SKU: 66090167958
dumble in a box pedal

dumble in a box pedal FUMBLE

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Description

dumble in a box pedal FUMBLEThe Fumble exists because we made the biggest mistake in JHS history. In May of 2025, we released the NOTADMBL our second solderless DIY kit pedal, containing two of the most coveted sounds from the Dumble universe. The overdrive side was correct: a boutique style overdrive built around the lead tone people associate with Larry Carlton, Eric Johnson, and Robben Ford. The clean side, however, was supposed to be a reverse engineered copy of the "A Box

The Fumble exists because we made the biggest mistake in JHS history.

In May of 2025, we released the NOTADÜMBLË — our second solderless DIY kit pedal, containing two of the most coveted sounds from the Dumble universe. The overdrive side was correct: a boutique style overdrive built around the lead tone people associate with Larry Carlton, Eric Johnson, and Robben Ford. The clean side, however, was supposed to be a reverse engineered copy of the "A Box Later," a buffered effects loop device that Howard Dumble built sometime in the 1980s outside of his amplifier designs. John Mayer owns one of these obscure units and lent it to us. I replicated it, named it Box It Later, and that replica has traveled the world on John's pedalboards consistently since 2021.  I thought I put that circuit in the NOTADÜMBLË as the clean side.

I didn't.

A week after launch, while planning a Short Circuit episode video about the NOTADÜMBLË, I discovered I had used the wrong circuit. The clean side of the NOTADÜMBLË wasn’t the  “A Box Later”– it was something else entirely. Something I had also reverse engineered back in 2019 also for John, and then completely forgotten about. A separate Dumble preamp box that lived in a different archive location in our R&D storage. I had confused the two similar circuits and made a horrible mistake.

I made a video. I told everyone. We sold through the remaining  inventory, discontinued the NOTADÜMBLË V1 after our batch of 15,000 sold out, and refunded anyone who asked to return their unit.

Enter the Fumble.

WHAT THE FUMBLE ACTUALLY IS

The Fumble is a faithful production version of the other circuit I cloned for John: the Dumble BBC-1. Once the NOTADÜMBLË V1 was discontinued, customers started telling us how much they loved that circuit and how they wished it was sold separately. The Fumble is that exact circuit, now in its own compact enclosure with its own self-deprecating name, an $89 price point, and no kit to build.

Here is where the story gets stranger than fiction. While digging back through the original Dumble unit's history, we realized the BBC-1 isn't really a Dumble circuit at all. It's a JFET preamp lifted almost part for part from a Barcus Berry acoustic preamp made in the 1970s — the kind of small utility box that bridged piezo pickups into electric guitar amps in an era when nobody had a modern acoustic preamp. Howard cloned it. Put it in his own enclosure for a handful of local LA players. He then used the same JFET stage inside his amplifiers and called it the FET mode.

Which means the legendary Dumble FET sound — the one inside $200,000 to $400,000 amps — is a clone of a 1970s piezo preamp.

The Fumble is a clone of that clone of that clone. Three generations deep into one of the strangest chains of events in pedal history

WHAT IT DOES

The Fumble has two knobs, true bypass switching, and creates a particularly enhanced clean tone.

OUTPUT is your master volume. Turn it up for more volume.

INPUT is the one that surprises people. It is not a standard gain knob. It attenuates bass and input gain at the front of the circuit simultaneously. Fully right has no cut — consider it a bypass of the control. As you turn the knob to the left, bass and gain are gradually attenuated. Roll it down for a thinner, tighter response. Roll it up for a fuller, louder one. There is almost nothing else on the market that boosts in this way.

Use the Fumble four ways :

1. As a permanent buffer and clean boost at the front of your board. Set the output low, dial the input to taste. It tightens up everything downstream and gives you a sweetener you stop noticing because you never want to turn it off.

2. To slam the front of your overdrives. This is the secret most players miss. We default to stacking gain after gain after gain. Putting a clean JFET boost like this before a Timmy, a King of Tone, a Klon, or a Morning Glory — that's often the better second stage you've been hunting for but just didn't know it.

3. To slam the front of a dirty amp. Tweed, Plexi, anything broken up. The Fumble makes it bigger and more articulate. Roll the input back for a tighter, treble forward attack into a cranked amp.

4. As a solo boost at the end of the chain. Crank the output, set the input where it feels best, hit it for the chorus or the solo. Done.


WHO THIS IS FOR

If you bought the NOTADÜMBLË V1 and loved the clean section, this is what was actually inside it.

If you missed it, this is a beautifully simple JFET clean boost with a control set you won't find anywhere else.

If you've ever paid a lot of money for a Dumble style boost from another builder, you should know the genuine article is simple. Uncomplicated. Affordable. It was always a version of an acoustic guitar preamp from the 70's.

WHO THIS ISN'T FOR

This is not an overdrive or a high gain pedal. If you want the lead tone half of the Dumble equation, you will want the NOTADÜMBLË V2 which updates the V1 with the the proper Box It Later clean section and the overdrive channel – in a single solderless DIY kit with two footswitches, an order toggle, and an added effects loop.

THE NAME

We've had the "Fumble" name and football helmet icon rolling around internally since April 10, 2012. It was originally going to be a Dumble style overdrive in our catalog, but the Moonshine took its place years ago.  We never seriously revisited the Fumble project after then and the icon and rubber hand stamp went into a drawer for fourteen years. When all of this happened in 2025, the name was already there, waiting for the biggest fumble we had ever made as a company. Sometimes the universe hands you the punchline way in advance.

