Is This UAFX Dumble Worth the Hype? The Enigmatic Overdrive Special

[@michaelgregory2231]

I've been a guitarist for 54 years, 45 of those professionally in California and Nashville, so I have high standards. In the last two days I've watched several demo/review videos on this pedal, but I was waiting for yours because you're one of the few people with a gear demo channel who can actually play well and go through the subtleties of a piece of gear that a less mature player would pass over (as in almost every other demo video for this pedal). Thank you!

[@Arby82]

⬆ THIS.

[@johnnathancordy]

Well that's very kind - I just wanted to give an honest first impression rather than getting too into the weeds with the app control etc so sorry if it's a bit surface level!!

[@michaelgregory2231]

@@johnnathancordy It was enough to make me seriously consider getting one. :-)

[@ora_street_mission_band]

This man knows

[@TDenander]

I got it yesterday...I've had the pleasure of being around 2 legendary Dumble's in the past and even playing one...this is as close as I can remember the sound and feeling....honestly it's pretty much "THAT" sound I've heard in my head for years. I've already done 2 sessions with it and it records fantastic!

[@johnnathancordy]

For me I've not played a Dumble, but I've played and owned quite a few clones - likewise this pretty much gets closer to that Dumble drive sound that I had in mind than any of those amps did?

[@25dbz-ot9br]

I’ve played an ODS and a SSS and (especially the ODS) the big thing is the overtones and touch sensitivity. And on a more specific level, it does one thing when dialed in no other amp on earth does: pick light and it is clean AND compressed. Then when you dig in it adds gain AT THE SAME VOLUME as the clean with NO change in the vol knob. Does this amp do that?

[@TDenander]

@@johnnathancordy It is funny because as soon as I saw this pedal come out I thought about you haha...this HAS to be the perfect amp for the tones you also love! :D There are some very nice clones out there but the true Dumble sound is as the pedal is called very egnimatic. There are 10 dollar wines that taste ok but the 50 dollar version is usually a lot nicer...this is the 400 dollar perfection sort of! The secrets live in the finest particles...that touch sensitive changing of so many important parts etc...and they really nailed it this time. For most players and listeners it most likely sound almost the same as a Kemper profile or Fractal...I have them all as I'm sure you do as well....but for those who can hear and do care it IS that much better! Thanks for a great channel and always great playing :)

[@TDenander]

@@25dbz-ot9br Very much so!!!

[@diangara3298]

​@@25dbz-ot9brA 5e3 can do a similar thing. But I guess how clean is clean, how light you have to play to get that clean and how that compares to a Dumble is probably a whole other thing. But for what it's worth it's definitely responsive to attack. And a lot easier to get your hands on.

[@TechyTimM]

I had the chance to get a good, long under-the-hood look at the Enigmatic today with UA and was really impressed with the wide range of where this pedal can go. I think it'll be a winner for a lot of people, especially those who want to dial it in ahead of a gig and then only have to worry about fine-tuning adjustments for the room and such during the actual gig. It takes other pedals well, too. I've never played a real Dumble, so I can't compare the feel, but I was quite impressed. I think we'll hear more from this pedal.

[@patrickmcelligott5646]

Very, very nice, highly complementary, your sense of melody is highly appreciated, and nuance of control, dynamics, space, it fits wonderfully. Thank you

[@Antron89]

Wow, you are the first one to show a nice clean / edge of breakup tone. Actually first demo to make it sound good to me.

[@peterpicker850]

Totally agree. Everyone seems to like testing out this pedal with mid focused humbuckers, too much drive, and slop rock chords. Lol.

[@jeremyversusjazz]

Agree

[@jeremyversusjazz]

Great demo brother…Lee anderton summed this and all the UA amp pedals up perfectly to me: its not about recreating a dumble “in the room” its about recreating a dumble (or any of their amps in a box) produced and coming out of studio monitors… so how it might sound on a record…Thats how i think of and use my Dream 65 UA pedal…also, i find, these pedals are very sensitive…tiny knob tweaks make big differences.

