I bought a Notadumble. When JHS announced it, I was actually excited to hear about it. You see, my always-on pedal for the last few years has been a D-type.
I’ll admit. I have no idea what a Dumble sounds like. I know that it’s supposed to be the Robben Ford sound. I, also, know that several other big name players have and use them. But I have never seen an actual Dumble that I am aware. And, in a blind test, I know I would have no hope of picking one out of a pack if I heard one. At least not without a LOT of blind luck on my side.
So why do I say that I was excited? Remember those always-on pedals? I use the ones that are D-type because I like they way they sound.
I picked up a Nux Steel Singer on a whim several years ago to add to my afford-a-board. It was the first pedal that I bought that was a D-type. I got it used on Reverb for $27 shipped. The afford-a-board has gone away, but that pedal has stayed. It now sits on my smaller board between a Wampler Germanium Tumnus and a JHS Harmonic Trim at the end of my drive options. On my big board, I run a Warm Audio Warmdrive. I think it’s actually supposed to be a copy of a Hermida Zendrive, but he uses a Dumble, so it qualifies. It sits between my KTR and a Boss Trem pedal. I dig them both!
When JHS announced a D-type, I knew I’d be getting one. They may’ve already had one; I really have not idea. But I like the whole Not-a-concept pedals. The first one was fun to put together, and they’re relatively cheap in the pedalverse. So, when I saw the email that they were available, I pulled the trigger.
I like it! I prefer the drive “channel” of the two tones it has. I haven’t paid too much attention to what the sections are supposed to be. The clean “channel” sounds really nice, and it’s probably the one that’s a little closer sounding to how I have the always-on pedals set. But the drive side is really nice to my ear and probably the one that I’ll use most often.
Then came the controversy. Did Mr JHS really make a mistake or just make something to sell to the suckers? I have no idea. I have no reason to not trust his explanation of what happened. In fact, I can easily see what he explained happening. To me, it is easily a plausible series of events that took him from point A to point C instead of point B.
But, whether it was a genuine mistake (I tend to think it may’ve been) or I have been outed as a sucker, I like the pedal. So it doesn’t really matter to me. Also, I don’t have either original pedal the circuits are from, so I have no idea what one or the other is supposed to sound like. The pedal sounds good! I’ve actually been sitting here trying to decide if it’s going to be the one that finally boots the Nux off the board.
I see that some idiots are trying to sell theirs on Reverb for $300 or more. What’s worse, looking at the Transaction History, I see that other idiots are actually buying them. Yeesh! I’m not selling mine. At least not for a while. It’s a good sounding pedal. Why not use it?
Does it sound like a Dumble? I have no idea! Am I bothered because it doesn’t have the circuit originally advertised? Since I have no idea what the original pedals sounded like, the answer is no. Will I be buying the V2 whenever it comes out? I couldn’t tell you right now. I like this one, and, on the “I’m sorry” vid, I couldn’t tell much of a difference in the pedals. So, ask me after it’s announced and available.
And in a pivot to other pedals, I’ll mention that I already have a couple of those clones Behringer is making now pre-ordered. I’m a sucker for a good Klone, so I have that one ordered. And I dig a good vibe, so I have that one ordered. Sadly, I didn’t order them before the dang tariffs went into affect, so they’re costing me like $20 more than they should’ve, but they’re both ordered. The voicemail I got the day I ordered them said I might have them in hand the end of June. I’m looking forward to see if they live up to expectation.