12 of the Best Dumble Style Pedals

So - a disclaimer here - as this is not a Dumble clone at all, rather it is made after the famous Trainwreck Express Amp - so more medium gain and up really - but for what I'm after it has that lovely liquid overdrive sound with a hint of fuzz (which is what I love best about the Dumble) - and superb roll-off ability via the guitar volume knob so you can go from clean-to-scream with just half a turn. The controls are somewhat unusual - but via 3 dials and 4 toggle switches you get to change voicings and low, middle and high frequencies - it's just a touch quirky really, but boy does it sound amazing - as in Brett's demo above.

The first Dumble style pedal I acquired was the Mad Professor Simble, and in the end it was neck-and-neck between that and 'The Dude'. I decided in the end that I very slightly preferred the tone of the Simble - it was also very lightly cheaper and more readily available in the UK. I have often considered adding 'The Dude' to the collection too, but currently the Ethos TWE-1, Mojo Extra Special and OneControl Golden Acorn all come above it on the wishlist - still a really decent pedal in every aspect.

Many love this first of the Dumble clone pedals - including Phillip McKnight of 'Know Your Gear' fame - for whom it is his core sound as such. To my ears though it is a little thin sounding, and lacks full frequency definition, particularly in the lower register. It is a very neutral sounding pedal which many seem to like, although I like my Dumble with a touch more oomph - same as my Klon really. The Tanabe Zenkudo is similarly neutral bad adds a 3-way voicing switch.

To date this is the pedal which has best managed to capture my ideal Dumble-style overdrive tone. Yet I swapped it out for the Wampler Euphoria - which gets pretty close to ideal, but has a 3-way voicing switch for far more versatility in tone. The Simble is a little bit 'Goldilocks' with a great sweet spot - while the Euphoria offers up several workable tones.

I don't know how or why I've gotten drawn to this one but I like it! - it features the standard 4-dial arrangement of most of the Dumble-style pedals, but also benefits from the classic Jazz / Rock voicing toggle switch. I've kind of made my mind up to get one of these after I get the Ethos TWE-1, just don't know exactly when, some time in the next couple of years probably - unless something better comes along - which is often the case.

The Shin-Juku is often overlooked in the Dumble overviews, but it too produces a pretty sweet liquid overdrive. It's fairly far down in my own personal pecking order as such, but it's still a pretty decent Dumble sound-alike - at least for those key overdrive tones.

I went through a spate of acquiring Björn Juhl pedals - from both his Mad Professor and OneControl collections. The Golden Acorn has long been on my radar, but there are other pedal priorities way above that, and I don't so much use my mini pedals any more. In any case this is most likely the best of the mini Dumble-alikes, while the Mooer Rumble Drive is also pretty decent. If I see this at a really decent price I may acquire sooner, otherwise it's on the back-burner really.

The pedals from Japanese Dumble Amp engineer / specialist Shin Suzuki are much in demand - with similar notation to the original Amp, and for many guitarists the ultimate in Dumble sound-alikes - including such luminaries as Brad Paisley and Richie Sambora. This is a really pricey option, regardless of how good it sounds, and I believe the Ethos Overdrive Preamp and Van Weelden Royal Overdrive are quite a bit more versatile for slightly less money, but then the Dumbloids are significantly smaller - so you need to decide on what your priorities are here really.

The Toshihiko Tanabe Dumble-alike pedals come in a variety of flavours and colourways - Zenkudo for humbucker guitars, Dumkudo for single coils and in various single or dual versions - not unlike the Shin versions above, but in a still smaller form factor. These can be difficult to get hold of, and many feel they sound very close to Zendrives, which means they are somewhat lacking in low end for my tastes - but still very dynamic and great sounding. Note that each pedal has a 3-way voicing switch on the side which lights up a different colour LED - so this is a step above in versatility to the Zendrive - although this pedal too is very neutral sounding at its core relatively pricey though.

The largest pedal on this listing, about as wide as the Ethos Preamp, but significantly taller too. I think this is another pedal that is your main drive unit and you build your pedalboard / chain around it. I like lots of different textures and flavours which means that this option kind of disqualifies itself. Mick Taylor of That Pedal Show has one of these and loves it, so we know it's really great sounding - hand-made in the Netherlands - but boy is it large!

My current 'Dumble' of choice - offers up heaps of variety via its 3-position voicing switch, and be careful with the 'Bass' dial which really needs to remain on a low setting or you get odd rumble and fluttery bass feedback - i.e. significant flubbiness. It's basically a combination of bass and body - and I was dialling it in quite wrong to start with and getting horrible tones - I suggest somewhere between 7 and 8 o'clock is optimal - at least for humbuckers. So many people were getting that wrong that Brian Wampler made a video about it - which I include above! In any case this a really great and versatile pedal, even though my Simble gives me a better tone.