ROLLING AND DUMBLING

I’ve just been reading and listening to Mick Taylor doing his review of the Dumble amp. I found it most gratifying the way he described his brief experience with what is surely the most sought-after amplifier. His words were chosen and delivered truthfully, in a most meaningful, humble way from a such an experienced guitar player and I applaud him. Steve Gordon, via email

Thanks, Steve, glad you enjoyed the piece – we’ll pass on your kind words to Mick. Not everyone is interested in such ‘unobtainium’ pieces of gear, we’ll admit. Quite reasonably, some argue that if Dumbles are so rare and expensive that 99.999 per cent of us will never play one, why make such a fuss about them? All we can say is that examining amps such as that Dumble Overdrive Special in the mag when we have a rare chance to do so is not about exalting ‘Holy Grails’ for snobbery’s sake – and it most certainly isn’t because anyone needs to play a Dumble Overdrive Special in order to sound good. Nonetheless, these amps are still a benchmark for many great players, from Robben Ford and Larry Carlton to Eric Johnson. There are also now many pretenders to the Dumble crown, whose claims can be tricky to gauge for want of ready comparison. To find out how the reality measures up to the legend is, therefore, not to be missed and, in Mick’s case, a bit of a personal pilgrimage. And yes, it really was special – though perhaps in the way that an uncompromising race car is: with performance in spades but liable to expose errors as starkly as it rewards skilful handling. Most of us, we suspect, would be more comfy day-to-day with a less revealing amp – so no need to sell your granny quite yet, perhaps.