In honour of Howard Alexander Dumble's Legacy - 18 of the best Dumble ODS Style Compact Overdrive Pedals

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

Björn Juhl has had a smart take on the Dumble Overdrive Special format for a while - initially in his Model D edition, and latterly within this further evolved 5-knob ODS 34 Edition. The only unusual control here is the 'E' Edge knob which essentially shapes drive character - turn CCW for smoother tones, and CW for raspier and more bite! The Dumble format is one of my favourite varieties of overdrive - so surely I need to target this edition too! Note that the demo once more is of an earlier variant - in this instance, the Model D predecessor to the ODS 34. I'm a big fan of Björn and this is definitely right up there on the wishlist - a touch pricey mind!

Controls - Lean (Highs), Drive, Level, Girth (Lows / Lower Mids).

This purple pedal seems to have been discontinued for a while - but is still worth getting hold of if you spot one at the right price. Great sounding Dumble tones with superb dynamics - just really well calibrated and with elegant controls including 2-Band EQ - a solid contender!

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

This is the most recent addition to my own Dumble library and it takes the compressing lower-gain half of its larger full-fat Gladio Dual Channel sibling, concentrating more on those elegant Robben Ford style tones. For me the Dumble pedals are largely in 3 categories - more low-gain specialist like this and the Zendrive for instance, some more higher gain 'Rock' Dumble specialist - like the Mojo Hand FX Extra Special, and some more capable all-rounders like my still overall favourite Demon Kondo-Shifuku. Besides the Shin's Music custom example featured in this selection - the ODS 34, Gladio SC and Kondo-Shifuku are the three most expensive candidates here - all well worthy of acquisition - and I have two our of threes so far! Each of those has its own nuances for sure - where the Gladio SC is the master of low gain Dumble tones, while the ODS34 and Kondo offer a little more range coverage.

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

Still my current reigning Dumble champ! My Ethos Clean-Fusion II is even more incredible in some ways - but that is a significantly larger pedal and not typically for everyday use in the rig. For these compacts this is still my first choice - and sounds as impressive as it ever has. Its combination of 7 controls gives it a bit more range coverage than most - this is just amazingly textured - and has that lovely finely calibrated fuzzy harmonic edge to it that I so love. This has been the most enduring of my Dumble style pedals and it is rarely out of the chain - and when it is out it's always very quick to return. Pete and Matthias really hit some magic with this circuit - I've recommended it to so many people and everyone seems to love it as much as me!

Controls - Drive, Voice : Round / Open / Sharp, Tone, Hi Cut : On / Off, and Mids.

One of the most recently released by GTown Amps which also has the formidable 335 Overdrive - which I assume tackles the softer more low-gain end of Dumble tones. The 335 has Drive, Voice : Soft / Open / Sharp, Volume, Tone and Edge controls - vs the HolyGrail's Drive, Voice : Round / Open / Sharp, Tone and Mids. The HolyGrial also has a High Cut toggle-switch. Another excellent candidate which I'm still processing as to whether I need to own one...

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

Much like the Steve Stevens' Signature Rockaway Archer is a 6-Band take on J Rockett's classic Archer, I've always seen the Mark Lettieri Signature The Melody to be a 6-band take on the Dude - while it actually supposedly combines The Dude with elements of the Blue Note. For me it's DNA is majority Dumble still and just gives you extended tone-shaping prowess to take you into more nuanced territory. J Rockett has at least 3 Dumble offerings - The Dude, The Melody, and its most recent HRM Hot Rubber Monkey Overdrive - taking its moniker from Dumble's post-gain 3-Band Tone Stack. All of those varieties are great - while The Melody is the most interesting one for me. I don't own any J Rockett pedals quite yet - but have long intended to get The Melody and Rockaway Archer - possibly 2022 is the year for that!

Controls - Level, Drive, Contour.

Another suitably impressive sounding Dumble type - obviously for those who like simpler controls. Not as shapable as some of these others - but still with a fantastic core tonality. Unmistakable Dumble tones just beautifully textured and with just the right amount of fuzz-tinged edge. I really like this one too - but I can't have them all!

Controls - Volume, Gain, Tone, Voice.

