd his cabinet (thru the PA); his notes were indistinct and almost violin-like. I've noticed this with other players using Dumbles in the past; ... they really need the mid boost.

Not really sure on most ... but my friend has never had any problems with his.

He's never needed it yet, ... except that he did need a schematic, which he got.

I've taught bass and guitar for over 20 years, and I love playing lots of styles, but particularly bluesy rock and country rock. I have a '79 Fender Super Twin Reverb (180 watts), '90 Peavey Classic 50, and a '87 Marshall JCM 800; ...all are carefully tuned and rebuilt, and all three are great amps. I love 'em like my children. I've got about $1200.00 total in all three of these, plus a good bit of my time, sweat, and care. They're not Dumbles, but they all shine at what they do. Maybe someday I'll buy a Dumble, ...but I doubt it.

I wouldn't know, I'm not his friend or Carlos Santana.

I've heard prices ranging from 10 to 20 thousand for this. I've not had much experience at all, I heard the amp, othes have described it's features and range of sound far more than my limited experience with it has. What I heard was not 10-20k's worth of tone. If you're paying that kind of money it better have 3 kinds of extinct animal and 2 kinds of rare moonrock used in it. Because I've got no idea why this amp is worth so much.

I agree whole heartedly with the guy a few reviews down, if these things didn't cost an obscene ammount of money people would not have such a high opinion of them. Gorgeous amp? Yes, deffinitely. Worth more than any other boutqique amp? Haha...no way is it. I honestly thought the price tag was a joke at first. The components in this would add up to a sum of money which would leave a vast ammount to go to Mr Dumble's labour costs. I'd say 8-18k cosidering that the componants wouldn't be more than 2k. He obviously thinks very, very highly of his talents.

I'm giving a general comment on features. Ive never owned a Dumble. I've spent time with Dumbles and was able to record with one a few years ago. That experience got me hooked. I still havent been able to buy a Dumble. I have quite a few different SF Fenders that have been reworked to Dumble circuits with the highest quality components and transformers available, etc.. Each is different reflecting the different values of components and switches and circuitry from the 10 or so schematics of Dumbles Ive been able to get ahold of. Most have the same basic features. The main differences with ODS's are some have more controls and switches (jazz/rock, bright, boost, mid-boost) some of those are foot-switchable on some ODSs, and some of the components change values. Its still your pretty basic 60's/70's Fender circuit with the drive channel added. Ive played actual Dumbles that I didnt like and others that Id give alot to have. Its not that special a circuit or that mystical. Its one of many great amps out their.

I do prefer less features. This is one of the only channel switching amps Ive ever liked. Ive had Bogners and Soldano's and I thought they were both mush. I totally subscribe to that less is more school of thought. Keep the signal path as clean as possable and only put high quality components in their.

OK. Im not one of these people who believe this amp is something divine. Its one of many great amps, some 1/10 the price. The price of this amp has nothing to do with the tone people. I swear some people think amps are a natural part of the universe to be accepted as is. Humans make these things and alot of them are horrible guitar players and most have no credentials that say they know anything more then the average guitarist about tone. In my experience amp builders are like the rest of us. Some amp builders can play - most cant. Some have good ears - most dont. Anyone with a background in basic electronics can build an amp. Its nothing difficult. Building a great amp is difficult but what constitutes a great amp is a highly personal thing.

Here's some things to know about these amps. It doesnt end here. Even the ones Ive played, or the Dumble modded Fenders I own, that Ive loved I never thought it was the end all be all. It does that tastefull moded-Fender overdrive sound extremely well. Thats all. Its what Randal Smith (Mesa) was trying to do. But many people would never ever trade a Mesa Mark for an ODS. Apples and Oranges.

One other thing that keeps comming up is touch. I was very impressed by the touch sensitivity of these amps. But again their way over rated in this area IMO. Even when cranked they dont have the touch of my Plexi or many great vintage british amps. It has more touch than any channel switching overdrive amp Ive played. Yet I can still get more gain and more touch by cranking my Plexi. But again its a different sound. So. Apples and oranges again.

The EQ of this amp is very hard to describe. Its crystal clear. Its not strong in bass or highs. It doesnt have the strong midrange humps that give many amps their character. Id go so far as to say that THAT IS the amps character. Its not thick or chunky. Its not honky or scooped. Well maybe a bit scooped. It has no bite or growl. The one thing that can be said of its character is its crystal clear and even in the equalization. Its EQ is very similar to a Soldano SLO. But the compression and envelope of the gain is very different. Just the EQ is similar. Its even, clear and can at times seems thin. I find this true of most BF and SF Fenders as well. Im refering to the EQ here not the gain. Just like BF Fenders and SLO's I think thats what most people are hearing when they say its got a large, clear, present tone. It is thin but when you really crank this sound it cuts exteremely well and its well balanced. Im not a huge fan of SLOs but Ive used them for many years because of this quality in the EQ. Its soundman proof. Even bad soundmen can get a nice clear cutting sound live with an SLO and a BF Fender and the same is very true of an ODS.

The gain is something very different though. This is a very loose gain. Ive read people saying this gain is tight. Everyone whose ever said that is definilty smoking crack. When you get down to the lower notes on the lower strings the overdrive gets very loose and Mushy. Mushy is a good word for it. Im talking gain here not EQ. With EQ that would imply its a muddy amp which it certainly is not. Im talking the gain structure. The lower notes get loose and mushy. Not completely like a mesa. Id call that more of a rumbly loose gain. I would compare this very strongly to a Chandler Tube Drive pedal. It breaks up and is very fluid and loose. In my experience that can sometimes be the characteristic of a great lead tone. Eric Johnsons tone is like that. Its very Fuzzy and loose on the lower notes but it absolutely sings during leads. I think thats a large reason why people say the gain is smooth. Its very fluid. Similar to Trey Anastasio's sound. It definitly has alot of picking noise. Those artifacts you get when the pick hits the strings. You get that alot with this amp. You can hear it very clearly if you listen to any live Robben Ford stuff. When he's using a pretty good amount of gain. Many people do not like this attribut

Overall value. Wow. Ive read a review where this guy went into this diatribe to justify the high cost because when you get to such a high quality product like this, every little bit better your tone gets, the price gets higher in an inversely exponential way. So at this level small degrees of tone transfer into large amounts of money.

Holy shit!!!

