![]() ![]() So, he ordered this 2x12 cabinet from him. He said he treats speaker cabinet making as a luthier treats building a guitar body - by “tuning” the cabinet. He finds older seasoned wood, from barns and such. ![]() So only 2 of the tubes are included.Īlexander told the owner he hand-builds speaker cabinets. Dumble told him to just use 2 of the 6L6 tubes for 50 watts and that is the way he always ran the amp. When Dumble was adding the tremolo circuit, the owner mentioned the amp had more power than he needed or was used to. This Odyssey head has only one input and the ground toggle was capped at some point prior to the owner buying the amplifier. This Odyssey head is a transition model, labeled “Odyssey Concert Amplifier” instead of just “Odyssey Concert”. ![]() Alexander added his own tremolo circuit and Alexander also serviced the amp and gave it a “tune up”. He took this Odyssey head to Alexander shortly after he bought it as he wanted Alexander to add a tremolo circuit. Note: The Dumble Odyssey was named after “The Odyssey Club” in Santa Cruz, CA after the owner of the club asked Alexander to build him a couple of power amplifiers.Īfter buying the Odyssey, the owner contacted Dumble. This owner bought the Odyssey head, serial # 022 used from a music store in West LA where he worked at that time back in 1988. Note the POP-1 on the back it is just speculation could that mean Phoenix Overdrive Preamp # 1? Never a repair needed or alteration made (it sounds fantastic-more on that later). This Pre-Amp has never been opened by anyone since Alexander Dumble built it–it is 100% original Dumble. This overdrive pre-amp is just as the original owner bought it from Alexander. ![]() This Phoenix overdrive pre-amp comes from the original owner who purchased it new, directly from his friend Alexander Dumble at Dumble’s house in 1990. I included a page from “The Dumble Book” that opines on the extreme rarity and versatility of the Phoenix overdrive pre-amp.Īnd as Dumble responded to a 1985 Guitar Player Magazine interview about the Phoenix:“Could there be an ultimate amp for you, or are the Overdrive and Steel-String Singer too distinctive to be combined? Well, the Phoenix series is where I've done that … The overdrive section is expanded – instead of two overdrive controls, you have four.”Īlso mentioned in the Dumble Book about the preamp model is that there is so much more to it than the name suggests – “it is probably the most versatile musical product made by Howard Alexander Dumble.” I have never heard of one for sale until now. IT IS BELIEVED THAT ONLY 2-3 DUMBLE PHOENIX OVERDRIVE PRE-AMPS WERE EVER MADE BY ALEXANDER DUMBLE. I also was involved with providing many photos as well as text & information for “The Dumble Book” by Jesse Schwarz. And in those 50 years I have had over 65 original Dumble amplifiers & different Dumble produced items. Dumble had circled a washer and dryer unit and told Cross that if he bought those for him, they were square.So, check with us if you have any questions and are interested, as it may be sold from our website and not be available. I have been buying and selling vintage guitars and amps for over 50 years. “When I asked him what I owed him, he handed me a torn-out page from a Sears catalog,” recalls Cross. At the time, Dumble was living in a house owned by Jackson Browne and Cross headed up there to pay for the custom relay box. “I really couldn’t afford to mess around with pedals at that time,” says Cross. An oversized cord went to a blue two-space rack unit that housed mechanical relays to control which amp was engaged. Each guitar only had a middle and bridge pickup and was outfitted with a heavy-duty switch-imagine the massive switches on the back of vintage Fender amps. The solution was based around a pair of Japan-made Strats that were modified by Valley Arts. Naturally, Cross needed a way to switch between sounds easily. Cross and Dumble decided on two KT88-loaded heads (a first for Dumble at the time) with matching 2x12 cabinets in orange suede for a clean sound and an Overdrive Special with a 4x12 cab for a lead sound. One of the early users of his amps was singer/songwriter Christopher Cross, who was brought in by Bonnie Raitt. His off-the-grid lifestyle forced Dumble to frequently look at alternate payment arrangements with clients. ![]()
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