The Dumble Amp: A Short History

I moved to Los Angeles in '88 to work with Larry Carlton. A week before this life changing move from Chicago at 25, Larry was shot in the neck and almost killed. I still went, and as Larry recovered months later, he was ready to continue studio work. He had me reach out to Alexander to tune up Larry's Dumble head. I'll never forget seeing Alexander (I knew him as Howard for the first couple years) winding his way up to Room 335 on a (relatively) small motorcycle. I asked someone about why he didn't come in a car and they said he'd been in a car accident where he had to be removed with the 'jaws of life' and he never wanted to be in a car after that. The head needed work, so he told me to bring it to him the next day to his shop (he wasn't going to strap it on the back of his motorcycle). Amazing memory of pulling up to a Japanese Pagoda style house that he rented from Jackson Browne. He was a character - but super brilliant and an artisan of tone. Thanks for this Short History Keith!

In my single opinion, Keith's channel is probably the best "Educational Equipment" video series on all of YouTube. I'm not a smart man but even i can understand his work. Great work

Guitarists and their gear should be psychology course in college.

Your best yet! Great job Hypes!🔥🔥🔥🔥

As the owner of 3 Dumble amps I really appreciate you making this video. I just double checked and it appears mine say "Peavey" rather than Dumble. Same difference

Fantastic video Keith! I learned a lot of things I had no idea about. And thanks for letting me be a part of the fun!

I’m one who finds the dumble hype somewhat confusing and frankly a bit bougie, given how many legendary recordings and tones were made by gear that was common and basically chosen based on the fact that “it was there” more than anything, but I sure do enjoy these videos. The “gear as a commodity” high priced market of dumbles and klons and the like always makes the teenage punker in me sad. As always, well done; an enjoyable and worthwhile watch.

lve played 3 Dumbles in my 50+ yr.s of playing 2+ decades of retail. lve lived a short walk from Charley's Guitar in Dallas since 76'. l also played Eric Johnsons Dumble at Music Makers in Austin Tx but l couldnt admit that for years because my friend was the amp technician there. The crazy thing is lve also played a bassman that an old friend made that had what is essentially a tube screamer circuit on just the mid frequencies and it sounded almost exactly like the classic Dumble tone we know of and you described. He did it on a dare just because he believed thats what he was hearing in them and he was pretty damn close. He also wired an mxr dist + circuit into the useless distortion pot on a Fender 180 watt rms supertwin reverb my cousin owned and was a beast but never could be tamed even with the onboard EQ the amp had. Mike Mars from lancaster Tx. Great keyboard player as well.

I’ve been in Carter Vintage Guitars a few times when they had Dumbles in stock and got to play one, once.

This has me wondering what `uncle doug` would make of the circuitry in dumble amps, the repairs and restoration work he carries out on his youtube channel is beyond words. love this keith, 5 watt world is essential viewing !👍😊

As I guy who's done quite a bit of soldering, I am very impressed by the quality of Dumble's soldering shown in the internal shots. There's not even a hint of a cold joint or even a cold edge. Dumble's hands were obviously rock-steady. All the time he spent perfecting his craft building radios and PA amps shows in his work.

I'm amazed at how influential the fender bassman was - Marshall, Dumble, all significantly changed to be sure , but still...

I love the fact that he would have prospective buyers come play for him so he could voice the amplifier perfectly to that persons playing style

I remember the 'Trainwreck' video well. That's what made me forget about Dumbles and start turning over rocks looking for a 'Trainwreck'. All due respect to Dr Z, I may have to settle for a Z Wreck, or Jr. But, I'll likely always be turning over rocks looking for a Trainwreck. It was the best amp sound I ever heard. Thanks Keith!! I think... LOL Peace --gary

This should be a treat for my Sunday afternoon coffee

Ry Cooder is the player through whom I was first made aware of Dumble amps. Can't get much better tone than that...

This video brought up a lot of memories that I had forgotten. I don’t remember exactly how, but I was brought to Howard Dumble when he was working out of The Alley, a rehearsal studio in the Valley. I had recently purchased an old tweed bassman amp from SIR rehearsal studios, which, we converted to 2X12 speaker in the original cabinet at SIR. Something didn’t sound quite right and somebody said oh you should come meet this weird guy who is a whiz with amplifiers. The wizard introduced himself as Howard and I brought him the Bassman and he had me play through it for about 20 minutes and he said all right I’ll take a look at it. When he called me back about a week and a half later, the amp sounded amazing. Howard refused to take any money for the work, saying that I should enjoy it and that he wished me good luck in my future – I was working as an “ up-and-coming recording engineer”. Shortly thereafter, I met Aspen Pittman of Groove Tubes fame, and mentioned my amplifier after seeing his collection of amps, and told him that this guy Howard Dumble had recently repaired my tweed Bassman to which he replied oh shit anybody can build an amp like Howard there’s no big thing about dumbles. He then lent me a Groove Tubes amp he had recently “designed”- meaning he hired people to design and build it. In the studio, I was stunned at the sound of the clean channel so much so that I started talking to Aspen about building mic preamp’s. My amp was loaded with 6L6s and the clean channel was special though the Mean channel was a little harsh though with the foot pedal they could be combined. As Aspen added new features over time, I sent my amp back to be updated. When it came back the 6L6s had been replaced with EL34s with the newly added Fat switch. The clean channel sounded mostly the same as before but the Mean channel was much thicker and warmer. This become my go to amp in the studio as it was very heavy due to the 75 watt Celestion keyboard speaker and the newly added 2 speed fan and dual accessory outlet rear panel. People I recorded often remarked the new version sounded more Dumble- like and all were blown away by the touch sensitivity which the “hair bands” I was working with didnt love as it revealed quite clearly the less flattering aspects of their technique. The R&B players loved it as did the blues and slide players. Aspen was always full of ideas, some his and some not. Say what you will he made things happen. Good topic for a 5WW Short History? Btw, your video reminded me that Howard had worked on my Bassman which probably explains why everyone who hears it wants to buy it from me including amp techs despite its well- worn cosmetics. My thanks to Paul Patronete (former Groove Tubes GM) for his friendship and introduction to the often brilliant engineers in Aspen’s employ. They don’t make many like Paul and the world is worse off for it.

The deeper Keith goes the more my feelings get hurt. He encompasses, embraces and then thankfully mitigates the black hole of despair one has when realizing we drones will never be able to play with the good toys. Great job as usual, I think. 🎸

I have found a properly tweaked EQ, with a fairly pronounced MID hump bell, and a Compressor helps to build an excellent clean tone that opens up your amp. From there, run an A/B for your different drive/gain channels. The EQ/COMP is your "always on" clean. A good A/B loop/switch runs the rest. Crews Maniac Sound BUF-211 is an AMAZING and versatile A/B Buffer/Loop switcher that also has a built in boost.

I own a Welagen Overdrive Special and it's the absolute best hand wired amp I have ever owned. 100 watt with NOS parts and a vintage transformer. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference between them. He is the guy to go to for the best clone. I also have the book.