Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
6 Favourite Dumble Overdrive Special Pedal Takes
I’ve been a huge fan of the Dumble sound for several years now, and have around 20 pedals representing that genre. All my Dumbles hit slightly differently and each has a distinct usage scenario - with some excelling at the cleaner lower-gain tones - like the Clean-Fusion II, and others delivering an incredibly mid-rangey sear - like the Zenkudo.
My very first ’Dumble’ was the Mad Professor Simble - back near the start of 2017 - that was recently reissued as a MKII with some further Lassi Ukkonen updates - to deliver a more open, louder, and higher headroom output, with more brightness.
5 of the pedals are directly within the Dumble genre, while the Parasite is rather an incredibly Dumble sounding Full-Spectrum override - with the pedal dialled in just right. It involves both boost switches up and on, and a delicate balance of the Lows and Highs - and then you adjust the sear further by balancing the Drive and Level controls. Those controls are really interactive - but you can relatively easily get Dumble style tones - my Dumble voicing on the Parasite was the first killer tone I cam across when tweaking those dials. So the Parasite is for sure the odd one out here.
All the other 5 have had an era - when they were prominent on the board, and they are now joined by the absolutely killer 4-gear Dumblifier (Clean > Clean + PAB > Overdrive > Overdrive + PAB)[PAB = PreAmp Boost].
There is definitely a knack to dialling-in the Dumblifier - and not everyone is getting it right currently. It should deliver a wonderfully vibrant and open sound - with an enormous degree of clarity, and the individual harmonics being wholly audible. My Dumblifier really sounds superb - that’s my perfect Dumble to date - while each of the others have their own specialism too - especially the Tanabe Zenkudo and Demon Kondo-Shifuku - which have both served me so well - and have their own distinct texture. The Zenkudo is particularly killer at the more searing Dumble tones.
Here’s my current favourite selection of 6 :
- Custom Tones Ethos Clean-Fusion II [discontinued] - $495
- DSM & Humboldt Dumblifier Overdrive Special - $569 / €599 / £519
- Tanabe Zenkudo Dumble Drive - $350
- Demon Pedals Kondo-Shifuku D-style Drive - €299 / $347
- Colortone Parasite V2 JFET Full Spectrum Overdrive - $199
- Mad Professor Simble MK2 Dumble Drive - $215 / €199 / £165
Note that the pricing indicates availability in different territories - with just a couple of these widely available.
Here after follow the individual details :
Custom Tones Ethos Clean-Fusion II - $495
Controls - HRM EQ } Mid, Lo, Hi, Fusion Gain, Fusion Volume, HRM EQ : On/Off, Gain, Brite switch, Sky/SSS switch, Rock/Jazz switch, Mid Boost switch, DP Deep Boost switch, Treble, Middle, Bass, GAC Guitar Amp Compensation switch, TLE Tighter Low End switch, Hi Cut, Presence, Volume, Drive : Soft/Hard switch, Fusion OD Footswitch, Active (Clean) Footswitch.
This one is famed in particular for its Clean Channel delivery - while for me the new Dumblifier surpasses it by a fraction. This Clean Fusion II is very special though - and benefits from 21 controls - vesus the 22 of the Dumblifier. This one has 2 x 3 Band EQ's - bot Pre- and Post- and of course includes the Hot Rubber Monkey tone stack - to really deliver those magical mids!
This is a magnificent device all-round - while the Dumblifier just fractionally outpaces it. I got this Clean-Fusion II second-hand at the time. It's the most feature rich variant of Custom Tones editions. The Clean Fusion III was marginally more streamlined. This used to be my perfect 'Clean' Dumble tone - while I now feel that the Dumblifier marginally surpasses it - at least for my preferences!
DSM & Humboldt Dumblifier Overdrive Special - $569 / €599 / £519
Top Panel - POWER AMP } Presence, Master, OVERDRIVE } Ratio, Drive, CLEAN } Volume, CABINET } Left Speaker : G12M / G12H / EV12L > Size : 2x12 / 1x12 / 4x12, Right Speaker : G12M / G12H / EV12L > Size : 2x12 / 1x12 / 4x12, EQ } Bass, Mid, Treble, Bright Switch, Mid Boost Switch, Rock / Jazz Switch, FOOTSWITCHES } Reverb / Power Amp Boost, Channel : OD / CL, Bypass.
Front Panel - AUX OUT } DI+HP / HP, HP Level (Phones), REVERB } Level, Type : Plate / Ether / Room.
Rear Panel - 1/4" Send, 1/4" Right Return, 1/4" Left Return (Mono), 9V-12V DC [-] 150mA, DI Right Din, Ground Lift : GND / LIFT, DI Left Din.
Left Panel - 1/4" TS Right Output + CabSim Bypass, 1/4" TS Left Output + CabSim Bypass, 1/8" Headphones Out, 1/8" Aux In.
Right Panel - Input Boost : Low / Off / High, 1/4" TS Mono Input.
