Dumble on TPS

snowblind

Anyone seen this? It does have a certain something......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z-IkXE36DI


although I'm still not convinced I'd swap it for my HiWatt.

DesVegas

Zendrives are my favourite od

theatreanchor

Genuinely didn’t find it particularly good. Maybe you have to be in the room with it. Or a Robben Ford fan. 

snowblind

It's always the way with these things. Unless you are in the room all you really hear is the mics and the best efforts of the sound engineer. All the same the people in the room did seem to be motivated by the amp in one way or another. 

Just by way of an academic exercise it would be interesting to compare a pukka item (£175K on reverb right now) with the £700 quid version on AliExpress.

theatreanchor

snowblind said:

It's always the way with these things. Unless you are in the room all you really hear is the mics and the best efforts of the sound engineer. All the same the people in the room did seem to be motivated by the amp in one way or another. 

Just by way of an academic exercise it would be interesting to compare a pukka item (£175K on reverb right now) with the £700 quid version on AliExpress.

Was it the amp, what the amp represented, or the mythology of Dumble? It reminded me a bit of going to Abbey Rd. Quite easy to be taken away with the history or iconography of the thing / place. 

sweepy

The Two Rock CRS has that certain vocal quality too, never been a better time to play guitar tbh, some superb quality kit out there and yes they should have A/B'd it  with a Two Rock etc and swapped out the cab 

soma1975

It's more a chance to play a piece of history as opposed to finding out if it is worth it over a clone.

Annoyed they didn't try Kill Your Television on it. 

Th4fonz

I really enjoyed it and that Charlie guy was a great player

DesVegas

soma1975 said:

It's more a chance to play a piece of history as opposed to finding out if it is worth it over a clone.

Annoyed they didn't try Kill Your Television on it. 

Neds Atomic Dustbin?

pluckbuddy

Nice playing from @JakeLoosemore too.

The amp sounded good to me. But I'd like to hear one in a non-jazz/blues type setting. Perhaps rock or guitar pop - something I'm more likely to listen to. Not that Robben isn't excellent, but Rubber Soul, Revolver or Exile recorded with one of these would be interesting. Probably wasted in that environment...

JakeLoosemore

pluckbuddy said:

Nice playing from @JakeLoosemore too.

The amp sounded good to me. But I'd like to hear one in a non-jazz/blues type setting. Perhaps rock or guitar pop - something I'm more likely to listen to. Not that Robben isn't excellent, but Rubber Soul, Revolver or Exile recorded with one of these would be interesting. Probably wasted in that environment...

Thanks man, really appreciate that! It’s a truly incredible amp, although definitely not for everyone’s taste! 

Epsilon

The amp sounds nice - excellent even. Must admit that I'm always slightly sceptical about the borderline religious reverence people have for Dumble amps, and particularly the suggestion that nobody else "has the technology" to make amps like that. Perhaps I'd feel differently if I played one in the flesh.

Anyway interesting episode with great playing. We're lucky to have a channel like TPS that brings stuff like this to us in such a quality and accessible way.

brooom

I like Robben's music and tones. However, it sort of works in deteriment to dumble type circuits that they've been associated with this "fusion-y" sound for so long. When in fact the amps themselves are so flexible and capable of doing so much more.

Obviously this association is not only derived from Robben but also from some other artists.

I currently own two dumble inspired amps. A Mark Kane #183 and a Redplate overdrive classic. I've owned a couple of others in the past, although before I was mostly into blackface/tweed/vox.

These amps really have a lot built in, both in tones as well as in volume flexibility. You hardly ever see anyone demoing them this way, but they are very capable of doing dynamic clean sounds on the overdrive channel that explodes into a great overdrive by just picking harder. And this can all be achieved at whisper volumes or loud volumes with plenty of ways to compensate and always keep the amp sounding alive.

Dumble really was great at his craft and even though he probably wasn't too fond of his amps being copied, the truth is that a decent "clone" gives you a peek into the possibilities of his designs.

Alex2678

It sounded to me that it’s not so much a case of no-one else having the technology but that he was really good at fine tuning his designs to suit a player or sound, given that Robben and Larry didn’t like each other’s. Having that knowledge and ability isn’t something you can clone.

I’ve never taken a lot of interest in Dumble style amps, I’m not into the ‘scene’ where they’re used - I’d always thought they were about that fat overdrive tone, but that clean sounded really great. 

brooom

The clean sounds are awesome. I'm particularly fond of the cleans on high plate skyliner transition circuits. They have flat cleans with a very nice mid content (not fendery at all).

Kurtis

I'd say it sounds nice, but not out of the ordinary really. 

Kebabkid

I really enjoyed that 2nd parter and hearing the Dumble. Good to hear Charlie and Jake, too, and nice playing from them and Mick and Dan. 

Robben Ford's tones on the 'Talk to your Daughter' album and the track of the same name and 'Help the Poor' are some of my favourite overdrive tones and differ to what he went on to. That's what I've always associated and assumed 'The Dumble Sound' was and whilst Larry Carlton used them and is another mentioned when it comes to this amp, for his main recordings, especially if we're talking Steely Dan and The Nightfly, that was his 1958 Fender Tweed Deluxe.

I've had Dumble-inspired OD pedals like the Duellist, Dude, original Zendrive, Landgraff Dynamic Overdrive and played a friend's Dumkudo and I've never heard the above tones coming from any of those and I'd love to find something that does that.

Interesting about the cab. I had a wonderful Divided by 13 head that only sounded good with a 2x12 Tone Tubby cab with the Alnico/Ceramic combo. All other cabs/speakers didn't sound anywhere near as good and getting that perfect marriage is important.

RF mentioned Alexander  Dumble being looked after by someone, paying his bills etc in his later years. I know in the past and early years of the Dumble Amps, he was living on Jackson Browne's estate and so I wonder if it was him, but I'm sure RF would've remembered someone so well-known as that and must've visited Dumble at that place.

It's a shame they didn't compare a Two Rock or anything like that to the Dumble - that was a missed opportunity. It also would've been great to hear RF through a Fender Red Knob Twin with a Zendrive as at one point, that was what he used for European gigs.

newi123

What I really got from this video was its time for Robben to let his hair just be grey and do up his top button. 

sweepy

Just a terrible missed opportunity, to say that things like comparisons weren’t  in the spirit etc from Mick Taylor is utter bollocks imho 

Kebabkid

sweepy said:

Just a terrible missed opportunity, to say that things like comparisons weren’t  in the spirit etc from Mick Taylor is utter bollocks imho 

Yep, because as special as it might be, along with them being scarce, it keeps 'the mystique and Holy Grail of Amps' thing going and the price of them stupidly high. However, comparing it to other boutique amps £3-5K (Two Rock, Amplified Nation, Red Plate, Fuchs etc)  or even something decent @£1200 like Danish Pete's The Deputy would've been interesting for us mere mortals to see if that sort of sound is available on a budget. For example, a real Klon, £5-7K but some good clones, £150 - 500.

mgaw

sweepy said:

Just a terrible missed opportunity, to say that things like comparisons weren’t  in the spirit etc from Mick Taylor is utter bollocks imho 

Well obviously there is a vested interest in keeping the mystique/reputation of Dumble amps intact , but maybe the feeling was a comparison video mainly consumed via YouTube on whatever devices would not have been a fair representation in some ways..
And of course it’s an asset that needs looked after!