jpfeifer
May 28th, 2010, 10:11 AM
Hi Everyone,
After years of playing I'm finally zeroing in on the type of sounds that I really seem to gravitate to. One of the common things that I like from various players (Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, Eric Johnson, ... ) is this special lead tone that they get that is more vocal-like and not as crunchy as the typical overdriven guitar tone.
I can "almost" get this tone from a setting on my Vox Valvetronix amp called "Boutique OD" that is supposedly modeled after a Howard Dumble amp. Then I realized all of these guys play Dumble amps. That's it, it must be the Dumble sound that I'm hearing. Only, ... you can't buy Dumble amps unless you are willing to shell out 10's of thousands of dollars, even if you can find one in decent shape.
I discoverd this boutique pedal, that everyone raves about ,called the "Zendrive". Supposedly it's a very good copy of the Dumble tone that I've been looking for. I just ordered one, so I can't wait to get it. Apparently these pedals can take a while to ship because they guy makes them by hand in his shop.
Here is a link to more details about this pedal and some sound clips from it.
http://www.vendio.com/stores/HermidaAudio/item/effects-pedals/zendrive/lid=2384441
You can see several that were made by Chuck D'Aloia, who is a member of this forum. Chuck's tone is exactly the type of sound that I like. It's almost saxaphone-like and very musical and not too overdriven. The notes aren't so squished in distortion that you can't hear the picking dynamics, etc. Everything is intact, but still much fatter and musical than a completely clean tone.
I'll post a review of it once I recieve it.
--Jim
After years of playing I'm finally zeroing in on the type of sounds that I really seem to gravitate to. One of the common things that I like from various players (Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, Eric Johnson, ... ) is this special lead tone that they get that is more vocal-like and not as crunchy as the typical overdriven guitar tone.
I can "almost" get this tone from a setting on my Vox Valvetronix amp called "Boutique OD" that is supposedly modeled after a Howard Dumble amp. Then I realized all of these guys play Dumble amps. That's it, it must be the Dumble sound that I'm hearing. Only, ... you can't buy Dumble amps unless you are willing to shell out 10's of thousands of dollars, even if you can find one in decent shape.
I discoverd this boutique pedal, that everyone raves about ,called the "Zendrive". Supposedly it's a very good copy of the Dumble tone that I've been looking for. I just ordered one, so I can't wait to get it. Apparently these pedals can take a while to ship because they guy makes them by hand in his shop.
Here is a link to more details about this pedal and some sound clips from it.
http://www.vendio.com/stores/HermidaAudio/item/effects-pedals/zendrive/lid=2384441
You can see several that were made by Chuck D'Aloia, who is a member of this forum. Chuck's tone is exactly the type of sound that I like. It's almost saxaphone-like and very musical and not too overdriven. The notes aren't so squished in distortion that you can't hear the picking dynamics, etc. Everything is intact, but still much fatter and musical than a completely clean tone.
I'll post a review of it once I recieve it.
--Jim