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Dumble Steel String Singer

 
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kirk95
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Joined: 04 Nov 2004
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 06, 2004 3:27 am    Post subject: Dumble Steel String Singer Reply with quote

Anybody actually play one of these?
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TTrahan



Joined: 06 Nov 2004
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 1:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nope, but I would think some heavy ear plugs would be needed...150w!!

I would love to try one. Probably one of the best clean tones one could get.
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Blind Melon Chitlin



Joined: 01 Feb 2005
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Location: Austin Texas, Earth!

PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 2:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've never played one (and considering what Dumbles go for these days I probably never will), but I do happen to know a little bit about them. The Dumble Steel String Singer was designed for steel guitar. The pickup on a steel guitar is a lot more powerful than it is on a standard Fender or Gibson electric, and because of that it needs a ton of headroom. Peavey makes a solid state amp for steel guitar that's something like 300 watts RMS. The idea is that they need to be loud and clean.

The first time Stevie ever used a Dumble would have been while he was doing the Texas Flood sessions at Jackson Brown's 'Down Town Studio' in L.A. The amp-in-question probably belonged to longtime Jackson Brown guitarist David Lindly (who is amazing BTW).

Here's an excerpt from an article published in GUITAR WORLD in September 1983, written by Frank Joseph:

Quote:
Stevie has over the years searched for the right combination of amplifiers and speakers. His quest will end "as soon as I get enough money to buy a Dumble. I can't say enough good things about those amps." Stevie used Jackson Brown's Mother Dumble [sic] to record Texas Flood.


Here's another quote from the same article:

Quote:
For the Bowie album Vaughan played through a rented post-CBS Super Reverb; for the tour, he says, he "just bought two MESA/BOOGIEs. I don't even know what models they are--they're the small wooden ones. The reason I'm using them is they sound a lot like a Dumble. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to buy a Dumble as soon as I get the money!"

The bit about the MESA/BOOGIEs is interesting, particularly since you never hear or read 'Stevie Ray Vaughan' and MESA/BOOGIE in the same sentence. The 'little wooden' amps he's describing are probably MARK Is or MARK IIs. The very first MESA/BOOGIEs ever built were actually hot rodded Fender Prinston Reverbs outfitted with bigger transformers and a more efficient speaker. This became the MARK I.

This next quote first appeared in GUITAR PLAYER in 1984. The interviewer is Dan Forte:

Quote:
Right now, I use a Howard Dumble 150-watt. He calls it the Steel String Singer; I call it the King Tone Consoul [laughs]--that's s-o-u-l. It's like an overgrown Fender tube amp. Some Dumbles, like the Overdrive Special, you got to know what you're doing with them, because they'll get away from you and take you with 'em.

Some known Dumble Overdrive Special users are Larry Carlton, Robben Ford, Eric Johnson, and Steve Bruton. As you might have guessed, the Overdrive Special is a totally different animal from the Steel String Singer. Ten years ago a Dumble cost $5000. Today they're more than four times that amount! Shocked
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UncleSalty



Joined: 08 Nov 2004
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 2:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Being a fellow Michael Landau fan, I'm sure the Captain probably knows, but didn't Landau play a Steel String Singer at one point?
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Blind Melon Chitlin



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 2:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Could be. I always thought Landau was a Marshall and Soldano guy. At least he was during his Burning Water/Raging Honkies period.
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kirk95
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

UncleSalty wrote:
Being a fellow Michael Landau fan, I'm sure the Captain probably knows, but didn't Landau play a Steel String Singer at one point?


Dumble built Mike an amp (and modded many of his Fenders and Marshalls) but I don't think is was a Steel String Singer.

Have you guys seen the new Two Rock Sterling? Oh MY!!!





More here:
http://dhenderson.com/TwoRock/viewtopic.php?t=531

And here:
http://online-discussion.com/Blog/index.php
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Blind Melon Chitlin



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 6:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

At a modestly priced ten grand I think I'll take two, and maybe throw in a Fender SRV Tribute Series Strat for another 10k while I'm at it. Razz Where can I find more gear that's this reasonably priced? My tone can't wait! Rolling Eyes

TONE: pronounced Tah-oooooown. With th proper inflection you can turn one sylable into two. Why? because your tooooooonnne is worth it! Crappy catch phrase ahead: tone so good it breaks all the rules.
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kirk95
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What do you think a real Dumble Steel String Singer would go for? There were on a few ever made!

