Dumble pedals vs. The real thing

[turtleheadblues]

To anyone who has compared say a ZD or Jetter Red thru a Fender style amp vs. a real Dumble amp even say a 2 Rock or Fuchs. Is it night and day difference or fairly close? Im guessing its pretty close with Ford using the ZD with Fender amps when he cant take the D.

JUst curious. Pretty cool to think a less than 200 dollar pedal gets you there.

[J.T. Guitar]

I sold my $10,000 TR Overdrive Sig, because my Classic Reverb and the Zen sounded better and closer to the Dumble sound in my head. Now, I'm using the Zen with a Pure-64... stellar!

[storm319]

You need to remember that Ford could use any amp and sound good. His favorite amps prior to using Dumbles were blackfaced Fender Twins. Would he rather be using the real thing? In a heart beat, but sometimes its not an option.

It is like any other pedal trying to sound like an amp. Think about it, how could a little 10 ounce box recreate the circuit in that big 50 pound box?

Check out this dumble pedal shootout video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9wLF...eature=related

[Gouxman]

Not even close.
I've got the Zendrive and I've tried the Howie. I've played through alot of Dumble amps.

The Dumble is a world beyond a transistor based OD.

Having said that, you can get some excellent and very usable sounds from these pedals and a good BF circuit. You might even like the BF clean better than the Dumble, and the transistor ODs have come along way.

As for Robben, have you ever noticed how every guitar/amp combination he has ever used over the years sounds like the most magical thing you ever heard? I've seen him play everything from a Guild Starfire, 335, Les Paul to a Tele, through SR, DR, Dumble and Twin Reverb. Every time I left a concert I was ready to go out and buy exactly what he used.

There is a lesson there. But there is also a reason guys renown for their tone...David Lindley, Robben, SRV, Eric Johnson, John Mayer, and Carlos Santana use Dumble amps.

Just a taste:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7E_iWuvofQ

[missing_dave]

Originally Posted by storm319

You need to remember that Ford could use any amp and sound good. His favorite amps prior to using Dumbles were blackfaced Fender Twins. Would he rather be using the real thing? In a heart beat, but sometimes its not an option.

It is like any other pedal trying to sound like an amp. Think about it, how could a little 10 ounce box recreate the circuit in that big 50 pound box?

Check out this dumble pedal shootout video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9wLF...eature=related

cool way of doing the shootout! thanks ! i like the zen. the hot cake was cool too..seemed like i could hear the original guitar signal a hair? kinda cool,not sure that dumble comes to mind on that one but i also have never played a real one so i dont really know.thanks again great demo.

[soopajeanmi]

As I understand it from reading a Ford interview, live the zendrive permits Ford to use a super reverb which is for Ford the best clean tone ever and have a good enough overdrive channel with the zendrive.

It seems he prefers it that way than having the stellar od channel of the dumble and a clean channel on the dumble that is not as good as a super reverb.

He plays cleaner and cleaner lately anyway. I really love his recent tone.

[GuitarsFromMars]

Originally Posted by Gouxman

Not even close.
I've got the Zendrive and I've tried the Howie. I've played through alot of Dumble amps.

The Dumble is a world beyond a transistor based OD.

Having said that, you can get some excellent and very usable sounds from these pedals and a good BF circuit. You might even like the BF clean better than the Dumble, and the transistor ODs have come along way.

As for Robben, have you ever noticed how every guitar/amp combination he has ever used over the years sounds like the most magical thing you ever heard? I've seen him play everything from a Guild Starfire, 335, Les Paul to a Tele, through SR, DR, Dumble and Twin Reverb. Every time I left a concert I was ready to go out and buy exactly what he used.

There is a lesson there. But there is also a reason guys renown for their tone...David Lindley, Robben, SRV, Eric Johnson, John Mayer, and Carlos Santana use Dumble amps.

Just a taste:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7E_iWuvofQ

It would not be sentient, to do a denigration of those things transistor/solid state.Most of the tone in an accompished player,is in the hands and, the way someone's brain processes what they hear.I have said many times,it's close to 90%...Lindley has been known to turn a veritable sow's ear into a silk purse.Same goes for most of the people you named above...IMO,YMMV.

[Wooley]

Originally Posted by storm319

...Check out this dumble pedal shootout video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9wLF...eature=related

To my ears, the Zendrive and the Hot Cake sounded best.
Glad I already own them both.

BTW, what was the sort of copper-colored pedal on the bottom row with the four knobs? It didn't really blow me away, but I'm curious what it is.

[quinnamps]

I love the ZD and many other great pedals too. That said no transistor that I know of clips gracefully, they all do it rather in a nasty fashion and with little grace.
tubes however tend to really sound great overdriven into clipping and they do it with so much more grace and musicality.
Since the dumble topology and gain does not do a whole lot of heavy clipping this may be why it is a sound that can be closely approximated with transitors.
That said I still hear the tubes as being sweeter and more musical. This becomes very apperent when you begin to add more gain to the equation. The higher the gain levels the more the differences become apparent.

And let's be real... Ford could sound amazing with his cable jammed into a crushed pepsi can. :O)

[Fuchsaudio]

At last year's NAMM, more than a few people commented on the "great ODS (r) tones" in our booth, but were listening to a Clean Machine and a Plush Drive....You can certainly get in the ballpark......

[jzucker]

it's a moot point if you spend the time obsessing over the music instead of the equipment.

[lv]

I've tried a number of the d-style pedals - the only one that was able to come close to my Glaswerks (and the real Dumbles I've played) was the Ethos TLC.

[orogeny]

Originally Posted by jzucker

it's a moot point if you spend the time obsessing over the music instead of the equipment.

as my kids in trenton used to say:

WORD!

jack, always a pleasure to cross your path. i think my gear path has finally plateaud (is that a word?). songs and chops are now the thang, the emphasis on the former. . . .

[turtleheadblues]

Originally Posted by Fuchsaudio

At last year's NAMM, more than a few people commented on the "great ODS (r) tones" in our booth, but were listening to a Clean Machine and a Plush Drive....You can certainly get in the ballpark......

Id like to put a Fuchs D pedal up against my ZD and Jetter GSR.

[J.T. Guitar]

Andy and I had similar experiences... However, in both cases, we were running the pedals (Zen and Plush Drive) into a Dumble style circuit.

Now another question is; Can you get those realistic D style tones with a standard Marshall or Fender?