Dumble Styled Circuits - Anyone Gone There?

[braintheory]

When it comes to Dumble type amps I’ve tried the real thing, many Two Rock’s, Bludotone Hi Plains Drifter, Smartbelle, many Fuchs (I live not far from them) and a few other less noteworthy ones I can’t remember as well as the pedals like the Shin’s Music Dumbloid, Ethos TLE, Jetter’s, Mad Professor Simble and others

From my experience the clones capture the overall flavor, but are nowhere close to capturing the actual quality or what really makes a Dumble sound magical in the way the notes develop as they sustain and how they connect when playing leads. It’s like comparing the best fresh squeezed oj to one from concentrate; same flavor, not the same quality. The pedals would be like orange candies by comparison

I will say though that I thought the Bludotone was the best sounding of the Dumble type amps I’ve tried and one of my friends let me borrow an older Fuchs ODS with a few extra switches he made just for him and it did sound quite good and better than I remember later Fuchs amps being, but honestly these amps are still nowhere the quality of tone of the Dumble I tried. That’s not say they’re not great amps in their own right. I just feel that in terms of just sheer quality of tone, nothing I’ve tried yet is as good as a Dumble and I’m mostly a metal or hard rock player, but still the quality of tone was obvious. I still haven’t tried a Trainwreck or Larry though, so maybe those can hold their own. My Gjika is the 2nd best amp I’ve tried so far in quality and would be interesting how it compare in an AB. It’s more British flavored, but still it’s own thing, not a Marshall or Vox. It would sound great the type of stuff in those clips

The Jim Kelley is also an amazing amp for that kinda stuff and in opinion sounds much better than any of those Dumble clones, not that it’s at all not meant to be one. I actually compared my Kelley to a real Dumble side by side (same speakers) and while the Dumble had that magical thing that made it overall more impressive, the Kelley actually sounded quite a bit sweeter and more liquidy, so I can see some guys possibly preferring it even. I guess that’s why Bonamassa has like a dozen of them in addition to his Dumbles and Gjika

 

[paulyc]

Gijika is a god damn flake though. He’s a weird dude. Good luck in getting an amp from him.

 

[Luca79]

Gijika is a god damn flake though. He’s a weird dude. Good luck in getting an amp from him.

Why so many amp builders are like this? Maybe is the smoke from solder lead?

 

[paulyc]

Honestly, no idea, but it does seem to correlate that way.

 

[braintheory]

Gijika is a god damn flake though. He’s a weird dude. Good luck in getting an amp from him.

I bought mine used, so I wouldn’t know about that luckily. His amps though do sound exceptional and sent quite a few stuff I’ve had packing

Out of curiosity, what happened with him that was flaky?

 

[paulyc]

Just his whole trip really. He WILL NOT discuss past work, amps, mods, only wants to do what he does right now. Those 10n amps he’s making and the “gain master” front end thing he makes. He only likes single ended class A now, he did killer amp mods and the “Hot Box” back in the day, Joe Stump still uses a Hot Box to this day. I asked repeatedly about buying a 10n and the silence was deafening. Just strange. There are videos his girlfriend took of him on YT trying to “explain” what he does, and not once does he ever really explain anything, just rambling in a million directions. He recently retired to AZ from SoCal...

 

[skullfxr]

I have Fender, love them...they don’t sound like that.

And you can't play like Eric Johnson. Maybe that's the key?

Have you heard me play? Furthermore, I wasn't referencing EJ, I was referencing the clips I posted above.

Why would you decide to be a jerk to me on my thread? I am completely and utterly confused by your decision. I simply said - and I have played both real and replica Dumble circuits (I live in Dallas and the DGS/DIGF used to be the biggest gathering of Dumble amplifiers yearly) - that I love my Fender amp, but it doesn't sound like what I posted. I don't think I'm being controversial.

Sheesh. No, I don't play exactly like Eric, but I am a fair player on a good day.

Take a Xanax. You are clearly taking some bullshit far too seriously

 

[Exo-metal]

???

 

[mooncobra]

that amplified nation sounds great

 

[SpiderWars]

Not Dumble but that Diaz CD 100 that Warren Haynes plays gets some wicked "in-between" tones. Don't hear too much about it though.

 

[lol]

my mesa maverick is supposed to be a "poor mans dumble." Don't know how accurate it is. I just use the clean channel with a boost. Drive channel is meh but I didn't really spend much time with it.

