About Me
You know… I think this is the least interesting page you could have landed on, but my wife insisted that I should tell you a bit about myself: “People are interested,” she said. So, reluctantly, here goes…
I was born with the insatiable curiosity for how things work. From the age of 5 when I "deconstructed" my first Timex © mechanical wristwatch with a butter knife, right up to the present day… I need to know how stuff works!
The tools and the know-how are more sophisticated these days and so it followed that after I finished building my guitar, the Constellation you see above, I would need an amp that would do it justice. This led me ineviably to the great Alexander Dumble’s amplifiers. Many would have considered it easier, and a whole lot cheaper, to simply go to a good music store and pick out something that sounded good. For me however, it is never enough to have just good gear; I must understand not only how a thing works, but also how it can also be improved, adapted, and made the very best.
From the very beginning it was never my intention to “recreate” the “Dumble sound,” whatever that is! When I play, I don’t want to sound like Robben, Larry or Keith, or indeed anyone else. Rather, I want to be inspired, possessed, and to "paint the air" with my own musical vision. And so, while there’s a relentless logic to Dumble’s circuits, an effortless sophistication, an obsessive attention to detail, simply reproducing a circuit with “correct” NOS components isn’t ever going to be enough to make a “clone” sound like its legendary counterpart. And much less so when I aim to build amplifiers with a radical departure from the NOS approach. But in spirit at least, I think I understand Dumble's approach to tone.
Today’s players, as much as I understand them, demand something more as I do myself. Technology has moved on and so – for instance - my amps include fully-featured, tube buffered effects loops. Modern players rely ever-increasingly on pedal board mounted effects and accordingly, these amps make for spectacular pedal platforms. It’s a departure as well from the world of digital amp modellers. It’s a return to non-linear tube magic. It’s old-school for the modern world. You are still going to need your biceps for these builds, but do yourself a favour, be a real man, be a real woman. Tube technology doesn’t come lightweight, but almost everyone agrees it comes with superior tonal benefits, almost impossible to achieve with your digital profiles. There’s a reason you don’t see the Stones touring with only a laptop.
The amps I build, which I conceive as instruments in their own right, are all hand-built from carefully selected modern, audio-grade parts and use high-grade modern transformers. I guarantee each and every amp has a unique construction and will remain serviceable throughout its working life. I can say this because I do everything, as far as I can, myself, from custom etching of the PCBs to building the cabinets they live in and I keep detailed records for each individual, uniquely serial numbered amp. After every amp is constructed, it undergoes an extensive period of “burn-in” and tuning to shape its tonal character, a process I take great pains to ensure is complete; if the amp isn’t ready, I can promise you, you aren’t going to get it until it is. So, if you want me to build that special amp, an amp especially for you, there is a lot we can do to shape these amps to your exacting standards, your particular sonic muse. Sometimes it’s easy and straightforward, sometimes it takes time.
But the mission is simple: Imagine it. Build it. Play it.
And so, if you are really that interested in knowing more about “me,” then just use the contact page and you will, soon enough.