Robben Ford & His Dumble Overdrive Special

[ijedouglas]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z-IkXE36DI

[martin manning]

What a great interview! Nice of them to zoom in on the SN stamp ;^), and this has to be the gold standard 102 sound sample.

Thanks for posting!

[ynor]

Best youtube-video I've seen in a long time!

[Raoul Duke]

Thanks Ian!
I agree with Martin and ynor! What else is there to say?

Really great

[Dr d]

What a coup for "That pedal show"! We Brits know how to do an interview! Well spotted Ian.

[dbharris]

Very cool, thanks for sharing!

[Dr d]

I think the value of the video was less about what RF had to say and more about how the amp responded to other musicians playing through it. The cleans of this amp were really quite a surprise to me. Gorgeous! I was never really impressed by RFs cleans in his recordings. Having the opportunity to hear other musicians play through the amp was very revealing of the amp and I think they illustrated well the qualities of the amp. I was impressed with how the amp responded to the different styles of guitar. I would say the amp must be quite gainy since the overdrive tones were so strong with the single coils. I would definitely be happy to live with #102!!!!

[martin manning]

To be fair, the Robben part of the video was a fraction of the overall time. He's talked about his Dumble amps and his introduction to and friendship with HAD many times before, but there always seems to be something new. I agree hearing different players and different guitars was really valuable, and a great demonstration of the variety of tones available from an ODS. I probably get as many compliments on my 124's clean channel as on its OD. If anything, it's the clean channel that makes people sit up and take notice, and it's a low-plate.

[Stephen1966]

A few things stand out about this interview. First, there can never be enough examples of these amps being played, and I think if you have good sound, good headphones perhaps, you can get a pretty good sense of the tone and presence of the amp. I say presence in the sense of the sheer sound pressure these amps put out with a great cab. I really don't feel the guest musicians were exaggerating their reactions in the second half of the interview, it's just that the recording can't really do it justice.

Regarding the tone, very nice to hear different hands at work and yeah, if you're having a bad day, everyone's going to know about it. I hesitate to call these amps transparent any more than you would call the tone of a Stradivari transparent but they both speak very easily and freely. Maybe those awestruck reactions we saw in the final reel say more about the compromises with tone and amplification we as musicians have been conditioned to accept as "normal" when in reality, the morass of cheap sounding gear we have used for years is the real problem. Maybe it's time we stopped thinking of Dumble's amps as anything magical rather, the kind of quality that we should all be expecting and insisting upon when we give a damn. Big companies are just never going to mass produce this kind of quality at a price point ordinary musicians can afford. So if they won't do it, we have to do it for ourselves. The price of real Dumbles is frankly, an obscenity.

Something I noticed which hasn't been mentioned yet, is the note delineation in chords - very clear, keep an ear out for it.

So Wow, a big thank you to TPS and Robben (and Ian) for sharing. Anything that helps to tune our ears like this should be required listening.

[Dr d]

A few things stand out about this interview. First, there can never be enough examples of these amps being played, and I think if you have good sound, good headphones perhaps, you can get a pretty good sense of the tone and presence of the amp. I say presence in the sense of the sheer sound pressure these amps put out with a great cab. I really don't feel the guest musicians were exaggerating their reactions in the second half of the interview, it's just that the recording can't really do it justice.

Regarding the tone, very nice to hear different hands at work and yeah, if you're having a bad day, everyone's going to know about it. I hesitate to call these amps transparent any more than you would call the tone of a Stradivari transparent but they both speak very easily and freely. Maybe those awestruck reactions we saw in the final reel say more about the compromises with tone and amplification we as musicians have been conditioned to accept as "normal" when in reality, the morass of cheap sounding gear we have used for years is the real problem. Maybe it's time we stopped thinking of Dumble's amps as anything magical rather, the kind of quality that we should all be expecting and insisting upon when we give a damn. Big companies are just never going to mass produce this kind of quality at a price point ordinary musicians can afford. So if they won't do it, we have to do it for ourselves. The price of real Dumbles is frankly, an obscenity.

Something I noticed which hasn't been mentioned yet, is the note delineation in chords - very clear, keep an ear out for it.

So Wow, a big thank you to TPS and Robben (and Ian) for sharing. Anything that helps to tune our ears like this should be required listening.

Eloquently put, sir!

[WhopperPlate]

I may be the minority , but I honestly can’t vibe with the top end of 102 . Feels like a cavity is being filled , so says the resident critical ear of my wife , and I have to concur . It may have all the other magic 3d dumble note articulation and chord clarity , but I far prefer other examples of the Dumble ODS .

[erwin_ve]

I may be the minority , but I honestly can’t vibe with the top end of 102 . Feels like a cavity is being filled , so says the resident critical ear of my wife , and I have to concur . It may have all the other magic 3d dumble note articulation and chord clarity , but I far prefer other examples of the Dumble ODS .

I like the interview and all other players going through the same rig. A lot with mid boost on which was a bit odd.
When Robben ditched his Dumblelators somewhere in 201x his tone changed drastically. The 68pf on the master was never removed resulting in a very bright amp.

[Dr d]

I may be the minority , but I honestly can’t vibe with the top end of 102 . Feels like a cavity is being filled , so says the resident critical ear of my wife , and I have to concur . It may have all the other magic 3d dumble note articulation and chord clarity , but I far prefer other examples of the Dumble ODS .

I like the interview and all other players going through the same rig. A lot with mid boost on which was a bit odd.
When Robben ditched his Dumblelators somewhere in 201x his tone changed drastically. The 68pf on the master was never removed resulting in a very bright amp.

Yes, the TPS guys of course wouldn't know that the deep switch was actually a mid boost. Further to the 68pf bright cap, it was evident that the treble control was set very low by all of the players. I still think the amp sounded fantastic......bright but not harsh. Just my opinion.

[Stephen1966]

Agreed there was a lot of high energy high frequency action there. The feedback was quick with some of their pickups but the sustain was great and sounded very smooth to me. The best moment to my ears was when they tried it without any effects. They didn't exactly smother it in reverb and delay though it would have been nice to have heard more without the effects. Still, this the PEDAL show so I shouldn't be surprised. Good point with the Dumbleator... I wonder why they didn't mention it.

[Guy77]

Here is a video of him playing the amp live back in 1988. I believe that is his dumbleator sitting on top of it.
I noticed the amp did sounded a little darker here with the dumbleator. It still sounds amazing!!

I wonder if the ageing of the components over time also changed the sound of the amp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YI71Tlo4cY

Cheers
G.