What was this guy smoking. Were talking about extremely simple electronics devices here people! Not NASA engineered space modules.

These amps cost no more to build then any other high quality amp. No matter how good the components are, for an amp like this the raw material will never be more the 1-2k. So what are you paying the extra $7000 and up for? Ill tell you what your paying for. What Dumble thinks his time and expertise is worth.

Every amp expert and tech ive had this conversation with agrees whole heartedly. He produces very few and theirs few out there. Its a great amp so many people would want them and do want them even at high prices. He is responsible for some of the massive amount of hype their is about this amp. I promise you this- If marshall took the Plexi design off the market in 1965 and started custom building small amounts of them for high prices, people who thought the Plexi sound was the ultimate tone (far more of those people then people who regaurd Dumble as ultimate) would still buy them and youd have the same hype and price for Marshall amps. I also promise you if Dumble decided to build these things in a business much the way Fender and Marshall do, the amps would cost the few grand their worth and Dumbles would have no more hype then Fenders and Mesas and Bogners and Soldanos and Voxs, etc...

Their are companies out there whove made exact replicas of Dumbles. And surprise Surprise, many people who buy those amps didnt think they were that great. "There no Dumble" they say. Exactly. They didnt spend $10k for the amp so their tiny minds didnt have that much to convince them it was the best sound they ever heard.

I was extremely impressed with one of the Dumbles Ive played and eventually I will buy one. But Ill admit Im a fool and Im paying at the very least 5x what I should. I am a pro musician. I play 200+ gigs a year and am in the studio for at leats 1-2 months a year. So thats what I do and thats what Ill foolishly spend my money on. 10k+ for an amp no better then hundreds of other 1-2/10 the price because it just happens to be my apple and not an orange. Man guitarists are stupid.

There is the input, input volume, treble boots switch, Mid boost switch, choice or rock or jazz switch, treble, mid, bass, overdrive amount, overdrive volume level, presence, master, and there is a footswitch for chioce Clean, Clean+Boost, Overdrive and Overdrive+boost. The footswitch is not necessisary, there are switches in the back. Everything you need to make the greatest tones ever!!!

I own every amp. I have over 100 amps now. You name it, I have got it. Anything that was ever good, I have. The Dumble is the greatest Blues and Blues Rock Amp ever made. It sounds so in-your-face that it feels like the sound is in your head. It feels taht close. I record guitars for many artist all over the country, and this is the greatest amp ever made. It does my favorite thing better then any other amp ever made. Trust me, I know.

I have about 10 amps Alexander Dumble has made me. They are the best e=amps ever built. The Army should hire Dumble to redesign "the tank." Tanks aren't this tough.

Alexander is a good friend of mine. I feel it is unfair for me to comment. He is the man!! He always helps me out.

I have (3) Dumble Overdrive Specials. My newest, I got tonight(11-20-2003) from Alexander. They are worth every cent. They are the stradavarious of amps. They are the 1959 Les Paul of amps. They will only go up in value. The price is not bad. They will only go up. The tone is worth cutting off a limb to buy. The greatest thing in the world. I would rather lose my pinky then these amps. They are important to me like children. I love them more then you could ever imagine. I would not cell them for anything!! I would be too afraid that I would never get those sounds again!! They are quite possibly the greatest musical instrument ever made.

Never played one, bet its got knobs for vol, bass, etc.

10k better sound real good, like a good used car.

like a Honda I hope.

Better not need any.

Pleeez! If you have to spend lots of cash buy a Vicki 410 (used 1200)a Blockhead 18wt 210 (2000) and a Fender Verb (200). Now you will sound great and have $6,600 to buy a guitar a gig car and (god forbid) some lessons. P.S. I gotta believe Stu C spent his high-school years with his whities-tighties jammed in his crack bound with duck tape wearing fake boobs.

simple, not many but useful for the tones I use

I use a G&L Comanche Strat, with Z-coils that I am trying to get Alnico II magnets for, A 336 copy with Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro Humbuckers, and late 70's Les Paul Custom with a SD Alnico II pro neck and a SD Jeff Beck bridge (the alnico II's lend a very sweet response in tone and dynamics with this amp). I built a clone from some private info and research, since there is no way on this earth I could afford a real Dumble! In the end, my clone has amazed everyone that has heard/played it that knows how Dumbles sound. I built a D-clone 1-12" cab that sounds better than any 1-12 or 2-12 for that matter, and is very harmonically rich. It has a vintage EV-SRO Alnico 12 in it. The amp responds to the touch and sustains very well even in cleaner settings. Its the chimmiest amp I every have played, it can get anywhere from sweet B.B King Blues tones on to early Robben Ford tones, on up to modern Robben Ford and Larry Carlton tones, it gets a great Carlos tone like that of the one with Michelle Branch "The Love Game" Solo. It responds well to the guitar volume knob, very smooth and articulate, very Blackface Fender sounding in the clean mode. It gets Old Mark I Boogie-like tones (in the JAZZ setting), and also very good Marshall Plexi-like tones (in the rock settings)as well for being a 6L6 power tube amp. I find that it is very sensitive to different preamp tubes especially NOS 12ax7's. I put in a Telefunken in the 1st stage, sometimes a Sovtek LPS, and a Raytheon 12ax7 Blackplate in the overdrive section, it can get pretty close to early Van Halen overdrive with this guy. Various driver tubes will give many palletes of overall tone here, such as a Philips 12at7, for more Fender tone with a slight less output (drive), a GE 12ax7A for warmer, fatter, response, a Mullard long plate for more British vibe etc. For higher gain sounds, a Chineese 12ax7 in the overdrive stage will really chock up some gain. The mid switch on this amp is really FATT sounding! Its very British sounding! I don't use it very often. The PAB (Pre-Amp-Boost) switch is great for that fat boost like a that of Tweed-like mids and thick leads. The brite switch can be pretty brite, but at times it really helps cut through with articulation. I also have a Dumbleator that is a must when using effects, it even adds some compression that sounds good for low to medium playing levels, that sounds like the poweramp compressing. There are brite switches for it as well, which helps one to get the EQ right for wherever you are playing. All in all, since it is only a clone, I have to say that Alexander Howard Dumble had a great ear, but an expensive appetite for tone! His design is very ingenious though many ideas may have been borrowed from Fender etc. His intentions, I feel were pretty good, other than that most of us could not afford a real one. The amp is pretty quiet by comparison. I have had Boogie Mark I's, Mark II, Mark III, a Heartbreaker, Triaxis/2:90, Marshall Super Lead 50 watt head/212 cab, Muisc Man HD 130, RD50's Bassman, JC-120's, Yamaha G112-100, Groovetubes Soulo-75, etc. THe amp also works great with pedals.