[@illbehereagain]

Just got mine from Sweetwater yesterday. After sitting down with it and tweaking the controls I was amazed ... of course I've never owned a Dumble LOL! It is a pedal that you need to spend some time with, once you do it will give you what you want whether it's glassy cleans, creamy OD, and much more. I also registered it and now have a total of 9 cabs. I downloaded the mobile app and am amazed at the ADDITIONAL stuff you can tweak! I may not leave the house for a while :-). In all seriousness with this I think UA has outdone themselves, worth every penny IMHO.

[@bobbyschnitzer4098]

As a Dumble owner for 30 years, You've done a great Demo. Hot and delicate playing without distracting from the intent of trying, and showing this Fantastic pedal.I would be getting one if I wasn't happy with my current modeling gear. I did need to put myself thru......playing along with you and back and forth listening to feel sure that my Gear can "Do Dumble" . I sold mine about ten years ago and thank goodness the technology has come so far that I don't miss it....too much. Again, Thank You for Demoing this pedal and playing so Musically.

[@plasticmac1439]

As someone who's a big fan of the Gramatico GSG100 in the helix, I'd love to hear how the two stack up against each other through the same IR/cab sim.

[@aaronashear3002]

I too would love a comparison. L6 or Fractal vs. UA

[@PedalPoopers]

At one point I really liked the Gramatico model in the Helix/Pod Go but when I stacked it against a few Dumbler pedals, those cheap pedals blew the Gramatico models away. It wasn't about sound preferences but rather just the quality. I assume the Enigmatic would blow it away

[@plasticmac1439]

@@PedalPoopers What pedals are you referring to?

[@h20s56]

The fact that the Edge used UA's pedals for the Sphere says something. Do I need this...nope. Will I get it, of course.

[@illbehereagain]

LOL!

[@brunodias1513]

Great deduction! Kkkkk

[@tysonkeffer]

Loved the initial jam. First time I have ever rewound a review video to take a second listen to the opening jam.

[@quartaltrio747]

It's incredible how you make every fucking thing sound the SAME... It's a compliment btw.

[@johnnathancordy]

This one to me got to a pretty good end result without much hassle at all which was nice!

[@Arby82]

I look forward to hearing this pedal in your future videos - not as a the focus, but as just another part of your rig. It seems to suit you very well.

[@dannyblau3850]

I would never doubt how close they get but where I feel like they really just knocked this out of the park is the additional step for you to “design YOUR Dumble”. Giving you access to all the under the hood items you would have fine tuned and tweaked to you and your playing and taste if you were building out an amp with AD for you. Definitely excited to pick one up here in a few weeks.

[@johnnathancordy]

You're right actually, on the one hand this is quite a simple way to interact with a Dumble model, but if you want to get into it, it's actually a more complete model than almost any others (I don't think any other modeler has the HRM internal tonestack adjustable?)

[@BillHeIsRisen]

I really love watching and listening to you play.

[@musicmann1967]

I think you had the wrong idea about the Mid (presence) knob. It's not sculpting the presence of the mids, its a dual function knob. STandard function its a mid boost or cut. In its secondary function its cutting or boosting the high end sparkle of a presence control. In the beginning when you rolled back that knob, thinking you were just making it smoother and darker by cutting the mid presence, I heard the mids go away. That didn't seem right so I looked at the manuel. The knobs are mostly dual function, (where you see parentheses) so it can be tricky if you don't at least look at the manuel. From what I've heard so far, it's a very nice sounding pedal

[@IamMusicNerd]

Very few things are ever worth the hype. Dumble clones especially. Every Dumble is different, custom made for the player that ordered it. So there are hundreds of different dumble tones, and since 99% of us have never played a real one, there is no way to tell how close to the original they are. So just pick one you like the sound of and be happy. :)

[@goport]

impressive pedal hat colour co-ordination

[@alexharvin2870]

This has to be one of my absolute favorite channels on KZbin! Thank you for all your hard work. Have you ever done a video showing your process of creating your intro tracks?

[@nicolasmaurin182]

To me , you have always the same tone, whatever the piece of gear that you use. I must be deaf. 😂

[@haroldbelfast]

You're not deaf unless I am, too. Great sound, but pretty much the same, no matter what the gear.

