Not lousy, just not exactly Dumble. No doubt it sounded just fine to the product manager that signed off on it.
$5 a unit is a fortune, you better believe they will cut that cost if they think they can get away with it.
Affordable Dumble ODS clone from VHT is about to drop
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$5 a unit is a fortune, you better believe they will cut that cost if they think they can get away with it.
Could be I guess, VHT has seemed hit and miss since whoever that was sold the company. These days it seems like there’s not a lot we can expect to stay good for long.
I hear Fenders current offsets are better than the last version though!
Anybody notice a trend on the internet to say the cheap stuff is great and the expensive stuff sucks?
true dat on the cost per unit thing....which is why the Taiwan based corporation that owns Celestions don’t build very many speakers in England. The labels must cost a fortune, though, right, because a MIC Celestion speaker is not priced the way the costs of production would allow anyone except a abuser of ’label players’ to price a speaker.......that is, a MIC Celestion should be priced at about 1/3 of the retail price...at the most....IF one were basing retail price on cost of production.
If VHT were pricing this D50 as does that Taiwan based corporation that builds Celestion speakers, this D50 would be a $3,000USD amp. (;^)
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muchxs
Doctor of Teleocity
There is far less of a difference than you might think and certainly less of a difference than many claim.
A "D type" with a tube rectifier would be interesting.
"Sag" is another widely misunderstood topic.
So is OT saturation.
I shouldn't make fun of the man.
I actually believe he's a total freakin' genius, is unfairly maligned, and I would love to own one of his amps.
Crystal lattice is just such a funny term to me...like dilithium crystals. I also like zener diode and selenium rectifier. But the granddaddy of them all is X-rays. It's so Flash Gordon....I can't believe anyone can keep a straight face while saying X-rays.
The crystal lattice thing gets bandied about in what is usually a despective manner. When I first read his quoted statement, I understood only that it was above my pay grade. This is the first time I have looked into it, and it definitely is beyond my pay grade. That said, I understand enough to accept that it is a realty.
Def believe that, have Mad Professor Simble, it sure does get a fender into that interesting mid sound. Was pleasantly surprised. With the EQ available on it & gain structure ..has made a real full sound on Marshall's..cause of the M punch..the Simble sorta lifts right under it..gets real big...and its clear/tight
FenderLover
Poster Extraordinaire
I'm assuming it was an ODS version, and if they are are truly trimmed for individual players, it's pretty inconceivable that one could love every Dumble they plug into unless brand loyalty gets in the way.
I've read many accounts where players say the OD or clean tones are either great or usable, but not switching between them. That's always been the fault of the circuit to me, when it would be easy to use the same circuits for a true 2-channel amp and get rid of the control dependency. It's an archaic idea that no one would start with today unless they were cloning or borrowing heavily from Dumble/Boogie. And no, it's not the 'magic' of a Dumble, it's just what he did.
You can't market an ODS style amp unless you copy all the warts though, and I'm glad to see VHT give it a try. It could be a great foundation for tweakers to have fun with or just enjoy as-is.
The Bludotone ODS through which I got to play for just a bit had wonderful cleans and a great, smooth overdrive...switchable and immediately available with no adjustments in ether mode. As for the internal trim pots...as I noted, I wanted to tweak those to see what went on, but I was not given the okay to do that!!! Drat!!!! That is like having a high performance car and not getting to press the gas pedal, right?
FenderLover
Poster Extraordinaire
A caveat might be that once it was adjusted, it functioned well for you, but many folks have a hard time getting to the point of balancing the channel interactivity for good switchable tones. A friend of mine is an accomplished player, and he cannot adjust my Boogie MKIIb to save his life.
scout2112
Tele-Holic
I emailed VHT regarding the amp and they sent me the following info:
The amps are made in China, and they are using VHT's proprietary high-quality transformers.
The output transformer is a large “open-frame” (no end bells) design.
