Dumble pedals…The Royal Scam?

[Space1999]

Lately, I have been following the new trend in pedal companies putting out Dumble pedals, I have done a lot of researching and listening but mostly came away unimpressed, save one or two high end pedals.

The companies selling D-pedals at the $200-$300 range vary wildly and don’t come close to hitting the mark.

Its not until you get into the $400-$600 range that you can hear that Dumblesque tone in some of the pedals,

The Cornerstone Gladio impressed me the most at $390 and really it was the right side of the pedal tha perked my ears up the most.

But overall I really think that this just isn’t anything that really interests me after all the work I put into listening to these pedals.

The Dumble sound has a fizziness that I really don’t like when overdriven. It’s that one factor that drove me nuts trying to find a great Plexi style pedal. Plus they sound great for soloing but really break apart when playing bar chords.

But most reviewers are saying this is the sound of Dumble. All I really wanted was that particular throaty sounding mid range that you can hear on a lot of 70’s albums with guys who played Dumbles.

I don’t really think that a pedal can get this sound because a pedal just doesn’t reach the sound of an entire amplifier, especially one that is custom built for each customer,

So what do you guys think? Have you found a D-pedal that impressed you? If so what pedal was it?
Is this something that even is interesting to you?

Pat

 

[Noodling Guitars]

I don’t really think that a pedal can get this sound because a pedal just doesn’t reach the sound of an entire amplifier, especially one that is custom built for each customer,

I think this is the real conundrum - because Dumble customized the amp for each customer, it's really more a question of whose Dumble you want. To be honest, the solution exists... but I doubt John Mayer or Joe Bonamassa would be willing to let people profile their amps lol

 

[soulman969]

I for one am glad to never have had an interest in chasing that sound. I guess my belief is that any other than that amp is just a simulation of it in somewhat the same way that strawberry flavoring doesn't taste much like a real fresh strawberry. I choose more readily available stuff.

 

[Space1999]

Another red flag is when everyone is caught up in the hysteria and there are plenty of used versions of the same pedal for sale.

People buy it on a whim and then regret buying the pedals when they don’t sound like the demos on YT.

One of the things that made me suspicious of these pedals was I only saw people soloing with a lot of D-type pedals but very little chording.

Afterwards, I read some other reviews and it was mentioned that these pedals are great for a solo sound but fall apart when chording,

That and I always listen for fizz on pedals. One thing I can’t stand is a pedal with a fizzy top end. Apparently, this is part of that D-Style sound.

In the end I come back to my setup and realize I couldn’t decide on buying one because I already had what I wanted on my pedal board.

Pat

 

[AJ6stringsting]

To be honest, many companies always come out with sensible gear, but lot of times , some will release gear, peg a few gear snobs as saps and laugh their way to the bank.
What blows me away, sometimes things will be touted so much that many will religiously.

A few years ago, I got an Eleven Rack, with all the bells and whistles , for $ 1,280 .
It was hyped up, I got one .
One day, I tried out a Digitech 2112 and it sounded much better.

It's better to let your esrs be the judge

 

[3bolt79]

I played through a Fender that was modified by Dumble. It had 4x10 speakers. It sounded pretty good, but no where near 28 grand good.

 

[phonepi]

First, I built an amp that was inspired by the Dumble Overdrive Special, plus a few tricks and mods that suited more my needs :

The tone can be heard here : https://guilhemamplification.jimdofree.com/guitar-amps/

Scroll down the page to the Serial Tone Killer amp, where 9 samples can give you an idea of how it sounds...

If you re willing to hear them, @Space1999 : do you also hear the unpleasant fizzz that you have heard along your D-pedal tests ?

Second, I bought a D-pedal for... Comparison !

I choose the J.Rocket "The Dude" - there was one 2nd Hand at my local shop at the time :



Well, I on-the-spot noticed the competely useless and idiot "boost" function attached to the LEVEL setting, which de facto had to be set near zero, behaving like a on/off switch ! I immediately modded that control to make it work as a normal level one, without boost and voilà, merci, au revoir.