 

[SBlue]

When it comes to Dumble type amps I’ve tried the real thing, many Two Rock’s, Bludotone Hi Plains Drifter, Smartbelle, many Fuchs (I live not far from them) and a few other less noteworthy ones I can’t remember as well as the pedals like the Shin’s Music Dumbloid, Ethos TLE, Jetter’s, Mad Professor Simble and others

From my experience the clones capture the overall flavor, but are nowhere close to capturing the actual quality or what really makes a Dumble sound magical in the way the notes develop as they sustain and how they connect when playing leads. It’s like comparing the best fresh squeezed oj to one from concentrate; same flavor, not the same quality. The pedals would be like orange candies by comparison

I will say though that I thought the Bludotone was the best sounding of the Dumble type amps I’ve tried and one of my friends let me borrow an older Fuchs ODS with a few extra switches he made just for him and it did sound quite good and better than I remember later Fuchs amps being, but honestly these amps are still nowhere the quality of tone of the Dumble I tried. That’s not say they’re not great amps in their own right. I just feel that in terms of just sheer quality of tone, nothing I’ve tried yet is as good as a Dumble and I’m mostly a metal or hard rock player, but still the quality of tone was obvious. I still haven’t tried a Trainwreck or Larry though, so maybe those can hold their own. My Gjika is the 2nd best amp I’ve tried so far in quality and would be interesting how it compare in an AB. It’s more British flavored, but still it’s own thing, not a Marshall or Vox. It would sound great the type of stuff in those clips

The Jim Kelley is also an amazing amp for that kinda stuff and in opinion sounds much better than any of those Dumble clones, not that it’s at all not meant to be one. I actually compared my Kelley to a real Dumble side by side (same speakers) and while the Dumble had that magical thing that made it overall more impressive, the Kelley actually sounded quite a bit sweeter and more liquidy, so I can see some guys possibly preferring it even. I guess that’s why Bonamassa has like a dozen of them in addition to his Dumbles and Gjika

This is spot on regarding Dumble amps.
I was fortunate to have him offer to build three amps for me. All three of them were mods done to Fender amps. First one was a Dual Showman "Ultraphonix", then a 59 Bassman Ri "La Tostada" and last one a Bandmaster "Rockphonix".
Listening to these amps when properly played and recorded is amazing. But playing one and feeling the interaction of the sound in the room is something that is beyond phenomenal.

 

[braintheory]

When it comes to Dumble type amps I’ve tried the real thing, many Two Rock’s, Bludotone Hi Plains Drifter, Smartbelle, many Fuchs (I live not far from them) and a few other less noteworthy ones I can’t remember as well as the pedals like the Shin’s Music Dumbloid, Ethos TLE, Jetter’s, Mad Professor Simble and others

From my experience the clones capture the overall flavor, but are nowhere close to capturing the actual quality or what really makes a Dumble sound magical in the way the notes develop as they sustain and how they connect when playing leads. It’s like comparing the best fresh squeezed oj to one from concentrate; same flavor, not the same quality. The pedals would be like orange candies by comparison

I will say though that I thought the Bludotone was the best sounding of the Dumble type amps I’ve tried and one of my friends let me borrow an older Fuchs ODS with a few extra switches he made just for him and it did sound quite good and better than I remember later Fuchs amps being, but honestly these amps are still nowhere the quality of tone of the Dumble I tried. That’s not say they’re not great amps in their own right. I just feel that in terms of just sheer quality of tone, nothing I’ve tried yet is as good as a Dumble and I’m mostly a metal or hard rock player, but still the quality of tone was obvious. I still haven’t tried a Trainwreck or Larry though, so maybe those can hold their own. My Gjika is the 2nd best amp I’ve tried so far in quality and would be interesting how it compare in an AB. It’s more British flavored, but still it’s own thing, not a Marshall or Vox. It would sound great the type of stuff in those clips

The Jim Kelley is also an amazing amp for that kinda stuff and in opinion sounds much better than any of those Dumble clones, not that it’s at all not meant to be one. I actually compared my Kelley to a real Dumble side by side (same speakers) and while the Dumble had that magical thing that made it overall more impressive, the Kelley actually sounded quite a bit sweeter and more liquidy, so I can see some guys possibly preferring it even. I guess that’s why Bonamassa has like a dozen of them in addition to his Dumbles and Gjika

This is spot on regarding Dumble amps.
I was fortunate to have him offer to build three amps for me. All three of them were mods done to Fender amps. First one was a Dual Showman "Ultraphonix", then a 59 Bassman Ri "La Tostada" and last one a Bandmaster "Rockphonix".
Listening to these amps when properly played and recorded is amazing. But playing one and feeling the interaction of the sound in the room is something that is beyond phenomenal.

Yeah I heard some guys tell me they actually liked the Dumble modded Fenders they’d played even better than the actual Dumble’s, but my only experience so far was with that one Dumble

I tried it at volume at a local store and even my dad who doesn’t really play guitar and this one middle aged lady who also doesn’t play were blown away by the tone it had. No one was telling me to turn it down surprisingly. And that’s another impressive thing about it that despite how ballsy and present it sounded, there was nothing remotely brittle or harsh about it. It was so not harsh that literally almost any amp next to it would be fully exposed of any unpleasant or unmusical qualities they may have

Between I guess those Dumble modded Fenders and Larry, you basically have the stuff I want and don’t have lol. I also still gotta find a way to try a Trainwreck one day. I’ve again tried the clones like Komet and fuchs and all the pedals, but never a real one yet

 

[SBlue]

When it comes to Dumble type amps I’ve tried the real thing, many Two Rock’s, Bludotone Hi Plains Drifter, Smartbelle, many Fuchs (I live not far from them) and a few other less noteworthy ones I can’t remember as well as the pedals like the Shin’s Music Dumbloid, Ethos TLE, Jetter’s, Mad Professor Simble and others

From my experience the clones capture the overall flavor, but are nowhere close to capturing the actual quality or what really makes a Dumble sound magical in the way the notes develop as they sustain and how they connect when playing leads. It’s like comparing the best fresh squeezed oj to one from concentrate; same flavor, not the same quality. The pedals would be like orange candies by comparison

I will say though that I thought the Bludotone was the best sounding of the Dumble type amps I’ve tried and one of my friends let me borrow an older Fuchs ODS with a few extra switches he made just for him and it did sound quite good and better than I remember later Fuchs amps being, but honestly these amps are still nowhere the quality of tone of the Dumble I tried. That’s not say they’re not great amps in their own right. I just feel that in terms of just sheer quality of tone, nothing I’ve tried yet is as good as a Dumble and I’m mostly a metal or hard rock player, but still the quality of tone was obvious. I still haven’t tried a Trainwreck or Larry though, so maybe those can hold their own. My Gjika is the 2nd best amp I’ve tried so far in quality and would be interesting how it compare in an AB. It’s more British flavored, but still it’s own thing, not a Marshall or Vox. It would sound great the type of stuff in those clips

The Jim Kelley is also an amazing amp for that kinda stuff and in opinion sounds much better than any of those Dumble clones, not that it’s at all not meant to be one. I actually compared my Kelley to a real Dumble side by side (same speakers) and while the Dumble had that magical thing that made it overall more impressive, the Kelley actually sounded quite a bit sweeter and more liquidy, so I can see some guys possibly preferring it even. I guess that’s why Bonamassa has like a dozen of them in addition to his Dumbles and Gjika

This is spot on regarding Dumble amps.
I was fortunate to have him offer to build three amps for me. All three of them were mods done to Fender amps. First one was a Dual Showman "Ultraphonix", then a 59 Bassman Ri "La Tostada" and last one a Bandmaster "Rockphonix".
Listening to these amps when properly played and recorded is amazing. But playing one and feeling the interaction of the sound in the room is something that is beyond phenomenal.

Yeah I heard some guys tell me they actually liked the Dumble modded Fenders they’d played even better than the actual Dumble’s, but my only experience so far was with that one Dumble

I tried it at volume at a local store and even my dad who doesn’t really play guitar and this one middle aged lady who also doesn’t play were blown away by the tone it had. No one was telling me to turn it down surprisingly. And that’s another impressive thing about it that despite how ballsy and present it sounded, there was nothing remotely brittle or harsh about it. It was so not harsh that literally almost any amp next to it would be fully exposed of any unpleasant or unmusical qualities they may have

Between I guess those Dumble modded Fenders and Larry, you basically have the stuff I want and don’t have lol. I also still gotta find a way to try a Trainwreck one day. I’ve again tried the clones like Komet and fuchs and all the pedals, but never a real one yet

If you're ever in the Nashville area, you're more than welcome to stop by at the studio and try them all! It's always fun when someone who understand how these amps work stop by and give them a spin.
I've tracked a band here at my studio, Neil Youngish kind of style, with a pedal steel player that uses some overdrive to push his pedal steel a little over the top. He loved the tone he got out of the amp. He was done after a few takes, when he mentioned he could spend the whole night playing pedal steel with that tone. Only then that I've told him about that he was using a real Ultraphonix. He loved it.
I've only tried one real Trainwreck. It was an Express. It was incredible!

 

[braintheory]

When it comes to Dumble type amps I’ve tried the real thing, many Two Rock’s, Bludotone Hi Plains Drifter, Smartbelle, many Fuchs (I live not far from them) and a few other less noteworthy ones I can’t remember as well as the pedals like the Shin’s Music Dumbloid, Ethos TLE, Jetter’s, Mad Professor Simble and others

From my experience the clones capture the overall flavor, but are nowhere close to capturing the actual quality or what really makes a Dumble sound magical in the way the notes develop as they sustain and how they connect when playing leads. It’s like comparing the best fresh squeezed oj to one from concentrate; same flavor, not the same quality. The pedals would be like orange candies by comparison

I will say though that I thought the Bludotone was the best sounding of the Dumble type amps I’ve tried and one of my friends let me borrow an older Fuchs ODS with a few extra switches he made just for him and it did sound quite good and better than I remember later Fuchs amps being, but honestly these amps are still nowhere the quality of tone of the Dumble I tried. That’s not say they’re not great amps in their own right. I just feel that in terms of just sheer quality of tone, nothing I’ve tried yet is as good as a Dumble and I’m mostly a metal or hard rock player, but still the quality of tone was obvious. I still haven’t tried a Trainwreck or Larry though, so maybe those can hold their own. My Gjika is the 2nd best amp I’ve tried so far in quality and would be interesting how it compare in an AB. It’s more British flavored, but still it’s own thing, not a Marshall or Vox. It would sound great the type of stuff in those clips

The Jim Kelley is also an amazing amp for that kinda stuff and in opinion sounds much better than any of those Dumble clones, not that it’s at all not meant to be one. I actually compared my Kelley to a real Dumble side by side (same speakers) and while the Dumble had that magical thing that made it overall more impressive, the Kelley actually sounded quite a bit sweeter and more liquidy, so I can see some guys possibly preferring it even. I guess that’s why Bonamassa has like a dozen of them in addition to his Dumbles and Gjika

This is spot on regarding Dumble amps.
I was fortunate to have him offer to build three amps for me. All three of them were mods done to Fender amps. First one was a Dual Showman "Ultraphonix", then a 59 Bassman Ri "La Tostada" and last one a Bandmaster "Rockphonix".
Listening to these amps when properly played and recorded is amazing. But playing one and feeling the interaction of the sound in the room is something that is beyond phenomenal.

Yeah I heard some guys tell me they actually liked the Dumble modded Fenders they’d played even better than the actual Dumble’s, but my only experience so far was with that one Dumble

I tried it at volume at a local store and even my dad who doesn’t really play guitar and this one middle aged lady who also doesn’t play were blown away by the tone it had. No one was telling me to turn it down surprisingly. And that’s another impressive thing about it that despite how ballsy and present it sounded, there was nothing remotely brittle or harsh about it. It was so not harsh that literally almost any amp next to it would be fully exposed of any unpleasant or unmusical qualities they may have

Between I guess those Dumble modded Fenders and Larry, you basically have the stuff I want and don’t have lol. I also still gotta find a way to try a Trainwreck one day. I’ve again tried the clones like Komet and fuchs and all the pedals, but never a real one yet

If you're ever in the Nashville area, you're more than welcome to stop by at the studio and try them all! It's always fun when someone who understand how these amps work stop by and give them a spin.
I've tracked a band here at my studio, Neil Youngish kind of style, with a pedal steel player that uses some overdrive to push his pedal steel a little over the top. He loved the tone he got out of the amp. He was done after a few takes, when he mentioned he could spend the whole night playing pedal steel with that tone. Only then that I've told him about that he was using a real Ultraphonix. He loved it.
I've only tried one real Trainwreck. It was an Express. It was incredible!

Thanks so much for the offer, I very much appreciate it! I’ll let you know if I’m ever there by any chance. If so, I’d also love to bring some of my amps to compare like the Gjika or Blueface VH4 if I can practically make that happen

I’m in New York City. I’ve not yet been to Nashville or really much of the non-coastal part of the country in general yet, but would like to

 

[SBlue]

Man, I would love to try out those amps! I used to have a 2006 VH4, and really liked the amp.
The invitation will stand whenever you’re able to make it here.
Nashville is a beautiful city with amazing people. Not to mention that you breath music in the air around here!

 

[braintheory]

Man, I would love to try out those amps! I used to have a 2006 VH4, and really liked the amp.
The invitation will stand whenever you’re able to make it here.
Nashville is a beautiful city with amazing people. Not to mention that you breath music in the air around here!

Yes, I would love to see Nashville. I’ve also been interested in seeing Carter Vintage, Rumble Seat, and Guitar Gallery. I’ve been to Rumble Seat when they were in California and Ithaca, NY. I forgot the main guy’s name there, but he was very cool with me and handed me a real ‘59 Les Paul to play there without me even wanting or asking to

The ‘97 Blueface VH4 is my favorite metal amp I’ve tried so far, but my boogie coliseum’s are a close 2nd. To my ears, the blueface compared to the later VH4’s in the 2000’s is like the Dumble clones compared to the real deal and the Gjika is my 2nd favorite amp I’ve tried behind a Dumble.

I placed an order for a Larry PMM, but will be about 2 years. The stuff in my sig is stuff that has stayed of the 70+ amps I’ve had before, but it’s very possible that a Larry or Dumble modded Fender could send plenty of that stuff packing. I’ve also been very interested in trying Schroeder’s amps