Ready to start my Dumble build. Which Dumble?

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LeftyStrat
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Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2005 6:58 pm
Location: Marietta, SC, but my heart and two of my kids are in Seattle, WA

Ready to start my Dumble build. Which Dumble?

Post by LeftyStrat »

I posted a long time ago about gutting this amp:

http://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... highlight=

I've had a lot of other things come across the bench, but now I am ready to start in earnest, and I have decided to gut the thing. My only hesitation was this thing it might become desirable ($$$) if some new player comes along using one, but I finally decided it is not worth the money to make some kid sound as bad as this amp.

On the previous thread, you can see this amp shares a fair amount of topology with the Dumble. 6L6's switchable between 60 and 100 watts. Switching for a two triode gain stage, etc.

I only plan on keeping the cab, the speaker, relays, and the iron (and maybe the inductor-based graphic EQ). The BM sounds interesting, but I haven't measured the OT ratio yet, so I'm not sure it would be good for EL34's.

My biggest interest is in having a good clean with slight "hair" with a strat and good sustain, and a lead channel a bit more refined than a wreck.

My playing style is more bluesy than jazzy, more alternative than rock, more experimental than mainstream, more Gilmour and introspective Hendrix over Eddie and shred. But I'm not looking to cop anyone (heck, I had more than one guy come up after a gig and say I had the best Robin Trower tone he had ever heard, and I was using a Big Muff into an Ampeg VT22, and I had never listened to Trower at the time). I can plug into an old Fender Champ and suddenly my playing style adapts to the amp.

I just like amps that inspire me to sound like me.

Anyway, I'm looking for the right Dumble build. I would like to have an effects loop, for only delay. Other than that, which Dumble circuit?

Thanks
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LeftyStrat
Posts: 3114
Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2005 6:58 pm
Location: Marietta, SC, but my heart and two of my kids are in Seattle, WA

Re: Ready to start my Dumble build. Which Dumble?

Post by LeftyStrat »

Maybe I should add, closest I have come to what I consider was tonal nirvana was a vintage Super Reverb. It lacked a little sparkle and a little hair, or it would have been perfect. By hair, I mean that "Wind Cries Mary" thing where I can play softly and have beautiful bell tones, but hit it a little harder and get just a tad distortion.
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heisthl
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Location: Phoenix

Re: Ready to start my Dumble build. Which Dumble?

Post by heisthl »

Gut the EQ too. Fill in the slider holes with JB Weld and drill out for more controls. V,T,M,B,D,L,M.P and if there's room S and R. The only front panel switch you really need is bright (unless you must have deep) the rest (OD,Mid-Boost and PABoost) you can put on relays controlled with a footswitch. The 4 preamp tubes are perfect for building one with a loop and if you're building for yourself you don't need a switch on the loop either(these amps sound better with the loop on).
The schematic I posted on http://ampgarage.com/forum/download/file.php?id=2254 would be a good one for this, although you only need 50UF on B+1 and a 390 Res instead of a choke. Almost all the schematics on this forum will do the blackface Super Reverb sound and have the "touch" that puts hair on the notes like you want.
Former owner of Music Mechanix
www.RedPlateAmps.com
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