I have read stories that there old Dumble had tubes that were 15 years old, like some Fender guys have said, but depending on the use, volume level, style of music etc. I work on my own gear for the most part, and for the real Dumble, I understand Dumble only works on his amps, and that is in the agreement when purchasing one from him, since he would want to keep his design a mystery, and to protect it, hehe! ;^) Well, I guess anyone that charges that much for an amp, and doesnt want anyone to catch on, would probably do the same.... Now days we have many cloners out there doing it, but with maybe a twist here and there. I am glad I was able to build a clone and experience what I never could if I had to come up with 10-15G's...

Well you know the rest of the story

Its not evry guitar players dream amp, its more of a particular players amp, think Robben Ford, Larry Carlton etc. If thats your tone, and you have the cash, go for it, Carlos did. An aquaintance of mine is a god friend of Alexander, and had built a guitar with Alexanders help back in the late 60's or early 70's, its a beauty by all means and its a 10 string of all things. Supposedly Alexander was spending some time hanging with Carlos Santana and is building him a amp, though Carlos is using a high profile clients amp in the meantime.

simple, not many but useful for the tones I use

I use a G&L Comanche Strat, with Z-coils that I am trying to get Alnico II magnets for, A 336 copy with Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro Humbuckers, and late 70's Les Paul Custom with a SD Alnico II pro neck and a SD Jeff Beck bridge (the alnico II's lend a very sweet response in tone and dynamics with this amp). I built a clone from some private info and research, since there is no way on this earth I could afford a real Dumble! In the end, my clone has amazed everyone that has heard/played it that knows how Dumbles sound. I built a D-clone 1-12" cab that sounds better than any 1-12 or 2-12 for that matter, and is very harmonically rich. It has a vintage EV-SRO Alnico 12 in it. The amp responds to the touch and sustains very well even in cleaner settings. Its the chimmiest amp I every have played, it can get anywhere from sweet B.B King Blues tones on to early Robben Ford tones, on up to modern Robben Ford and Larry Carlton tones, it gets a great Carlos tone like that of the one with Michelle Branch "The Love Game" Solo. It responds well to the guitar volume knob, very smooth and articulate, very Blackface Fender sounding in the clean mode. It gets Old Mark I Boogie-like tones (in the JAZZ setting), and also very good Marshall Plexi-like tones (in the rock settings)as well for being a 6L6 power tube amp. I find that it is very sensitive to different preamp tubes especially NOS 12ax7's. I put in a Telefunken in the 1st stage, sometimes a Sovtek LPS, and a Raytheon 12ax7 Blackplate in the overdrive section, it can get pretty close to early Van Halen overdrive with this guy. Various driver tubes will give many palletes of overall tone here, such as a Philips 12at7, for more Fender tone with a slight less output (drive), a GE 12ax7A for warmer, fatter, response, a Mullard long plate for more British vibe etc. For higher gain sounds, a Chineese 12ax7 in the overdrive stage will really chock up some gain. The mid switch on this amp is really FATT sounding! Its very British sounding! I don't use it very often. The PAB (Pre-Amp-Boost) switch is great for that fat boost like a that of Tweed-like mids and thick leads. The brite switch can be pretty brite, but at times it really helps cut through with articulation. I also have a Dumbleator that is a must when using effects, it even adds some compression that sounds good for low to medium playing levels, that sounds like the poweramp compressing. There are brite switches for it as well, which helps one to get the EQ right for wherever you are playing. All in all, since it is only a clone, I have to say that Alexander Howard Dumble had a great ear, but an expensive appetite for tone! His design is very ingenious though many ideas may have been borrowed from Fender etc. His intentions, I feel were pretty good, other than that most of us could not afford a real one.

I have read stories that there old Dumble had tubes that were 15 years old, like some Fender guys have said, but depending on the use, volume level, style of music etc. I work on my own gear for the most part, and for the real Dumble, I understand Dumble only works on his amps, and that is in the agreement when purchasing one from him, since he would want to keep his design a mystery, and to protect it, hehe! ;^) Well, I guess anyone that charges that much for an amp, and doesnt want anyone to catch on, would probably do the same.... Now days we have many cloners out there doing it, but with maybe a twist here and there. I am glad I was able to build a clone and experience what I never could if I had to come up with 10-15G's...

Well you know the rest of the story

Its not evry guitar players dream amp, its more of a particular players amp, think Robben Ford, Larry Carlton etc. If thats your tone, and you have the cash, go for it, Carlos did. An aquaintance of mine is a god friend of Alexander, and had built a guitar with Alexanders help back in the late 60's or early 70's, its a beauty by all means and its a 10 string of all things. Supposedly Alexander was spending some time hanging with Carlos Santana and is building him a amp, though Carlos is using a high profile clients amp in the meantime.

100 watt combo amplifier,6l6 power tubes,class A/B circuit design. (1x12)speaker. BIG tone based on the best of Fenders amps with a twist......Smoother and sweeter sounding than a Fender and with much more harmonic content than a Fender or Boogie.Clean sound and boost.

I dont own one of these amps and several in this column don`t own one either. It really seems like an opinion page for a highly regarded and very expensive amp indeed!!Obviously i am familiar with what these amps sound like as i`ve heard Christopher Cross,Eric Johnson,Larry Carlton and Robben Ford etc. I did catch Roben Ford in concert here in New Zealand 4 months ago and he was using his Dumble. The 2nd guitarist in the band was plugged into a hotrod deville(4x10)which sounded thiner and not as 3 dimensional as Fords Dumble. Although the dumble sounded rather impressive, I really felt that Robbens 1960s Telecaster sounded thin and harsh through this amp and the dumble really seemed to suit his guitars with humbuckers.There was clarity,balance,sustain and tone present with the H/buckers, where-as the tele single coils just didnt match,i thought.The drive or boost footswitch he used sounded great and thickened the tone with a smooth and slightly compressed signal that was quite harmonic sounding. Very pleasing to the ear,very soulful and just like his recorded tones as of his solo career.I would believe that a nice woody sounding 335 would match and suit this amp beautifully.I would be curious if a Hotcake O/D pedal would also do justice as these little pedals suit amps that are Harmonicaly rich. I own one myself,but it only drives a Tweed(4x10)Deville which sounds nice,but not as good as an AC30.

