FET Tone on the ODS

[stratcat62]

I'm just curious about the FET input on the Dumble ODS. I was reading some past discussions and the general opinion was that the FET input is, for the most part, not very usable.

I was checking out the latest issue of Fretboard Journal which features an interview with David Lindley by Ben Harper (excellent, excellent article if you get a chance to look at it). There were pictures of Lindley's two Overdrive Specials and both had tape over the Normal input, not the FET input. David Lindley has some serious tone.

What I'm asking is, does anyone get any use out of the FET input?

[Max]

I'm just curious about the FET input on the Dumble ODS. I was reading some past discussions and the general opinion was that the FET input is, for the most part, not very usable.

I was checking out the latest issue of Fretboard Journal which features an interview with David Lindley by Ben Harper (excellent, excellent article if you get a chance to look at it). There were pictures of Lindley's two Overdrive Specials and both had tape over the Normal input, not the FET input. David Lindley has some serious tone.

What I'm asking is, does anyone get any use out of the FET input?

Hi stratcat62,

Yes, I use it as just one of the sound options of the ODS just like - say - the switches or the tone controls. If you like the sound you get with the FET, is of course a matter of personal taste just as with all the switches and the other controls.

I personally think of an ODS not as "the Larry-Carlton-Robben-Ford-Sound-Emulator" (even as I really like their signature tones) but as a very versatile amp with a lot of very usefull features to create precisely the tone I like for a special tune or mood.

Maybe, if you are the "LC-RF" tone guy, you may perhaps not like the FET too much.

But if you (as other examples besides Lindley and Danny Kortchmar who e. g. used the FET too) like the guitarwork of guys like Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp, Andy Summers, Gary Sanford (Joe Jackson) Henry Kaiser (and SRV!!!) or perhaps play an Alembic Series II guitar, than perhaps some of the FET inputs abilities may be there just for your fun.

To try some generalisation (allways difficult):

The more you like a guitar tone with a lot of highs, a lot of glass in these highs, with a direct feel of translation of the movements of of your pick attack to the strings to the movement of the air that transports your tone to the audience, the more you will like the FET input.
The more you like a midrangy "thick" guitar tone with some sag in the response, the less you will probably like to use the FET input.

Just take a guitar and compare the behaviour of both inputs: Who do they react if I roll back my guitars volume? How do the response to different picking movements? and so on...

It is all a matter of personal taste. If you are an experimental guy an ODS has IMHO to offer a lot of fun (add a Dumblelator to broaden the possibilities) out of a full basket.

Cheers and let the good times roll.

Max

[nickm57]

David Lindley weissenborn guitars used sunrise pickups, these have a very low output and usually require a buffer/preamp
I've used my sunrise equipped guitar into the fet input and it did not require the buffer.
Also I think if the guitar has low output pick ups you usually require some sort of preamp/boost before it hits the first stage of most amps.
From my limited knowledge this was what the FET input was desinged to do

Nick

[butwhatif]

Amen, pickups like the sunrise require hi input impedance that that an fet transistor can provide w/o a buffer. Just like the old fetron can that plugged into the boogie tube socket, they served a purpose. I never liked it for much else.

[crholguin]

I'm just curious about the FET input on the Dumble ODS. I was reading some past discussions and the general opinion was that the FET input is, for the most part, not very usable.

I was checking out the latest issue of Fretboard Journal which features an interview with David Lindley by Ben Harper (excellent, excellent article if you get a chance to look at it). There were pictures of Lindley's two Overdrive Specials and both had tape over the Normal input, not the FET input. David Lindley has some serious tone.

What I'm asking is, does anyone get any use out of the FET input?

I like the FET with both my Johnny Smith and L7. Both have floating pickups, and I usually play them through a Raezer's Edge Stealth 12 clone. The FET input gives me a really fine, woody jazz tone and is a marked improvement over the normal input. I like the ODS's jazz tone *much* better than an Acoustic Image head I used to have.

YMMV, particularly if you prefer a dark jazz tone ala Jim Hall, though with a spin of the tone controls you could probably get there via the FET input too.

Funny thing is, I find the "jazz" toggle setting useless with my jazz boxes. I've yet to figure out what that one is actually good for.

Carlos.

[Funkalicousgroove]

The Jazz setting is great for getting Country swing jazz sounds ala Bob wills and the texas playboys!