If we exclude that stupid design issue, The Dude appears to be a good imitation of what I heard from my Serial Tone Killer in terms of overdriven tone, from light to heavy. I do not notice some particular fizzy tone end, as often heard on drive pedals, fortunately (I agree with you here !).

But again, it's a matter of personal playing and appreciation - this is the reason why I posted a link to my samples for you to evaluate the fizzyness level, according to your personal appreciation criterias...

That said, I have no other experience about D-amps or pedals, so...

P

 

[Noodling Guitars]

Wow.. just wow!!! And the built in reverb unit too!!!

I also really like how you take the extra effort to make your amps look like real production models - if not for all the photos and explanation, I wouldn't be able to tell that they're homemade. I'm sure you get lots of emails for build requests

 

[phonepi]

Wow.. just wow!!! And the built in reverb unit too!!!

I also really like how you take the extra effort to make your amps look like real production models - if not for all the photos and explanation, I wouldn't be able to tell that they're homemade. I'm sure you get lots of emails for build requests

Thanks @Noodling Guitars !

Yes, I had a lot of emails in the past, but since I mentioned that it is not a commercial / production activity, but just an amateur website, they have indeed considerably reduced !





To come back to the subject : yes, there's a number of D-pedals at all prices (just like Klon clones, by the way) but how do they sound compared to the real thing ? Sure, they shouldn't be fizzy to be as close as possible...

P

 

[BlueSquirrel]

Lately, I have been following the new trend in pedal companies putting out Dumble pedals, I have done a lot of researching and listening but mostly came away unimpressed, save one or two high end pedals.

The companies selling D-pedals at the $200-$300 range vary wildly and don’t come close to hitting the mark.

Its not until you get into the $400-$600 range that you can hear that Dumblesque tone in some of the pedals,

The Cornerstone Gladio impressed me the most at $390 and really it was the right side of the pedal tha perked my ears up the most.

But overall I really think that this just isn’t anything that really interests me after all the work I put into listening to these pedals.

The Dumble sound has a fizziness that I really don’t like when overdriven. It’s that one factor that drove me nuts trying to find a great Plexi style pedal. Plus they sound great for soloing but really break apart when playing bar chords.

But most reviewers are saying this is the sound of Dumble. All I really wanted was that particular throaty sounding mid range that you can hear on a lot of 70’s albums with guys who played Dumbles.

I don’t really think that a pedal can get this sound because a pedal just doesn’t reach the sound of an entire amplifier, especially one that is custom built for each customer,

So what do you guys think? Have you found a D-pedal that impressed you? If so what pedal was it?
Is this something that even is interesting to you?

Pat

I have a Joyo Taichi pedal which is not expensive (about €60, so probably pretty much the same in dollars). I find it well-built.

I like it for bluesy songs. It is true that if you push all the knobs all the way, it can start acting almost like a very light fuzz but only on the bottom notes (which is cool by the way), otherwise, it just makes your sound mellower, smoother and just beautiful overall. It is a pretty quiet pedal which gives a very soft and creamy overdrive.

I have no idea whether it sounds like an actual Dumble amp or not (I can imagine that it doesn't, and yet it still sounds good overall). Is it the sound you are after?

Here is a demo on Jon Is Just Too Loud's channel (Jonathan is a tasteful player, imho) :


Another demo by Pedal Platform:


And another one with a telecaster :

 

[Noodling Guitars]

I have no idea whether it sounds like an actual Dumble amp or not (I can imagine that it doesn't, and yet it still sounds good overall). Is it the sound you are after?

It does sound good!! That's probably all that matters!

 

[Raiyn]

Dumble (or broadly: expensive) pedals are a scam?

Next, you'll tell me that there's Gambling at Rick's Café.



One of the pedals he matches is a Zendrive, so there's your on-topic bit.

 

[Noodling Guitars]

Dumble (or broadly: expensive) pedals are a scam?

Next, you'll tell me that there's Gambling at Rick's Café.



One of the pedals he matches is a Zendrive, so there's your on-topic bit.