Lucky for those who can afford one of these amps, or better still, find one to buy!! I believe alot of our tone is in our own fingers but it is always nice to have a tone/s avalible to us that we really appreciate and even strive for.Ive learnt over 15 years what i like and dont so much like with guitar tone,and this subject is personal and highly individual and everyone is different.I do feel that what i like about the Dumble`tone is that it sounds musical to start with,but it also has a fat and squeezed O/D tone with an almost violin type sustain, but without sounding muddy or harsh.Well not harsh with H/buckers anyway.I will have to search for my Holygrail Tone with a nice SuperReverb or i might look at trying a Tech 21 TM 60 Amp as these little fellers have had excellent reviews on this site. There`s a Larry Carlton tone,BB King lead tone. Smooth rhythm selects aswell built into this amp. I have considered a Mesa Blueangle combo but think it would be too agressive sounding for what i am really looking for. Feel free to email me if you have a suggestion or would just like to drop me a line

Epoxy-encapsulated Ibanez TS-9 inside chassis produces warm, thick, sustaining overdrive while maintaining the subtle nuances of your attack.

Like a TS-9, only a lot more expensive.

If it ever breaks down, it's gotta go back to 'Alexander the grape'...

Insert riotous laughter here

Even if I'd only been playing a week, I could tell you that a $12K amp is not going to make you sound better. The emperor's naked, and the man behind the curtain is exposed (eeek!).

In response to last reviewers comment. The Trace Elliot Velocette is an inexpensive class A Boutique-style tube amp (check ebay for pricing - around $300) - 15W but sounds best loud or with an overdrive pedal. This is a very loud 15W amp. Class A is was gives that pick-sensitive response. For rock, Marshall DSL201 20W tube amp is a tone monster (the new inexpensive solid state Marshall practice amps MG-series are also surprisingly good).

At the time of this posting, there are 14 previous postings. This will most likely be the 15th. And, out of those 14 previous postings, 10 of them were posted by people who do not own a Dumble amp. And, if you read the reviews, you can infer that the majority of those 10 people are either poor or cheap, have an inferiority complex, and other emotional problems.

It is my understanding that Howard Dumble is somewhat of a recluse and can be very difficult to deal with. But, this being America, that is his prerogative. As I have never met the man personally, I will not comment about him solely based on hearsay.

However, I will comment on what seem to be the major complaints voiced in these reviews about the man's amps with the caveat that I do not own, nor have I ever played an actual Dumble. The biggest complaint in this forum seems to be the cost of an actual Dumble. Seeing as how there are less than 300 or so actual Dumbles in existence and even fewer overdrive specials, it is merely supply and demand that causes these things to be so expensive. Is that a travesty? an injustice? Perhaps. My opinion would definitely be that amps like this, much like vintage Strats and Les Pauls really should be in the hands of players. However, that is merely my opinion. The fact is that unfortunately most of them are not. But my opinion, like most of the others voiced in the reviews here, doesn't count. The fact is there are people willing to pay the kind of money that these amplifiers cost. Are they fools or idiots as some in this forum have suggested? Who knows! I don't know any of the people who have spent this kind of money for Dumbles and cannot therefore pass judgment on the state of their personality until I actually do.

The second biggest complaint is that the amps don't sound that good or aren't magic, or are only good for "stupid" blues. Well again, unless you have actually played the actual amp upon which you are supposedly commenting, you can't really say for sure now, can you? And, again, the FACT is no matter how good any particular amp is by any particular builder, it will not and can not satisfy every player. And as for the poster who said it was only good for "stupid" blues, the obvious ignorance of that statement speaks for itself. There are numerous types of music that I do not care for. Even some that are very good and/or popular that just aren't my cup of tea. But for me to call them stupid is really more a reflection of what is inside of me rather than the actual style or class of music.

Lastly, with regard to how these amps sound, they are ALL different. This is not a model amp that is mass-produced or formulaicly put together by technicians in a shop. These are hand-build one at a time by Alexander Dumble. And, he builds each one according to what the player needs or what he thinks that player needs. If you want to hear how radically different OD specials can be from one another, listen to Christopher Cross' song "Ride Like the Wind". Then, go listen to Robben Ford's "Politician". And then get a copy of Larry Carlton's great CD "Last Night". All three of the amps featured in these tunes are actual Dumble Overdrive Specials.

Again, I do not own a Dumble, but I sure do love the aforementioned artists who use them.

I have never heard of anyone having problems with these amps.

Howard no longer builds these amps on a regular basis and from what I have heard is very difficult to get ahold of. However, this is an aged circuit and the schematics are readily available, especially on the internet. And, there are several places where one can have them properly serviced. I understand the guys at K&M Analog Designs are particularly good at servicing and fixing these amps and NOT screwing them up.

As I stated above, I do not own a Dumble. I do, however, own a Bruno EL34 Super 100 and a Two Rock Custom 50, which are definitely good enough for me. If you are used to playing forgiving amps, it will take a while to get used to playing these. Over time you will really become hyper-aware of how minute changes in pick angle, attack, and MINUTE differences in fingering come through these amps. My opinion only is that they are not very good practice amps as they really need to be opened up to sound the way they are supposed to. If you really want to have a Dumble-type tone to practice with, the Line6 Boutique Overdrive Model should suffice, but it will definitely not be as articulate or touch-sensitive as the buzz terms go.

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I agree with Maxx. I've been playing professionally for 30+ years, and
have used everything from Silvertone to Mesa, Peavey to Marshall,
Fender to Carvin, and the hits keep on comin'. I currently am on my second Tweed Carvin, and am more than adequately pleased with everything about it. I haven't paid over $1,000.00 for an amp since I jettissoned my ADA rack system in '92, and have to this day always been complemented on my live and recorded tones. Enough, I might add, that I've had a producer or so fly me transcoastal more than once to use my non-boutiqueafied tonal abilities on tours and recording sesions. The last time I dropped more than $1, ooo.00 on anything at all, the expenditure freed me from a hell-made marriage & got me royally drunk for a month, not to mention the fact thaat I could fit the entire hangove neatly into one small suitcase. Nuff said.