Obviously the Old Dame of Dumble style Overdrives this one has legions of fans - while I've always felt it a little too soft and too close to that lower gain side of Dumble for me. Still sounds great for that sort of thing - but I would much rather go for the Cornerstone Gladio SC for that - which seems to have a little bit more up its sleeve. Notably there is also Pogo Pedals' Zen Ray - which mashes up a Zendrive with Vemuram's Jan Ray Timmy style voicing. Possibly I've just not heard the right demo for this one yet but for some reason the Zendrive has never particularly appealed to me - despite its somewhat legendary status!

Controls - Level, Sensitivity, Contour, Accent.

You never forget your first Dumble! This one resonated best for me from TPS's shootout back in the day (per top video), and ended up being in the chain for the longest time - just piped recently by the Kondo-Shifuku in terms of time served. The Simble was a rare pedal that did not come from the brain trust of typical Mad Professor guru Björn Juhl - but was instead designed by Finnish Amp designer - Lassi Ukkonen. This is often overshadowed by the more famous alternatives - while it really holds its own and truly has amazing texture and nuance! I still wheel it out every now and again to remind me of that great first encounter. 

Controls - Volume, Drive, Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble.

Totally revamped in the V2 edition with 3-Band EQ for the first time - where previous editions had : Resonance, Push (Mids), Accent, Volume, Harmonic Content and Gain. Also with Drive and Gain now in place of the previous combination of Harmonic Content and Gain. I've been wanting to get one of these for such a long time now - but Brian still hasn't seen fit to launch these officially - and his webstore inventory has been very sparse of late. That said I believe you can now custom order this edition - so will likely be doing that a little later in the year. I'm a big fan of Brian's output and for sure intend to acquire some more of his soon enough - with this at the front of that line! No V2 demo currently exists - so I'm referencing an earlier model in the above video!

Controls - Gain, Voice : Jazz / Rock, Accent, Volume, Tone.

Mojo Hand has a couple of Dumble style pedals where the Extra Special takes the DMBL original and cranks it up to 11. They have slightly different controls and can be treated as the two typical halves of the Dumble equation - with the DMBL better at the softer / smoother / lower gain style, while the Extra Special brings on the raunch! This was on my wishlist for quite a while but never ended up being acquired - I still really like it, but probably have other higher preferences now.

Controls - Dark button, Output, Tone, Gain.

Designed by Japanese pedal ace Shinichi 'Shin' Suzuki - of Shin's Music and Dumbloid fame - this MXR Custom Shop Shin-Juku Drive has enviable pedigree, but is alas with us no longer and has been discontinued for some time. For sure another great candidate of its type - and can be filed with the Japanese-made Dumble style overdrive brands - Providence, Shin's Music, Studio Daydream and Tanabe. I might just pick this one up if I encounter one at the right sort of price!

Controls - Drive, Volume, Tone, Voicing : Dirty / Wild / Sharp, Mode : Jazz / Rock.

Shinichi 'Shin' Suzuki is obviously best known for this mid-size Dumbloid Dumble boxes which remain enduringly popular - and about the most expensive Dumble style pedals you can get. He was also responsible for designing the Shin-Juku Drive for MXR as above. I was trying to pick out a compact equivalent from his range. And I believe the closest compact to the Dumbloid is the Custom Drive Special - where the one I selected is a particularly special custom hand-wired edition with some unique controls. I would assume most pedals I come across with a 'Jazz / Rock' switch would be Dumble derived. Alas there is no demo available for this particular model. The Dumbloid is one of the most celebrated of the Dumble style pedals - and I've always quite wanted to complete the collection with one of those where the model I would generally be going for is the  Dumbloid 'B' Boost Special - if I can get a near equivalency compact edition though that would be even more preferable. Actually I've decided to include the nearest match video for our purposes here - not exactly the same model - but hopefully in the right ballpark - while I the demo it does sound a little tube-screamery at times!

Controls - Level, Gain, A.M.C. (Amplifier Matching Control / Texture), Tone.

I've featured this one a couple of times on the website - another great sounding Dumble type which is well loved but a little bit under the radar for most, and not as well known as its fellow Japanese cousins - the Shin's Music and Tanabe varieties in particular. I've had lots of personal recommendations to pick this one up, and it remains a moderate priority on the wishlist.

Controls - Gain, Volume, Tone, Jali (Presence). Mode Side Switch : Red (Marshall), Blue (Dumkudo), Green (Dumble).

Another Japanese brand with at least a couple of Dumble types on its roster - the Zenkudo intended for humbucker pickups, and slightly gainier Dumkudo optimised for single-coil pickups. Last time around I featured the Zenkudo, while on this occasion I focus in on the Dumkudo. Me being the contrarian that I am, and in current mindstate - I would probably buck the trend and go for the gainier Dumkudo to deploy with my humbuckers! Both pedals have a voicing switch on the side for 3 different gain structures / voicings / playback modes - Red (Marshall), Blue (Dumkudo) and Green (Dumble) as detailed above.

Controls - Master, Level, Ratio (Clean Blend), Filter (Mids : 800Hz > 1.6kHz).

I'm not sure I've fully forgiven Mason Marangella for his past misdeeds - but since it's a new year and I'm largely in chilled forgiving mood I have decided to include him in this selection - prinicipally because his Vertex brand has become so associated with the Dumble genre - and he has several pedals in that range - Steel String Clean Drive, Steel String Supreme, Ultra-Phonix HRM, and of course this recently re-tooled Ultraphonix MKII. We have some slightly different controls - and I'm not sure it's necessarily my favourite selection of parameters but it certainly sounds decent and is sufficiently shapable.

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

This was my second Dumble style pedal acquired - which is still enduringly popular and regularly polls top of all of Brian Wampler's overdrives - his Euphoria, Pantheon and Tumnus are all particularly great in my opinion. And while the Euphoria has not had as long a stints in the chain as the Simble and Kondo-Shifuky overall - it's had just as many innings as such and I still really like it - while most of my Dumble style pedals live somewhat in the shadow of the Kondo. The Euphoria is still an excellent choice and has wonderful range and nuance.

Controls - Level, Clip : Stock / None / LED, Gain, Low Pass Filter (Post-Gain), Tone, Presence.

The V2 Lotus Drive is one of the more recently released here, in fact seemingly that recent that there is no up-to-date demo of the V2 edition - meaning I've had to use an earlier edition YouTube video from around 10 years ago! The newer edition is slightly retooled with the additional post-gain Low Pass Filter - the other controls are retained from the previous versions. Enclosure styling is per current black livery with lotus flower graphic - a somewhat under-the-radar variant, but one with a significant legacy. I'm not sure where this fits within my overall hierarchy - I guess I'll find out when I rationalise all the choices in the Final Thoughts below!

So as established earlier - I have 4 of these currently in the reference collection, alongside the slightly bigger Custom Tones Ethos Clean-Fusion II, they are :

• Cornerstone Gladio SC Overdrive
• Demon Kondu-Shifuku
• Mad Professor Simble
• Wampler Euphoria

With my Rat style pedal collection at around 35 units, the Dumble selection looks somewhat paltry in comparison. Possibly a sign though of just how good the Kondo-Shifuku and Ethos Clean-Fusion II are in my not particularly feeling the need to add many more. That said I've most definitely decided that I will be adding a Menatone Dumbstruck V2 next, and probably a J Rockett Melody and / or BFE ODS 34 after that. I'd quite like one of Shin's pedals -and that could even been the slightly, at least comparatively cut-price and now discontinued Shin-Juku Drive. I would also quite like one of the made-in-Japan types - and if I get the Shin-Juku, then that likeliest candidate would be the Tanabe Dumkudo or Zenkudo - I'm still deciding how safe I want to play that.

All the others are really very decent here and I've also considered getting in the FET Dream and the GTown HolyGrail V2 at times - possibly even the V2 Wilson Lotus Drive too at some stage. As I said I'm very well covered already - I'm not sure how many of these I need to feel fully complete and representative - possibly 7 or 10! is the magic number! We shall see no doubt!

What say all of you - are you Dumble fans - and if so which is your own favourite variant?

Which one do you think I should get next?