[@nicolasmaurin182]

@@haroldbelfast 😆😆😆

[@Arthur_My_Dear]

And therein lies the antidote to gas

[@leemac1659]

That's why it is said that "tone is in the fingers."

[@dscataglini]

It's because partially the tone is in the fingers/hands/pick/playing and partially we like certain sounds so no matter what gear we gets we'll dial it to sound what our ears found pleasing. If the gear doesn't get us that sound, we'll adjust our playing to get it

[@alanschwartz4047]

Everyone I've heard who uses Dumble Overdrive Special plays Humbuckers. Larry Carlton Ulused hum-single -single active EMG 's w his ODS on LIVE FROM LAST NIGHT. Check out THE BP BLUES. It really shows what a badass blues player Larry is. I had a Ceriatone ODS 50 combo, &. Ceriatone Plexi 50 w 4x12 greenbacks. I always reached for the Plexi w my 69 strat. Bludotone makes a pretty flawless ODS amp. Larry loves those, & told me they're just as good. I'm all for making stuff that sounds as good as the old school analog originals. Hasn't been perfected, but it will eventually. John-I agree that your tone is always great.

[@craiger2399]

Love the sounds, and they smack of a bassman's low mids with the tube screamer's mids and a high cut, which is a sound I am fond of.

[@djcode6983]

Great playing man, really great sounding pedal. Glad to see you use it straight out of the box.

[@TLMuse]

I didn't "get" it until the outro, when you dressed it up a bit. Then it was really lovely-and so was the playing! -Tom

[@illgottengains1314]

I didn’t really get it and I was a bit snarky about the Dumble sound but the last couple of notes you played hit the spot big time. I’m really pleased for you that this pedal came out, sounds like you’ve made a new friend 🥲

[@jshearer94]

Great video! Cool insights too. My tech in FL had an electric guitar fretboard come included because of too much humidity in the case.

[@JoseDW7000]

That last jam was oh so gooood wanted it to last for hours

[@MonkeyDLuffy-cq2lo]

it is time for universal audio to have its own multi effects for Guitar and Bass

[@rogerYT69]

have mine since yesderday and I am blown away ...and it's a very good pedal platform 😊

[@scke3717]

I think i need more gear so I wont have to practice my actual playing skills.

[@douglascrawford4791]

I agree I play guitar not effects

[@dave_d_i_a_l]

So, I just switched back and forth from your most recent VHT D-50 video John, and the difference I’m hearing immediately is more dynamic headroom in the attack of the note. I’m not sure if I could pick it out in a mix or in a blind test, but your VHT D-50 sound review is more inspiring to me…. 🤷‍♂️

[@johnnathancordy]

I'll go back - to be honest most times with the clone amps I've not found they necessarily get into that creamy/sustaining thing that I'm looking for particularly easily?

[@dave_d_i_a_l]

It’s like Dumble said himself, there is something about audio floating around in a tube that just sounds more open and alive (paraphrase obviously). I truly believe no circuit will ever replace that feeling and sound of the real deal, and honestly when I hear you play the D-50VHT it’s truly inspiring…

[@dave_d_i_a_l]

@@johnnathancordytrue enough, when you push the D-50 with the 5 watt world BUSS, I bet you hit that creamyness…. I see exactly what your saying though…. I just went back and listened again John lol, the D-50 sounds fantastic man… and I’m listening on crummy iPad stereo 😂

[@andreadichiara1280]

Great pedal! In my case, I have an ETHOS Overdrive pedal, which I think also delivers a sound that closely resembles the Dumble tone

[@vaughnwebbermusic]

The matching hat is a nice touch

[@Tonebreakfast]

Sounds so beautiful with Silver sky here

[@ballestero8785]

Comparison of HX GSG / Fractal / ToneX / UAFX would be great

[@johnnathancordy]

I will try to figure this out!

[@Aquiiin]

@@johnnathancordy yes pleeease

[@ShreddingFinn]

I never had an itch to buy the Ruby but this one perks my interest, using the Litigator exclusively past couple months

[@trevorjohnson8142]

Thank you so much for this video. I was hoping you would review this pedal. You're one of the only trust worthy guys on KZbin, and the pedal sounds great. I was thinking about using this in a hybrid rig, potentially wet-dry, with a loop switcher, but I hate that there doesn't seem to be a way to switch the channels with either MIDI or remote switch that a loop switch could trigger. Do you know anyway around this? Also, I'd love a more in-depth look at how the pedal works if you're ever so inclined.

