Dumble Style Overdrive Capsule Collection

Controls : Volume, Drive, Edge (Drive Character / Bite), Treble, Body / Bass.

This is one of a number of BJFE types I've acquired from Joe's Pedals here in the UK, some I've also gotten in via by good friend Sebastian Nylunhd's These Go TO 11 Store in Stockholm. This is for sure another of my favourites - a really vibrant variety for sure - but probably pipped just a fraction by my very favourite candidates from this selection. Very decent range on this pedal, and a great sounding output in general.

Controls - Drive, Bass Boost, Bright Boost, Level, Low, High.

These are currently discontinued - while my good friend AD Hauser is working on slimming this down to compact edition - that should be out relatively soon. This is not a targeted or dedicated Dumble-style pedal - but more of a talented all-rounder. However the very first voicing I serendipitously dialled in - was one of my favourite ever Dumble-style tones. This is such a cleverly calibrated overdrive - and those controls work so smartly together. This pedal has a fantastic degree of vibrancy to it - while it's the really easy dial-in which probably makes it the most endearing!

Controls - Tone, Clean (Blend), Volume, Comp : More / Less, Gain. Also interior trim-pot for Bass.

As mentioned in the intro - this one is more on a Low-Gain-ish tip - and delivers excellent crystal clear Dumble style tones. I place this very much in a similar category as the clean side of the Ethos Clean-Fusion II, as well as the Lightkeeper V2. This leans more into the softer Robben Ford Zen Drive style of tones - and is a really great example of that sound!

Controls - Drive, Volume, Tone, Accent, Clipping : D (Deep) / C (No-'C'lipping) / B (Bright), Voice : Jazz / Rock, Type : OD / ODS.

Ny reigning long-term champion since it landed in 2019. Very recently usurped by the Tanabe Zenkudo. The Kondo-Shifuku is still an exceptional Dumble type and offers a massive range of outputs. The Zenkudo pips this by a very fine margin - while there is something a little more instant about the Zenkudo. The Kondo is really well balanced - and has just the right degree of bite / fuzzy edge. This one for sure is still very much right up there!

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.

There seems to be a general consensus that this pedal in particular delivers the best 'Clean Dumble' sound. For me both Clean and Overdrive voicing are superb. And the 21 controls make this truly super potent and shapable. Possibly a little overkill / option paralysis for some - but I really rather love just how much has been crammed into this format - such clever engineering!

Controls - Level, Gain, Top End, Midrange.

The more recently acquired of my J Rocket variants - this is an another wonderfully vibrant Dumble take. For me you need to run the controls relatively hot to get the best out of this pedal. Has a fantastic output texture for sure. I dialled that sweet spot in incredibly quickly - and I so liked it at the time that I didn't want to change the dials in the slightest - in case I lost some of that vibrancy.

Controls - Volume, Gain, 6-Band EQ : 100Hz | 200Hz | 400Hz | 800Hz | 1.5kHz | 3.2kHz.

Mark Lettieri's signature pedal is actually a mix of J Rockett's The Dude, combined with a touch of Blue Note, and Majestic too. Its 6-Band EQ gives it considerable extended range - while it has an overall slightly more mellow core to its output - its Rockaway sibling certainly has a lot more gain onboard. I really like the Melody - it's actually quite a different softer voicing of Dumble overall, probably could do with a little more volume and gain - but it sounds great. I probably prefer the the HRM though of the 2 J Rockett varieties.

Controls - Level, Sensitivity, Contour, Accent.

"You never forget your first Dumble!" - and this was my very first of these - which was in my very first official 25-strong pedal-chain at the start of 2017. It was pushed out of its slot at the end of that year by the Wampler Euphoria, and then the Kondo-Shifuku came in very strong in early 2019 and pretty much owned that slot for the longest period. The Euphoria and Kondo have quite a bit more versatility about them, while Lassi Ukkonen's Simble really has just mostly a single killer sweet-spot setting for me. I periodically shuffle through all my older pedals - and the Simble still sounds really great - while my other favourites have a much more extended range about them, and further versatility!

