Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
DSM & Humboldt delivers smart ultimate Full Range Analog Stereo Dumblifier Overdrive Special Pedal with Analog Cab Sim, Boost, and Stereo Reverb
On first encountering the Dumblifier - I was reminded of the long-since defunct Van Wealden Royal Overdrive (Mick Taylor favourite) which featured 6 of those skirted knobs across the pedal - versus the 5 of the Dumblifier. It looked to me like a deluxe evolved version of that pedal - made more compact and with a much larger featured set.
The Dumblifier benefits from no less than 22 controls - which cover most every surface of the pedal - which has 3 footswitches too within that really neat form factor.
Readers will know that I’m a huge fan of the Dumble format - and have around 20 Dumble Drives currently - I kind of collect these too. The Royal Overdrive always seemed a little on the large side for me - and so I went for the much more compact and more fully loaded Custom Tones Ethos Clean Fusion II at the time - which benefits from 21 Controls and dual footswitches. The Ethos Clean Fusion II is circa 121mm wide, compared to the 135mm width of the Dumblifier. Both are incredibly compact for their extended feature sets.
My current favourite ’Dumbles’ include the aforementioned Ethos Clean Fusion II, the Tanabe Zenkudo, Demon Pedals Kondo-Shifuku, Colortone V2 Parasite, and Mad Professor Simble. The Dumblifier is due to complete that number fairly imminently - as I’ve preordered the Dumblifier from Andertons - who should be getting it in on the day this article goes live - and hopefully off to me for Wednesday. While those estimated landing dates are often a little imprecise - and there could be some unforeseen delays for that pedal - but hopefully it will happen this week!
The Dumblifier looks gorgeous from every angle - including those wooden side panels, and all the demos to date have been incredibly impressive. I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on this one - could be a very early contender for 2026 pedal of the year! I will feed back further when it has landed.
You can read up more on the DSM & Humboldt Website - while there’s no manual as yet!
As mentioned - there are controls on nearly every surface of this pedal - it may look a little challenging for some - but I really love these kinds of pedals - and am quick to figure out the control topology. Of course it will involve some fine-tuning to get to your preferences - and I try every variation - even those intended for Direct Out - so I will be checking out the Analog Cab Sim - even though the indications are that those should be bypassed on both output channels for my clean pedal platform setup - while I’m always about achieving maximum richness of character - with the most flavour! And I’m unafraid to go outside the conventions.
Early impressions are incredibly favourable - I would imagine my good friend and fellow Dumble Pedal enthusiast Henry Kaiser - has ordered one of these too!
Here are all the controls - across 5 of those surfaces / panels! :
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 / PreAmp 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.
Key Speaker / Size Combinations
- EV12L+ 2x12 - Clear and punchy, nice SRV strat tones, with defined attack, but with extra note weight
- G12H + 2x12 - Super smooth lead tones, incredible for jazz fusion solos
- G12M + 4x12 - Aggressive, more 'marshall-like' rock tones
- G12M + 1x12 - More balanced, versatile rock tones, clarity in the mix
Key Features & Specs
- Analog-driven Dumble-style Overdrive Special amp emulation in a compact stompbox
- Developed to replicate not only the sound but also the feel of one of the most sought-after guitar amplifiers
- Can be used as a complete amp replacement with cab sim and stereo features, either on its own or at the end of a pedalboard
- Organic response behaviour through analogue modelling technology
- Delivers unmistakable ‘punchy’ compression and smooth sustain for which Dumbles are renowned
- 2 channels — Clean and Overdrive — with a shared 3-band EQ and tone-shaping controls
- Clean channel’s Volume knob drives the Overdrive channel into glorious saturation
- Ratio and Drive controls dial in your preferred amount of dirt while also fine-tuning the balance between channels
- Bright switch boosts high frequencies at lower Volume settings
- Mid Boost switch boosts the midrange and low mids
- Rock/Jazz switch toggles between a rock-ready FMV tone stack and a jazz-friendly Baxandall-James configuration
- Power Amp section fine-tunes compression and drive using the Master knob in tandem with the Ratio and Volume knobs
- Presence control adjusts the Power Amp section’s mid-high and high frequencies
- Stereo FX loop facilitates lock-tight pedalboard integration
- Footswitchable Stereo reverb effect with 3 types : Room / Ethereal / Plate
- Built-in cab sims with 3 Speaker types and 3 cabinet Size settings
- Heavy-duty anodized aluminum enclosure with eye-grabbing wood side panels
- Power : 9-12V DC [-] 150mA
- Weight : 420 g
- Dimensions : (W x D x H) : 135 x 115 x 65 mm
- MAP / RRP : $569 / €599 / £519
Considering the beautiful construction of this pedal - the $569 / €599 / £519 price tag actually seems relatively reasonable. It is understandably a relatively pricey pedal - while I feel it could / would have been probably a couple of hundred credits more from another brand.
I will let you know I get along - I'm expecting great things here!
Demos
