#008 Dumble interview with Ben Harper

[modman]

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[pompeiisneaks]

Man to me that newer amp he had made for him sounds better than 008, but that's just me. Maybe due to it being tailored for his style. Or maybe it was just the mic setup for the first. Sounded a bit too muddy on the OD to me.

Great stuff though!

~Phil

[modman]

Man to me that newer amp he had made for him sounds better than 008, but that's just me.

I was thinking exactly the same thing. It's not just you!

[fred.violleau]

Same here, to me #8 feels like a Fender pushed and squashed a little too much. His amp breath a lot better, especially when overdriven.

I have seen Ben Harper live at least three times and he plays loud on stage as well.

Fred.

Fred.

[M Fowler]

Sanding the chassis to perfection and Dumble must be coating the metal to get the shielding.

Makes his own cabinets too.

[Mr. dB]

Same here, to me #8 feels like a Fender pushed and squashed a little too much. His amp breath a lot better, especially when overdriven.

I remember reading an interview with Lindley in the 1970s and he said his target with the ODS amp was to sound like a bigger, louder tweed Deluxe.

[fred.violleau]

I remember reading an interview with Lindley in the 1970s and he said his target with the ODS amp was to sound like a bigger, louder tweed Deluxe.

@Mr. dB Interesting!
Thx.

Fred.

[Bombacaototal]

Great interview! Interesting to have some more insights on the production process of HAD

I remember reading here that #008 was never modded by HAD but #002 got several upgrades. Interesting that Ben preferred the 1st gen unmodded between the 2 Lindley amps

[Bombacaototal]

Anyone would venture to chime in what does Ben mean by: both cabinets are made of the same wood - mahoghany maple?
Where would he be using maple at?

[Charlie Wilson]

Trying to figure out what "sanding the chassis to perfection and measuring the charge" means. I guess Dumble is sanding the oxidation off of the chassis and measuring the resistance across ground points on the chassis prior to coating it. Isn't aluminum typically acid washed before it is coated?
CW

[pompeiisneaks]

Yeah or it may be that he just says things like that to confuse the artists and seem more like a magician

~Phil

[Mark]

Anyone would venture to chime in what does Ben mean by: both cabinets are made of the same wood - mahoghany maple?
Where would he be using maple at?

I think Harper is referring to the guitars and not the amps.

I was curious about how he plays when the levee breaks, I love that song.

[M Fowler]

Trying to figure out what "sanding the chassis to perfection and measuring the charge" means. I guess Dumble is sanding the oxidation off of the chassis and measuring the resistance across ground points on the chassis prior to coating it. Isn't aluminum typically acid washed before it is coated?
CW

Tone Quest Report Interview with Mike Zaite (DR Z)
Chassis talk:
Can you describe what you were trying to achieve with your amp designs?

Well, I wanted to build an original-sounding amp that was going to be very durable, first. And I also used design ideas that I had used in medical electronics. For example, I’ve always built my amps on a chromate-converted aluminum chassis.

Why?

In medical electronics, the FDA is very concerned about ground leakage. You can’t scan someone who might be hooked up to life support equipment and risk shocking them, so ground current has to be very, very low. One way we got around that is by using chromate-converted aluminum. Aluminum is already a very good conductor, but the chromate conversion raises conductivity almost to the level of copper without the cost of a copper chassis. The higher conductivity allows for better grounding, better earthing, and when I did this with my amps they were clearly very lively and bouncy with that chassis.

Maybe he was coating his chassis like Dr Z?

Mark

[Charlie Wilson]

OK, but I don't think the chromate covering is something you can do at home. I also don't think it involves a bunch of sanding. I think the chassis is acid washed and then coated. I have been told that at least early on, Dumble coated and screened the chassis himself at home. I have always wondered about the 2nd generation chassis. They look like bare aluminum with a clear coat that has yellowed. Bare aluminum usually has that texture on it but Dumbles are smooth like they have been sanded.
CW

[martin manning]

With the mention of sanding I think it’s more likely he was cleaning the ground lug attachment points. It wouldn’t make sense to sand off a high conductivity coating, but anodizing definitely needs to be cleaned off.