Controls - Volume, Harmonic Content, Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble.

I've always been a huge fan of Brian Mena's compact and mini pedals - particularly what I have dubbed the '6 knob series'. I have a goal to collect each of those. Alas currently Brian seems to be somewhat ghosting me these days! Possibly something to do with a lapsed one year ago commitment. He seems to be focusing more on his sort of DLX mid-size offerings nowadays, and several of my favourite compacts seem have been somewhat discontinued - including this Dumbstruck. I long wanted a V2 edition - but not many were made, and are hard to come by. By pure happenstance I came across a pristine second-hand variety - which I just had to have in the collection. It's currently one of 3 Dumbles on the board - alongside the Kono-Shifuku and Zenkudo. It's capable of some really great tones, while not necessarily the easiest to dial in - despite its extensive tone-shaping ability. All 3 Dumbles on the board are set up very similarly - while each has its own kind of core tone / timbre and signature profile - all are very capable of consistently great sounding output.

Controls - Volume, Mode : Stock / +2 Germanium Transistors, Gain, Treble, Mid Saturation, and Bass.

If you've ever wondered where Pro Analog Devices' Scotty Smith got to - then this was another seemingly short-lived project of his. All his 'projects' seem to come to somewhat premature endings! And this combination of Lovepedal / Hermida Zen Drive and Vemuram Jan Ray (Timmy) was all over the place in 2021 - while that business went to the wall barely a couple of years later. This Zen Ray is actually a very decent Dumble type and that combination of controls works great at getting the maximum degree of vibrancy out of this pedal. It's actually a really smartly engineered and supremely versatile pedal - I really like it!

Controls - Gain, Volume, Tone (Post-Gain Passive Hi-Cut Filter), Voice (Pre-Gain Mid Frequency Filter), Mode / Voicing switch on side : Red - Marshall / Blue Dumkudo / Green Dumble.

Yes it's true! I totally agree with Henry Kaiser and Ed Pettersen - that indeed the Tanabe Dumkudo / Zenkudo is the greatest Dumble ODS style overdrive made to date. For players who've actually owned and experience Howard Alexander Dumble's Amps - they near universally agree that the Tanabe take on that genre is the best. The only hold-out really is Robben Ford - surely the exception that proved the rule! I don't know what else I can say about the Dumkudo / Zenkudo which hasn't already been said - just the most vibrant, liveliest and most dynamic of Dumble Drives! Note that the Dumkudo variant is optimised for Single Coils, Zenkudo is optimised for Humbuckers.

Controls - Gain, Volume, Deep / Mids : Off / Switch Mode / Always On, Treble Boost : Off / Switch Mode / Always On, Treble, Mid, Bass, Deep / Boost Footswitch (Depending on toggles), Bypass Footswitch.

A fantastic sounding Tube-based Dumble style overdrive - leaning rather more into the Clean side of things - along not altogether dissimilar lines to the Cornerstone Gladio SC, and Custom Tones Ethos Clean-Fusion II. It has that lovely Tube timbre in the profile - and in using the Deep / Boost options - you can really bring this up to moderate levels of gain. A really poised and nuanced take on the celebrated Dumble tones.

Controls - Tone, Voicing : Smooth / Open / Crunch, Bass, Volume, Gain.

As I detailed in the Simble portion - this was my second Dumble pedal, which ousted the Simble at the end of 2017, and was then later bumped by the Demon Pedals Kondo-Shifuku which landed for me at the start of 2019. The Euphoria is a fantastic and versatile take on the Dumble, as long as you remember to start with the Bass knob dialled all the way back! It's funny how each of these pedals has a fairly partisan level of support - and there are still plenty of swear by this Euphoria - it's for sure another superior Dumble take - or else it would not be on this listing!