django49

Or just learning to use the various tools available.....😉

Very true. Lots of the love is due to recordings made by notable players, such as Larry Carlton and Robben Ford. But not all had the SAME sound or recorded only with their Dumbles. For example, I heard Carlton play in LA with a Mesa and similar tones. Much of his famous studio work was done with a Fender amp. (Tone is in the fingers?) I have heard that Ford travels with a preamp pedal (older and simpler one) rather than an uber expensive amp. Is Carlos Santana's tone all that much different than what he recorded pre-Dumble? With Dumble players ranging from such as SRV to John Mayer to Steve Lukather, there is not "one sound". The original Mesa Mark series amps were basically hot rodded small Fender amps. Dumble more or less then built upon that formula. Versions of the amp (or various preamps) that have the "HRM" function can also get more into the M tones. I like it. I never have, and never will, play a real Dumble.

Nice solution with minimal cost, probably using left over scraps of wood! One thing you might do is add a then strip of stick on felt (like insulation) or cork on the edges that touch the amp. Plywood can be rough and tend to damage the amp's tolex over time.

Not as simple, but very useful.....Atlas makes a set that has a second piece that allows you to tilt back a cabinet and still set a head securely on top, level to the ground. Pricey, but.... https://atlas-stands.com/index.php/product/walnut-low-rider-amp-stand-with-table-top/ I did pick up one original Atlas set at a fair price (walnut), then shop built a couple more from other woods. You can use only the lower portion for a combo amp. One advantage is that the back folds down for easy transport.

There appears to be a wrinkle on fraud where you receive an invite that looks like it comes from a friend. To confirm, you are asked to set u p an account and provide personal information that you SHOULD NOT give away. Always best to be safe. Contact your friend directly and don't click on the provided link.

Another funny one.....We had a little garage/top 40 type band in the late 60s. Mostly simple stuff, though our drummer liked to wander off into 5/4 time like Quicksilver. No particular talent aside from our lead guitarist, an English guy that grew up learning Shadows material. Very good with then current music---Santana, Mitch Ryder, Stones, whatever. Anyway, that lead guitarist went off into the Navy (Vietnam era). So, the band was dead. Our former lead vocalist refused to recognize that we were done and decided to make a few bucks by finding us a new gig. He called a place WAY outta town that was always desperate to find a band. "Hey, you guys wanna have the "Chains of Illusion" back?" "Nah, they played here before. Anyone else?" So Scott adlibs, "How about the Warlocks?". "Sure, book 'em!" Pretty sure Scott was not aware that the real Warlocks (before they renamed as the Grateful Dead) was playing all over the west coast. And we most definitely we re NOT them. But WTF, we had a gig. What could we do? No leader, no vocals......We hooked up with a local guitarist who was 17, but was playing like Jeff Beck already. Two rehearsals where all I could do was try to keep up. We arrive at the high school, way out in the sticks. Drummer picks up the one mic plugged into a guitar amp (no PA) and announces, "Our singer has the flu and is home puking his guts out". That was the last "vocal" of the 3 hour evening. So, we jammed. Everything from "Green River" to "Greensleeves" to "Jailhouse Rock" to "Superstition" (ala Beck). That crowd had no idea what was going on. And we barely did. Few in the crowd hung out until the end. But it was the era.....And we did get paid. So I did not exactly play with the Dead.....Though our music mighta smelled like it.🤔

If my wife counts, she can be fearless. All 98 pounds of her.....Shared a mic with Keeley Smith at a Hollywood jazz club. (I deferred to her when Keeley pushed the mic toward me, saving the audience's ears!) And she jumped up on stage to join in at the House of Blues Gospel Brunch in LA. We also spent a fair amount of time with the most unlikeliest of jazz singers, Steve Tyrell, around LA. Cannot say we PLAYED with him, but did have some good times in those clubs.......With his musical connections (Herb Alpert, Burt Bacharach, etc), he was always accompanied by great musicians. Few people have as many stories as Steve....Never would have fallen in with him except that he was our son's Little League coach and he had a soft spot for our little lefty pitcher. IF there is one thing I miss about LA, it is those little jazz clubs......

There are quite a few "Dumble in a box" options. This one looks like a good option. I have long been a fan of the Ethos products and their more recent "Clean Fusion Deluxe" is really great. Rob went years since the original product and (IMO) made it much better than the original.....said he would not release it until he was satisfied that it was much more "tube like". Lots of knobs and switches, but once you have it tweaked to taste, many tones on the fly for live use. For example, footswitchable choices for F, D and M tones without resetting. Anyone seriously interested should also check out the Effectrode Blackbird SR-71. It does not have nearly the range of options for fine tuning, BUT is a tube driven (3 12ax7s) 2 channel preamp. Like the CFD, more or less a Fender Deluxe channel and a Dumble channel. They are made in the UK and not real easy to find at a lower price. But really sweet tones. Tube preamp pedals have changed up our options. FWIW, either one mates well with the Thermion Zero (pedal board mounted) stereo power amp. (BTW, it has a built in preamp of its own, more or less Blackface Deluxe, that can be bypassed, but essentially adds another footswitchable channel). From early indications, the forthcoming Wampler Pedalhead will be even better for matching to preamps in a pedal....Worth checking our details.....Likely not available for several months.

When in LA, it was not unusual to bump into some top level musician when guitar trading. Many times they were selling off a guitar to make their rent saying, "No problem, I can pick one up again later". (Of course, back then, you could pick up a 335 or 175 for $300-400, sometimes less). Long ago and many names escape me. Of those I do recall, Brian Setzer came by the house a couple times. (Cannot say I actually PLAYED with him). Jeff Ross may not be a household name, but was a great player. He was an occasional fill in member of the Hellecasters following their early days of jamming at the Palomino in N Hollywood. Later, he was a bandleader and guitarist with the Candye Kane band, (I have a few funny stories!). Besides guitar trading, I took some lessons from him, so we did some playing, but nothing in public. I think it did make me a better player with his insights. Last I did that (Very long ago) he was just getting into gypsy jazz, Django style. WAY above my head. He also had great behind the scene stories of his long time friendship with Leo Fender.