Shocked
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Blind Melon Chitlin



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 7:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh probably 20 or 30k. Even if I could afford to drop 10k on an amp, I have serious doubts that I would even dream about buying any gear priced in that range. Yikes! And I thought $1800 for a clean Super Reverb was ridiculous! Maybe if I become a 'first call' studio musician I'll by the most expensive gear available (that I can re-mortgage my house to afford), but untill I start making at least one-hundred dollars an hour and logging a lot of work, it's not too likely that I'll own a Two Rocks, much less a Dumble. The most I've ever paid for any piece of gear was $1200 and I thought that was seriously splurging.

I'm not knocking the Two Rock, it's probably a really nice amp (at 10k it better be) but I can't even afford to stand in the same room with one, let alone touch it, play it, or buy it.
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UncleSalty



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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 2:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You should see what amps like Two Rocks and Fuchs go for here in Japan - at least double what you pay in the States. That Sterling looks great and given Two Rock's rep, I'm sure it gets 'that' tone but cost aside, where the hell would I play it? My Fender Hot Rod Deluxe is too loud for a lot of the places I play here. I'd love to hear some sound clips of the Sterling, though.
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rockindillo



Joined: 04 Feb 2005
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Location: Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, UK

PostPosted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 2:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Has anyone here actually PLAYED a Dumble ODS, or the Two Rocks, or the Fuchs, or even better ALL THREE?
My lad Owen is becoming obsessed with Dumbles and the various clones and we're really interested in some subjective feedback on these amps.
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dspblues



Joined: 06 Nov 2005
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 5:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, I've played all 3....

2 Dumble ODS
Fuchs 30 and 50W ODS
Two Rock Sterling, "Krinard" (80s dumble prototype).

The Dumbles are great, but are really tuned to the guitar and player it was built for. When I played them (about 5 years ago) I was impressed, but it didn't impact me so much that I had to have one.

Fuchs? Well, I just bought one based on the clips on their web site. When I got it and played it, I was impressed with the clean sound. It's sparkly, chimey, round, pretty nice. But, that clean sound w/my TS-9/808, wasn't doing it for me. Neither was the overdrive channel. To me, the initial attack of the note was harsh and unappealing, but as the note rings out, you get some nice overdriven tones. That's not enough for me. So, after having it for a couple weeks, I was ready to move on.

Two Rock?
Well.... haha, I'm one of the guys that now has one of 10 Sterling Signature Amps. Smile I also have an Custom Reverb "Artist" SN: 2, and a "Krinard" Prototype. So, yeah, the amps I mentioned above I bought. I traded in my collection of black face fender amps (Pro Reverb, 64 Vibroverb, Super Reverb, Deluxe Reverb) and a couple guitars... and took the plunge to get these amps.

First, so you're all clear, the Sterling is basically a 100W Dumble Steel String Singer, but made with better parts (since the components have evolved over time)

Why? To me, the Two Rock amps do the "Fender clean tone" even better than fender. It has the sparkle and chime that's missing from those amps. When you use the overdrive channel on the Artist or the "Krinard", you'll notice that it's a very smooth overdriven sound. The note retains the sweet characteristics you have in the clean sounds.

When I can, I'll post some clips of the amps. Hope this helped.
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dspblues



Joined: 06 Nov 2005
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 4:21 am    Post subject: where are all the dumbles? Reply with quote

Besides SRV, who else had a Steel String Singer? How many were made total?

How many ODS were made? 300-400? Just wondering.. Wink
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johnnyboy



Joined: 13 Jan 2006
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I played a Dumble Steel String Singer once at Maken' Music in Chicago where i used to work, as you can imagine it was really freaking loud, and costs like 20 or 30K bones , something crazy. Anyways besides the mytique about it, I really didn't dig it that much, but then again i didnt really crank the shit out of it for very long because it was in a tiny room and was pretty painful to the ears. I heard it was once owned by Stevie but who knows.
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