Single Coils/Dumble's

[dave g]

Stelligan, try plugging your strat straight in and just turning the preamp volume control up. I'm curious to hear how it sounds to you compared to putting a booster out front.

[ayan]

Yes Dave, all I have left is two 100K plate Skyliner amps. To switch from humbuckers to a Strat I:

1. Increase the preamp volume from about 4 to 6-7.

2. Either turn the treble control up from 3 to 5 or enagge the bright switch.

That makes positions 2 and 4 quacky but shimmering. I turn the tone control down halfway when switching to the treble pickup for leads.

Something else that one has to spend a lot of time on is finding the sweet spots of the master volume depending upon the guitar used, the room, etc. I have a 30pF cap on my master volume, so settings at 5 or below will be crisper. However, setting the Master at 7 will fatten up the sound immensely and will make a Strat sound huge. That setting is good if you will use the bridge pickup a lot, but it makes positions 2/4 too dark in clean mode. A lot of the issues with a Strat stem from the fact that we want to use a few different pickups and their combinations, and have all of that sound good in both clean and dirty... With humbuckers, at least to me, the clean will always "suffer" and most of us will only use the bridge pickup for leads. A much easier task than a getting all 5 positions of the Strat to sound good in both clean and overdrive.

Cheers,

G.

Interesting enough, the bridge pickup that I find most compatible with my D-amps is the stock, low output pickup that's on my 62 HR reissue. Better that a Kinman Blue, better than anything else I've ever heard, period -- and yes, it is noisy.

Gil

Gil,

Is this your low plate amp? And yes - I have the tone on my bridge pu.

Thanks,
Dave

[ER]

Back then people probably didn't wire a tone control to the bridge pickup. If you don't have that in your guitar, you should try it: move the 2nd tone control from the middle pickup to the bridge. The mod is free, it makes the neck + middle sound clearer and it allows you to dial in EJ types of tones out of your Strat. Interesting enough, the bridge pickup that I find most compatible with my D-amps is the stock, low output pickup that's on my 62 HR reissue. Better that a Kinman Blue, better than anything else I've ever heard, period -- and yes, it is noisy.

I currently wire mine master volume, master tone, and blend to mix bridge and neck together with stock 70's neck and middle pu (in the bridge position) and a 50's "white" lapsteel pu in the middle position. The weak white sounds better than the ceramics, not sure on the resistance. The EMGs I used to use, I never changed the batteries on so they were pretty weak too

Hoping to go with the stock 70's pickups neck and middle and a three speed tele in the bridge soon with master volume, master tone, and 3 position rotary selector.

-E

[overdrivespecial#173]

Hi Guys, thanks for the welcome. I'm not going to even try to answer all the techie stuff because I don't have the answers you are looking for. I can offer you some thought on some of the Dumbles i have had.
I, at one time or another have owned #'rs 055, 072, 226 (skyline), 182(HRM), Velvet Glove, Tom Anderson's ODS combo (don't remember the S/N on that one, maybe in the 190's), and 173 - my favorite ODS.
I'll give a brief description of each of them- tone wise.
#55 and #72 were very similar sounding amps. #55 was better though IMO because it had more pop and the clean was very powerfull and bright. #72 had a smoother overdrive, but not as present sounding. The problem that I had with those two amps was getting the clean and overdrive sections to work well together when switching channels. For example, you would have the most amazing clean tone, but switching the OD on it would be too bright and shrill. So you would have to compromise by turning off the bright switch. Then you would lose that amazing clean tone.
#182 is a 6L6. It had a big mid scoop in it. It was a great sounding amp for more of a rock type of player. The thing that I didn't like about it was that with the overdrive on, but not the PA boost, it was too bassy, and not very useable, to my ears. So I always had the PA boost on for the OD section. It sounded really cool though. 3 useable tones instead of 4.
The Velvet Glove was like having a cathedral in my home studio. It was very etherial sounding. Like molten mercury. Dense, and bell like. Very powerfull sounding, with Huuuuuge reverb, and tremolo. I really can't explain how unbelievable it sounded. It is a truly amazing amplifier, one of a kind.
#226 was a good amp, but there is a big difference from those newer ones, and the "golden era" ones.
#173 has it all, to my ears. 4 useable tones using the footswitch, and no monkeying with the knobs. And, as a bonus, I still have it!!!
The thing I love about Dumble's is the slightly overdriven tone that they produce, and the woody, clear, 3D effect they have.
I think that the guitar signal goes through something else before it hits the overdrive section. That might be what gives it the clarity and 3D effect. It's a clean tone, with the overdrive lurking somewhere in the circuit, and getting piled on before the sound comes out of the speakers. That's just what it sounds like to me.
I don't use the FET input often. It is for acoustic guitars with low output pickups. The FET loses alot of the clarity, and is more compressed than the normal channel is. I guess if you want crazy gain you would use that input. I like to drive the Pre amp, and use my guitar volume to get the singing sustain, instead of just adding a bunch of gain to the signal.
As far as my favorite pickups with this amp. I have a Stratocaster that I put Sheptone AB customs in. I love those pickups.
Thanks guys, let me know i you have any more questions. I'll do my best to answer them.

