Dumble-ized" Twin

Matt Steindl · Post by **Matt Steindl** » 20 Dec 2002 10:12 am

Ok folks here is a weird deal, I have a freind of a freind deal to maybe get a "Dumble-ized" Twin. Thats all my buddy could tell me. Any idea what this means? I have seen the crazy prices that actual Dumble amps go for, and I read the Carlos Santana Dumble testimonial in this months Guitar Player mag. Maybe I found a diamond in the rough?

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Mattman in "The Big Sleazy"-:
S-10 Dekley, Suitcase Fender Rhodes, B-bender Les Paul

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 20 Dec 2002 12:09 pm

Pretty rough, you might say. Once it's been "butchered" it's Fender collector value is gone forever. Depending on who did the mods, and how good he was, and how much he knew, it might sound a little bit like a real Dumble, but it'll never be a real Dumble, so a Dumble collector wouldn't want it either.

My synopsis...it may be worth a little more (to somebody) than a standard used TR.

Matt Steindl · Post by **Matt Steindl** » 20 Dec 2002 1:00 pm

OK guys, this just got interesting. The pedigree of this amp comes from work that Mr. Dumble did himself and the amp was used by a very famous band while touring in the early 80's. I will let ya know when I get to actually play it in a few days.

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Mattman in "The Big Sleazy"-:
S-10 Dekley, Suitcase Fender Rhodes, B-bender Les Paul

Larry Bell · Post by **Larry Bell** » 20 Dec 2002 1:22 pm

If Andy Fuchs did the work, I wouldn't worry about it being 'butchered'.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2000 Fessenden S-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 20 Dec 2002 2:09 pm

I have a blackface Princeton Reverb that was modified and totally rewired before I got it. The tremolo was disabled, a second channel was added with the controls on the back, and a post gain, and MID control were added in place of the TREM controls. The channels are switched by a push/pull switch on the front panel volume control. It is the best sounding amp I have ever heard, whoever did the mods knew their stuff. The reverb is the best sounding spring reverb I have ever heard. It's probably worth half of what it would be if it were all original, but IMHO it sounds much better than the originals, and that's what matters to me.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

Matt Steindl · Post by **Matt Steindl** » 20 Dec 2002 2:59 pm

I was really impressed w/ Andy Fuchs company. It is pretty cool that I can send him a working Princeton that I can find for $150-$250 and for an additional $600 have it all hot-rodded into a tone machine. Cool website. Wish I could hear one of his renovated Fenders in person. I dont know about youguys, but when I read the reviews in the back of GP about these $2000-$4000 "botique" amps, they sound interesting, but I could never spend more than a grand on an amp. Maybe this will be my way to get one!

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Mattman in "The Big Sleazy"-:
S-10 Dekley, Suitcase Fender Rhodes, B-bender Les Paul

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 20 Dec 2002 3:50 pm

Matt, what is the address for this website? This could be the one that modified my Princeton Reverb.

Matt Steindl · Post by **Matt Steindl** » 20 Dec 2002 4:13 pm

There is seperate post in ELECTRONICS about dumble-ized amps. It has the link there.

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Mattman in "The Big Sleazy"-:
S-10 Dekley, Suitcase Fender Rhodes, B-bender Les Paul

Jack Francis · Post by **Jack Francis** » 20 Dec 2002 5:44 pm

I have an old Twin reverb that I had Frank Camacho do the "Boogie" thing to back in '82
(he worked with Randall before Randall started Mesa Boogie.)
It's not worth much to sell and thats a good thing cuz it sounds better than any Twin I've ever heard.
There are guys out there than can make these things sound as good as the "booootiq" amps for a heck of a lot less $.

Jack

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RUS-LER S-10-NV 400(dead)
TELE's,STRAT-FENDER TWIN

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 21 Dec 2002 9:04 am

I'm not an expert in this stuff by any means, but I have a Showman that was 'dumble-ized' by an amp genius (Andy Marshall of THD). From what Andy told me, there are two main differences between a twin and a Dumble. The design of the Dumble is essentially a Showman (and as such similar to a twin), but it share characteristics of both the blond and brown Showmans. What Andy did to my amp was disable the tremelo and replace components to give similar characteristics to the Dumble. My Showman is by far the best Fender amp I have ever heard, clean and punchy without any of that upper end thin sounds that sometimes bothers me with Twins. The other aspect to the Dumble is that it also has an additional gain section, to provide additional overdrive levels. My Showman doesn't have this (I have plenty of amps that have more gain than I would ever need).

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www.tyack.com

ajm · Post by **ajm** » 21 Dec 2002 9:58 am

Unless you actually know who did the work, and get a schematic, and/or have reliable sources, I personally don't think you can ever be REALLY sure as to what you've got. Musicians have been known to BS; I admit it's a rare occurrence, but it does happen.

If you have a friend who knows a little something about amps, have him look at the inside and see if the wiring looks faily clean and professional. A schematic would be nice, too.

And last but not least: does it sound good to YOU? If the answer is no, then everything else starts to be less important.

I also agree on the collector factor. It's no longer a purebred Fender, and it'll never be a real Dumble.

But does it sound good?

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Artie McEwan

Jack Francis · Post by **Jack Francis** » 21 Dec 2002 1:56 pm

All of this reminds me of a discussion that I had with my son.
He was listening to me play thru my hot rodded Twin on a gig,then the next night I played thru my '64 Super reverb, I asked him which sounded better. He said that I sounded the way I always sound.
My son is a big fan of Van Halen and
told me that years ago Van Halen opened for Ted Nugent and Ted was listening to Eddie during a sound check.
He was impressed with Eddie's sound and asked if he could play a little thru Eddie's set-up, Ted said that he sounded the way he always sounds.
I think that we all are interested in the sound that excites us, cuz we play best when we're happy with our "sound", but out front the listener digs what we do or doesn't, because of the way we play not what we're using when we play.
I have a Seymour Duncan 50w tube amp that I put a JBL in and it sounds as good as any amp I've ever used. (for guitar in a small room.)
But if an expensive amp gets you excited....well thats what it's all about, isn't it.

Jack

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 21 Dec 2002 2:09 pm

What the heck is a Dumble? Sounds similar to what my wife calls me.

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Carter D10 9p/10k
Richard Sinkler

James Quackenbush · Post by **James Quackenbush** » 23 Dec 2002 12:41 pm

a little Dumble tid bit for ya all...
The sought after early Dumble amps had MusicMan transformers ..

I would NEVER canablize a Blackface or earlier Fender to ANYBODY !!...I wouldn't think twice about having a Silverfaced or newer Fender modded...Just my opinion....

I will NEVER mod an amp that already has a great tone..and I will NEVER mod an amp that has a high vintage resale value, but I sure as shootin will mod an average run of the mill amp if I can get it to sound anywhere NEAR as good as a Dumble.. It reminds me of the "Charlie the Tuna" add on TV...Do you want an amp with good taste, or do you want an amp that tastes good ??....You want a vintage amp that you're afraid to take out of your home, or do you want a modded amp that has every steel player in the country wondering what the heck you've got in that thing that makes it sound so good ??...
Every amp has it's purpose...Do you want a collectors amp, or do you want a players amp..They both serve a purpose...