Mine is made in 1999.
It's has an Eq, distorsion, reverb.
The power is well enough for me. When going on tour I also use a Riley 15" cab as an extra resource.

It sounds a bit like an old Samick or a Carlsbro Stingray. When cranking the distorsion it sings like an Ibanez Toneblaster 15.

It's built like a tank. Solid and nice.

Great. Bob at the support helped me with all my problems.

I've been playing for about 2? year. It's a great beginners amp but it also fits the pro. I can dial in Korn on it and it can also sound like Suzanne Vega.

Tubes, Transformers, Wiring. $10,000 for a hand built tube amp? Pleaaaase!!!

I had the opportunity to hear one of these in s studio recently. What a joke. Yes, it did sound great, but not $10,000 great. Not even $5,000 great. It seems that these amps are in the same catagory as new Harley-Davidsons. They are over-priced and being bought up as status symbols by all the Doctors, Lawyers etc that can afford them (nothing against the two, just using them as referance). How far will people go? The funny thing is that most of the really really good players would laugh at the idea of ever dropping that much cash on any piece of equiptment.

I am sure it has the highest quality components in it, which in return make it very reliable.

Will never know.

I guess if you can afford it, go buy it and enjoy having it. Oh yea, incase any one is looking for the ultimate "brown sound", I think I ve found it. It comes out of my ass after I eat too many beans at dinner.

As far as I'm concerned, Digital Modeling has ruined the features category for all the boutique "tube purist" manufacturers. Whether you like the digital sound or not, and I happen to love it, you have to concede that point

Hoo doggy, this thing really did sound good. I've heard better though. The real reason I'm righting this review is to discourage any weekend warriors from taking the $10+K plunge. I'm a recording engineer, so I spend most of my time during the day when the rest of the world is cashing in on their stock options listening to the finest of fine variations on electronic equipment that is a million times more clear and expressive than anything you're ever going to find in a guitar amplifier. ANd I can tell you in all honesty, that as good as this thing sounds, it's not the amp that makes a stirring and emotive guitar tone, it's the interaction of the strings, the pickups, your fingers, and the plectrum and/or fingernails.
By way of comparison, I spent a few hours in the shop with a line 6 AX2 set to it's "Boutique Overdrive" patch. For those of you who don't know, it's a digital model of a dumble amp. While it wasn't quite as sweet as the real dumble, it was close enough to my ears to make the difference of 10,000 dollars between the two amps a ridiculous proposition. This amp <i>might</i> be worth it for 2,500 or so, but I'd still question the sanity of anyone but the most fastidious and well groomed players expending that kind of bread. 9 out of ten recording engineers spend most of their off time telling jokes about the ridiculous things people do in the studio. Walking in with a Dumble amp and not being a player on par with Eric Johnson, Steve Vai, Robert Fripp, et al (meaning people for whom the minute tonal characteristics of the dumble electronic circuit will actually make a difference) is one of those ridiculous things. So in the interests of not looking like a fool in front of the next engineer you run into (his/her ears <i>are</i> better than yours, I don't care what you think), pass on the dumble and get yourself that nice hotrod deville, AX2, or triple rectifier instead.
Or maybe you like looking foolish...

No idea, I'd hope for this kind of money that the cockroaches will be bashing out crappy renditions of Hey Joe on it after the bomb.

Heard bad things.

Skip this one unless you're a very high caliber player. There's not much point in buying a stradivarius if you aren't yitzhak perlman, now is there.

I don't own a dumble but I just got a chance to play a overdrive special.I'm like alot of curious guitar player who wonder what all the hype's about.It's A simple amp to use.

I own a 58 tele,56 relic strat that has been refretted with 6100's with barden pickups and a older 62 reissue with 6100's.I played all of my guitars through the dumble and I was really impressed.I've always been so picky about my dynamics and the way I attack the front end of my notes when I pick.I'm a big fan of the blackface pro(I own 2)When I played the dumble I was so floored by the way it was so touch sensitve to my picking,this is way beyond fender teritory as far as dynamics.I don't mean to sound like the typical reveiwer but if you're not a good player this amp will expose every flaw,it's kinda like being naked in the middle of NYC.The overdrive has a beautiful natural compression to it.I saw robben ford and he was using this amp and his tone was great.I had a chance to talk to robben and he was really really great guy.He swears by dumbles and he couldn't say enough good things about em.

I have no idea so I can't reply.I will say one thing,I've heard a horry story where dumble has a contract where you can't contact him while he's building your amp and you pay him up front,if you do he termenates your contract and keeps your money.I heard this guy called and said how's my amp comming along and dumble kept his money.I don't know if this is true,sounds too far out to me.If he did that to me he would be expecting a visit from me in person.

I've been playing for 15 years.I do sessions and tour.I love the amp but I'll never buy one unless you all wanna send me a $15,000 donation.lol any one wanna help me out? lol

It would be a 10, but does not offer things such as class a\b switch or dual rectifiers,etc. However, all the controls it did have were VERY effective. Volume,gain,master,treble,mid,base,boost switch,mid boost,trebble boost.

