Omega Amps Bassman Dumble Mod

This is a review of the same amp with an updated circuit. Now has a bright switch and a new footswitch with a pre-amp boost. Jim tells me now it is as much as possible an exact copy of a '70's Dumble. Updating from his version of the circuit. Again I must state that it really isn't a mod, as it is whole new hand-wired circuit in a Bassman cabinet and chassis. Very versatile with 6 different tones now available.

All the same tones are still there, but with some minor differences. Now a little less raw and more hi-fi. Still organic, but smoother. The clean channel is improved and very much blackface fender and I love it. Have to work a little harder to get pick harmonics and grit, but it makes it up in an amazing ability to sustain. With Fender guitars the amp sings like no other amp I've played. Not a weak note to be had out of this amp. The amp doesn't sound compressed, but you get sustain as if you were using one. Slightly lost a little headroom from before, not enough to be of concern. The overdrive is BIG. That's the best way I can describe it. It nailed the Ford/Carlton tones before, but now it IS the tone. Probably because in all essence it is a Dumble.

Had some problems in the past, but were of my own doing, getting local service to do updates I should have let Jim do in the first place, just because it didn't want to send the amp back. I gig with the amp on a regular basis and don't expect a problem. I feel Jim is proud of his work and wouldn't want his name on anything shoddy.

As I've said before, and if you read other reviewers comments, Jim is the most helpful, knowledgeable and friendly person I've ever dealt with with any piece of equipment I've bought. Will answer e-mails and phone calls VERY promptly and do WHATEVER it takes to make the customer happy. Rating this a ten is an understatement. I'd give this a 100 if I could. I feel he absolutely loves what he does and wants you as the player to have the best tone possible, and as a player himself, he understands how important it is to achieve this.

Again, I love the amp, but it is heavy to lug around. If I had the cash, I'd have the same circuit put in a deluxe. How can I complain though, when I can have a amp that most people only dream of!

This is a Fender Reissue Bassman with a Dumble Circuit. I liked the Bassman clean tones but couldn't find a OD/distortion pedal I liked. I saw Jim's ads on e-bay for this mod and read the reviews here on his other mods and thought I'd give it a try. Now has 2 channels, clean pre-amp vol., clean master vol.,OD pre-amp vol., OD master vol., sharing treble, bass, midrange, and presence controls. Overdrive sensitivity control, and added a bias pot. Footswitch for channels and mid-boost. KT-66's and AX-7's in the preamp. The tone controls tend to interact with each other, which I wasn't used to at first, but now i feel it helps achive a wider variety of tones.

Clean channel tones were nice but not as chimey and warm as the original bassman, but I knew I'd lose some of that going in. The amp is mid-rangy in general, and it reflets that in the clean tones. More reminisent of a tweed deluxe, only bigger w/more headroom. With a variety of strats, loaded with fralins, rio grande's, and stock pickups, you could dial in jangly to mellow to SRV. No tone being thin and weak. Clean but with some meat. With a variey of PRS's and Gibsons, you have big, warm, & fat clean tones. With the pre-amp vol. you can dial up a nice edge for beautiful jazz/blues tones. The overdrive channel is where the amp really performs. Jim said humbuckers would be better with this amp, but I feel it loves single-coils. Ford/Carlton tones easily achieved right out of the gate with any guitar. Really! With a strat, you can pick softly and it's crisp & clean, start diggin' in and the notes LEAP out of the amp. Fat and organic but still articulate, not muddy. Think Eric Johnson. The humbucker tones are HUGE. Big and powerful like a freight train. Not quite as subtle and complex as with single coils, but very sweet nontheless. All the overdrive tones are nothing like any stomp box I've ever used. Not edgy or metal like, but fat, organic and sweet. Although the tube recifier is gone, it retains nice sag like the Bassman did. The amp is pretty wet sounding, but with a little delay it would sound gigantic. A bassman is a great amp, but also one-dimentional. My amp is now a multi-dimentional blues machine!!! The same great tone from bedroom to barroom.

The board and wiring is impeccable. I'm still doing some tweaking with some parts Jim is sending me (footswitch), but I have no concerns in this department.

Jim is great. Positive and amicable. All e-mails answered within hours, Always there via phone to answer questions. He wants you to be 100% happy and loves his work. I'd rate this higher if I could.

I'm very happy. I have a hand built amp that's a blast to play. one on one contact with the builder, and for what I have into it it's a bargin. If I were to ever get rid of the amp it would be to have Jim put the same mod in a smaller combo, say a deluxe reverb, just because of wattage & weight. My back's not what it used to be.