Just recovered from reading about an expensive pedal

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ThePrettyDamnedThePrettyDamned Frets: 7472
edited December 2013 in FX
Called a dumbloid.

There is a thread on the bad place and people have degooped but won't say what it is. That means it's a clone, but they don't want to devalue the pedals... Because if it was original, they'd say so and keep the schematic secret, surely?

Anyway, if you're feeling absolutely deranged, read the thread. It's a hilarious insight into the minds of guitarists...
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Comments

  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    TGP?
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  • LixartoLixarto Frets: 1618
    Yes.

    I had a look at the first (of 33!) pages.

    Dull.
    "I can see you for what you are; an idiot barely in control of your own life. And smoking weed doesn't make you cool; it just makes you more of an idiot."
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  • Link?
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  • LixartoLixarto Frets: 1618
    "I can see you for what you are; an idiot barely in control of your own life. And smoking weed doesn't make you cool; it just makes you more of an idiot."
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  • Dave_McDave_Mc Frets: 2324
    edited December 2013
    Yeah I've been keeping an eye on that thread for a while. I stayed out of it for the most part (there was a previous one which was even more of a flustercuck which got nuked- IIRC one of the people hyping it was a dealer and someone else I know on another forum reported him :)) ), but yeah.

    ^ http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=1322981
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  • Thanks for the link.  Oh dear.

    Loved this one :

    Originally Posted by PTraina View Post
    I had a really killer turkey bacon sandwich for lunch today while stacking 2 Dumbloids!! The tone was bigger than the sandwich and the sandwich was huge!!!

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  • randomhandclapsrandomhandclaps Frets: 20521
    edited December 2013
    I can give you a clue.  Having seen a photo of the board it's a Tubescreamer  :-O  with a combo of diodes and mosfets in the feedback loop and the 'Accent' knob is merely a filter than allows higher frequencies to bypass the first stage of the op-amp and loop.  Whether there is any strange Voodoo ceremony perfomed on top of all this I could say.
    My muse is not a horse and art is not a race.
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  • LixartoLixarto Frets: 1618
    edited December 2013
    So not as good as a Valvesporker then?
    "I can see you for what you are; an idiot barely in control of your own life. And smoking weed doesn't make you cool; it just makes you more of an idiot."
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  • MistergMisterg Frets: 293
    Did anyone else see the counterpoint on FSB?

    Flippin' hilarious! :))
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  • I can give you a clue.  Having seen a photo of the board it's a Tubescreamer  :-O  with a combo of diodes and mosfets in the feedback loop and the 'Accent' knob is merely a filter than allows higher frequencies to bypass the first stage of the op-amp and loop.  Whether there is any strange Voodoo ceremony perfomed on top of all this I could say.

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  • sorry the IE bug happened in the last post so it only put the quote. what I was trying to say was that why does it matter / change it's desire for people if it's based on a tubescreamer with bits added/taken out ? it's a pedal it sounds nothing like a tubescreamer at all so why does it matter that it's based on a tubescreamer ? someone has taken a circuit made is sounds different and is selling it, I don't see why this sort of thing gets mocked for being "based" on something else, it's a different circuit, it sounds different to the original (in this case VERY different) it's got a stupid price tag, if you can afford it and want that sound buy it, if you don't want that sound or can't afford it at this time, don't buy it. </body
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  • Dave_McDave_Mc Frets: 2324
    edited December 2013
    ^ Mainly because in most instances like this it's claimed (or very strongly implied) to be something which is totally new and which can't be got elsewhere- it's reinvented the wheel, in other words. That's about the only way (in my opinion) that they can justify those kind of prices. So of course if it turns out to be something which is only a slightly tweaked version of something which already exists a lot of people aren't going to be best pleased.

    If you still want to buy it even once it's been revealed what it is, no-one's stopping you. But a lot of people do want to know, and for good reason (in my opinion).

    I find it kind of bemusing that the boutique apologists claim the reverse-engineers are spoiling their fun- nothing could be further from the truth. As I said above, revealing what it is doesn't stop the boutique fanboys from still buying- not revealing, however, does allow people who might just about be willing to pay $600 for something which is genuinely new (a klon, say) but who don't want to pay $600 for a glorified tubescreamer to be ripped off.

    Unless of course the boutique fanboys are being slightly intellectually dishonest, and are only willing to spend that kind of money when they can tell themselves it's new, even though deep down they suspect it's not- they want to believe.

    Maybe that's way off the truth, I dunno. But it's the only thing that makes sense, to me. :D EDIT: or maybe they're annoyed that the values go through the floor when they want to sell it on once they realise it's not unique. But again, that hardly paints the boutique fans in the most flattering light.
    Misterg said:
    Did anyone else see the counterpoint on FSB?

    Flippin' hilarious! :))
    Do you have a link to that? :D
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71950
    I completely agree with Dave. It's not the circuits that are the problem, it's all the bullshit that goes with it.