I played three Dumbles for four hours at Ultra sound studio. These were A\B'd against the Bruno Super 100, and the Two-rock emerald Pro. I am going to make this short because it takes me to long to type! Two of the three Dumbles were NOTHING special at all. They were newer modles, and had a very rough tone in both their clean and gain channels. I would not buy these two amps regardless of price. I play straight ahead jazz, rock, and a lot of blues\jazz. (NOT Mike Stern\John Schofield fusion.) I now play through and own a Fender Hotrod deville (love it), Fender prosonic(love it)Peavy classic 50,(Like it a lot),Fender bassman re-issue(like it a lot), and a musicman rd 50 with one 12" E.V. speaker.(like it). I have owned to many Marshalls to name, as well as many different Fender and Boogie amps. The ones above are the keepers. Now, the older Dumble. I am an amp\guitar skeptic, and don't believe ANYTHING until I try them myself, with things I am familiar with present for direct comparison. The clean channel on this amp was very good, but did not sound NEARLY as big or lush as the Bruno cowtipper 45 or underground 30. It was not as sweet sounding as the Two-rocks clean channel, and was VERY similar (almost EXACTLY) like the Bruno super 100. This Dumble had e.l. 34 tubes, so that could have something to do with it. It had nice chime, an excellent frequency response, but was just a bit brittle when playing chord melodys. Now the overdrive channel, NOTHING CAN TOUCH IT! I mean nothing. You want Carlton, this is the only amp that will do it. Not close to his sound,this IS his sound. If you are a good player,you don't have to dial in his sound, its there. The smoothest overdrive there is, period. It is so smooth, you would swear there has to be a compressor in there, but it is so three dimensional, there can't be, can there? The Bruno pro had the depth of this amp, but was not nearly as smooth, especially on the lower strings, it became very grainy, and the lack of "grainyness" is what Dumbel sound is all about, at least to me. The Two-rock had the smoothness, (maybe even smoother!) but was compressed and smaller sounding than either the Bruno or Dumbel. The Two-rock also did not have nearly as much gain on tap as either of the other two. The Dumbel and Bruno sounded best with the Gain contros at aprox. half,and to equal this, the two-rock had to have channel ones volume,and the gain knob maxed, as well as the tone control section bypassed. When you did this, you could not match the brightness of the other two amps. This being said, it still sounded GREAT, and sounded closer to the Dumbel than the Bruno. The Bruno, as I said earlier, was much bigger sounding and less compressed than the Two-rock.
So what do I buy??? If I buy the Bruno, I will want the Two-rocks smoothness and clean channel. If I buy the Two-rock, I will want the Brunos larger sound and dynamics. If I can find a Dumbel, will it sound like this one, or the two "dead sounding"ones? I was told by the owner of these three amps, the two new ones I did not like, had a different type of E.Q. section. The controls were the same on all three amps, but one of them used 6l6s. I played all these amps with a new Fender strat\Texas sp. pick ups\Ash body and a P.R.S. artist two. Sound quality, clean channel 7, Overdrive channel 20, yes it's that good. NOTHING can touch it.

I don't own one, so I can't say. It looked like it was built like a tank, and the owner said he had no problems at all.

Can't say.

What else can I try that will get that sound? e-mail me at ruffbt@bellatlantic.net if you have any questions or answers.
Thanks, Tag

The review previous to this submission was the most excruiating piece
of mung I have ever read. Was I reading a freakin' wine review or an amp review? The pretenciousness was overwhelming. Can anyone please explain to me WTF does, "one cannot extract the "maximum effect" from high-end amplification without a carefully selected, properly broken in and aged instrument" supposed to infer? That any custom-made $3K
Jaros or "name your luthier of choice" cannot build a guitar "worthy" of the mighty Dumble? For the love of God Stu....buy a used Peavey Bandit and a beat-up Epiphone, spend two hours a day for six months practicing how to make a piece of wood sound respectable, and please return to Earth."My experience has shown that if a player is willing to release the required funds for the Dumble experience, it is more than worthwhile to match that purchase with a fine vintage instrument." I guess acquiring a PRS Artist is throwing $ away then huh? Let me state here and now that 75% of ANYONE'S tone doesn't come from the amp, but from the fingers. Gary Moore could use his EMG-equipped Heritage 150CM signature model on a Dumble and rip your ears off so please stop assuming the purchase of what otherwise, is a fine amp, necessitates a follow-up second mortgage to obtain a '59 Les Paul Standard."No modern electric guitar will approach the special tonality of "the right" vintage guitar." When is the last time you heard a properly set-up Strat (of just about any respectable make) with a set of Kinman pickups installed? Enough said. Vintage required ownership my a**."The clean tones are obviously steeped in Fender tradition but with much more of the coveted "3D" tonal signature in certain respects. The Dumble provides these qualities with much more "energy" if you will." Here, your amp review begins to take on the anal retentive qualities of a hi-fidelty journalist who has spent too much time sipping $500 bottles of wine when they should of been gulping a 40 oz. In an effort to sound "qualified" to rate the Dumble, you wax poetic about crap that has little, if anything, do to with the sounds the four-squared box of bolts is capable of producing. At least the daunting task of writing a review seemed to wear off towards the end of it, when you admitted that the amp itself, didn't really shine for you personally. Having to sift thru the mung to get to the matter, I suppose, is the price one pays for reading harmony central reviews, but in the opinion of this long-time player, if you can't get a decent tone out of a $1K amp with a PRS or any other respected manufacturer, owning the Dumble with a arsenal of vintage guitars ain't gonna bring the bacon home either...and that's MY .02

Is the Dumble a feature laden status symbol with little or no practical utility for the everyday musician? No, quite the contrary. At first glance, the Dumble maintains the familiar controls with a supply of switches that allow the player to "tailor" the amplifier to taste. In essence, the amplifier is a "boosted" single channel affair insofar as the overdrive "personality" is essentially an extension of the lush clean tone typically present in Dumble amplifiers. Needless to say, there is more than enough power on tap. 50W or 100W...it really does not matter, there will be PLENTY of power. Some players might, however, appreciate the added "headroom" that is typical of the 100W platform. All features are useful and there is no "waste" or hype present. Everything found on the amplifier is there for a reason and works 100%. It just depends on what it is the user is trying to get done with the music. Very flexible.