[@stevesnuffer]

Same I absolutely trust John's opinion!!

[@Twominutedevotions]

I’ve been thinking about this pedal a lot. It seems like an expensive pedal until you realize the context of what it actually is. Back in the 80s and 90s you had an amp or two. And that’s if you had enough money to buy it. You would buy what you afford or buy something used, typically $300-$500 used. Technology is offering us the ability to get 98% of the way into the ballpark of these extremely sought after amplifiers for that price point that we all bought our first or second amplifiers that were nowhere near the level of refinement of this device. And for that money, you get something back, then that you might be able to have enough volume to gig with regardless of how it sounded. This plus a $50-100 full range powered speaker and you’ve got PLENTY of amp for everything. And then you can take this and a small pedalboard into any studio situation and you have a sound that would impress any producer or engineer. We really don’t appreciate how good we have it.

[@AZFunk]

the demo drag, John, is that you dial in your preferred tone not matter the gear ;) You do it well, but it doesn't particularly show off what the vendor was aiming for. That said, always great playing. Definitely eyeing one of these for a Christmas gift.

[@johnnathancordy]

That's an interesting point - I think myself/and I presume other guitarists have always assumed we were paying for form factor etc with the modeling stuff in the current way of doing things?

[@kmjansen]

F’ing killer intro, man. I was napping and had to wake up and see who is playing that.

[@pearsonart]

Time to compare side by side: 1 This 2 Barber Burn Unit or 5WW variation 3 Dover Drive 4 Zen Drive 5 Chandler The Barber is important. He pioneered most of this DIAB movement. The best I’ve used was the Barber Small Fry. To be fair, the Barber Direct Drive v1 gets close with the tone (harmonics) pulled out and internal tone pots tweaked. They all share the sag / compression / feel / hair.

[@jimsalman7257]

Apples and oranges. Those are analog overdrive pedals, intended to be used in front of an amp. The Enigmatic is a digital amp emulator. In other words, it is the "amp".

[@pearsonart]

Fair point. Maybe a comparison between modelers.

[@stevesnuffer]

I was waiting for your review on this John 🤟🎶

[@jamesearl389]

Every JNC video: Let me get the exact tone on this gear as I do with every other piece of gear. Next week, he’s going to get this tone from an oboe.

[@johnnathancordy]

Just took delivery of a trombone

[@jamesearl389]

@@johnnathancordy❤️❤️ Well……I said it as a joke……….but you’ve proven a couple great points………..all gear today is versatile and good; you know how to work WITH whatever gear you have to make it work for you……..which probably means it would work for each of us; and your hands are golden, which is what I look for in musicians to play with

[@davidlindsay9142]

Well played 😂

[@kmac.]

I think I like the higher gain tones from the Enigmatic the best. You might enjoy checking out Free the Tone's Dumble inspired ODL-1 as well.

[@IvorThomas]

I ordered one a few days ago. Can’t wait. Mostly will be used directly into DAW maybe with a compressor and boost pedal going into the front end. I’m wondering if something like that new Fender full range ‘amp’ would turn these UA ‘amps’ into a gig rig?

[@johnvcougar]

One of these embedded in a Tonemaster would be a cool modern day take on an amp mod … hmmmm … 🤔

[@IvorThomas]

@@johnvcougar The UA pedal arrived today. It sounds and feels badass even without messing with it much at all. The listening and recording levels work exceptionally well with my UA Arrow interface into Logic. I couldn’t be happier with this thing. I definitely plan on schlepping it to a music store that has a Tonemaster FRFR.

[@kimmolingonheimo]

just to satisfy my curiosity, getting a Mad Professor Simble CLONE for 80€, handmade in my home, Finland, a very Dumblish pedal they say, Ive got 3 originals already..., my number 1 in my chain!

