RF Jettisons BM Amp?

[ayan]

From Tommy C from a threat at TGP (http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... 834&page=2)

... also some of the ca -83 tones when he got his first own D amp sounds sweet,, later stuff is rather lame imo
and I honestly think some of the recent sounds are still great but somewhat too sterile for my personal taste,
( I have heard he did have one of them amps modded back to an earlier version now) not confimed though,

I'd be curious to know if anyone has any additional information on this. It would be rather interesting if RF actually had gone back to my favorite flavor Dumble tone.

Cheers,

Gil

[llemtt]

I'm curious too

But I can remember years ago I read a quote from Robben saying that every time his amps were back from HAD they sounded worst...

BTW to me Robben sound on Truth it's way better than previuos releases, maybe the amp was already downgraded at that time?

Teo

[dogears]

Brandon was on stage with RF while RF played his amps (and the Bludo). Maybe he can chime in. He told me it sounded BM to him.

[Zippy]

... and if Brandon does comment, could he please comment on whether the stage sound is anything like the recent recorded sounds? Otherwise, we are chasing apples and ducks - comparing a live sound (that many of us may not have heard recently) with recorded sounds of the last few decades.

[kleinm]

I don't know...many of the recent records (Jing Chi 3D and Live included) sound very, very much like a Bluesmaster with a D-lator. JMHO.

The tone on "Truth" is a little different, I agree. It seems darker, more compressed, and doesn't have the complexity of some of the other albums. Still great, just different. The higher gain tones sound kind of like when you have the Input high on a BM and engage the PAB at high volumes. Sooooooo thick.

I suppose the changed tone could very well just be recording technique, speakers, mics, ...or whatever, though. The "Truth" tone reminds me a lot of his tone on the Paris Concert DVD.

[llemtt]

On "Truth" I can hear an horn sound on the leads playing low-mid notes (lower strings mid fretboard) that I can't remember hearing in any d-clone clip around (here, TGP, youtube,...).

Someone already nailed this too?

LC amp is different from all the other ODSs we used to know, maybe Robben too has his own unique ODS flavor...

cheers

teo

[Fischerman]

Brandon was on stage with RF while RF played his amps (and the Bludo). Maybe he can chime in. He told me it sounded BM to him.

How much about these amps does RF know...and share? For example, if Brandon had asked him; "Is that a Bluesmaster HRM?" would RF even know? And if he did know...would he answer truthfully or maybe just say something like; "Yea I think there's some Marshally stuff in there."?

[Funkalicousgroove]

Robbens tan amp had separate Masters, and a soft Low end, makes me think bluesmaster. The amp of mine he played was a Skyline Clean, HRM OD, and Bluesmaster PI. The tone from my amp had much "Faster" attack and more "thump" than Robbens tan amp, but he was smiling the whole time and was very complimentary of it.

FWIW, It looked like they both had 100W twin Iron and they both had Chokes. I was actually going to be allowed to crack one open, but when LC's Amp went up in smoke I had to do McGyver repairs so I never got to check it out

A couple years ago at a festival in Copper Mountain, CO Robben told me that his amps always sound fantastic at Alexanders house, and he hates them when he gets them home- He said in Boulder that he wasn't really digging the OD in the Dumbles, and was using the Zen-Drive for the most part as his overdrive.

Hope that helps-

[Bob-I]

A couple years ago at a festival in Copper Mountain, CO Robben told me that his amps always sound fantastic at Alexanders house, and he hates them when he gets them home- He said in Boulder that he wasn't really digging the OD in the Dumbles, and was using the Zen-Drive for the most part as his overdrive.

Hope that helps-

Interesting. I met him after a show about 2 years ago, he was using the Zen and a Super. I asked him why he didn't use one of the lower powered Dumble inspired amps available today, like the Fuchs or 2Rock. He said that most of them nailed the clean tone, but none came close to the Dumble OD. Since he prefered the Fender clean anyway, it was easier to simply use the Super / Zen for the lower volume gigs.

[Structo]

Interesting.

By all reports ( I haven't seen him live) he is very loud!

I thought he used Twins when he doesn't use his Dumble?

[Bob-I]

Interesting.

By all reports ( I haven't seen him live) he is very loud!

I thought he used Twins when he doesn't use his Dumble?

He was playing on the bill with John Mayall, who hates loud. Robben being the gentleman that he is adjusted, and still sounded great. I have read interviews where Robben says the Super is the best amp ever built.

[greiswig]

(SNIP) Since he prefered the Fender clean anyway, it was easier to simply use the Super / Zen for the lower volume gigs.

Hopefully not hijacking the thread. I got a Twin chassis that I hope to modify, since it's thrashed. I have to say that I prefer the Fender cleans to what I hear out of the clean side of my D'Lite, at least. Shouldn't it be possible to make this Twin have the stock clean channel, and just modify the vibrato channel to be the Dumble-esque overdrive? Best of both worlds?

[tubedogsmith]

If your d'lite is one of the little amps with two 6V6's I'd say the dumble clean tone with 4 6L6's is probably going to be pretty fine with you by comparison.

[greiswig]

If your d'lite is one of the little amps with two 6V6's I'd say the dumble clean tone with 4 6L6's is probably going to be pretty fine with you by comparison.

Nope, it's got a pair of 6L6's with Brandon's output tranny. Not sure what difference that makes, though...

But there's more to the difference in cleans, isn't there?: Fender has no LNFB, bigger cathode bypass caps, different voicing to the tone stack...

[Bob-I]

Shouldn't it be possible to make this Twin have the stock clean channel, and just modify the vibrato channel to be the Dumble-esque overdrive? Best of both worlds?

Yes, that should be possible. I'd make 2 discrete channels, instead of the standard Dumble single channel with an OD stage. What I did on my 3 channel amp was create a discrete channel for Fender cleans, then a full Dumble preamp using clean and OD sides. Turns out to be not exactly the best architecture. I'd prefer having 2 OD sides with different drive and master volume controls. Maybe I'll redo it again someday.