Tell me about the Shin Dumbloid

[Big Twang Theory]

So here I was thinking myself a pedal connoisseur. I have a pretty decent collection with pricey ones, cheap ones, and oddball. However I had never heard of a Shin Dumbloid. I have a fellow guitar nerd friend and we always lend out various gear to each other to try out. Yesterday I went over to pick up a Tumnus I had lent him to try out and he hands me a Shin Dumbloid clone and says to try it out. I had no idea what it was. From the name I gathered it was some sort of Dumble amp pedal. But I've never tried any of those before. I knew it was a quality clone though. He got it from a local guy that makes all kinds of clones that he sells on Craigslist (and I have used his other pedals, top notch clones.)

So a little Google research and I got the basic idea what the pedal is. And plugging it in...I was really surprised. Great sound, huge headroom.

So I'm interested in a little more info on the pedal if you all have any experience. In my current rig I use a Xotic RC Booster at the beginning of my chain for my core clean sound. Just to give my signal a little push and add sparkle, with all the other drive (all low gain) pedals after into blackface fender. And my first thought is to try this as the core clean pedal instead.

Thanks for any wisdom you have on this!

 

[GuitarsBuicks]

So here I was thinking myself a pedal connoisseur. I have a pretty decent collection with pricey ones, cheap ones, and oddball. However I had never heard of a Shin Dumbloid. I have a fellow guitar nerd friend and we always lend out various gear to each other to try out. Yesterday I went over to pick up a Tumnus I had lent him to try out and he hands me a Shin Dumbloid clone and says to try it out. I had no idea what it was. From the name I gathered it was some sort of Dumble amp pedal. But I've never tried any of those before. I knew it was a quality clone though. He got it from a local guy that makes all kinds of clones that he sells on Craigslist (and I have used his other pedals, top notch clones.)

So a little Google research and I got the basic idea what the pedal is. And plugging it in...I was really surprised. Great sound, huge headroom.

So I'm interested in a little more info on the pedal if you all have any experience. In my current rig I use a Xotic RC Booster at the beginning of my chain for my core clean sound. Just to give my signal a little push and add sparkle, with all the other drive (all low gain) pedals after into blackface fender. And my first thought is to try this as the core clean pedal instead.

Thanks for any wisdom you have on this!

I don't know anything about Dumble amps. Although I have heard that they are very, very, nice amps. I know at one point Keith Urban and Joe Bonamasa were using them.

 

[cousinpaul]

The Shin version is controversial more for it's $600 price tag than it's tones. Another outfit called Amplified Nation offers a $350 clone. The Dumbloid's circuit was eventually traced and found to be a modded Tube Screamer. Whether it sounds good or like a Dumble amp is in the ears of the beholder. I've seen copies on Reverb going for $100 or so. Sounds about right.

 

[bgmacaw]

My suggestion would be to buy (or build) a relatively inexpensive ZenDrive clone and see if you like the sound. There are some good posts on DIY pedal sites about the diode selection and such on these pedals you might find interesting.

 

[cousinpaul]

The Dumbloid is very different from a Zen Drive both in sound and design. Although it can be built on a TS circuit board, it doesn't sound like a TS either. Back when I took an interest, John Mayer and Brad Paisley were both users.