Hey,
This summer, i'm gonna be getting jobs (i'm a teenager, and i'm looking for a nice recording and gigging amp for blues, jazz, and rock, and i've heard that these Overtone Specials are kind of based off of dumbles, which I adore the tone of). Anyways, since I don't have the patience or skill to build one from the ground up with a kit, i'm gonna have Nik build it, cab and all.
Well, if I get the Overtone built, and once I factor in the price for a cab, i'm gonna be spending around 1500 dollars. A decently steep price for a teenager such as myself who doesn't have a full time job (or a part time for that matter). But, if I were to get like a trainwreck clone, or a JTM45 BB built, the price would drop down to about 1000.
Would the overtone be worth the extra cash, or should I go for one of the tried-and-true JTM or Trainwrecks (or, even the matchless clones for that matter)?

Also, off topic... Does anyone know the wattage of the Overtone Special? I don't want too high of a wattage, nothing higher than 50, since I want to get plenty of power tube overdrive at small-gig volume without using an attenuator. And, is there some kind of warranty for amps when they're built by Nik?

Thank you!

Well, do you think it's worth the extra cash to get the OS?
I'd just get the head cabinet built by nik, i'd actually buy a speaker cab when I get it.

You are really comparing different amps.  So, you need to decide what it is you are going for.  If you like Dumble tone, then they are probably the best pick, and the most versatile at covering clean jazz and modern, overdriven blues and classic rock.  The high-gain preamp is great for slide work. 

The Overtone Special is Dumble based (40 watts, BTW).  The Dumble design isn't about power tube distortion.  The idea behind the Dumble (like most preamp OD-based amps) is a high-gain preamp distortion into a clean power amp that keeps the sound tight and defined.  That's why these sound so sweet when used for clean, hey are optimized for a clean poweramp.  Most Dumbles were build around the clean Fender 85-watt Twin Reverb poweramp, and modern amps that use the high-gain preamp idea all keep using bigger and cleaner power amps.   Yes, you can crank the power amp, and being Fender based, you know it should sound nice and musical, just know the amp isn't designed around that idea.

The JTM-45/BB on the other hand is all about cranking.  The preamp is low-gain, the way to get OD is to crank the amp and get both the preamp and poweramp cooking.  Less saturated and less defined than the Dumble, it's going to have a bigger,  "browner," fatter power amp crunch.  Marshall!  Though, it's going to be bluesier, with less gain and more sag than it's tighter, hotter rock'n'roll cousin, the 50-watt Model 1987.

Now, the Expression, on the other hand, is based on an amp design for rock.  The goal Marshall pushed to the limited, but with more clarity and note definition.  It's all about a hot preamp with a power amp optimized for crunch. Personally, i think they sound too buzzy, maybe Fischer tried to get too much gain out of too few preamp tubes?

my own tastes?  The Dumble for jazz, hands down.  But I'll take a 1987 for rock (my tastes lean more to '70's/'80's hard rock).  For blues, I'm a Tweed Fender kind of guy (not a modern "guitar blues" fan, I like the early stuff), but I'm sure I could dial in fine tones on the Dumbkle too.

Hey Wyatt - that's a really cool post.  Sums the models up nicely!!

Well.. Santana and Eric Johnson both used Dumbles in their career. Don´t know if they still do, but I think Santana´s still playing Dumbles...

It's right on his site.

Look up the weight.

Go to "Shipment Table," and select "USA."  I believe you'll go by the DHL pricing, which would be $185 for the OS with cab. 

You save $70 on shipping without the cab, but at Nik's prices $200 (for cab) + $70 (for shipping)...you are coming up close to what a US-built cab would cost.  A cab in the states will run $200-250, depending on options/builder and probably $20 to ship.  So, worst case scenario, you're paying $50 extra in shipping, best case...you're breaking even. 

Now if you were going for a combo, I would buy the cab in the States, the combo cabs add ~35kg to the weight and the shipping runs almost as much as a domestic-built cab. 

Any more opinions?
Is there a song by someone (not the sound clips) which the tone is easy to get with the OTS?

alright, I'm a major SRV fan, and the tone from Texas Flood is one of my favorite tones of his.
Thanks for all your help!
I'll probably order it in April, but I need to find a good cab for it.
I know I want an avatar, but what speaker config and what model of speakers should I get in it?