[@christopherbuck7679]

It seems to me all amps are based on ones that have gone before, but hot rodded, or tweaked around the tone circuits. I have an old proamp 60w valve combo, I had the tone circuits modified as I used a tele live in the band I was in at the time, I changed bands and then used my mesa 22+ which I had modded. I still have these amps as well as a blues Seville, and silver face. In the main If I tweak any of the amps I can get my feel of how I play over very well with all of them, and certainly the guitar makes difference even different strata etc. I suppose what I’m saying is that a lot of this is in the players head, playing a dumble in a packed hot club would not be noticeable to a mesa, etc at volume. Like that PRS sounds lovely, (nice colour too) I have an SE and it stacks up well to my strats, but then again they all sound different when played side by side, and across different amps.

[@johnnathancordy]

I think there is a definite similarity between the Dumble ODS and the Mark II Mesa and the topology is apparently quite similar too. And I guess they both started moreorless from a Fender Bassman and tweaked from there?

[@christopherbuck7679]

@@johnnathancordy yes 100% that bassman had a big Impact on future amps. I teach guitar and folk say ‘I wanna sound like blah blah…’ they will work it out them selves as it’s mostly in the hands of the player in my view. There is a video of satriani playing satch boogie on a LP junior, sounds really good to my ears.

[@FuzzWoof]

I've had a couple of other UAFX amp pedals (a Ruby and a Lion) and I won't buy another. I detest having features and settings locked away behind a phone app, let alone one which doesn't always work right. The Lion in particular sounded fairly decent, but some of the settings they chose to only have in the app were just bizarre. Also, I had to factory reset the Lion twice after it went randomly weird, so that went back pretty swiftly with no regrets!

[@jackprice7828]

John I've been waiting to hear your review on this pedal. Thus far there have only been a couple of guitarist youtubers that I thought really brought out the benefits or value this supposed Dumble pedal is hyped to be. Initially with the SS it really has a real nice warmth and depth playing it dry with no wet effects. Is it not obtainable by other means or amp models? Remains to be seen I think.

[@johnnathancordy]

I'd imagine the Fractal stuff could get somewhat close, but the appeal with the UA stuff is probably in part down to the simplicity?

[@ChrisJones-ht9zn]

I think that playout is the best I've heard you sound. I think you may have found your pedal 🙂

[@johnnathancordy]

I really liked that tone too!

[@GuitarGears4544]

I'm not a fan of the wooly overdrive when it's pushed too far, but for cleanish, edge of breakup, and moderately overdriven tones it sounds great. It's not a metal amp, but that shouldn't surprise anyone, right?

[@taylorclayton3402]

John, I feel like a broken record after reading some of the comments… But I would love to hear your genuine, unadulterated opinion of how this stacks up against the fractal stuff… Does it offer something that fractal cannot deliver? Thanks so much!

[@RyanKorea]

I wish UAD would release a unit with multiple amps and their amazing compressors and reverbs. But it wouldn't work with how expensively they mark up their plugins.

[@robertbrown1778]

Well, EytschPi42 said "it sounds nothing like anything digital". Maybe there's a challenge: to see how close you can get with a Fractal. I'm always happy to see a non-App demo fwiw.

[@bighornaudioproductions6104]

My favorite of the uad amp pedals forsure love it!

[@Zeinzu2]

@John Nathan Cordy. I have ALWAYS wanted to know what one of these pedals sounds like plugged into a spot inside a Helix (Floor)signal path. Maybe placed inbetween a few things.

[@hexoflexo]

If only there was a UAFX Multiamp device...

[@djcode6983]

From what I heard about the size of the algos they use to make these, thats not easy. Then there is so much you can edit on some of these pedals that I’m sure they will need to get it right to make it as easy as these to use. But I agree, it would be ace to have that in one board.

[@tootiegrigio713]

I’m not sure where a multi amp device would be used in your comment, but for most of my uses I only use one amp and base my amp decision off what my needs are. I could see maybe if I was in a cover band that played blue grass to heavy metal, but for the normal range one amp and a pedal or two usually does it.