The Dumble amplifier, as with most worthwhile amplifiers, is at it's very best with a really good vintage guitar. Countless listening scenarios and tinkering over the years have provided the conclusion that one cannot extract the "maximum effect" from high-end amplification without a carefully selected, properly broken in and aged instrument. Vintage Les Pauls, Strats and teles are all very happy and "at home" with the Dumble. My experience has shown that if a player is willing to release the required funds for the Dumble experience, it is more than worthwhile to match that purchase with a fine vintage instrument. No modern electric guitar will approach the special tonality of "the right" vintage guitar. Of the Dumbles I have owned, they were never "maxed out" with any Don Grosh, Tom Anderson or Paul Reed Smith. Newer Fenders and Gibsons were never a consideration in the first place. Best results were with a "mistreated" 1958 Les Paul with PAF's. Additionally, some wonderful experiences took place with a certain "black guard" vintage Tele along with an assortment of 50's Stratocasters. The magic if you will, is in the proprietary dimension of the overall tone. The touch sensitivity along with the manner in which notes can be "shaped" is nearly exclusive to Dumble. The clean tones are obviously steeped in Fender tradition but with much more of the coveted "3D" tonal signature in certain respects. Fender amplifiers, "Blackface" variants in particular, are well known for their depth, clarity and warmth. The Dumble provides these qualities with much more "energy" if you will. Certainly, there is plenty of hype surrounding these instruments although there is merit as well. The Dumble is not for everything and not for everyone. They are not all the same and some are significantly better than others. In any event, expect to pay in excess of $10,000.00 for this tonal dessert. Frankly speaking, I have heard more people (including myself), sound terrible through these amplifiers. It responds to a certain type of player and there are no secrets as to who the appropriate examples are. It would seem this amplifier design was tailor made for Larry Carlton and a few select others. The Dumble amplifier is not a "raw" sounding instrument along the lines of early Fender and Marshall designs. Refined power along the lines of modern high-end Ferarri autos are it's lot. The overdrive "structure" is unique to these amplifiers. Everything Mesa Boogie is NOT, is what this experience IS. A good example has intense touch sensitivity on the strings and "opens up" like many do not with this type of gain on tap. But...it is the way in which that gain is incorporated that makes all the difference along with the player's ability to "tune" this with great precision. Personally, my favorite recorded example of the amplifier is Larry Carlton "Last Night" recorded at the "Baked Potato" in Los Angeles. The touch sensitive overdrive can not only be heard on this disc, but felt as well. Naturally, there are other recordings featuring Dumbles but that was my personal favorite. How about you? I always kept it quiet, when owning a Dumble of which there were four in the last fifteen years. Now, there are none. With certain things in life, it is best not to advertise. I will refrain from some of the stories on tap concerning the braggards who boast about their "collections" only to find items missing eventually. On 7-28-2000, a review was supplied at Harmony Central boasting and jabbing about a recent Dumble purchase. All too often, the braggards are the ones that sound terrible on these amplifiers. For many it can be nothing more than a mostly untapped tonal resource diminished by being relegated to the "status symbol bin" which is not very interesting. For

One better hope for continued operation without failure. The amplifiers are best serviced by Dumble himself and from what I understand, those services are not for free and are usually expensive IF you can get lucky enough to find Dumble himself. The reputation is one of uncommon reliability.

Customer support? This is the comedy section of the review where your just left hanging and hanging and hanging...waiting for the line that never comes. There is no "company" to call but if you know Dumble (I do not), or if you happen to have his phone number (I'm not saying anything), AND if he is in the mood (according to rumor), then you might have a chance of being seen. You will probably have better luck trying to get "Slick Willy Clinton" to dinner with you... :}

The overall rating is simple. If the amplifier suits the best interest of the music to be made, then it could be worth it for the one who can really take advantage of these amplifiers. Most cannot. The price is not the issue really. I have quite a few friends that will separate themselves from more than $50,000.00 in home audio expenditures. Sometimes, the amounts are MUCH higher when getting into exotic tube playback devices involving high end separate amps, preamplifiers and turntables. P.S. Analog (vinyl), is still king. So, is it worth it? The answer is of course it is. One caveat...YOU need to be the right kind of player for this or you ARE certainly wasting money. If you are unsure...ask yourself thie following question. Am I a braggard looking for another worthless status symbol? OR, are you a VERY serious musician who's capabilities and musical orientation are best expressed through this type of device?

Most Versitile Amp out there !!!! If you want the best, you gotta pay !! And as far as buyiny those tech stocks "mr Anonymous", i did and i'm down over 100 g's !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been offered more than i payed for my Dumble already !!!!! So i'm about 10 step's ahead of you!!!! More than just a "stupid blues amp" There's ! lot's of sour grapes out there !!!!!!!!!!! Save your pennies!!! The amp in itself is an investement, along with other vintage gear. Prices keep goin up. There's must be something to the "mystique" if all the hottest players own them .....R ford, L Carlton, E Clapton, L George, S Lukather, S Landreth, SRV, etc and the list goes on !!!!!!!!!

What needs to be said hear. Find one(if you can) and be astounded !!!!!!!!

Very!!!!

Only soft spot. But i've never heard of or experienced one problem!!! (Know of at least 20 owners). And spoken w/ robben ford, and larry carlton.

Will easily get my money back. For now, i'm enjoying the best tone ever !!!!!!!!!!! I've owned plexi's, blackface everything, voxes, matchless etc.......... In a class of it's own !!!!!! Not to say there's anything wrong with those other amp's ( i still own them), just a notvh above as far as i'm concerned !!!!!!!

See other posting..Who in their right mind would pay $11k + for a freekin amplifier. Is tone really worth that much.(I would have bought stocks in some tech companies)

I play a PRS Custom 24 10 top,1982 Jap Telecaster (paid $200 canadian) through my Marshall Valvestate, and Fender Deluxe (A/B'd).1979 MXR Flanger, Vox Whah , Tube Screamer ts-9,
Boss DD-3 delay. Lord Thunderin Jesus,What more do ya want ? It works for me and compliments on the sound keep rollin in when gigging.
WHY DOES ANYONE NEED A DUMBLE?? Im sure the tone is great ..but $11G's
(american at that...Im from Canada, so Id have to take a freekin mortgage out for this puppy)

I Hope that (John is it??) who paid an arm and 5 legs for this amp is totally happy with his purchase. I dont expect to see any follow up complaing later on for this ,that or the other.(Although that would be kinda funny!) Oh well ,, I guess you only live once!!

What?? I hope buddy doesnt need this service anytime soon.

Again,I cant beleive the other posting paid $11g's for this thing. I guess He can just throw it in the back of his Ferrari when he gigs on weekends.Or maybe he just has too much money sittin around.Why would anybody spend this much money on a ~#%@"ing amp?? You better be a "smokin" player! Hey brother can ya spare a G-note?? Perhaps a ride in yer ferrari or Rolls Royce. ( I really hope your a good player!)

Clean or overdriven, it is without a doubt, the sweetest, most responsive amp out there

Never a problem !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not once.

You should know the story. A very eccentric, eclectic genius.

If you want the best in tone, this is it !!!

Only good for stupid blues.

OK overdrive, good clean sound. but once again limited

it has been reliable.

don't know never needed it.

DEFINATELY NOT WORTH THE MONEY. I HOPE YOU READ THIS PHIL.

The Dumble Overdrive Special I played was an old looking model, so some of the features (such as overdrive ratio and presence control) found in more recent models were missing form this amp. I test drove this Dumble with my Strat w/EMG pickups and with a Schecter Strat with stock pickups.
From the left of the amp's front panel, the first knob is a volume one which can go all the way from clean to clean with lots of sustain, but not severely overdriven. To give you an idea of what I mean by sustain, suppose you have an amp dialed pretty loud and you barely brush the strings with your fingertips, you hear those chimey harmonics... THAT is the kind of sustain the Dumble has, at just about every volume level. The switches (bright, deep and guitar/mic, as opposed to the more modern jazz/rock) are not that mysterious. The bright and deep work like in most other amps. The third switch attenuates the signal when in mic mode, and the gain (grit), as well as volume drop considerably. Other controls included: treble, middle, bass, overdrive and master volume.

