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eliya wrote:btw, there's a company which is copying his amps. they're name is like tumble or something like that, the exact name slips off my head now.

maybe Rumble. I know I've seen schematics websites that have listings for Rumble amps that said they were Dumble amps but they had to list them with another name because if they list them as Dumble then they get legal action against them or some such nonsense.

I say let the guy charge whatever he wants. if you allow him to think his time is worth $200 an hour (less than many attorneys) then $15k is only 75 hours of his time. Consider how many hundreds of hours he spent developing/designing the amps, and how many hours it takes him to build/test/tweak them before selling, and it's perfectly reasonable. besides, anybody can charge whatever they want. if it's more than the market will bear, they will sell zero amps. this guy is probably making exactly how many amps he wants to. good for him. how much does a wish bass cost?

The GBase database had the price a few days ago at 15k, I don't know why today it says "On Hold"
Maybe someone from this forum is buying it?

eliya wrote:I think he's still alive.
anyhow, with 15k amps, you wouldn't get that much work, that's why there's not much info about him on the net. besides, he's customers aren't bloggers or some people who are forum members, like you me and everybody else. I mean, we've never seen carlos santana writing on some forum. anyhow, this dumble guy can drop dead right now, it's just pissing me off, 15k amps?
btw, there's a company which is copying his amps. they're name is like tumble or something like that, the exact name slips off my head now.

Well, the reason I suspect he's dead/retired is because everyone talks about his work in the past-tense. Anyway, I like my $600 Orange just fine. She's a screamer.

Howard Dumble started embedding his amp circuit in Epoxy in the 1980's because he was paranoid that sombody would copy it and sell them for a lot less. It's basically a Fender-ish design that uses a 6550 output section.

Allegedly, you have (Had???) to pay the man $5,000 up front, then wait another year and a half, and pay him another $10,000 or so to get your amp. --Is that a fuckin' deal or what????

He will allegedly custom voice amps as well. Fuchs amps are allegedly a clone of the Dumble circuit, but still, why fork out that kind of cash? Why not play an old Fender?

I know several professional classical musicians who have paid well into the tens of thousands of dollars for violins, violas, cellos and again thousands for bows.

And they don't really make much money. I'm sure someone like Carlos Santana can afford a $15,000.00 amp, and if he thinks it's his "sound" then more power to the Dumbles of the world. Everybody's happy, I guess.

From what I understand, if Howard Dumble liked your music, or liked you as a musician, he would (will???) give you an amp. I believe that's why Robben Ford always has a Dumble on stage, even though he may be playing through a differant amp that's mic'ed up offstage.

This guy sounds like the Rick Rubin of amp builders. I think he qualifies for a douchedome.

buying a classical instrument for 15k isn't like buying an amp for 15k.
Like D'Piucchstre said, the dumble amps are like old fenders - so far for the unique sound. Besides, Carlos Santana's sound isn't unique at all.

A hand made violin from 1736 wouldn't sound like a machinery made violin from 2007. It's your decision if you want to pay 15k for that violin, and if these are the prices in that market, then I guess this is a wise choice. Paying 15k for an amp that exists in the market for maximum 2k is just plain stupid.

I don't know why, but this whole thing is pissing me off. well, maybe because idiocy is pissing me off.

eliya wrote: Besides, Carlos Santana's sound isn't unique at all.

Someone here referred to the Santana sound as the "I Gotta Pee" tone. That's right on the mark.

stewie wrote:

I would buy drugs from this guy.