Steve Farris ODS #075

[ayan]

And I would like to contribute to the list with two entries, in supreme order of relevance:

1. Larry Carlton -- arguably, on this board, but I believe he has historically been more influential on all things tone (in terms of sales of Gibson 335s, Mesa/Boogies and Dumbles)... at least until Scott signed on TGP.

2. Robben Ford -- probably the reason LC bought his Dumble.

Let's face it, there are other guitar heroes out there (Satriani, Scofield, etc.), some way more popular than our guys, but not many care about the equipment they use (granted, they are tone midgets IMNSHO), but LC and RF are in another league in this area. Let the hate come my way now.

Gil

Irony in action don't you think...

Tony

Yes, at least some sort of irony. Of course Dumbles are great amps. But obviously Chris Cross, Rick Vito, Steve Lukather, Steve Farris, David Lindley, Jackson Browne and many others of these players, who've made them famous, decided to value some cash "superior" to the "quality" of this "Icon" (and most of them did so at a time, when the prices still have been between 5,000 and 15,000 for a head or combo).

And as far as I know they did not stop to play guitar after they had sold them.

The reason for the high prices?

- many guitar players like how they sound and feel
- many people like to own things with a "celebrity history"
- some did not have the money in the 70ies but now they have, even 80,000, and now they play Santa Claus, and not for their childs
- many people are attracted by things surrounded with some myth and mystery
- some are just curious what all the fuzz is about
- as only few have been made, the demand is much higher than supply.
- that brought the prices up
- because of this, many of those listed above think, that a Dumble makes a good investment and because of this they have a perfect excuse if Sandy, Mary or Hanako would ask: Are you crazy?

That is MHO.

Cheers,

Max

Max
Love your posts..

You forgot one REPLICAS!!.. Most products don't reach legendary status w/ ridiculous price tags like the Dumbles..until the replicas clones whatever you want to call it hits the market..add 30%.. This is true with watches, cloths, jewely, rugs, paintings, and even hand bags..This IMHO validates in the public eye and those who never played one the true uniqueness of the original only throwing more fuel or as you put it mystique on the fire..And here we are the Amp Garage Dumble Discussion talking about the high price.. Irony..

Tony

[Max]

You forgot one REPLICAS!!.. Most products don't reach legendary status w/ ridiculous price tags like the Dumbles..until the replicas clones whatever you want to call it hits the market..add 30%.. This is true with watches, cloths, jewely, rugs, paintings, and even hand bags..This IMHO validates in the public eye and those who never played one the true uniqueness of the original only throwing more fuel or as you put it mystique on the fire..And here we are the Amp Garage Dumble Discussion talking about the high price.. Irony..

Tony

Of course:

I remember, when around two years ago, there have been some discussions at ampgarage, that now many Dumble owners and collectors will start to cash in, because they fear, that the prices come down because of the clones.

Such a nonsense, I thought. Of course all these clones are the best thing that could happen for the investment potential of the originals. The greater their number and the more they are bought by guitar players, the better the legend of the originals spreads.

When I talked about Dumble amps 15 years ago, there have been only a handful of people who did not ask "Rumble amps, what the hell is this?"

All Dumble collectors, who know something about how markets move, will be very happy, that Two Rock now issued the TS1, an amp, that by his design alone shouts out "Yes, we admit, that's how the "real stuff" looks!"

And indeed, this forum had some part in it to make a Dumble an unobtainium. What is not so bad for any cloning buisiness btw..

So I think everyone could be happy:

- the collectors and owners of the originals about the great tone, history and investment potential of their Dumble amps
- the professional cloners, as Dumble clones are in demand
- the guitar players, as the clones are great and affordable amps
- the hobby cloners, as the quality of the available information is getting better all the time and they can have fun with building and playing their very own dream amps
- the chatters, as a gooped Dumble is a near perfect chat-topic (the less is known, the longer the thread)

Anyone unhappy?

Cheers,

Max

[jelle]

Max, Thanks for the reply. I very much enjoy the discussions from an engineering angle like you pointed out. I like facts.

And I'd like to add that for me, a modest amount of opinions keeps it from getting 'dry'.

As a side note, regarding your question if everybody is happy...I hope that Mr Dumble is happy too. I'm a big fan of his work.