This is my current favourite Dumble - with its 4-Gears of Playback. Not everyone seems to have mastered the knack of dialling this one in fully optimally. A number of the demos are a little overly dense and leaden even. While if you get the balance right - you get the most wonderful vibrant, bright and open-pored texture - with extraordinary note clarity. There is so much articulation - that you can sort of hear all the harmonics individually. It took me around an hour to tweak it to absolute perfection - so that each of the 4 playback modes sounds superb (Clean > Clean + PAB > Overdrive > Overdrive + PAB). I particularly love the Clean Modes on this one - where possibly my favourite tonality is the Clean + PAB Boost. It sounds even more amazing with a Treble Boost chaser from my recently acquired Carl Martin PlexiRanger. The Dumblifier is a touch pricey - but is for sure the perfect embodiment of this format.
Everything about this pedal is exceptional - and it's quite bit smaller than you would think - being just a touch larger than a horizontal 1590BB device - it classifies as mid-size for me. Superb quality of design and construction - to match its exceptional output. When I want to deliver a full sear - I typically prefer using some of the others in this selection - the Zenkudo, Kondo-Shifuku, and Parasite in particular! The Dumblifier is every-way spectacular though and possibly my best January acquisition of all time! The whole board is just really exceptional this month - everything sounds amazing! And this Dumblifier particularly so!
Tanabe Zenkudo Dumble Drive - $350
tanabe.tv/top/kudou/index-e.html
Controls - Gain, Volume, Tone, Voice, Modes : Marshall / Dumkudo / Dumble.
This was kind of my preferred overall incumbent before the Dumblifier landed. The Zenkudo has the most exceptional searing Dumble tone, and dials down really nicely though the gears - featuring 3 different playback modes - which delivery slightly different textures / character. My acquisition of this one had much to do with Henry Kaiser - where he owns several Tanabe Dumble Drives - and has championed those for years. This one took over from the Kondo-Shifuku - while it is outdone by the 4 on-the-fly playback modes of the Dumblifier. For that Searing Dumble tone - this one is probably still my favourite - while for most everything else - the Dumblifier seems to be King!
Demon Pedals Kondo-Shifuku D-style Drive - €299 / $347
Controls - Drive, Volume, Tone, Accent, Clipping : D (Deep) / C (No-'C'lipping) / B (Bright), Voice : Jazz / Rock, Type : ODS / Steel String Singer.
This was my longest serving favourite Dumble - where it delivered a number of years of superior service of that genre - and remains one of my favourite Dumbles to-date. For that slightly mid-saturating tone this one really is exceptional - and is very organic sounding. Does the Sear thing particularly well too. This was my favourite Dumble for the longest time - until somewhat outshone by the Zenkudo - particularly on the slightly more searing stuff!
Colortone Parasite V2 JFET Full Spectrum Overdrive - $199
Controls - Drive, Level, Post-Drive Active Low, Post-Drive Active High, Pre-Drive Bass Boost, Pre-Drive 'Bright' Treble Boost.
This is the odd-one out here - labelled 'Apropos' as it's not speficially intended to be a Dumble - but delivers exception Dumble tones when you dial it in just right - with both boosts applied and the right balance of Drive, Level, Lows and Highs. Delivers one of my favourite searing Dumble tones for sure - and as a Full Spectrum Overdrive - delivers all manner of other tones too - indulging a really cool Marshally overdrive take, Really potent with those 6 controls! A fabulously versatile overdrive pedal for sure - which has a lot of different tones inside it - including an incredibly Dumble take - at least to my ears! The dial can be a little tricky as the controls are so interactive - but that Dumbler style tonality was the first one I somehow serendipitously came upon while just play trial-and-error with the controls!
Mad Professor Simble MK2 Dumble Drive - $215 / €199 / £165
Controls - Level (Output), Sensitivity (Gain & Compression), Contour (Tone, Unity at Noon), Accent (Brightness / Edge).
My very first Dumble Drive was this Lassi Ukkonen created Overdrive for Mad Professor. Interestingly one of the few pedals that didn't have input from Björn Juhl - whose BJFe designs inform most of that range. I can't remember where I first heard the Simble - but I was smitten since late 2016 - where I landed it near the start of 2017. I have acquired numerous Dumble Drives since - including the other 5 hear - while the Simble was very influential and formative for me.
It has a very organic tone to it - which I always associated with highly resonating wood - kind of like the residual vibrations of a stringed instrument - somewhat akin to a Cello in some ways. Early on it was between the Simble and the J Rockett Dude - where I seemed to significantly prefer the Simble. The Dude has long been on the target list - while I have still to get that. Will probably get a Pasta Pedals take on that circuit - featuring that famed Cohen Brothers Jeff Bridges character.
Each of my fumbles has special characteristics - and excels in a particularly Dumble tonality - whether Clean-ish, Mid-range or Searing - with various degrees of that. I had considered featuring more of my Dumbles - while with these 6 I'm kind of covered for all eventualities. I've never played a real Dumble Amp and am highly unlikely to - those mostly go for $100,000+ these days - where the priciest one to date was one of Carlos Santana's early ones - which fetched $275,000 at auction. So I may never play one - but am pretty familiar with the core flavour and tonality of the 70's Overdrive Special - where I've experienced a great number of Dumble Drive pedals - and have been able to extract commonalities between them - and the most typical and adjacent profiles. Some of these can be pretty tricky to dial in - so mileage can vary based on how good you are at dialling things in. For me all 6 of these are exceptional - while they typically excel in slightly different areas.
