How well do the Dumble amp models stack up against the real thing?

Patzag said:
Or "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
Click to expand...
Anyone who sees 'beauty' in a banana, has only one purpose for it IMHO......and it is devious. o_O

I've never owned or played a Dumble. But with the AxeFxIII I don't feel that I'm missing out on anything because there is so much to be happy with.
 
dpeterson said:
also famous for saying it doesn't have the "wapoosh".
Click to expand...
Probably the same problem as with a lot of other people - he accidentally discovered the settings he happens to like in his analog gear many years ago and he doesn’t have the time or patience to replicate them with something as flexible as AxeFX with its multitude of knobs and settings.

This is called the “paradox of choice” and it has actually been studied quite a bit in the context of retail. The findings were: people are less likely to buy anything at all if they are overwhelmed with options.
 
I've played one well-known ODS a few years ago, and I have two clones...one of which I built myself, so that's not a good data point. The other is by Glaswerks.

Keeping in mind that the "Dumble sound" varies a bit, since he made each one for the buyer, I think much of the difference in my experience currently is the same as the difference people talk about in terms of the "amp in the room" feel. Real volume helps get the sustain/feel. The modeling itself seems very good, and much more versatile/modifiable than a real amp.

From what I remember of the real thing, I can get close enough using the AxeFXIII. The only thing that I remember from the real ODS that I have a hard time getting with the AxeFX is a certain pick attack "ping" in PAB mode, even when the gain was pretty high.

One thing I'm lacking is a great G12-65 Reissue capture that nails that particular tone. Begging @York Audio to have a crack at a 2x12 with those in it! But there are some pretty good ones among the stock cabs, and the new @Valhallir Red Special EVM-12L capture actually sounds really good where I'd normally be looking for a G12-65, so...
 
greiswig said:
I've played one well-known ODS a few years ago, and I have two clones...one of which I built myself, so that's not a good data point. The other is by Glaswerks.

Keeping in mind that the "Dumble sound" varies a bit, since he made each one for the buyer, I think much of the difference in my experience currently is the same as the difference people talk about in terms of the "amp in the room" feel. Real volume helps get the sustain/feel. The modeling itself seems very good, and much more versatile/modifiable than a real amp.

From what I remember of the real thing, I can get close enough using the AxeFXIII. The only thing that I remember from the real ODS that I have a hard time getting with the AxeFX is a certain pick attack "ping" in PAB mode, even when the gain was pretty high.

One thing I'm lacking is a great G12-65 Reissue capture that nails that particular tone. Begging @York Audio to have a crack at a 2x12 with those in it! But there are some pretty good ones among the stock cabs, and the new @Valhallir Red Special EVM-12L capture actually sounds really good where I'd normally be looking for a G12-65, so...
Click to expand...
There is a cab pack called "V2-Rocky", which is a decent G12-65, in a Divided by 13 "Box of Rock" which is an over-sized 1x12 cab build collaboration between producer Bob Rock and Div/13.
Until now it was only available in our Marco Fanton Selection cab pack, but we will release it as seperate cab pack in January. You gonna love it.
 
The forum is getting a lot of posts asking about how accurate fractal gear is. Fair enough I suppose, but seems to be all coming at once!

Consensus is it is the most accurate device around, and as that it is extremely accurate. I imagine differences in playing from person to person would account for much more than any inaccuracies in the models.

Cliff has said before if it was up to him, he wouldn’t have any real world amps modelled but rather just FAS models. Seems to think real amps have too many variables and limitations that don’t exist in the digital world. Pretty cool.
 
For me personally, I really don't care the degree to which the AxeFx 'replicates' an amp. Fractals modelling has gotten so good that the average pair of ears in the audience couldn't tell the difference and don't even care to try to tell anyway.

I still use my mesa at home integrated with the AxeFxIII which is purely for self indulgence, but for gigging it stays at home.
The convenience of having a relatively light portable awesome sounding rig far outweighs an obsession with trying to match tones with any specific amp.
IMHO, the individual stance taken largely depends on whether one is chasing their own tone, or chasing someone else's.

It reminds me of the vinyl v digital debate.
I prefer CD's purely for the convenience and on a $30,000 Hi Fi system they sound so good that I bet 99% of people wouldn't care what format the sound derived from, and on a cheaper system they couldn't tell the difference even if they wanted to.