[FUCHSAUDIO]

Dumble will NEVER be happy. I know enough people who know him. Carlos told me "he's the kind of guy who's never happy unless he's miserable"...sad really, he was a gifted guy who inspired many of us. It's sad he couldn't grow it into what it could have been. We may never know why.

[Mac Daddy]

I think I'm happy

[IMG:221:219]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a373/ ... 2_3065.jpg[/img]

[talbany]

Heather Graham just brought me a beer naked on rollerskates.. Im Happy..
Outta here..Take Care

Tony

[Max]

It's sad he couldn't grow it into what it could have been.

Andy,

and what do you think is this "it" that "could have been"?

Kind regards,

Max

[ChrisM]

Anything besides a reclusive, now old man.

[Max]

Anything besides a reclusive, now old man.

Why do you think he should have chosen to be less reclusive?

Max

[FUCHSAUDIO]

It's sad he couldn't grow it into what it could have been.

Andy,

and what do you think is this "it" that "could have been"?

Kind regards,

Max

Had he been more "business minded" he easily could have been another Mesa-Boogie easily. He's been presented with ton's of opportunities
by various companies and business people to become wealthy beyond most peoples wildest dreams. He chose to not. I'm sure there are reasons, I'm afraid we'll never know them. That's the point I was making. He's clearly a tortured genius, which always fascinated me. He's also had no problem biting the hands that fed him too, and thus these customers have taken their support elsewhere, in many cases to the cloners out there, in some cases they cashed-out, and didn't look back.

IMHO: I'm certain he's forgotten more than many so called "amp builders" out there will ever know, which I'm sure he chuckles about daily...

[Max]

It's sad he couldn't grow it into what it could have been.

Andy,

and what do you think is this "it" that "could have been"?

Kind regards,

Max

Had he been more "business minded" he easily could have been another Mesa-Boogie easily. He's been presented with ton's of opportunities
by various companies and business people to become wealthy beyond most peoples wildest dreams. He chose to not. I'm sure there are reasons, I'm afraid we'll never know them. That's the point I was making. He's clearly a tortured genius, which always fascinated me. He's also had no problem biting the hands that fed him too, and thus these customers have taken their support elsewhere, in many cases to the cloners out there, in some cases they cashed-out, and didn't look back.

IMHO: I'm certain he's forgotten more than many so called "amp builders" out there will ever know, which I'm sure he chuckles about daily...

Andy,

I understand your point. But isn't it possible, that "to become wealthy beyond most peoples wildest dreams" has not been on the top of his personal wish list?

Max

[Sonny ReVerb]

Most products don't reach legendary status w/ ridiculous price tags like the Dumbles..until the replicas clones whatever you want to call it hits the market..

Is it the chicken or the egg? The replicators only go after high dollar items. It's not cost effective to replicate a Casio, but a Rolex? I think demand drives the price up and thus spawns the replicas.

But my mind wanders... Gold, skates, beer, mmmm...

[FUCHSAUDIO]

Andy, I understand your point. But isn't it possible, that "to become wealthy beyond most peoples wildest dreams" has not been on the top of his personal wish list? Max

It's certainly possible Max. We may never know. It's certainly a list I'd like to see sometime....

[talbany]

Most products don't reach legendary status w/ ridiculous price tags like the Dumbles..until the replicas clones whatever you want to call it hits the market..

Is it the chicken or the egg? The replicators only go after high dollar items. It's not cost effective to replicate a Casio, but a Rolex? I think demand drives the price up and thus spawns the replicas.

But my mind wanders... Gold, skates, beer, mmmm...

Sonny
Sure I suppose you could certianly look at it from several different directions.. Personally I think Gil's above post should have preceeded mine .. I think most went chasing after the RF LC tone (Stop by TGP) was the main driver for all the cloners at first and kind of grew from there.. I also think timing had a big part to play.. Kits were being introduced and more people wanted something other than a Marshall/Fender/ Vox clone.. It wasn't just the Dumble amps that took off the Trainwrecks took a similar path..My Take..

(granted, they are tone midgets IMNSHO)

Tony

[FUCHSAUDIO]

The internet is to blame....lol..