Chasing the Robben Ford Dumble + G12-65 sound! (Preset included)

Hmmmm...roll off the treble some. It bites a bit too much. Sounds almost Satriani-ish.

I think I remember him using some kind of spring reverb way back when.
Yeah you're probably right. In comparison it sounds like I still need to lower the tone knob. I did use my bridge pickup for that lead though.
 
Is it bad that I have never heard of Robben Ford???

Not really.

He definitely has a niche in the music industry, but I wouldn't say he's incredibly popular. He played with Miles Davis and does mostly Jazz/Blues, so if you're not into that kind of music, it's not a big surprise.

That being said, he is very famous for the type of amps he prefers as Dumble Amps are legendary for tone and price.

If you're interested in hearing him, start with "Talk To Your Daughter" or the first Blue Line record.
 
I note Ford had one of these sitting bye the amp and racks....
Variac to control voltages to the Dumble is my hunch here.

You would put that post the conditioned power then set the power that
the Dumble needs to see.. That is likely NOT 125 out of the wall.

I got into messing with variac inside axe edit and increased it to 118
just for giggles and liked the way the amp sounded at 118..

Since its there thought id mess with it some. Your outcome might vary
 

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if it's any help, when listening to The Brother, i actually hear two reverbs. one is a room (which is probably the one the amp was recorded in) and then on top of that i hear a studio (lexicon?) reverb with some pre-delay and a longer tail than the room reverb.
 
i just tried the preset. i don't have the right ir, so i just used the ownhammer g12-65 i have. if you try these amp settings, it does sound much closer...

bass 6.5
mid 4.5
treb 3.5
pres 3
overdrive 6.5

img_2048.jpg
 
this is what i got using the OH heritage g12-65, those amp settings and the zen drive at 3 and tone at 5


it's in the ballpark, but not quite there, imo

that was with my sg, so it's lacking some bass, but with my les paul, it's much better
 
coincidentally, guitarist just did a little video about the ODS...



at about 12 minutes,, you can start to hear some of the magic
 
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@simeon you're definitely correct that there's something advanced or just "weird" going on with the reverbs. For me personally chasing this tone is more about trying to understand what the Dumble fuzz is all about. I mean even Cliff said that amps are not that different from one another, so that makes me wonder how a vintage Fender that this is based off of is on a whole different planet price-wise? I think the dynamics are what it comes down to. It's super articulate and dynamic to your playing, your guitar and even your picking style. This definitely goes into the cork sniffer category as far as guitar gear goes but there's nothing wrong with that in my opinion. I'm actually all about that. :D Another thing I'm all about is A/B tests and boy would I love to hear a real life A/B between a Dumble and some other similar amps through the same speaker and mic up. :)
 
...so that makes me wonder how a vintage Fender that this is based off of is on a whole different planet price-wise? I think the dynamics are what it comes down to. It's super articulate and dynamic to your playing, your guitar and even your picking style.
You nailed it, @ML SOUND LAB . It's all about the dynamics.

That liveliness reveals the nuances (and flaws) in your playing. That's why dynamic, nuanced players like them so much. Subtle differences in picking and fretting really stand out.

Dumble players tend to be light pickers, because that gets you down into the middle of the amp's huge dynamic range. If you're banging out power chords or chugs, any decent amp will do. But when you pick lightly, and only hit hard to make a point, you can make the amp do all kinds of tricks, and you start to appreciate its Lamborghini-like response to the throttle, steering wheel and brakes.
 
just for giggles, try the CA OD2 into factory cab 105 (EV 12L)

set the drive and overdrive somewhere between 5 and 7 depending on your guitar
bass 5
mid 5
treb 5
pres 3.5
master 5

use a humbucker guitar and roll off the vol and tone a little

try a zendrive in front with gain and level both on 2. turn the bass param up a bit

slap on a big room reverb

out of all the dumbles in the axe, this is the one that nails it right off the bat (for me)

i think robben ford liked a bit of 2290 set to 250ms with a low mix level back in the day, too


edit: playing with it a bit more...definitely keep the gains at about 5 and you can up the bass and pull back the treble for a fatter sound
 
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just for giggles, try the CA OD2 into factory cab 105 (EV 12L)

set the drive and overdrive somewhere between 5 and 7 depending on your guitar
bass 5
mid 5
treb 5
pres 3.5
master 5

use a humbucker guitar and roll off the vol and tone a little

try a zendrive in front with gain and level both on 2. turn the bass param up a bit

slap on a big room reverb

out of all the dumbles in the axe, this is the one that nails it right off the bat (for me)

i think robben ford liked a bit of 2290 set to 250ms with a low mix level back in the day, too


edit: playing with it a bit more...definitely keep the gains at about 5 and you can up the bass and pull back the treble for a fatter sound
Did you try the Bludojai LD1? I found that one was closest to start with.

Of course, I'm dropping them into my preset template and not using an EV 12L IR. I'll play around with the EV cab later.
 
yes, i liked that one too. the 12L sounds ok, but i can't decide whether i like it better than the ownhammer 4x12 G12-65 or 65 heritage
 
yes, i liked that one too. the 12L sounds ok, but i can't decide whether i like it better than the ownhammer 4x12 G12-65 or 65 heritage
I'm using a combo of the CabIR.eu Orange G12H30 and @indeloon85's AC30 2x12 with SM57. That combo works really well for me with everything. I typically use the same cab in all presets.
 
i'm trying lots of different cabs with the OD2 and like it says in the wiki, the 12L really does sound the best. i've never come across an amp in the axe that reacts so differently to different cabs!
 
i'm trying lots of different cabs with the OD2 and like it says in the wiki, the 12L really does sound the best. i've never come across an amp in the axe that reacts so differently to different cabs!
Agreed. This is my preferred mix with the Ford ODS:

Screen Shot 2017-01-22 at 11.25.35 AM.png
 
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