I do understand though, and respect, that some choose to split hairs either as a pastime or have got skin in the game.
 
Last edited:
Valhallir said:
There is a cab pack called "V2-Rocky", which is a decent G12-65, in a Divided by 13 "Box of Rock" which is an over-sized 1x12 cab build collaboration between producer Bob Rock and Div/13.
Until now it was only available in our Marco Fanton Selection cab pack, but we will release it as seperate cab pack in January. You gonna love it.
Click to expand...
Can you give an ETA, when the separate cab pack will be available as January is coming to an end :) I would be highly interested in it. Thanks!
 
venne said:
Can you give an ETA, when the separate cab pack will be available as January is coming to an end :) I would be highly interested in it. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Should happen within the next 2 weeks. Some new stuff is about to be released before it.
 
Doc Rock said:
I have Burgs' Dumbles preset, and I love it. As someone pointed out above, there is no one "Dumble sound". Brett's Scenes include a couple of Robben Ford-sounding versions, and there is a clean scene (great for playing jazz) while my favourite, go-to scene is Scene 3. I've never played a real Dumble, but I have "that sound" somewhere in my head from ones I've heard, and Burgs' version is as close as it gets. But then your ears, and your internal "brain hearing" may be different from mine. And let's face it - if playing in public, no audience is going to notice, or care, or even be able to hear minute differences in tone anyway, so it's all about whether you enjoy playing a sound - and Brett Kingman's does it for me.
Click to expand...
 
Zedhed said:
....

It reminds me of the vinyl v digital debate.
I prefer CD's purely for the convenience and on a $30,000 Hi Fi system they sound so good that I bet 99% of people wouldn't care what format the sound derived from, and on a cheaper system they couldn't tell the difference even if they wanted to.

I do understand though, and respect, that some choose to split hairs either as a pastime or have got skin in the game.
Click to expand...

the problem with CDs is the crap brick wall mastering on so many of them, which a $30,000 system cannot fix.
if you limit yourself to well mastered CDs then fair enough I guess. This is off topic though sorry.
 
That's not a limitation of the CD format or 16 bit audio in general. That's just an overly loud mix coupled with bad mastering. The un-dithered dynamic range of 16 bit audio is 96 dB. Modern mixes often utilize only a fraction of that. CD's are absolutely NOT the limiting factor there.
 
Tilt said:
It depends on which type of Dumble you're searching for. As other people already said, every single D is different from another.
Said this we can also add that, at least, we could divide the "D" sound in two big circuits: Overdrive Special (ODS, two channel, Robben Ford has two of this type) and Steel String Singer (SSS, one super pristine-infinite-sustain channel, 150w, used for example by SRV).

I don't like so much Bruno Super 50/100, but I never played one of them, just listened on YT. I got various clone or amps inspired by "D" such as Fuchs Ods, Skrydstrup Od50 and a couple of Italian Graaled head, made by Tony Dangelo.
If today I have to choose to take with me a single "D" amp on a desert island, I will take as ODS type a Quinn TKT183 for sure and as SSS type one between these:

-Bludotone Hi Plain Drifter
-Welagen SSS
-Two Rock Silver Sterling Signature

It would be amazing if Cliff could add a SSS type to the long list of Fractal Amps.
Please Cliff! 🥰 😍 😘









Click to expand...

I've had a few Dumble style amps... mostly a few Two Rocks (including a new TS1 - which was pretty amazing). I've also had a Welagen SSS, which might be the best amp I've ever played, but it weighed a metric ton with two vintage EV12L's. I now have a pretty amazing Welagen ODS that's more of a 70's circuit with some Bluesbreaker influence.

That Quinn 183 is legendary! Maybe the best sounding, most expressive Dumble clone ever built.

A Welagen SSS model would complete the Axe III for me!
 
mr_fender said:
That's not a limitation of the CD format or 16 bit audio in general. That's just an overly loud mix coupled with bad mastering. The un-dithered dynamic range of 16 bit audio is 96 dB. Modern mixes often utilize only a fraction of that. CD's are absolutely NOT the limiting factor there.
Click to expand...

yeah I agree I think I kinda said that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom