The send and return controls make possible the perfect blending of the reverb signal and the dry signal in a way that adds a warm singing tone to a huge clean or overdriven guitar tone. The reverb section is similar to the reverb section of a Steel String Singer. So you can adjust the overdrive section for a vast spectrum of tonal colors that by far exceeds the possibilities of a normal Overdrive Special. Ratio adjusts how much of the overdrive circuit's signals is fed back into the preamp circuit.Įspecially because the Overdrive tube is a 7247 (two different triodes with different characteristics in one tube) these four pots provide an extremely useful control of the harmonic content in order to fine-tune the overdrive circuit's voicing. Taper adjusts the scale of high frequencies in the overdrive section. Level adjusts how much of the signal is fed into the other triode of the overdrive tube. Trigger adjusts how much of the scale of signal is fed into one triode of the overdrive tube. This amplifier has four (staggered) pots to control the Overdrive: trigger (silver ring in the 'level' location), taper (Marshall-like knob in the 'level' location), level (silver ring in the 'ratio' location), and ratio (Marshall-like knob in the 'ratio' location). The overdrive tube is a 7247 and not a 7025 as usual. The overdrive section of the preamp is very sophisticated. The sisteramp #120, also made for Todd Sharp, has been stolen long ago and never reappeared up to now. Indeed only this single specimen seems to be still in existence. Dumble made only very very few of these amplifiers. Dumble built for Todd Sharp in the second half of the eighties. There is no hurry and the amp is going to be offered again if no offer meets the reserve price.ĭumble Overdrive Special 150 Watt which Mr. Let’s get in contact and see which price is realistic. Please don’t hesitate to bid any price you think is appropriate and above the starting price. (Perhaps Carlos or John or Larry or Robben or anyone else can get a better deal with their insurance companies) So it is for sale now. And to pay around 600 $ a month to use this amp on live gigs or tours doesn’t seem to make sense anymore, and to leave the amp alone without using it doesn’t seem to make sense either. (When this amp was sent to Germany it’s price was nearly thrice the price that was prevailing at this time for a normal Overdrive Special 100 Watt.)įor such a high value instrument the insurance company now asks 5 % of its value each year to insure the taking of this amplifier to gigs or on tour. As there seems to be only this single specimen of a 150 W Dumble Overdrive Special still in existence, some of these salespeople said some collectors might be willing to pay up to 150,000 US$ for this unique combination of Steel-String-Singer-like and Dumbleland-like clean sounds with an additional, especially sophisticated overdrive channel, reverb and tremolo. Dumble had circled a washer and dryer unit and told Cross that if he bought those for him, they were square.During the last months some reputable tradespeople in the United States have been asked for appraisals for this amp, because the insurance company had asked for an update. “When I asked him what I owed him, he handed me a torn-out page from a Sears catalog,” recalls Cross. At the time, Dumble was living in a house owned by Jackson Browne and Cross headed up there to pay for the custom relay box. “I really couldn’t afford to mess around with pedals at that time,” says Cross. An oversized cord went to a blue two-space rack unit that housed mechanical relays to control which amp was engaged. Each guitar only had a middle and bridge pickup and was outfitted with a heavy-duty switch-imagine the massive switches on the back of vintage Fender amps. The solution was based around a pair of Japan-made Strats that were modified by Valley Arts. Naturally, Cross needed a way to switch between sounds easily.

Cross and Dumble decided on two KT88-loaded heads (a first for Dumble at the time) with matching 2x12 cabinets in orange suede for a clean sound and an Overdrive Special with a 4x12 cab for a lead sound. One of the early users of his amps was singer/songwriter Christopher Cross, who was brought in by Bonnie Raitt. His off-the-grid lifestyle forced Dumble to frequently look at alternate payment arrangements with clients.

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