Playing with the Master and Volume controls, I was surprised at how "clear" (the cliche word would be "articulate") the amp is. The sustain is quite impressive, and I think a lot of people would be happy just playing that. It's such a pretty sound that you want to play soft through it.
The tone controls work pretty much like in a Fender amp, except I understand the tone stack is not 100% identical to that of a Fender, and all of the pots are very gradual -- and this goes for every single knob in the amp. So you don't hear tremendous differences in sound like in some other amps, where changing the treble form 6 to 7 causes a big change in the sound. Setting all of the knobs on 5 is a good starting point, and you can tweak from there.
Now, as for the overdrive. This amp sings big time and the overdrive knob works very slowly, to where you can really fine tune the amount of distortion in the sound. The dirty sound starts right where the clean leaves off, and I found it impossible to dial in a setting that didn't yield tons of sustain, so from that one might conclude it sounds like there would be a compressor in there. But that is NOT the case, the amp is such that it is extremely touch sensitive, touch it lightly and it responds gently -- but, I will sustain forever anyway -- and, lean on it and it will jump out at you. The Dumble can get gainy, but I don't believe *I* would use it with too much gain because there wouldn't be the need for it. Besides, you'd really have to lighten up the touch with too much gain, or else it doesn't sound so pure. The bass knob can make the amp sound farty if dialed up too high, but the sound is balanced so you can keep the bass on 3 or 4 and sound fat, not farty, neither boomy. Even when the amp is farting out, it sounds sweet -- I know this sounds hard to believe.
So much for the quasi-objective comments, no let me throw in my thoughts. For starters, Marshall fans will probably not give the Overdrive Special a second look, it is not a "British" sounding amp by any means because it sounds too pretty, I don't think you can even get power chords to grind aggressively, in the right sense of the word, on the Dumble. The amp has things in common with both Fender and Boogie, but of course there are a lot of differences. Boogies accentuate the midrange around 750 Hz and get the "Boogie" sound, emphasizing the fundamental frequencies of the guitar and sounding quite midrangey. The Fender "sparkling" clean sound has really accentuated highs (mostly thanks to the 47p or 120p cap used on the "bright" switches, or hardwired like in the case of the Deluxe Reverb) and a dip around 400-500 Hz because of the typical Fender tone stack for average settings. My ear tells me that Dumble focuses the frequency response somewhere in between the Fender highs and the Boogie mids. The OS has a very well-defined upper mid/high range, so it doesn't sound like a wah-wah in the center position, nor is it capable of piercing your ears with treble. I just sounds right, balanced.

Does any other amp out there come close to the Dumble? Yes, some come to mind and here are my impressions. For the clean sound, the MESA Blue Angel and the VOX Reissue AC-15 are quite similar (never tried a Matchless) because of their complex, chimey top end with lots of "clean" harmonics. The Dumble, being a class AB1 amp, belies the myth that you need class A to get all of those even-order harmonics hapenning. As far as the overdrive, when you turn up the Blue Angel and muscle it, it gets harsh in a throaty way, which I don't like at all, so that's where the similarity with the Dumble ends rather quickly. To me, the BA when overdriven sounds raw, the Dumble doesn't. The AC-15, on the other hand, can get more musical gain along Dumble lines than the BA can, in my opinion. But, the catch of the AC-15 is that I found it to sound really great with single coils, but not to much with humbuckers. However, with single coils, it is fantastic if you don't need much gain.
Any other amps? Yes indeed, and the one that comes the closest of them all is the Electroplex 30 watt I tried at NAMM earlier this year. Now, that amp may be the closest thing to a Dumble Overdrive Special I have ever played. What I find very strange is that other reviewers (namely Guitar Player in their February 1997 "Boutique" amp shootout), have compared this amps's clean tone to a Bassman (I don't disagree too much here) and its overdrive to a Marshall. Not at all to me, at least not using moderate amount of gain. The Dumble-like higher end complexity and perpetual sustain are there in the Electroplex and not in any Marshall I have ever played.
How about Boogies? You know, Boogies need to be dialed very carefully to sound right, and IMHO they require humbuckers or else... The other problem is that people tend to dial in too much distortion on a Boogie, because of the satysfying endless sustain that resuslts, but that squashes the sound too much and frequency compression takes over dynamics. Ease up on the gain of a Boogie and you'll see a whole different charcater in there. But, regardless, there is some sort of resemblance because the sound of the Boogies can be so sweet, and so can the Dumble's. The main difference is in the chimey upper end, superior in the Dumble, and in that a poorly dialed Boogie can sound very buzzy and/or totally muddy, and the Dumble I played didn't. Boogies are certainly more compressed than the Dumble, but the lingering sustain is definitely there.
To summarize, other amps can sound very good. To me, the Dumble is a combination of all those good sounds and then some. I had never played and amp that impressed me like this one before; if you get a chance to play one, do so, you could be in for a treat. However, you may never feel the same way about your amps after your Dumble experience -- I'm beginning to have to cope with that myself.

I got my first Overdrive Special back in 1980. I can use it for anything in any style of music. It has one channel with overdrive. It's a 100 watt amp and I am completely happy with it and would change nothing about it.

I use both active and passive pu guitars with the amp. Everything sounds great and retains its own character thru it. It's quiet and the distortion is the best I have ever heard. I use a JBL D-120F speaker in mine. Sometime I use 2 JBL 15s in a cabinet.

I have NEVER had a problem in 17 years of constant use. I changed the old stock GE 6L6 tubes once and suspect that I did not even need to. This is the most reliable guitar I have ever heard of.

Well... nowadays, as always, you are just dealing with one man: Alexander "Howard" Dumble. It depends on who you are - how much result + communications you can get. Please don't ask me to help you if you are having communication problems with Mr. Dumble - everyone is on their own for that....

Although you could probably not get a new one nowadays and a used one would set you back an insane $10K-$12K - it is a fantastic value and was certainly worth the $1K I paid in 1980 as an investment alone.