Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 3:13 am Post subject: The elusive Mr. Dumble
Hello forum this is my first post.........I've just found Robben Ford via the samples on the Skrystrup site and like many of you here, Im blown away by his tone. Leading me to the quest for Dumble knowledge. I'll probably never own one for two reasons.
1) Funds (hey no surprise there) and
2) Im from England so I'm limited to Marshall (yawn), Boogie (urgh) and Peavey (!) even though I've just managed to ship a Bogner XTC combo from the US (Yahooooooooooooo!!!)
I would love to know more about Alex Dumble (or is it Howard). Firstly what does he look like, at least other mythical characters like Perseus has a lasting image. Secondly does Mr. Ford not get cheesed with being the first port of call for Dumble questions.
Btw....Life Song has been a good source of inspiration for me. I'm in one of those mid life musical crises and Robben is on his way to helping me out of it.
Last edited by Zappa on Tue Feb 10, 2004 6:47 am; edited 1 time in total
Joined: 16 Jul 2003 Posts: 534 Location: SF Bay area
Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 9:46 am Post subject: Welcome Zappa...great namesake
Zappa,
Mr. Dumble (I believe he prefers Alexander, which may be his middle name?) is fairly non-descript looking, with a warm smile and a very dry, acerbic wit. He is kind, thoughtful, and obviously brilliant. At Robben's first clinic I had the pleasure of chatting with him. He was generous and patient with my (idiotic) questions.. and even shot the photo of the "woman fondling amplifier" for me. He was articulate, glib, and very open. As an educator, I am very sensitive to being "talked down to" as many of my colleagues do it regularly to students (Ugh!) None of that with Mr. Dumble.
I found him to be delightful; humble, modest, soft-spoken and engaging in conversation. AND his amps ROCK! I actually got the impression that he is quite shy, as he was not comfortable at having his praises sung.
Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 886 Location: SF Bay Area
Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 1:53 pm Post subject:
I would imagine that voicing and tweaking amps for the likes of Robben and Larry Carlton would be fun. The story is that Dumble used to listen to Robben in the old days and started building his own amps with that voice in his head. So when Robben finally stumbled on to one, it was a perfect match. And working with these guys who have the magic hands gives Dumble an opportunity to dial in those glorious sounds.
On the other hand, dealing with the deluge of contacts from beginners who can't tell a Line 6 from a Bogner Shiva, but want to sound like Robben, would drive anyone nuts. Classical musicians are taught "tone production" as part of their technique. Too many electric guitarists believe it is in the gear. Someone in the semi-custom amp business could go crazy sending an amplifier back and forth to a customer dissatisfied because he doesn't sound like "The Brother".
I would imagine that if Dumble heard you play, saw that you had the tone production chops to make use of the responsiveness of his designs, and you were able to clearly convey a voice you were looking for, that he would be a joy to work with. But if you pestered him every other week waiting for him to build it and then sent it back three times for "fixing", he might live up to the stories that are bandied around about him. _________________ There are no such things as wrong notes, there's only the look on your face.
My Stuff: www.stevekirbymusic.com
Well......next question. I'm a very unusual player influences Jeff Beck, Dave Gilmour, Frank Zappa, Micheal Hedges, SRV to name a few. Its a mad blend, dunno why, but I've just ended up playing this way. If you can imagine big open chords very clean played with an acoustic sense, for lead work very much like Gilmour but with a tad more dexterity. Im in no way saying "Hey Im this good!" but.......Ive not yet found an amp that will do it for me. Ive done Marshalls (living in the UK this is easy), Fenders (my fave twin was stolen), Bogners (XTC is good as is the Shiva), Soldano (Big and wide sounding) but not one of them has hit the spot.
So............Im curious to know if Mr. Dumble would be interested in having a stab at building an amp for me. I appreciate that every man and his dog wants a Dumble. But and I beleive this to be significant, I dont want to copy someone elses tone, therefore I need someone who "Knows his onions".
Can anyone help put me in the right direction as to asking him?
If so would you mail me, as I get the impression that Mr. Dumble wont want his contact details all over the place.
I'll tell you something chaps (and chapette)...this forum is great, no attitudes, just people helping other people, If only the rest of the planet was the same.
Joined: 16 Jul 2003 Posts: 534 Location: SF Bay area
Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 9:30 am Post subject: The chapette responds..
I agree regarding the caliber of human beings on this board. Fantastic. I have my own star...perhaps we could start a commune there...
_________________ www.elizabethgage.com
Joined: 16 Jul 2003 Posts: 328 Location: The Netherlands
Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 9:50 am Post subject:
Well, we have a Warpship, a Captain and a female-number-1-fan-for-president, so what are we waiting for??? _________________ "Don't play what's there, play what's not there" Miles Davis
Well......next question. I'm a very unusual player influences Jeff Beck, Dave Gilmour, Frank Zappa, Micheal Hedges, SRV to name a few. Its a mad blend, dunno why, but I've just ended up playing this way. If you can imagine big open chords very clean played with an acoustic sense, for lead work very much like Gilmour but with a tad more dexterity. Im in no way saying "Hey Im this good!" but.......Ive not yet found an amp that will do it for me. Ive done Marshalls (living in the UK this is easy), Fenders (my fave twin was stolen), Bogners (XTC is good as is the Shiva), Soldano (Big and wide sounding) but not one of them has hit the spot.
So............Im curious to know if Mr. Dumble would be interested in having a stab at building an amp for me. I appreciate that every man and his dog wants a Dumble. But and I beleive this to be significant, I dont want to copy someone elses tone, therefore I need someone who "Knows his onions".
Can anyone help put me in the right direction as to asking him?
If so would you mail me, as I get the impression that Mr. Dumble wont want his contact details all over the place.
I'll tell you something chaps (and chapette)...this forum is great, no attitudes, just people helping other people, If only the rest of the planet was the same.
Thanks
You can write to him at this address:
H. Alexander Dumble
6242 Marmion
Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA 90042
I think the Skrydsrup amp would be close to what you are looking for, they are made in Denmark so shipping is not an issue. Also there are several great builders in Europe, Cornell in the UK makes Eric Clapton happy so check him out. Mystique amps is another european bilder who builds GREAT amps. I have a Mystique Mystic Blues, very much inspired by Dumble ODS, that does an AMAZING SRV style clean, imagine big open chords very clean played with an acoustic sense.
Mystique is a true custom builder that voices his amps for each player, if you interested in getting in contact with him send my an email.
The Skrydstrup does indeed sound a nice amp, as do the Fuchs and Bruno amps. I'm going to try the Fuchs out soon, my friend in Manchester has one so I'll drive up to his and annoy his neighbours.
Do you people know how much a new Dumble would be, roughly speaking. I've seen prices ranging from $2000 to $20000!!!! (me gulps)
Daved.........How much of an importance do you place on guitar cables? Ive seen some prices that are truly bizarre for Two Rock and Monster cables....I use Spectraflex....Is there really THAT much dfference?
Btw.......I've come to the conclusion that Mr. Fords tone is indeed THE Holy Grail of tones....beating even god like tones such a Dave Gilmours or Jeff Beck.....Bravo to you Mr. Ford, everyone wants your tone AND amp now.
There are a few Dumbles in the UK as well. I'm not sure exactly where but i could perhaps forward a mail to a person who ownes Dumbles and a Mystic as well as an Fire Amp, he used to have a Skrydstrup and I'm pretty sure he has tried Fuchs and others to.
AND a LOT of the tone is in the hands of the player, as you surely know . With a decent amp you should get close to Robbens sound by slightly dampen the strings with the heel of you're right hand, pick with fingers and try the other corners of the pick the get fatter sound, use a light touch with both hands. If you can't get close to Robbens sound on a red Knob Twin, you will not get much closer with a Dumble.
Also, I believe that Mr Dumbles greatness lays in that he can fine tune the amp tp the player. Every Dumble amp is diffrent and tuned for a specific player. You might find a particular Dumble very disapointing while for an other plaer its a dream come trough. MANY players HATE Dumble style amps becouse they amplify everything you play including mistakes. When i first started to play this type of amps it felt like starting over almost and i probably would have sounded better on a Fender Hotrod or something. Now i have learned a few things and has stopped the hunt for Robbens tone and starting to find MY tone, i hope
Thanks for the advice guys. I think it does kind of make sense to go for the Fuchs or The Two Rock, given that only last year I spent £10000 on new gear (wife thinks it was £5000), on a Gus Guitar (check them out, not for the purist though, a Taylor 412CE, a Bogner XTC 212, a bastard strat (50's body, 70's neck with new pick ups) and a load of outboard bits etc. Soooooooo.............The next amp will be later this year. I like the sound of all the Two Rock, Brunos and Fuchs, the Bruno Underground 30 sounds special. So I thought ,well Im saving up, I might as well ask Mr. Dumble anyway, to be honest Im kind of expecting him to tell me he is too busy, so I'll give Fuchs, Two Rock or Tony Bruno a call then.
You guys are great, I couldn't buy this kind of advice.
oh btw
www.gusguitars.com Im the chap who is on the G1 midi page not the most flattering picture though
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. With a decent amp you should get close to Robbens sound by slightly dampen the strings with the heel of you're right hand, pick with fingers and try the other corners of the pick the get fatter sound, use a light touch with both hands. If you can't get close to Robbens sound on a red Knob Twin, you will not get much closer with a Dumble.