[@daveydragon6268]

In fairness I think you might not be far off…that UA team are EXTREMELY experienced product developers and the the omission of things like IR loader, remote switch for channel switch and even something like usb midi capability would make more sense if f we see a multi amp product in a couple of years…like a pro level rack mount with some added in fx. Tor has released so many pedal products that have integration in mind that I find it hard to believe this pedal format is the endgame for the UAFX team… …can only but dream lol

[@Rrouthmusic]

That’s what I’ve said or create these in a rack style format

[@brianmiller3287]

If UA made a pedal with multiple amps they wouldn't be able to sell oodles of individual amp pedals. Once they sell many "individual" amp pedals, I suspect, THEN, the multiple amps pedal will come out....

[@nr5005]

It's amazing!

[@cyrilcrn]

I have to say I don't really understand why you'd want to dive into a smartphone app if you're buying a physical pedal... Just buy a good plugin or modeler at this point ? Also, there's quite a lot of competition... For €285, you could get the Crazy Tube Circuits Unobtanium which is a Klone and two Dumbles.. Ampero Stomp is €459 and it does way more... That sounded good regardless, thanks for the demo JC.

[@jackprice7828]

John if you could get your hands on the PRS Silver Sky "Dead Spec" model I would be glad to your take on it. What I've heard so far is pretty incredible.

[@Place_to_keep_videos]

Can they give us a HIWATT DR103 next?

[@ThePlanarchist]

Sounds good, great playing as ever helping...presumably straight into your audio interface? How does it sound through the Fender FRFR as I know you're a fan of that being the closest to "amp in the room" sound/feel? Cheers!

[@bustalick335]

As the real thing is so rare, it's kinda hard to compare. As a tone, it sounds good.😊

[@danandrews2650]

Hi John, what was your signal path for this? I really enjoyed the tone. My FM9 has a very similar tone , however, I like the way using a 4cable method with this UA you can switch from your normal preamp/amp to this througn effects retrun.

[@johnvcougar]

Yeah, bring on the app. My Ox box is greatly expanded with the app that drives it.

[@stevesnuffer]

JNC Enigmatic Presets coming soon!?

[@JonnyDee123]

Does it sound like Dumble? Who knows, as there are about only 5 people on the planet who've played one 🙂 So here's another pricey pedal... and that's fine - it's OK but to me but these high end boxes all sound good (although pretty much of a muchness). The real differential is in the fingers and you, sir, have that certain je ne sais quoi in spades. Lovely playing. Q. What's providing that mahoosive ethereal reverb in the demo?

[@JamminJim42]

Hey John, I Think if you register it you get more cabs. Cheers

[@89digits59]

You can get almost same or very close to this with a Joyo American Sound and a Boss DS 1 or a Boss Blues Driver - if you know how to go about it - I'm not trying to critique this pedal, but just saying that it's all in the player - John here sounds almost same no matter what he plays, I'm waiting for the Boss Metal Zone demo by him, where he will again sound like Eric Johnson 🙂

[@johnnathancordy]

Hmm what DS1 settings would you go for this? I could see a Tubescreamer/Zendrive getting you there but DS1, not so much. Let me see if I can get a Metal Zone ha

[@forestmusicforanimals]

Thanks

[@joek81981]

Am I mistaken - doesn't the Dream 65 already have a Dumble'ish setting? I haven't opened their terrible little app in a while, but I thought there was. I don't hear a further $400 difference beyond the Dream 65. This coulda been a firmware update to the D65, I reckon.

[@ofthe7552]

😂

[@l.m.372]

try the new fuchs odh amp. 5lbs, sounds fantastic, lightweight, direct out.

[@johnnathancordy]

I hadn't heard of this one!! Checking it out now

[@huuss]

we cant compare it with the real amp but we can compare it with the dude or vertex pedals

[@vkelly1975]

Is it as good as the Royal overdrive by van weeldan? UAFX are releasing the KNUCKLES a mesa boogie triple rectifier next.

[@eanroad]

John, I Tried all the UAFX amp pedals and while sounding amazing, the feel was off (maybe due with the latency or the compression, don’t know). What are your impressions on the feel and what other amp modeler would you compare the feel to (which I pretty much tried or owned most of them)?