[jelle]

Welcome! Which amp is the Velvet glove? Is that a Dumbleland? Do you have pics of those great amps?

I have played a couple of ODS amps that were in the sn70 to 90 range as well as a couple of later ones. I have to agree, they can differ a lot from era to era, IMHO.

The two SSS amps I played were also very different. One sounded like your description of the Velvet Glove amp. The other sounded thin in comparison, as if it was specifically voiced for lap steel, not guitar. Both had this velvety midrange. That reverb is a lot of work to build, I have done it before. Anyway, welcome!

Jelle

[talbany]

ODS 173..Welcome
Could you give us a quick run down on how the tone controls worked on the various generation amps..For instance did you find some had a larger sweep on each control or did you find some of them were limited in range or didn't offer quite the tonal variations..Thanks for your contribution

Pictures would be wonderful..

Tony

[stelligan]

Thanks for all the ideas and help, guys. I have tried much of this stuff, but will keep at it. High capacitance cabling and low plates are something I have not. It is very possible that the high end is what is confounding with a Strat for me. Very fruitful discussion and thanks to OP for bringing it up again. I don't mean to imply the Strat tones I am getting are horrible - just not optimal.
Onward and upward.......

[ampdork]

Hey Jelle,

You ever going to post details and share?

I have some information that is a bit off the shore from being able to share publicly but it's entirely novel and new....well not for Dumble but for everyone else it is. :O)

BTW did you ever confirm those snubber cap testing procedures you asked me about?

Would love for someone to try it themselves and at the least let us know if they failed or succeeded in getting accurate readings.

Cheers,
Shad

[jelle]

Hee,

The amps in the pic below sounded great with single coils, as did the other earlier Dumbles I tried.

Those snubber readings...I have tried and could not get it to work. It must be because there are too many other caps in the circuit, screwing up the rading. I get 7.2 nF when measuring OD2 in a low plate non HRM. I use a EGC CX-920A capacitance meter.

Jelle

[jaysg]

I'm happy with my EMG DG strat into a high plate non-hrm with the classic tone stack. The gain levels have to be tweaked a bit against room volume everytime, but it's lovely.

[boldaslove6789]

So the general consensus is everybody preferres Strats with S/Cs with NON-HRm Classic &/or Skyliner amps (Overdrive)?


Update: I added the FET circuit to my 100w HRM yesterday. I put the trimmer on the Front panel in the 2nd input using a 10k push/pull pot. I could definitely see myself puting it on a relay soon as I get the parts.


Having FET totally changed the sound for the better with Single Coils in both Strats & Lapsteels

[ampdork]

Jelle,

If you get a chance to poke around some more make sure to pull the tube and ground one end of the "circuit".

oh well at least you did try. Maybe one day I'll post a video tut so others can give it a whirl.

Greg....yep those switchable fets are the most bang for buck I have gotten really....

[jazzbass]

If your a Strat player and want Mo Fendery this is the ODS you want..(surprised not more people go here)

http://ampgarage.com/forum/download/file.php?id=14346

My 2nd favorite for Strat tones is this one ( in a 100w)


http://ampgarage.com/forum/download/file.php?id=14336


Tony

Hi Tony, I tried to listen to the examples you attached in this very old post but.....could you resubmit them?

thanks, a hug

Franco