Music Ground, as of March this year, closed their shops in Doncaster (the original one), Manchester and one of their two Leeds shops. This was supposedly to concentrate on their London operation, although I believe the London shop has now closed - they own 4 other shops (not named Music Ground) in Denmark Street London, the centre of music retail in the city. Outside of the Yorkshire area, the 'Music Ground' title does tend to put people off a wee bit....
They also have an operation in Chicago - I suspect it's an office to facilitate the import of instruments to the UK. Anyone in Il care to correct me on that? I've heard that some other UK retailers use them as a wholesaler. What Richie says about their counterfeiting is true - I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.
damages wrote:Very sorry for the poor quality pictures. These were taken secretly in the Music Ground office in Adwick-Le-Street in Doncaster England late last year. As you will see the amp wasn't quite finished and they hadn't yet stamped a serial number on the chassis.
If "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," then what is counterfeitting?
(Fraud.)
Has anyone notified Scotland Yard?
Musical instruments (of which I include Guitar amps) have a long history of "flattery' sold as the real thing," from Stradavarius Violins to Ruckers Harpsichords (especially in the U.K. ones "owned" by Handel), and more recently Vintage Electric Guitars and Amps (thank you, ebay).
renshen1957 wrote:PS I wonder if H Alexander Dumble knows or cares?
Hi Steve,
at least he did for some time AFAIR and notified eBay if someone did offer something that was obviously not 100% original. AFAIR he notified eBay as an example when the attached amp (#019) was offered because the grill cloth is obviously not original (picture from Rob Livesey's site).
Maybe his checking is the reason why some Dumble related eBay offers have no longer been visible for US residents lately AFAIR because it perhaps was feared that Alexander could perhaps interfer. But this is only a guess of course.
But of course he can't look into his amps at eBay to check if they are 100% original internally, too, or have been degooped as an example or repaired or even modified by others without his authorization. But I don't know if he still checks Dumble related eBay offers, but AFAIK he did so at least for some time.
Generally I would personally recommend exactly the same kind of approach when buying a Dumble amp or other pieces of Dumble gear as when buying other collectibles like vintage guitars as an example.
Cheers,
Max
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I've noticed that the whole "Overdrive Special" and the "by Dumble" logos are completeley wrong.
Look at them closer!
And even the front light is out of place!
How about just warning people and then leave it at that. Just a thought. I tried to keep the pics up with just that in mind. I do not even have decent proof that the amp is fake. Just be careful folks!