[@lukepowell1201]

I think the early demo's from a lot of other influencers who are not as familiar with Dumbles demonstrates that an authentic Dumble is not necessarily easy to play. Some players I really like have videos with this new Enigmatic pedal and it shows that they don't know what to do with it and the tones they get are just really not that great. YOU on the other hand sound fantastic! But it takes a player who knows what kind of sounds and style to look for, and how to play it. I don't have the cash right now but once I do I will be getting one.

[@gffg387]

So, you're saying that this new pedal is better than the Two Rock Amps and the Fuchs Amps???? WOW!

[@ipablogomez]

It would be interesting to compare the sound of the Enigmatic with the sound of the Tonex library which captured some Dumble amps.

[@djcode6983]

@@ipablogomez UA used 4 Dumble amps to create the enigmatic. So that would be an interesting comparison. If the Tonex amps are captures, I’d imagine there would be a limitation to how dynamic it could be against this. But I’m only guessing. I’d second a shoot out

[@chrisgmurray3622]

When I git into live music, it was amps and analogue effects. People of John's age were born at a time where newer technologies abounded, and it's only natural to explore what's happening in the tech of the day. John's familiarity with modelling makes it a seemingly natural choice to use, but we are nit robots... we have organic bodies to consume music with, and what would you prefer to put into your body? Simulated lab-grown meat and artificial chemical flavourings? Can't taste the difference? Still no reason to out these " Big Food" industrial things in your body. Given the choice anyone who cares about their body would choose organic meat fruit and vegetables rather than some simulated artificially flavoured food that probably makes you ill, but makes so much sense ( professionally speaking) for some people hoping to prepare a large feast with predictable industrial ease. But since we have actuall bodies to hear music ( and feel it), who would settle for an artificial vanilla flavour instead of actual seeds from a pod of vanilla... sure it's cheaper, so suitable for processed food, but I'd rather do my iwn processing... use an actual meat grinder to make mince, and real tomatoe paste onions and garlic which you have to chop yourself ( processed garlic from a jar just doesn't taste good, to me , and yet some people with no pallet really don't notice the difference in bought garlic bread.

[@markw9512]

To me every demo I’ve heard of this thing sounds like they really dialed in too much high power stuff, the speaker emulation sounds saturated/muddy. There’s a sweet spot on any tube amp where the speaker really starts to sing and when you get beyond it the speaker starts to break up in a bad way, it seems like a lot of the sounds I hear from this thing sound like that. I don’t know if maybe backing off the volume control is the secret on here but it seems like even if it’s set halfway up, it’s just too much speaker distortion modeled in, just gets too muddy

[@luizdemarco99]

I have four of the UAFX Amps - Ruby, Dream, Woodrow and Lion - but I just can't use them with their own drive... I like the cleans and use them as a pedal platform, with the main drive coming from a BOSS OD-3... sooo, as much as I would like to have them all, I won't fall into the trap of buying this one just to use it clean... or I hope so, lol Anyone else doesn't like the drive from these UAFX amp pedals?

[@rabidgoon]

I just bought this and it is my first UA pedal and that is my initial feeling about it. I love the clean and the edge of breakup tones, but I just don’t see myself using the overdrive channel too often. But incidentally, I hooked up my earthquake devices Westwood to it and the drive tones I’m getting from the combination are pretty much the best I’ve ever gotten..

[@The_Rodge]

Sounds like you've already fallen for the trap...haha! I have the Lion and ended up kind of using it the same way. It's a nice way to get great tones at lower volume, even if you don't love the drive tones these emulations.

[@petermichalowski]

I didn't really like the gain 100% over the Lion either. It was really hard to dial in something that worked for me. Actually my biggest issue was the lack of a Mac / PC editor as I think the iPhone app responded quite odd. Same with the app for OX Stomp.

[@rogerYT69]

have the ruby dream woodrow lion and now the enigmatic and as you use them mostly as a pedal platform. but the drive drom the lion and especially the enigmatic is very cool and usable😊

[@rogerYT69]

​@@petermichalowskiyes the ua App ist a pain in the 4ss😅 not very professional!

[@earle4370]

Probably a silly question; are you going straight to the board/interface with this?

