Hi guys
I thought I'd give you a rundown of my "new" amp setup.

I use:
- 2xTungSol 12AX7, 1 Sovtes 12AX7LPS PI,2 TAD 6L6WGC-STR
- one of Erwins Dumblelators (serial)
- a TubeTown cab with 2 G12-65's

I haven't been a 100% happy with the clean channel of my OTS (May 2008 specs). I felt it sounded a bit "in your face" with to much " emphasis" on the attack of the note.
Also for my taste the amp had a bit of a dark (mid?) blanket over the sound. It lacked a bit of top end sparkle. Erwin did put a 67pf bright cap over de Master Volume, but that diodn' t seem to work well with my OD sound. The only thing that worked was turning my Presence all the way up top 9. The PAB switch was "unusable" because it sounded to boxy/nasal. Both in clean and OD.

I listened to a lot of clips on YouTube and got the impression that possibly the Bluesmaster cleans were more my cup of tea. Not enouigh cash to buy one unfortunatly.
I had been discussing this with Erwin and somehow/somewhere he dug up a layout which combined Bluesmaster cleans and OTS OD.
So he rebuilt my pre-amp and I must say I have been realy happy with the result. (Haven't tried it at gig level yet).
The amp now
- has a smoother attack (less in your face)
- has a "sweeter" sound with more high end
- even more sustain. Notes seem to bloom up (like a natural compression)
- OD has that nice thing where it almost feeds back
- the PAB is usable
- amp is bright enough without the use of bright switch of tons of of presence

Erwin didn't change the PI so it still has enough headroom

For me Erwin is the Dumble from Holland. Can't thank him enough.

When I get the courage I'll post a clip.

Greets and a Happy New Year to all

Steven







 

Hopefully (snow conditions) I can pick up my amp tomorrow. I'll post my settings. (BM pre amp with OTS PI and power amp.
Greets and happy Hollidays
Steven

Thanks

Yeah I agree. it was a thing of the time I guess (Lukather etc). I would get rid of it if I could and install a wilkinson or somehting simple, but that would mean drilling new hole and closing the existing ones. I guess I have to keep it like this.

Damn. it seems I have to install a pickguard on my quilted maple body strat
 

I'm sure it was meant in a friendly way ;-) . It reminds me of a photo of Keith Richards. In it he wears a T-Shirt with the tekst "who the fuck is Mick Jagger" LOL

@ Bluesfenderblues Thanks M8.

It's never my intention to insult anyone. Just to share my personal observation. Tone is a very personal and subjective thing. Plus it's my observation about one perticular guitar/pickup and amp combination. Maybe my srat with EMG's sounds great with Sduck's amp.

 

It's a good marriage between a Tele and a Dumble. Thanks for that clip. Very nice!

I have a regular OTS and a D'lator (made by Erwin). G12-65 speakers
We experimented with the MV cap. In my setup a 47pf cap on the MV (I use a push pull) didn't make any difference. I have a 68pf now, but it's just to much I think. It does add a nice sparkle in the clean sound, But the OD is not so nice. For me the best way to compensate for the D'lator is to turn up the Presence quite a bit (.

I wonder if my line of thought is correct
When bypassing the tonestack (PAB switch) one should get a good clean sound. Possibly you need to use the correct bright cap and presence setting to get it.
In my case usimg the PAB switch doesn't give a good sound. It's boxy and nasal.
Getting a good sound without the tone stack should nb  a starting pojnt


Interesting comment on the voltage. I feel my amp sounds different from day to day and I sometimes have the feeling it has something to do with power coming out of the wall. The voltage in Holland (220) is fairly stable I would expect (new house) but still I have doubts.

What would be a simple (cheap LOL) solution to be sure? could I check the stability?





 

I think putting the OD trimer on the back panel is very usefull

yeah I know. I thought it was in the general direction of RF tan amp. My mistake probably

Hi Mate!

There are so many options. :-)
I'm not sure I like the EVM very much. A friend of mine has an OTS with a EVM but it was a bit sterile sounding for my taste.

this is a clean sound I realy love.

A Bludo Bluesmaster I think. Plus hands plus hands (and axe) did I mention hands?

Not my amp (Erwins). It's maybe a matter of taste. I felt it sounded a bit more agressive. On the other hand. there are so many things that have an impact. If you stick different tubes in, the amp will sound different.

By the way. I also own 2 strats with EMG's and Floyd Rose trems. Don't care much for the combination with the OTS.  Others get good results with EMG's though.

you could take a look at the 183 model as well. I think it's based on Robben's tan Dumble amp.

here's the real Dumble 183 and a Quinn clone

Interestingly Nik drives a Ford Mustang ;-)

Yeah. what he says ;-)

@Emiel could I just stick those EL-34's in? that would be simple to try. (re-biassing wouldn't be a problem
@Mcinku Yeah I would love to try a BM. I have tried a regular HRM but didn't like it much.