I've had my bad monkey forever and iirc I bought it used for super cheap. This was way back and things like TS9s, 10s, and SD-1s were still easy to come by for fairly cheap - and most certainly before the market was obsessed with Dumble style pedals. It was literally viewed as "just another OD" (but with useful EQ knobs). Does exactly waht I need it to do (I usually use it for driving crunch amps into high gain) and the only one I still keep out on the floor in the studio.

 

[Raiyn]

I've had my bad monkey forever and iirc I bought it used for super cheap. This was way back and things like TS9s, 10s, and SD-1s were still easy to come by for fairly cheap - and most certainly before the market was obsessed with Dumble style pedals. It was literally viewed as "just another OD" (but with useful EQ knobs). Does exactly waht I need it to do (I usually use it for driving crunch amps into high gain) and the only one I still keep out on the floor in the studio.

When things calm down, I might look at one, but since I already have something in the Screamer-Klon flavor it might be a while.

 

[LP_SPC_1_P90]

EHX probably loves that photo of their Holy Grail pedal wired into that tube amp ? I was trying to figure out a way to tansparently add a Mosky Klon clone circuit into a Pyle PVAMP60, bypassing the OD it comes with. Just never bonded with the OD with that amp. The Klon just is the right amount of OD that enhances a clean channel for that Pyle Pro solid state analog circuit. The OD that it has goes from clean to Distortion really. I'd rather have a tramsparent OD that has a lighter crunch. I just don't have the humbuckers for Metal level distortion, so I end up sounding lame for the Metal distortion thing. Old Guy single coils are lame Metal guitars. The P90's are as close to humbuckers that my guitars can do. Power ballads for 1980's Hair Metal cleans is as good as it gets.

 

[Noodling Guitars]

I just don't have the humbuckers for Metal level distortion, so I end up sounding lame for the Metal distortion thing.

A lot of people swear by low output humbuckers for metal too! It's more about the amp anyway - any modern voiced amp (like Soldano or 5150 style) should have a wide enough range of gain that any type of humbuckers would do.

 

[Raiyn]

A lot of people swear by low output humbuckers for metal too! It's more about the amp anyway - any modern voiced amp (like Soldano or 5150 style) should have a wide enough range of gain that any type of humbuckers would do.

Recent tests by Glenn over at Spectre Sound have been showing that speakers matter more than pickups in metal recording.

 

[LP_SPC_1_P90]

A lot of people swear by low output humbuckers for metal too! It's more about the amp anyway - any modern voiced amp (like Soldano or 5150 style) should have a wide enough range of gain that any type of humbuckers would do.

My favorite amp sims on the Fender Mustang I V2 amp are the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier & Hiwatt DR-103. The Marshalls & Vox sims are good so is the Peavey, But that Hiwatt DR-103 makes even my SSS HT Buillet sound like humbuckers. I need to mod that so I can use the Mustang I V2 as a head & put it thru a 1x12 inch cab at least. I think a 2x12 or 4x12 would be pretty good for even a 20W digital amp.

 

[Noodling Guitars]

Recent tests by Glenn over at Spectre Sound have been showing that speakers matter more than pickups in metal recording.

He's absolutely correct from a recording perspective - in fact, in an ideal world for a recording engineer, he'd get a duplicate dry so he could reamp to his heart's content (time and funds permitting). I do appreciate that he's only trying to make a point from the perspective of the end product. But that's not how it works for the player. If the player doesn't feel it, then the whole recording will be compromised.

 

[Raiyn]

If the player doesn't feel it, then the whole recording will be compromised.

So if the player doesn't feel like he has the magic pixie dust he can't perform?

Holy Peter Pan!

Or is it something only someone with superior hearing can detect?

Sure, there's going to be some minor testable variation, but all too often players buy into hype. I put Steve Vai pickups in a Jaguar - because I wanted more output and a bit of an EQ switch. I got the output, but I still can't play "For the Love of God".

I got Carvins in my G400 because they were hotter than the stockers and had 4 wire hookups. They were also inexpensive and not something everyone had. The Strat got their singles because I was impressed with quality of the humbuckers.

They're part of the signal, sure, but they're being pushed through a speaker with a defined EQ curve.