Dumbleland tone from a D'Lite kit?

[Tonefishin]

Hello...this is my first post here...but I'm here becasue I just can't get over how the guitar changed way back when somebody figured out the pickup. That was cool...and now WE AMPLIFY!!

So I jumped full bore into my first hands-on amp adventure when I ordered a D'Lite 44 kit last week. I've done a couple solder repairs on amps and modded some pedals (with a step-by-step recipe), but nothing like this. I will simply take my time and think a lot of things through. I'm pretty meticulous and I care, so I'm hoping that will get me through it.

My first ponderance is how I might get closest to my favorite Dumble tones. I really, really like SRV's Texas Flood album and that's my main driver to Dumbleland (pun intended). So I've heard/read he was playing Jackson Browne's Dumbleland and ended up ordering others from HAD after that. So that's where I'm starting.

Can anyone point me towards what type mods I sould be looking at to head in that direction. I realize the actual amp (heard it was a bass amp) is probably not where I can get to with this kit, but I'd bet there's little tweaks here and there that can move in that direction. So any help would be greatly appreciated, and I'll keep scouring the threads here and over at Brown Note.

I'll also be hangin' here and posting updates so you can see my trials...good and bad. Thanks and Cheers, Jim

[Structo]

I'm no authority but I believe SRV used a Steel String Singer and did not use it that much.
The SSS was a clean amp.
If you want the SRV sound a Fender amp would be more to taste on that.
Since that is what he used predominantly. Vibroverbs, Twins, etc.

I'm not at all saying the D'Lite is a bad amp.
In fact it is my favorite one to use currently.
There is just a lot of variables to consider before heating up the soldering iron and changing things.
Do a lot of research on the different mods.
You will hear terms thrown around here like Skyliner, Bluesmaster, HRM, etc that all have different flavors and tones.

My advice since I recently built the D'Lite 44 is to build it according to the Brown Note schematic and layout and get it working properly.
Then when you hear what you like or don't like coming out of it, come here and read every darn post pertaining to the dumble circuits.

There is a heap of info here and very helpful people but it is on you, to educate yourself before you can ask questions pertaining to your amp.
The problem I see with the D'Lite amps is they were designed around 6V6 power tubes and so the couplers, bypasses, dropping strings, aren't exactly what you might see on a typical Dumble 6L6 amp.

I'm not trying discourage you at all, just some friendly advice.
All IMHO
YMMV

[Bob-I]

Word is SRV used the SSS. Try as we might no one seems to be able to get their hands on the SSS schematic. Apparently it's quite different than the ODS so it's not really a mod, but a completley different amp.

[blue_lu]

I think custom by cougar is releasing some kind of a srv-inspired amp that goes by the name sweet little singer - the name is somewhat close to string singer, imo. coincindence?
i'm not connected to that company, just thought that *finally* I can contribute something...

[Tonefishin]

I'm no authority but I believe SRV used a Steel String Singer and did not use it that much.
The SSS was a clean amp.
If you want the SRV sound a Fender amp would be more to taste on that.
Since that is what he used predominantly. Vibroverbs, Twins, etc.

I'm not at all saying the D'Lite is a bad amp.
In fact it is my favorite one to use currently.
There is just a lot of variables to consider before heating up the soldering iron and changing things.
Do a lot of research on the different mods.
You will hear terms thrown around here like Skyliner, Bluesmaster, HRM, etc that all have different flavors and tones.

My advice since I recently built the D'Lite 44 is to build it according to the Brown Note schematic and layout and get it working properly.
Then when you hear what you like or don't like coming out of it, come here and read every darn post pertaining to the dumble circuits.

There is a heap of info here and very helpful people but it is on you, to educate yourself before you can ask questions pertaining to your amp.
The problem I see with the D'Lite amps is they were designed around 6V6 power tubes and so the couplers, bypasses, dropping strings, aren't exactly what you might see on a typical Dumble 6L6 amp.

I'm not trying discourage you at all, just some friendly advice.
All IMHO
YMMV

Thanks Tom. I too have heard that the Dumbles SRV ordered were SSS, but also that he recorded Texas Flood with Jackson Browne's Dumbleland....so that's why I was looking into those tonal directions.

