Well, Joe sold out, again.

[Saul Goodman]

 

[bruce919]

He will play them on one part of a tour, sell a few then go back and say nothing sounds the wall of Dumbles, the air moving...  blah blah. 

[tbonesullivan]

41 minutes ago, bruce919 said:

He will play them on one part of a tour, sell a few then go back and say nothing sounds the wall of Dumbles, the air moving...  blah blah. 

Speaking of which... Dumble is back? Apparently they are going to start making clones of certain famous Dumble amps under the Dumble name? They better not think they are gonna get 30K an amp if it isn't made by the man himself.

[django49]

And the new Dumble  is pointedly declining to post prices. Call us and sign an NDA, I suppose. Pay extra for ungooped(?)

Meanwhile, Joe's new squeeze is half the price of his signature Fuch JB-ODS.....Which itself is more or less an "affordable" Dumble......And available only on his web site.

[crunchee]

VHT (no relation to the old VHT/Fryette company) has made their D-50 and D-20 model amps for several years now, which are supposedly their take on the Dumble 'recipe':

D-Fifty - D SERIES - vhtamp

D-Twenty - D SERIES - vhtamp 

Note that the D-20 gets confused more than once in the VHT amp description with the D-50, but the specs seem to indicate a smaller 6V6-powered amp.  

Edited Friday at 02:45 AM by crunchee

[scottcald]

I saw somewhere that the Tweed one was around $6500ish? 

 

[scottcald]

7 hours ago, Saul Goodman said:

 

How'd it win him over? They paid him. 

[G Man]

I find it curious that if a successful musician is also a good businessman, we tear them down as if they are scum/sellouts.  Doesn't really make sense, if they can walk the walk, more power to them.  And I'm not a fan of JB, but I can absolutely give respect where respect is due.

[hamerhead]

29 minutes ago, G Man said:

I find it curious that if a successful musician is also a good businessman, we tear them down as if they are scum/sellouts....

And how many blues musicians have had his kind of $uccess? Stevie Ray? Clapton? B.B.? It's a pretty short list. I was a Joe B fan before he got where he is, but the success was earned. Sure, he had a leg up. But he's been relentless in schooling himself, including the business side. The fact that the amp sounds good - even though it's a 'cheap' solid state Fender - is a bonus.

I'm telling you, if you haven't tried a Tone Master amp you are missing out. They are scarily close to the real deal without being weather/temperature/humidity or tube choice/condition dependent. Fender actually got it right. It's funny because people run a bank of solid state pedals in front of their boutique tube amps and everybody is OK with that. Silliness. If it sounds good, it IS good.

[velorush]

1 hour ago, hamerhead said:

I'm telling you, if you haven't tried a Tone Master amp you are missing out. They are scarily close to the real deal without being weather/temperature/humidity or tube choice/condition dependent. Fender actually got it right. It's funny because people run a bank of solid state pedals in front of their boutique tube amps and everybody is OK with that. Silliness. If it sounds good, it IS good.

Nothing to see here, folks. Just a little diversion from the accepted zeitgeist. @hamerhead has been collected and delivered into the reeducation camp. He'll be out for a bit, but will return after a "conformance vacation."

As we all know tubes are vastly superior technology. Solid state is terrible. Leo got it right the first time. Nitrocellulose is the only acceptable finish because it breathes and true bypass; always, true bypass. 

[hamerhead]

[Saul Goodman]

4 hours ago, hamerhead said:

And how many blues musicians have had his kind of $uccess? Stevie Ray? Clapton? B.B.? It's a pretty short list. I was a Joe B fan before he got where he is, but the success was earned. Sure, he had a leg up. But he's been relentless in schooling himself, including the business side. The fact that the amp sounds good - even though it's a 'cheap' solid state Fender - is a bonus.

I'm telling you, if you haven't tried a Tone Master amp you are missing out. They are scarily close to the real deal without being weather/temperature/humidity or tube choice/condition dependent. Fender actually got it right. It's funny because people run a bank of solid state pedals in front of their boutique tube amps and everybody is OK with that. Silliness. If it sounds good, it IS good.

Not me. I don't even turn my amp on.

[geoff_hartwell]

My memory is that Joe has said that even in his multi-amp live setup what goes to the FoH is a Marshall Silver Jubilee through a Palmer speaker sim as “Always on”, and he adds one or two types of Fender to taste. And a TC 2290 for ambience.

So, just playing devils advocate, isn’t his tone based on a crunchy M-style through a Speaker sim? 🤔

[Disturber]

On 10/9/2026 at 2:21 PM, G Man said:

I find it curious that if a successful musician is also a good businessman, we tear them down as if they are scum/sellouts.  Doesn't really make sense, if they can walk the walk, more power to them.  And I'm not a fan of JB, but I can absolutely give respect where respect is due.

I'm with you here. Kudos to Joe for working hard and getting to do what he loves the most.  I remember when Warren De Martini was sponsored by Laney. I doubt he ever used those amps. There must be many more players who just did a deal for the money, but then still used their own trusty old gear.

Not many believs Joe uses the digital amps. But Fender might still be able to sell a few on his name. 

[diablo175]

Just spitballing here but is possible that he's both crazy talented/hard working AND a sell out? Are the two mutually exclusive? 

Just my .02  (I am a huge fan of his Black Country Communion work with Glenn Hughes) but hawking gear that one doesn't actually use, doesn't diminish one's prodigious talent and accomplishments. It might cast a tiny bit of shade over that person's character but in my mind, their status as a powerhouse talent is essentially unaffected. I don't know JB as a person but let's just say he is a business-minded artist. Jeez, we've never heard of that happening before. 🙄 (cough cough Gene Simmons Taylor Swift cough cough)

I guess it boils down to how you view his business practices. Does the business aspect impact the quality and legitimacy of the music or is it just gettin' mine while I can ? 

Personally, I can forgive his selling out (cashing in) in favor of enjoying his music, much in the way I can enjoy a band even though I don't care for their views or beliefs. 

YMMV.

 

 

[Dutchman]

I like Joe! I like his music his on stage vs off stage persona. He's one heck of a player by anybody's standards. I can forgive him for the faking it a little bit. Let's see what he tours with! Tubes or Transistors. My money is on the tubes!!

Joe's just trying to get more money to buy vintage tube amps!