    I could drastically change the sound of a Tube Screamer by replacing one component value, but that wouldn't make it an innovation or be worth many times the price. (I'm not claiming that would make it sound good either, necessarily - just that it would be very different. I agree that it's more complex to change the sound and make it good.)

    But if it's an evolved TS, say so. Don't hide the circuit under layers of goop and marketing bollocks. The Tube Screamer circuit is well known as an adaptable, inherently good-sounding starting point for many mods. It's not an "amp in a box", it's not "transparent", and it is not worth several hundred dollars.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • ThePrettyDamnedThePrettyDamned Frets: 7472
    edited December 2013
    Yeah, I know a modded ts can sound very different but the implication from a post from someone who owned one (can't find it now...) is that it was based on a solid state version of a dumble preamp, a la Amt I guess. It clearly isn't.

    Also, 600 dollars is (and please don't argue) stupidly priced for hype. I remember someone telling me his guitars sold better when the prices went up because people equate price with quality. In the pedal world, generate hype with an expensive gooped board (Jan ray lol mega rip off, and free the tone are also guilty) then watch as your product sells. If this pedal was half the price, it would be reasonable, for a hand wired effect. They are saying it's more affordable in Japan but the truth is it isn't - in Japan, it's still the most expensive distortion box you can buy.

    Not saying it's a bad pedal, but for that money, I'd want a beautiful enclosure (look at zvex, where the hand painted enclosures alone are worth the price of admission in some cases!) and honesty - tell us its a tubeacreamer but with several tweaks and a fair amount of extra circuitry. Explain why you chose the tubeacreamer circuit.

    But then it'll have a mid hump, fizzy top end, Unresponsive gain and it's best use is to push the front end of a cooking amp.

    I can say now, my vs tube screamer is wonderful as a standalone overdrive with the bass boost engaged. It pushes the mids, but not offensively, and everything stays smooth and musical. So, I use it like that in front of a totally clean solid state amp.
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  • We've been here before so many times. It always seems to be Japanese builders recently though. 

    This, I assume, is the same Dumbloid that has label-maker labels and old radio type knobs that's actually just a clone? I have clones with label-maker labels and radio knobs...  Maybe I should cover mine in snot and sell some to gullible eejits *cough* tonehounds too?! I'd only have to sell one or 2 to pay for Christmas!







    Untitled
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • randomhandclapsrandomhandclaps Frets: 20521
    edited December 2013

    $599 justified by misleading statements is the real issue.  Look at this version.  It is incredibly poorly finished.  Not just the impact tape but look at the corners of the tolex.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Shins-Music-Custom-DUMBLOID-SPECIAL-Overdrive-Pedal-Amazing-Tone-/271339500636?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item3f2d18345c

    To put it into perspective this is twice the price of the original Klon in it's $100 worth of enclosure, and under half the components or complexity.

    You then read a few claims -

    "One of the most iconic and sought after amps in history… in a pedal!" - Not in the slightest.  I know a lot off companies claim to capture a sound in a box and some do an amp like overdrive pretty well.  However reading the next line -  "All D*mble amps are different in tone (I thought that was a particularly good arse covering line) but the main characteristics that set these amps apart are the open uncompressed cleans and the evenly compressed overdrive.". It clearly claiming to be a Dumble in a box.

    "This does not sound like a pedal…it sounds and reacts like an amp." .  Ok, this one is slightly unfair to pull up as they are far from alone in this claim, but it is one that really irritates me.  No pedal sounds like an amp on it's own.  It's a pedal - it does it's job.  Into a solid state Crate amp with an 8 inch speaker it is going  to sound as close to a Dumble as a 50cc Scooter.

    Now this is where somebody suggests (as with Phillips Cleartone Conversions or the Evertune bridge) that unless we are willing to spend $599 to try one the we shouldn't be commenting.

    My favourite quote was -

    "I'm 46, weigh 382lbs and suffer from severe halitosis.  I never had any confidence with women before I bought a Dumbloid.  Since purchasing my Dumbloid I have had vigorous sex with a Playboy Bunny every night.  Truly money well spent."

    My muse is not a horse and art is not a race.
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  • I love how many people complain when amps are overly compressed to their ears (eg Blackstar) but when it's a dumble, it's the correct sound.  

    Like I said, Zvex pedals are expensive - BUT - they're finished beautifully.  They are fairly original circuits, or do things very differently - the fuzz factory might be basically a fuzz face or whatever, but the way it's implemented, with adjustable bias, was totally unique.  And they're beautiful, did I mention that?

    A label maker is about a tenner, and the tolexing is appalling. 
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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    I like Boss pedals.
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  • Drew_fx;107455" said:
    I like Boss pedals.
    Word
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  • frankusfrankus Frets: 4719
    in the Aldi stylee ;-0

    I've got a zenkudo - I loves it. (£150)

    I've also got a Dumble - I loves that too. (£30 on components)


    A sig-nat-eur? What am I meant to use this for ffs?! Is this thing recording?
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