Nice! I am also a late comer to Suhr. Their Classic S is right up there with some other higher end guitars. I DID also add a JM type. Still getting into that....Not sure if it is a long term keeper, but it is sorta scratching an itch for the original Fender I had back in the 60s. Sure better than the original. If and when an Andy Wood Modern T pops up at a fair price, I reckon I will have to do that. New ones in the "Whiskey Barrel" finish will not be available for a few months. Have fun!

No one thing scratches every itch. FWIW, I found I could get all the sounds (four, footswitchable) I needed from one D-type pedal in front of the "right" amp (in my case, Mesa Blue Angel which has both US and Brit type power tubes). I used the Ethos OD, but there are others in that realm. IIRC, it has around 19 knobs and switches.....But once I had it dialed in, I marked the settings and they are still good to this day. At least for my ears. YMMV....That was more or less my graduation from the Mesa Mark era amps. Using the "right" guitar also helps...... Still there is always something to be said for a simpler set up, just plug straight in and crank it.....Kinda been doing that with the Swart SST here lately😉

They make a few variations. That one has 3 classic amp types, each in a sort or regular and hotter version. Very useful in getting a setup with the models tuned to your liking. For some reason, I end up using it less than I thought, deferring to my old tailored setup. I probably should pass it along. You might also consider this, which I think is their latest product roll out..... Kinda in the same vein, but more focused on THAT amp style. I have not personally tried it.

So, if it comes up under the "Stupid Deal of the Day" plan at $399(??)

Good deal. If I did not have a superb semi-hollow......

Not exactly the same thing, but you can get somewhat the same result if the two coils are wired in parallel rather than series. Which is to say, a softer tone and no hum. If you want to get carried away a bit, install a 3 way switch on each pickup, wired to allow SC, HB Series and HB parallel tones. That makes for a very versatile guitar IF you have a use for multiple tones on a single instrument.

I am a sucker for that setup......

And supposedly shipping next month. The TKIP is incredible. If the Royalist was added in the bypass mode of the TKIP, you would have effectively 4 amp presets, all with access to the TKIP's Rev and Trem. That is blackface, tweed (tunable into D type tones) and pick your two fave M types.....JTM, Plexi, etc. The Friedman IR-D works well in that setup. Remains to be seen if and how much farther the Royalist goes vs the Friedman (hot rodded JTM). All demos of the Royalist I have seen have been impressive. Effects in the loop (or otherwise) for great stereo setups. Selectable IRs. And IF the forthcoming Wampler Pedalhead (50-60 tube equivalent watts per channel in stereo) is all it is made out to be, MAYBE very authentic TOOB-ish tones all from a pedalboard. (It uses "machine learning" to mate itself to whatever speakers you use). Looking forward to trying it all with my shop built cabs..... Always something new to chase after....🙂

I am going to need 2 for stereo......

Still have the original gig bag?

Not officially announced, but there is a pretty strong hint that the B.A.D. folks are about to formally announce a Tone King Royalist in a tube driven preamp pedal. Given their winner in the Tone King Imperial pedal, it would tend to make some news. Supposedly more "pure" M type as opposed to the Friedman/modded M type such as the Dirty Shirley based IR-D. Likely switchable for Plexi and other M types. MV(?) Great demos of the original Royalist AMP (not least, Greg Koch) are available. I suppose if past form prevails, a release date will be announced by the end of NAMM. A brief sneak preview shot(?)..... ETA.....The guy who is the social media face of Tone King confirms the release. Product details said to be coming any moment. I would assume a shipment date a few months down the road if past practice holds.

I have had three. Once upon a time, you could find one for around half that asking price, maybe even a bit less. That was then..... FWIW, the one I got here and kept is probably my favorite Hamer ever, out of several dozen, most of them long gone. I thought I was overpaying all those many years ago ($2500, inc an OD pedal). I was wrong. Of course it WAS a custom order, with korina, 2 bound f holes and upgraded (Lollar) pickups. Crowns rather than the split inlays. Def NOT for sale! ETA Picture

Some of his builds can be a bit over the top, but the workmanship and attention to detail is undeniable.

I had a similar issue with PRS guitars, at least in the earlier days. Lovely, but "sterile". Roundabout 2008 they made some changes that made their guitars much better, at least in IMHO. Pickups, finish and such were improved. More vintage sound and feel, if you will. Not a secret but I like the smaller builders. Turner, Walker, Myka, Grez. Shishkov, of course. Then there are those two from Germany, one of which has now gone far beyond the "one man luthier" stage. But at least 4 of the 7 are either not booking new orders or have prices that shut me out. FWIW, Rebel Guitars (down south) deals in a lot of Knaggs guitars. Very often has what I would consider very good prices on "slightly preowned ones". Never been sorry about anything I bought from him. BTW, for those that would like a Hamer Talladega Pro but cannot find one, Wes has a Dantzig (yeah, I know!) Tulsa that seems to be virtually the same thing as Jol introduced in the latter days at Hamer. But with a few upgrades that would seem to make it a "custom shop" version of the Tally Pro. Just sayin..... https://rebel-guitars.com/preowned-jol-dantzig-guitars-tulsa-in-blood-red/

I only have the one Knaggs. Pretty much all you would expect from a PRS Private Stock at a more reasonable price. What else might one expect from a guy who was a big time Private Stock builder before taking off on his own?