[@johnnathancordy]

Yes!

[@godbyone]

I think that suhr amp was the closest sound that you got to a Dumble before

[@ignaciodelgado6055]

What would you suggest using to listening to it through (cab, speakers, amp)? I always wonder what is the best to use with this sort of pedals in order to get the best feel/experience in a living room. Thank u for the content!

[@rabidgoon]

Well, reverb has an authentic dumble handmade cabinet listed for about $7000 so probably that

[@KristopherCraig]

It sounds identical to my Ceritone OTS.

[@johnnathancordy]

Is that the 20watt one?

[@KristopherCraig]

It’s the 50 watt version.

[@retromacman620]

Tried a few of these. The Dream felt most versatile and love the drive options, the ruby really suprised me though...I'd check this one out but I've never played a real Dumble, so my opinion on that sound is a bit limited

[@BrendanMakesMusic]

Love amp in a box pedals, but they didn’t include a reverb. If they did that, it would be a perfect grab and go rig or backup.

[@heneverreturnasahorse9773]

Interesting, but for now I'll take my original ZenDrive which is very easy to use and sounds great.

[@carlosmartinez-torteya]

How does it compare to the L6 Grammatico model?

[@johnnathancordy]

I will try to get a comparison done between some of the key players (maybe UAFX, Line 6 and Fractal?)

[@tiago2336]

How does it compare to the Dream 65 would you say? Both as a pedal platform and as a standalone.

[@acousticaacousticduo1458]

There is always an immediacy to your playing and sound. I felt that even more here. I honestly didn’t think that was possible. I’m thinking it was more from how you felt while playing today than it did with the piece of gear. Unless the pedal inspired you even more. By immediacy I mean the feeling of nothing being in between you and the the music you are expressing/feeling

[@shaharbar]

Sounds great, but $400 is a bit steep, would be much more attractive if they merged the Dream, Anti, Lion and Enigmatic into one pedal.

[@justarthur1788]

Is there anyway to defeat the cab sims to use it as an overdrive in front of an amp?

[@johnnathancordy]

"Tip: When playing through a real guitar amplifier and speaker cabinet, you might want to bypass the speaker cabinet emulation by pressing the pedal's CAB switch until its LED is unlit." - from the manual yep!

[@justarthur1788]

@@johnnathancordy Thanks John.

[@androidvitrianravaya3479]

Well, I've been waiting for your report, as you seem to be "the Dumble tone" guy on utubez. FWIW, I don't gel with this sound, like at all Cheers, and thanks!

[@ksharpe10]

I like John's Marshall GLASSY stuff better.

[@ivanvlog2403]

lion vs enigmatic ?

[@danielkalbarczyk8595]

If only there was an UAD Apollo with Footswitches capable of building presets with all UAD Plugins. Would be revolutionary for the live game. Could use it for Vocals, guitars, bass, keys. I dont get it! Please UAD make a Apollo Live in the footprint of a Tonemaster Pro!

[@hendrix2430]

closest i've heard was the tonex ODS captures

[@bach612]

Important to know how it feels to you. You sound like you :) I will be checking mine later today. I know that you usually dial darker sounds, also from your HX folder, but does this pedal sound overly bright to you ? Just too much of high end ? Much more than HX ?

[@BeefNEggs057]

Darker JNCs tone is always very bright to me and I’m a single coil guy. Always sizzling my eardrums. With his pos 4 tones.

[@mosun8848]

but you should also check if you are connected to an amp or a audio interface or etc...

[@johnnathancordy]

Direct into DAW!

[@chrispygingerpie]

How does it compare to a klon into a Plexi? Because to me it sounds pretty similar.

[@johnnathancordy]

Let me grab my Klon and Plexi from the garage.... It's an interesting point you make - Eric Johnson being the main guy that I first heard of Dumble from....

[@chrispygingerpie]

@@johnnathancordy I have a klone (Ceritone) and into my Blackstar Studio 10 EL 34 I get pretty similar tones, just without your excellent playing!

[@chrispygingerpie]

@@johnnathancordy I just had a realisation that you were probably being sarcastic… maybe you could try in the helix. Seeing as the UAFX is just modelling.