I hear you about building the kit as is. They sound great that way, from what I've heard in clips. Do you know of any clip examples of the Skyliner and BM PI mods? Thanks, Jim

[Tonefishin]

Word is SRV used the SSS. Try as we might no one seems to be able to get their hands on the SSS schematic. Apparently it's quite different than the ODS so it's not really a mod, but a completley different amp.

yeah, I've been searching through this and other forums for the SSS schematics. Not sure a clean amp, especially this high powered, would be what I'd want anyway..thx, jim

[Tonefishin]

I think custom by cougar is releasing some kind of a srv-inspired amp that goes by the name sweet little singer - the name is somewhat close to string singer, imo. coincindence?
i'm not connected to that company, just thought that *finally* I can contribute something...

Yes, I have been in touch with Tommy on these amps and there are only a few slots left. I can't swing the cost (maybe it's the weak dollar...) though.

[den58]

Hey Tonefishin,
Check out the thread, "Question about strat tone through non hrm." Posted by rutledg on page 2. Listen to Stelligan's clip using a strat with his DLite 22 (6v6's). I think his amp is a Brownnote as well, you'll have to ask. You can hear him changing pickups and getting, what I think, are really nice blues tones. I'm on a very similar hunt. Hope this helps a bit,
Dennis

[talbany]

Lets see I wonder if a Dlite with 2 6V's will give me roughly same tone as a Dumbleland w/4 6550's. Answer not even close. Not even if you built a Dumbleland and loaded it with 4 or 8 6V's would it be the same. Stevie liked Big clean compressed lowend bloom tone just the opposite of what 6V's produce which is a boxy smooth easily overdriven tube. I believe the Dumbleland Stevie used for the Flood sessions was a bass amp. I think they laid down most if not all the music in like 8 hours and the Vox in like 8 hours pretty amazing that LP took like 3 or 4 days to do start to finish.


Tony VVT

[Structo]

Which amp is that one pictured?

[talbany]

That is Jackson Brown's Dumbleand the one Stevie used on the Flood sessions.

[Tonefishin]

Hey Tonefishin,
Check out the thread, "Question about strat tone through non hrm." Posted by rutledg on page 2. Listen to Stelligan's clip using a strat with his DLite 22 (6v6's). I think his amp is a Brownnote as well, you'll have to ask. You can hear him changing pickups and getting, what I think, are really nice blues tones. I'm on a very similar hunt. Hope this helps a bit,
Dennis

I'll check it out. I've heard some good stuff from Stelligan over at TGP. Thanks!

[Tonefishin]

Lets see I wonder if a Dlite with 2 6V's will give me roughly same tone as a Dumbleland w/4 6550's. Answer not even close. Not even if you built a Dumbleland and loaded it with 4 or 8 6V's would it be the same. Stevie liked Big clean compressed lowend bloom tone just the opposite of what 6V's produce which is a boxy smooth easily overdriven tube. I believe the Dumbleland Stevie used for the Flood sessions was a bass amp. I think they laid down most if not all the music in like 8 hours and the Vox in like 8 hours pretty amazing that LP took like 3 or 4 days to do start to finish.


Tony VVT

Thanks for the info and cool pic!

[oldmacman]

The key to that sound is a big, beefy output transformer and plenty of clean power.

Simple as that.

I did an Overdrive Reverb with 2x6550 and a Hammond 1650N (60W 20-20Khz rated) hi-fi OT that gets close to that tone. It originally had source-follower drivers for the output tube grids, but I ended up removing them - the difference wasn't as drastic as I had thought. Dumble probably did that with the SSS and the Dumbleland because he was driving a quad or a sextet of 6550. I did end up using two 20uF/600V film caps in parallel for the main filter, and that really tightened things up.

You're not going to get the thick bass that you need for that tone with a D-lite. So much of it is the acoustic coupling you get with a really loud amp, and you're not going to get that with a D-lite without overdriving the power amp and losing the clean sound.

[talbany]

EXACTLY!!!






Tony VVT