We prefer the sound of open-frame output transformers, and there other advantages such a better heat dissipation when they are driven hard for extended periods of time, like when they are connected to a load box (which a lot of people do these days) or if you play really loud for extended periods of time.
Output transformer performance and sound quality can change as the transformer heats up, so open-frame transformers can provide a more consistent tone.
Right now they're only making heads, and haven't considered doing a combo due to weight.
They also said the first batch of amps is en route to dealers as we speak, and buying online is going to be the best place to find them for now. I see one has just reared it's head on Reverb over the weekend.
The amps are made in China, and they are using VHT's proprietary high-quality transformers.
The output transformer is a large “open-frame” (no end bells) design.
We prefer the sound of open-frame output transformers, and there other advantages such a better heat dissipation when they are driven hard for extended periods of time, like when they are connected to a load box (which a lot of people do these days) or if you play really loud for extended periods of time.
Output transformer performance and sound quality can change as the transformer heats up, so open-frame transformers can provide a more consistent tone.
Right now they're only making heads, and haven't considered doing a combo due to weight.
They also said the first batch of amps is en route to dealers as we speak, and buying online is going to be the best place to find them for now. I see one has just reared it's head on Reverb over the weekend.
scout2112
Tele-Holic
New press release dropped: https://www.gearnews.com/vht-d-fifty-is-a-50-watt-hand-wired-dumble-amp-clone-for-849/
p.s. I've got mine on pre-order... should hopefully be here early March.
p.s. I've got mine on pre-order... should hopefully be here early March.
If using a REAL Dumble - it is if the amp was made for that kind of touch. I don't know how many times this has been repeated and either ignored or not understood - but he makes each amp for a particular player, and sends time dialing it in for that player's touch/attack and preferences.
This is why copying a a Dumble is rather silly, as the market for the copy would need to play the same way as the original's owner.
See above. It wasn't one set up for your playing style. I've encountered the same thing - some great for my light touch; others difficult to get "moving" without harshness.
What is "exactly Dumble"?
There IS no "Dumble tone" - there is the tone each player gets out of the amp that Dumble built (or tweaked, if bought used AND he was willing to work on it) for HIM (or HER).
There is no specific Dumble tone - the "Overdrive Special" isn't an amp in the same way a "Deluxe Reverb" is. An "Overdrive Special" is a "sub brand" of Dumble amps with similar features but a non-specific tone - until one is built for a specific player.
scout2112
Tele-Holic
I’m banking on the fact VHT rather uncreatively just made a “Copy of a copy” of a Ceriatone or Bludotone. Dumble circuitry is still a bit of a trade secret and only a few have exploited dumble amps by ungooping and reverse engineering. Most likely there's a limited pool of information that the cloners are using, and copying each other, to the point that a single ODS variant has emerged as a “representative” dumble. I really like the Ceriatone and Bludotone clones so I'm expecting nothing less from VHT, just at a lower price.
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bgmacaw
Doctor of Teleocity
50 Watts? The perfect "bedroom" amp!
The big question to me is what kind of cabinet are you going to use with this. This makes it a lot less "affordable". A nice cab with speakers like EVM 12L's or the like is going to cost nearly as much (maybe even more) than the head. A load box with IR loading isn't going to be cheap either. Whatever cab (real or IR) you pair it with will have a huge impact on how it sounds.
The big question to me is what kind of cabinet are you going to use with this. This makes it a lot less "affordable". A nice cab with speakers like EVM 12L's or the like is going to cost nearly as much (maybe even more) than the head. A load box with IR loading isn't going to be cheap either. Whatever cab (real or IR) you pair it with will have a huge impact on how it sounds.
Jared Purdy
Poster Extraordinaire
What do you mean when you say hand wired means nothing, as far as sound goes?
What do you mean, what do I mean?
Jared Purdy
Poster Extraordinaire
I think my question is pretty clear, and I referenced what you said. I'll repeat what you said: "...hand wired means nothing as far as sound goes". What do you mean by that?
