RF/ML at Safari Sam's 05/15/06 Pictures + Notes

[ayan]

Hi guys,

Follow the link below to see all the pictures:

http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y52/ay ... ML_051506/

Robben's goldtop sounded terrific through the Dumble, about as good a tone (at times) as ever, and here are a couple of notes:

1. The louder the drummer got the harder RF seemed to hit the guitar, and the harsher the tone got. When played softly, the amp was as smooth as can be.

2. Most of the time RF used the lead channel for soloing. A couple of times he added the PAB on top of that, and got a lot of gain that way (with feedback up the ying yang, which is something he's not known for doing). If that amp is a stock HRM circuit, it doesn't sound like it in terms of gain, especially considering the settings -- which would appear to be more consistent with an 80s gain structure.

3. A considerable part of the smoothness of the tone seemed to be linked to the the 2290's settings. At the often used 116 msec delay setting, the sound took on a slapback quality and RF seemed to favor more of a "Chuck Berry approch" to his playing making the tone is harsher. When he switched to the 250 msec dely, he seemed to switch to "tastier mode" in his playing and the longer delay made the tone instantly smoother.

4. Rest of the band was Mike Landau, Jeff Babko, Gary Novak and Travis Carlton.

Mandatory amp setting shot:
[IMG1200]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y52/ay ... 506032.jpg[/img]

The show was pretty good, and the band was tight. Only guest was Buzz Feiten, who had a pretty hard time with "Oasis." ML was great at being a sideman (when not taking the spotlight himself), not getting in the way of RF's playing.

Gil

[Pete]

Wow Gil,
very cool & interesting, thanks for sharing
Does he still rely on the bridge pickup about 80-90% of the time?
Pete T

[ayan]

Wow Gil,
very cool & interesting, thanks for sharing
Does he still rely on the bridge pickup about 80-90% of the time?
Pete T

It was about 95% of the time on the bridge pickup last night. He played on the neck pickup a bit (twice that I saw) but immediately switched to the bridge. Unlike his other LP, I doubt he would have modified this one to split the coils... it's a real 57. There was certainly no push-pull switch on any of the pots that I could see, or at least none that he used. Also, even when on the clean channel, the guitar wasn't 100% "clean" if he hit it hard, another indication -- to me -- that he was on humbucker mode.

Speaking of this, the amp was definitely not bass heavy at all, even on the couple of occasions when Robben switched to the neck or both pickups. Can't believe that mid cap would be .01uF, not with the bass control up as shown on the pictures. However, the treble pot is probably a linear type: the evening started with that control at about 11+ o 'clock, and at some point RF dialed it back almost a notch, and I could hear the difference. That coincides with the "sweet spot" of a liner control.

Gil

[Robert]

Gil,

What a wonderful surprise to read about this AM!! Loved the analysis and pictures. As always, Thank you for sharing!!

Robert

[dogears]

Thanks Gil!! I bet you are right.... You can run the bass pot up there with a .01cap, but the mids where they are would sound kind of muddy...... You need to get up around 1pm.

I really doubt that this head is HRM. Maybe one has it and one doesn't??

Would you say his tone was more Blue Line than Handful of Blues??? I am certain the newer CDs are HRM tone. Like Handful, Blue Moon, and the Jing Chi stuff...... The older stuff like the tone on Life Song sounds 80s circuit to me.

Thanks!

[mlp-mx6]

Gil, many thanks for this!

IIRC he has two Dumbles. I wonder if one is non-HRM and the other is HRM... The tone I initially fell in love (lust) with was on RF&TBL (the first one). That tone STILL does not sound like HRM to me. And I still lust after that tone. (I'm getting close - quite close.)

[llemtt]

I agree with the two amps explanation, the one in the pic is the old non-HRM one while the newer is the one that for some time went into the combo chassis and it's probably HRM.

my .02
Teo

[ayan]

I agree with the two amps explanation, the one in the pic is the old non-HRM one while the newer is the one that for some time went into the combo chassis and it's probably HRM.

my .02
Teo

For what it's worth, note that this is RF's main amp (green light and mind the logo) which in now living in the tan cabinet where his other amp (which has the logo with Dumble's signature on it) used to live. The green-light amp has always been the stellar sounding one, IMHO, and I've seen RF live way too many times for my own good.

For what it's worth, the other amp (which spent some time in a green combo cabinet a few years ago) has never sounded "right" to me, and I've seen it a few times live. The last time was last year at a blues festival in Ojai, where I was able to take a few close up shots of the amp. I listened to the amp from various places (I was on that bill earlier on and had a stage pass) and it sounded harsh if you stood in front ot it... I will repost the pictures of that to show the settings later on, but they suggested that the amp doesn't have independent master volumes, which would in turn suggest the amp is not a HRM.

In the end, pure speculation.

Gil

[pedro]

I wonder if Daved would end that specualtion if we cross-posted this on the RF discussion forum in Daved's technical section ?

Rgds
Pedro.

PS - tweakers syndrome......Now I'm wondering about going back to Non-HRM

[glasman]

I wonder if Daved would end that specualtion if we cross-posted this on the RF discussion forum in Daved's technical section ?

Rgds
Pedro.

PS - tweakers syndrome......Now I'm wondering about going back to Non-HRM

I have asked before and I got no response.

Gary

[pedro]

I'm confused Gil, Scott,

the amp in the pic has an overall master, but is HRM ?
I thought the HRM was independent masters.

put me straight - I just got back from a flight - its been a long day

cheers
Pedro.

[ayan]

I'm confused Gil, Scott,

the amp in the pic has an overall master, but is HRM ?
I thought the HRM was independent masters.

put me straight - I just got back from a flight - its been a long day

cheers
Pedro.

Well Pedro, the chassis is obviously old and dates from 1982 or so, when the amp was originally built. The million dollar question is whether Dumble rebuilt something different in there; if he had "upgraded" (using the term loosely) that to HRM, the " Ratio" control would be the "absolute" (single) master volume for the lead channel. I wouldn't expect Dumble to redo the silkscreen on the faceplate though -- although he should have, so as to save us all from speculating about this.

Gil

[pedro]

Thanks Gil,
now i understand...


cheers
pedro

[jazzyjoepass]

Gil,


Wow, thanks Gil for the pics. This is great closeup of RF's amp. Any of the back?

This is the same amp from the The Blue Line days? Same one from his teaching videos?

Green jewel lamp and the green rubber on the rock/jazz switches.
Loved his tone on the Blue Line days - but I'm not sure about the updates.



Pedro,

You mean to say that the HRM are labelled Drive and Volume on the overdrive channel? The non-HRM are labelled Ratio and Level?


Cheers,
Mike.

[toneman]

Great pics Gil, Thank You.