Dumble

Also known as: Dumble Amplifiers, Dumble Amps

Dumble Amplifiers was a boutique guitar amplifier maker founded in the late 1960s in Santa Cruz, California by Howard Alexander Dumble (1944–2022). Dumble designed and built each amp personally, typically tailoring the circuit, gain structure, and voicing to the individual buyer's playing style and tone preferences. Total lifetime production is estimated at roughly 300 units, making Dumble amps...

13 Products · Used by 21 Artists

Dumble Steel String Singer Guitar Amplifier Heads

5.0 (12)

6 artists using

Dumble Overdrive Special Amp Head Guitar Amplifier Heads

5.0 (2)

11 artists using

Dumble Overdrive Special 100W Head Guitar Amplifier Heads

$249,000.00

1 available store

Dumble 1980s Dumble Overdrive Special Amp Guitar Amplifier Stacks

5.0 (1)

^# 66

in Guitar Amplifier Stacks Rank

3 artists using

Dumble Overdrive Special Combo Combo Guitar Amplifiers

5 artists using

Dumble Overdrive Reverb Head Guitar Amplifier Heads

2 artists using

Dumble Dumbleland Special Guitar Amplifier Heads

2 artists using

Dumble Manzamp Preamp Guitar Preamps

1 artist using

Dumble BBC-1 Boost Effects Pedals

Dumble A Box Later Boost Effects Pedals

Dumble Odyssey Concert Amplifier Guitar Power Amplifiers

1 artist using

Dumble Dumbleator Switch Effects Pedals

Dumble Winterland Guitar Power Amplifiers

The best-known Dumble model is the Overdrive Special (ODS), which evolved from an earlier design called the Explosion around 1972 after Dumble heard Robben Ford playing through a Fender Bassman. The ODS is characterized by a Fender-derived clean voice paired with a thick, dynamic overdrive channel, long sustain, and pronounced touch sensitivity. Other models associated with the builder include the Steel String Singer, the Winterland, and the Manzamp. Preamp pedals and rack accessories such as the Overdrive Special pedal and the Dumbleator effects loop buffer were also produced in small numbers.

Dumble amplifiers have been used by a roster of prominent players including Robben Ford, Carlos Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Larry Carlton, John Mayer, Eric Johnson, and David Lindley. The amps' scarcity, hand-built nature, and secretive circuit design — Dumble famously coated his circuit boards in epoxy to obscure them — have made them a frequent target of reverse-engineering efforts and a touchstone for the boutique amplifier industry.

Dumble has 13 products cataloged on Equipboard, including Guitar Amplifier Heads, Guitar Power Amplifiers, and Boost Effects Pedals. Their gear is featured by 21 artists, with the strongest followings in Rock, Folk, World, & Country, and Blues. Notable users include John Mayer, Eric Johnson, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.