SPECS

True bypass JFET clean boost

Two controls : Input (bass and gain attenuator), Output (master volume)

9V DC center negative, 5mA

Assembled in Kansas City

THIS PEDAL MEASURES 1.96" X 3.93" X 1.21" AND CONSUMES 5mA. DO NOT USE MORE THAN 9VDC CENTER NEGATIVE. DAMAGE MAY OCCUR AND YOUR WARRANTY WILL BE VOIDED.

 

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SKU: 66090167958

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4.0 ★★★★★
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Amazon Customer swengelp
West Palm Beach, US
★★★★★ 4
Nice divider
Color: Black, Size: 6 Panel
Nice divider. Set up is a bear. I am a bit concerned with stability. Overall I like it.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2026
N
Verified Purchase
Nay from the Bay
Charlottesville, US
★★★★★ 5
Great privacy room divider
Color: Black, Size: 6 Panel, Color: Black, Size: 6 Panel
I got this room divider for our game room that shares the garage/laundry room, to separate the spaces. I was happy that it was relatively easy to put together in less than an hour with nothing more than a screwdriver (provided) although I used a small handheld drill. The instructions were pretty straightforward and easy to understand as everything was labeled. I have 2 small grandkids at home running around while I put this together so my timeline to completion might be longer than others. It recommends 2 people to assemble, but I was able to complete alone in about 40 minutes total and as I said I used a small handheld drill, (although it does come with a small Philips screwdriver) which is the only tool you need for assembly. The first two panels took me about 20 minutes but the other 4 were simple repeats after the initial 2. After all 6 panels were assembled the plastic clips to piece them together were literally a "SNAP" to put on. The poles are made of metal and the panels are made of a very sturdy almost canvas like fabric. When held up to the light not a lot shined through so very good for privacy. You can snap them together in sections and have 2 separate panels of 3 or what ever configuration you want. They are easy to move and bend around furniture or other obstacles, also fold flat together if you need to put them aside for storage. This worked out just as we had planned, very easy to move around when needed and I am very happy with this product. I loved how simple it was to put together, easy instructions, and the durability and functionality of it.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2024
R
Verified Purchase
robert ferrell
New York, US
★★★★★ 5
Good
Color: Black, Size: 6 Panel
Love it , just what so needed , easy to put together (some what ) …
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Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2026
C
Verified Purchase
Crimm
Carnegie, US
★★★★★ 3
Decent for the price. Instructions suck but most people should be able to figure it out. More below.
Color: Black, Size: 6 Panel, Color: Black, Size: 6 Panel
SUMMARY: 3 stars from me because it's firmly average. It's fine for the price. Assembly and materials are alright but I can see some caveats depending on your circumstances. Assembly instructions do a subpar job of pointing out some details. ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS: Maybe it's because I'm autistic and/or building model kits and assembling stuff is my jam, but I honestly thought people were exaggerating when they were complaining about the instructions and I'd be able to flex my ~superior assembly skills.~ I was wrong! These instructions genuinely suck, and whoever is responsible for making them should be ashamed. The instructions do a poor job of calling out some details regarding orientation of parts, and some of the images do not actually match the physical parts. For example, it does not really outline the assembly of the end panels clearly, and I can see someone accidentally using the wrong poles. I've drawn over a photo to show what you should do to try and make it clearer. Additionally, the manual shows a flathead screw for bolting the feet into position, but the actual screw is not a flathead. It also does not point out the counterbore, so if you aren't paying attention you may put the foot pads onto the wrong side of the foot. It's also missing the fact that you need to use another one of the plastic pieces when you finish assembling a panel. ACTUAL ASSEMBLY & MATERIALS: To their credit, all of my bags were clearly labeled. The assembly process wasn't difficult. It's mostly just tedious and requires a fair amount of space. I was able to assemble it by myself without any real difficulty. However, the way it's assembled means two things. One, the fabric parts aren't removable without disassembly. So if you want to use this in an environment where they would require cleaning, I would seriously recommend looking for another option. Or, you could buy this just to use the frame pieces and then somehow buy or make your own fabric pieces designed to be removable with velcro or something. Two, because of the materials I really don't have a lot of faith in this thing surviving disassembly and reassembly. Like a lot of sorta-cheap-but-convenient furniture, it uses those spring-button connections and plastic inserts with self-tapping screws. Those things are not really meant to be disassembled and rethreaded. It also relies a lot on the tension of the poles and the fabric to keep everything rigid and squared, which I think puts a lot of pressure on the aforementioned buttons, plastic inserts, and the hollow metal rods. So I feel like that will also cause issues with disassembly and reassembly. Basically once this thing is assembled, it's not really meant to be disassembled. The best you can do is spot-clean the fabric if you need to. Speaking of the fabric, I didn't see any labels on them or anything in the manual that says what they are, but they feel like some kind of polyester. They generate static electricity pretty easily, and pet hair and debris sticks easily. So that's another downside of them not being easily removable. For the most part it does seem pretty stable. The poles seem to be pretty uniform in length so they're all making contact with my floor. Obviously this isn't structural so it shouldn't be supporting anything, but the two main feet seem to be doing fine with keeping this thing upright. CLOSING THOUGHTS: Really, it's fine for what it is, but it could be better in a lot of little ways and the substandard quality of the instructions just seems unprofessional to me, which is why I'm being so harsh with my rating. Depending on your needs and environment you may want to consider a different option. Preferably one that is made to be disassembled with better materials, and/or one with fabric pieces made to be removed easily.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2023
B
Verified Purchase
Barb
New York, US
★★★★★ 1
Not as it seems
Color: Black, Size: 6 Panel
these are awful... Each individual panel is fine, but when you put it together it can barely stand up, and the clips that hold it together keep popping off. Steer clear of this item.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2026

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