“I sold all my Dumbles. Then 2020 rolled around and I said, ‘Man, I’ve been missing the boat!’” Joe Bonamassa explains why he sold all his Dumble amps — and why he’s now got more than ever
Ten years ago, Joe Bonamassa did a surprising thing. His trio of Dumble guitar amps had been vital tools in sculpting his tone — along with Marshall and Van Weelden amplifiers — but he felt it was time to switch things up with his tube amps.
“Two years ago, I mothballed that whole cliché of the rig I’m most associated with,” he explained to Total Guitar in 2016. “The two Marshalls and the two Van Weeldens and the Dumbles and the effects board and everything.
“I sold all my Dumbles. I had three at one point and I sold them all. One I traded for a ’59 Les Paul, which I get way more joy from.”
Bonamassa filled the vacancies with a collection of Fender Tweeds, and that seemed to be the end of his lust for Dumbles.
For 15 years, Bonamassa had searched high and low for the Dumble Overdrive Special Reverb owned by Little Feat guitarist Lowell George. The amp hadn’t been played since the night before George’s death in June 1979, when he used it for a performance at Lisner Auditorium in Washington.
Bonamassa’s search famously came to an end earlier this year when he found and purchased the coveted piece of gear, which he calls “the crown jewel” of his amp collection.
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