I like the FET input with my lap steels, especially the ones with low output pickups, I rarely hear of Mr. Dave playing 6 string these days, mostly bozuki, saz, violin, and lap steel - perhaps that's why he uses the FET, I know he really has an affinity for those cheap round stick-on piezo pickups.

[crholguin]

The Jazz setting is great for getting Country swing jazz sounds ala Bob wills and the texas playboys!

I like the FET input with my lap steels, especially the ones with low output pickups, I rarely hear of Mr. Dave playing 6 string these days, mostly bozuki, saz, violin, and lap steel - perhaps that's why he uses the FET, I know he really has an affinity for those cheap round stick-on piezo pickups.

Hmmm. Guess I'll break out my Playboy's CD and have a go at it. Say, is there a particular track you'd recommend as representative of the quintessential western swing guitar sound? Something by Eldon Shamblin with his trusty Strat, no doubt.

Carlos.

[fullerplast]

David Lindley weissenborn guitars used sunrise pickups, these have a very low output and usually require a buffer/preamp
I've used my sunrise equipped guitar into the fet input and it did not require the buffer.
Also I think if the guitar has low output pick ups you usually require some sort of preamp/boost before it hits the first stage of most amps.
From my limited knowledge this was what the FET input was desinged to do

Nick

I've seen Lindley quite a few times and have never seen him use a Weissenborn (or any other acoustic instruments) into a Dumble. His typical setup for these when I've seen him has been a split signal into a preamp/EQ/DI and an on-stage clean amp like a Jazz Chorus, which is then mic'd and mixed with the direct box.

His signature Dumble tones with Browne have been using the typical solid body lap steel: [IMG:388:764]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v83/f ... leyrig.gif[/img] Of course he also has a collection of other electric Dano's, Nationals, Teisco's, Kay's, etc.

As mentioned, the FET input is just another flavor that he obviously preferred for some tones. On my Ceriatone OTS, the FET input is a perfectly useable tone, a bit tighter and brighter, but very easy to get a good sound. The level has a trimmer, so you can set it up however you want. Amps that have an FET input simply offer another tonal option.

[fullerplast]

double post

[tubedogsmith]

I'm just curious about the FET input on the Dumble ODS. I was reading some past discussions and the general opinion was that the FET input is, for the most part, not very usable.

I was checking out the latest issue of Fretboard Journal which features an interview with David Lindley by Ben Harper (excellent, excellent article if you get a chance to look at it). There were pictures of Lindley's two Overdrive Specials and both had tape over the Normal input, not the FET input. David Lindley has some serious tone.

What I'm asking is, does anyone get any use out of the FET input?

Hi stratcat62,

Yes, I use it as just one of the sound options of the ODS just like - say - the switches or the tone controls. If you like the sound you get with the FET, is of course a matter of personal taste just as with all the switches and the other controls.

I personally think of an ODS not as "the Larry-Carlton-Robben-Ford-Sound-Emulator" (even as I really like their signature tones) but as a very versatile amp with a lot of very usefull features to create precisely the tone I like for a special tune or mood.

Maybe, if you are the "LC-RF" tone guy, you may perhaps not like the FET too much.

But if you (as other examples besides Lindley and Danny Kortchmar who e. g. used the FET too) like the guitarwork of guys like Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp, Andy Summers, Gary Sanford (Joe Jackson) Henry Kaiser (and SRV!!!) or perhaps play an Alembic Series II guitar, than perhaps some of the FET inputs abilities may be there just for your fun.

To try some generalisation (allways difficult):

The more you like a guitar tone with a lot of highs, a lot of glass in these highs, with a direct feel of translation of the movements of of your pick attack to the strings to the movement of the air that transports your tone to the audience, the more you will like the FET input.
The more you like a midrangy "thick" guitar tone with some sag in the response, the less you will probably like to use the FET input.

Just take a guitar and compare the behaviour of both inputs: Who do they react if I roll back my guitars volume? How do the response to different picking movements? and so on...

It is all a matter of personal taste. If you are an experimental guy an ODS has IMHO to offer a lot of fun (add a Dumblelator to broaden the possibilities) out of a full basket.

Cheers and let the good times roll.

Max

Great post. This stye amp does so much more than the RF/LC thing.