The 35 best Dumble guitar pedals of this moment

Dumble amps are the holy grail of tube amps. Alexander “Howard” Dumble has been making these iconic tube amps since the 1960s.

They are the most expensive amps on the market right now. The Overdrive Special is considered by many to be the most valuable amplifier. On the second-hand market, it is sold for amounts between 70,000 and 150,000 dollars. There are even copies that have sold for more. These kinds of amounts are probably not for everyone. Fortunately, there are more and more pedals on the market that mimic the sound of a Dumble as best as possible. Below are 35 Dumble guitar pedals based on this iconic tube amp.

Origin of Dumble amps

Alexander Dumble started the amp business in the mid 60’s. Since then he has probably made about 300 copies. And not for the least, Larry Carlton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson and Robben Ford, among others, are or were avid users. Alexander himself was also not a creditable guitarist. He played in the band Captain Speed ​​and was in the opening program of Jimi Hendrix. But he has become famous as an amplifier builder.

Overdrive Special

One of the most famous amplifiers is the Overdrive Special and based on the sound of Robben Ford. The story goes that Dumble was quite charmed by the sound of Robben’s guitar. At the time, Robben was playing a Blackface Fender Bassman, with no effects pedals and with the amp turned up almost all the way. It wasn’t until about 10 years after the Overdrive Special was on the market that Robben played on a copy. Since then he has only played on Dumble amps (or Dumble clones).

Not every ODS is the same

The Overdrive Special is a two-channel amplifier, with a clean channel and an overdrive channel. This second channel is not a separate channel but sits on top of the clean channel, as it were. Although this channel layout is the same on every ODS, there are big differences between different copies. Most amps use 6L6 tubes (like Fender does), however some have EL34 tubes (similar to Marshall). But that’s not the only difference. Some have a completely clean channel, others have a little or even a lot of distortion in the clean channel at higher settings. And in later versions, a “Hot Rodded Marshall” EQ section is located inside the amp.

What does an Overdrive Special sound like?

The sound of an ODS is perhaps best described as deep, rich, very musical and with a lot of sustain. The clean channel is very responsive and has deep, low tones without getting muddy. The middle is clear and very pleasant to the ear. The highs are crystal clear without hurting your ears. You can hear it for yourself in the video below from The Guitarist.

Steel String Singer

The other well-known amplifier model is the Steel String Singer, an amplifier with one clean channel and reverb. Probably only 12 were made. This also varies from model to model. The very first has a built-in vibrato and further earlier versions have more complicated phase inversion techniques. From version 4, Dumble simplified the phase inversion and the amplifier gets more negative feedback, making the signal even cleaner.

What does a Steel String Singer sound like?

Each Steel String Singer has special high- and low-cut filters. The sound is extremely clean with a lot of dynamic response. The EQ control is relatively flat. There are guitarists who claim that the highs and lows of these amps are unique and cannot be produced by any other amp. In addition, the String Singer produces a significant amount of harmonics that are extremely pleasant to the ear. Sound clips of a real Steel String Singer are hard to find. If you consider the clean sound of John Mayer you get a bit of an impression of the sound. John uses one (along with a Two Rock).

Dumble guitar pedals, amp-in-a-box

If you also want the sound of a Dumble and you are not a millionaire, a guitar pedal is a good alternative. Many pedals are now based on a Dumble amplifier. In the overview below there are more than 35 Dumble guitar pedals. Clicking on a pedal will take you to the maker/seller of the pedal, however some pedals are no longer made. All prices are based on the suggested retail prices without taking into account any shipping costs. If I missed one, please let me know in the comments. I also sell a few myself: Cornerstone Gladio, J Rockett The Dude V2, J Rockett HRM, Mad Professor Simble en Wampler Euphoria.

Overview Dumble guitar pedals

Effect	Manufacturer	Name	Still made	Country	Price (eur)
	Amplified Nation	Big Bloom	No	USA	325
	Analog King	Zen Tone	No	?	?
	Barber Electronics	Burn Unit EQ	No	USA	199
	CKK	Lunar Drive	Yes	USA	80
	CNZ Audio	SDU-20 Dumble	Yes	USA	40
	Cornerstone	Gladio	Yes	IT	349
	Custom Tones	Ethos Overdrive	Yes	USA	399
	Ego Electronic	ODS Preamp	No	TAI	?
	Fishbone	Overdrive Special	No	TAI	?
	Freekish Blues	Alpha Drive II+	No	USA	70
	Fuchs Audio	The Plush Drive	Yes	USA	149
	One Control	Golden Acorn Overdrive Special	Yes	JAP	129
	Hotone Audio	Grass	Yes	CHN	79
	J Rockett	The Dude V2	Yes	USA	229
	Jetter	GS 124	Yes	USA	229
	Joyo	R-02 Taichi	Yes	CHN	65
	Lovepedal	Zendrive	Yes	USA	269
	Mad Professor	Simble	Yes	FIN	189
	Menatone	Howie	Yes	USA	249
	Mistweaver Effects	Forestry	Yes	SIN	175
	MojoHand FX	DMBL	Yes	USA	169
	Montreux Retrovibe	Boutique Overdrive	No	JAP	180
	Ohm Electronics	Billy Hell	No	USA	175
	Quinnamp	Hot Buttered Scotch	No	USA	125
	Retroman	Dum-box	Yes	USA	295
	Rowin	LEF-315 Dumbler	Yes	CHN	39
	Rowin	Dumble Overdrive	Yes	CHN	39
	Tanabe	Dumkudo	Yes	JPN	279
	Tom’s Line Engineering	ADR-3 Dumbler	Yes	CHN	49
	Van Weelden	Royal Overdrive	Yes	NED	595
	Velvet Pedals	Katana	Yes	GRE	120
	Vertex	Steel String MKII	Yes	USA	215
	Vertex	Ultra-Phonix HRM	Yes	USA	215
	Vertex	Ultraphonix OD	Yes	USA	215
	Wampler	Euphoria	Yes	USA	209

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