Conference napalm::guitar

    I believe that all Dumbles are custom made and you're not likely
    to be able to buy them in a store but I can't say that for sure.
    There was an article on them in Guitar Player awhile back that
    gave me that impression.  Perhaps things have changed since the
    article.
    
    	db

    db's right...dumbles are hand-made by the aforementioned. There
    is a LONG waiting list/back order period for them, and they're 
    MEGABUCKS!!! A head is like $1750.00
    
    Good luck,
    Bj

    
    	What the H is a "Dumble" anyway?	What makes them so good,
    that they can charge nearly 2K for one?	Is "overdrive" all it
    can do? That's easy -			OH, I get it, instead
    of a "Clean / Lead" footswitch, it has
    Overdrive1 / Overdrive2, Overdrive3 / Overdrive4 ... Overdrive(n-1)
    ect.
    
    	I notice even MESA Boogie cant get away without having 3 sounds
    available. Someday you'll just type "Clapton" into the remote ascii
    keyboard, and your amp will auto configure to have the exact signal
    transfer function of Eric's Fender super reverb that he used when
    he recorded "Blind Faith"...Hmmmm, that would be a piece of research,
    all those performers...all those paramaters...Digital signal processing
    
    	Joe Jas
    

    When I responded to Semour Duncan's questionaire about amps and
    what features I thought were nice to have need to have etc. I toldf
    then them three channel (footswitchable) with gain/master volume
    for each was necessary, each channel also required it's own three
    band eq (bass, mid, treble) and that four band eq (hi mid, lo mid)
    was preferable.......obviously they didn't listen....nobody has.
    
    dave

	Almost 2k? you got to be kidding! Back in 1978 Mesa Boogies
were around $800 with all the options when I looked at getting a newer
model. I bought a car instead? I've heard several people use them and
had hoped I might try one. Doesn't seem so!
                                             Thanks,
    
						Rick

					 

	Does anyone have the September 1985 Guitar Player magazine with an
article on Howard Dumble who can make me a copy and send it to me? If so send
me some mail or I will order it as a back issue from GPM. The feature player
was John Mclaughlin for that month I think.

						Thank's

						   Rick

    Hi Rick,
    
    Yes, I have that issue somewhere, if you'd like I could look for
    it and MAIL you a copy...ok?
    
    Bj

    	Thanks goes to all of you who sent me mail and I will let you
    know what I find out.
    
    						Rick
    

	Thanks Tim! For the article on Howard Dumble which is very
impressive and informative! The prices are 2 to 5k as someone mentioned
    and involves several preamps to get the sound. They are handbuilt.

					Rick

    Sounds like it's more than just a modified Twin ;-)  I think I'll stick
    to Marshalls.
    
    Mike

    Well, it's certainly a lot more *expensive* then a Twin (modified or
    not).
    
    I suppose one could claim that a Marshall is just a "modified Bassman"
    but it's gone through almost 30 years worth of evolution since starting
    with a similar design...
    
    Greg

As a comparison, check out the AUDIO conference and you'll see people in there 
talking about Krell, single channel (i.e. you need two), power amps, all tube,
for up to $9000.  No preamp, no nothing.  Just a power amp.

$2000 may not be so bad for custom, hand built, tube technology.

The question is: How bad do you want it?

Will

    The question is will it get you through a gig reliably. see my reply
    to "Eric Johnson and Playing Clean" topic. For $2K++ it oughta first
    work.
    

Regarding Dumbles,

	I have read interviews with Howard Dumble and with several artists 
that use his amps.

	From memory, the late great Lowell George was one of the earliest 
endorsors of Dumbles. David Lindley of Jackson Browne fame uses them 
exclusively, and Larry Carlton is also a Dumble covertee. The two most 
popular models of Dumble amps are the "Steel String Singer", and the 
"Overdrive". I think these are only available as heads, but for this much 
money, Howard would probably do ya a combo if you wanted. He also makes 
matching cabs with your choice of speakers. He recommends EVM's.

	His biggest claim to fame on the original "Steel String Singer" model 
was that they were "Fenders done right"....basically a bullet-proof Fender 
clone, with reliability being one of the major concerns. At one time, Howard
worked for the old Moserite company, and was inventing revolutionary musical
instrument concepts when most of us were still wettin' our diapers. He claims
He put a great deal of effort into designing the amp in such a way that it
was difficult, if not impossible, for someone to reverse engineer and/or
copy the design. His amps have much greater band-width than the Fenders their
based around. He eliminated a lot of the connectors and other vulnerable
electro-mechanical components that Fender uses to increase the reliability
of the amp. I'm surprised to hear that SRV or anyone else for that matter
had so many problems using them. His Overdrive model gets it's sound from 
unique feedback circuit that Dumble uses. He claims that his amps get their
tone mainly from the preamp circuitry, not the power amp or speakers. His
power amps are basically hi-fi style amps. He recommends JBL or EVM speakers
but prefers the EV's, and will also install Celestions if the customers 
requests. Howard is very picky about who he makes amps for, and probably 
turns down a lot of orders from people that are unknown. At any rate, the 
lead time for a Dumble amp is well over 6 months. I think the prices being 
bandied about in this note are conservative. I believe the average head/cab 
combination will set you back close to $5K.  

	A few years ago when GP interviewed him, he was preparing to introduce 
a new series of rackmount components which he called the "Pheonix Series". 
The line included rack-mount preamps, amps, and switching gear.

	As someone pointed out in a previous reply, Dumbles definately fall
into the category of being "esoteric", meaning they're intented for a small
limited group of people for whom money is no object. Are they really worth
3-4 times as much as say...a Mesa Boogie, or Marshall ?? If people are willing
to pay it, then I guess they're worth it. Bare in mind that every one is hand
made, not mass-produced. Cost reduction is not within Howard Dumble's vocab-
bular. 

	I sort of see the Dumbles as being more like Mesa Boogies than Marshalls
Mike Soldano's custom amps are more like Marshall than Mesa's. Whatever floats
thy boat !!

	Mark

	Actually I doubt many people really know what's in a Dumble,but
I'd be hardpressed to even consider calling them a modified twin. I believe
in most models he uses EL34 power tubes. 
I read somewhere that a barebones basic Overdrive started at around 2.5k,
effects loop and other items are extra,likewise with the Steel Stringer which 
starts around 5k. These prices did not include speakers etc.....and were what 
I heard a while ago. So I'm sure they are not real valid,and have probably 
gone up. I also heard about his new line,but I've never seen any more on it.
	The Ratio control found on Dumbles are part of what gives them 
there unique quality of sound. Somewhere it was mentioned he used a 6v6
in the preamp stage,and transformer coupled the preamp to the Power amp
section. His layout and quality of components are also part of his design,
but this is all from memory...
	I've heard Dumbles live and they are really pretty incredible
sounding,but then again so was the guitarist using them,Robben Ford :^)
He used 2 Overdrive Specials.....
	An interesting note was his footswitch for changing sounds 
had 2 buttons with a red and green led,which he alternated between pushing
one or the other and both. The footswitch case was carved out of mahogony.


							Rick

    More stuff you probably didn't really want to know anyway -
    
    Stevie Ray used the Dumble "Steel String Singer" model, and claimed
    he liked it because he could turn way up loud and NOT have it break up.  
    The Singer is, in fact, intended to deliver a clean Fender sound.
    For $5K.
    
    /rick