183 OD Tone

[Jackd]

So is this the real 183?

[crbowman]

Just wondering....
Don't really know much about the provenance of this amp, but is it possible that it was voiced for a player who primarily uses the bridge pickup (and is maybe looking for a little more girth) as opposed to a player who spends most of his time on the neck pickup and consequently needs some lows rolled off? I've never really tried this voicing so I don't really know.

(Can't watch the videos. Youtube is blocked where I work.....bastards!)

[ayan]

So is this the real 183?

The youtube Jing Chi song is Robben Ford playing, presumably, his fabled 102 amp.

Gil

[boldaslove6789]

So is this the real 183?

The youtube Jing Chi song is Robben Ford playing, presumably, his fabled 102 amp.

Gil

And a fine Premise for an example of a perfectly voiced high plate NON-HRM Skyline IMO Love the tones he was getting at the time.... they're just effortlessly played and complex overtones all at the same time

[Mac Daddy]

The song "That Road" from Jing Chi Live at Yoshi's.

Brad that isn't 183 unless Robben Ford was playing it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvn1K0BQ ... 78B6AAD9C8

Great tone
The tone IMO is easy to be had
Other than Robben pulling the strings
I lot of the tone RB is getting is him rolling off the hi end thru the guitar tone
along with the amp he's playing Lol

[Mac Daddy]

[tag101]

I recently bumped into this very nice video of Matt playing 183

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGGkAvgl_hI

OUCH!!! Guys, what you are hearing in that clip is digital clipping all over the place. That's why its strongest on the low notes. That sounds like total $hit to me. If you want it to be, 183 is smooth as glass all over. The only amp I have played that may be smoother is the TwoRock emerald Pro, but that does not have the richness of 183. One other point regarding smoothness, is Brad never dials an amp in for that. He goes for a much more vintage power amp type breakup in everything he dials in. I cant even play an amp with his settings and be comfortable at all. That being said, the richness and huge sound that 183 can do as well has won me over. I still like a smooth sound, but you loose harmonic content when you move in that direction. As far as Fords 102 amp goes, for anyone seeing him live recently ( actually as far back as Blue moon) and back in the blue line era, it is a totally different sound. In person, it went from that smooth juicy tone (that I hear in the lower mids of 183) to a much more harsh, painful tone in person. The mids shifted up and became over bearing, at least to me. I don't think anyone other than Dumble himself will ever know what changed, but its a totally different sound in person. It seems Ford does not even want that tone anymore. He probably just got bored with it. No one was a bigger fan than I was, and at this point, I even like hearing him with a more traditional tone which he seems to favor now. His playing has pretty much gone full circle, (unfortunate for us jazz lovers) and his tone seems to have followed right along. I am not sure how many of these other clones have nailed 183, but what I CAN tell you is that the bottom end will stay as tight and focused as you want it to. It all comes down to personal taste and your style, but everyone needs to at least hear, if not play the actual 183 before passing any judgement. I have played a lot of Dumbles, clones, and amps in general, and its still the ONLY amp that made me feel like the amp was worth that much $$$. And never mind the overdriven tones, the cleans are better than any Dumble I have played. (Although IMO, still not nearly as good as a good fender) 183 is one very, very cool amp.

[tag101]

Tony,

As per my experience upping the pots to 250K, or the input trimmer to 350K, is a step in the wrong direction...by which I mean away from smoothness. In all fariness to 183, however, the video you posted is not an example of an amp that would make me turn my head. I realize some people may like that type of sound, but to me it's a good example of gratuitous distortion: to much buzz but no chirp, no bloom, no sustain, etc. -- kind of reminds me of John Scofied's tone, who to me sounds best playing clean, and without chorus for chissakes! However, the very same in different hands:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwFz9_cVh6Y

And you have yourself a winner in my book.

Gil

I recently bumped into this very nice video of Matt playing 183

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGGkAvgl_hI

I really noticed how loose and woolly OD tone is (with that hollow body)..To me this is a pretty good example of what you get when you up the values of both drive and level pots,( in 183 case to 250k)...This could IMO be why some people like the 183 OD tone (I see no real magic here)..If a thicker fatter lower mids and more toothed breakup on the lower notes is your thang by all means knock yourself out.. For me I started there and was there for a while but after going back to the stock 100kL on both in my 102 I found it focused the overall tone cut through the mix better and more importantly helped with sustain and bloom factor.. I am not saying one is better than the other as my MM has a 250k Level in it and love the amp.. Just thought I would point out the differences that I notice..You can decide

Take Care All

Tony

To be totally fair, I think the video of Nick is smoothing things out a bit, but I don't think that cab/speaker combo is doing the amp justice either. I have all kinds of semi open back 2/12s with all different kinds of speakers, but IMO, 183 sounds the best with a closed back cab. Almost all of my other D style amps sounded better for the most part with a semi open back. My favorite tones are 183 through my mesa 4/12 with G12h30s. Overdrive as smooth as glass, all the brightness you could ever want, no treble cap needed, and huge, open, clean tones with plenty of chime. the only cab/speaker combination I have found that gives the best of both worlds. The mesa compared to a vintage marshall cab, also has a little more give to it on the attack of the note, which I really love. It almost adds a tube rectifier feel to the Dumble.