One look on the management panel and cupboard styling of the Louis Electrical 6L6-183 Cobra is all most might want to know what this amp is about – and builder Lou Rosano isn’t shy about flagging it as his tackle the coveted Dumble Overdrive Particular.

Rosano’s first Cobra 183 hit the streets in 2020 with a set of EL34 output tubes. An acclaimed model of the Dumble Overdrive Particular (which is saying one thing), it was a transitional iteration between early and later Dumble ODS circuits, using a singular mixture of levels that produce magic when firing collectively. His 6L6/KT66 model joined the herd this yr, able to carrying a quartet of the American-flavored bottles additionally sometimes utilized by Howard Alexander Dumble.

The 6L6-183’s entrance panel has two inputs – one passive (“Nor”), the opposite FET-boosted/buffered, together with controls for enter Quantity, Treble, Center, Bass, Overdrive Achieve and Stage, international controls for Grasp (quantity), Presence, and Suggestions, plus switches for Shiny, Mid, and Rock/Jazz to additional sculpt the EQ. Again-panel options embody twin speaker outs with 4-/8-/16-ohm swap, passive results loop, bias adjustment level, a jack for the included two-button footswitch (to entry Overdrive and EQ Bypass/Increase), and a 50-/100-watt output swap. Inside, it’s meticulously hand-wired on a sequence of wood circuit boards, as Dumble himself typically used, with most of the important elements hidden underneath “goop,” a lot as throughout the unique 183.

Examined with a Telecaster and an ES-355 into an open-back 2×12″ cab with Celestion G12-65 audio system (the identical spec’d for Louis Electrical’s matching Cobra 2×12″ cab, bought individually at $900), the 6L6-183 opened a large world of juicy, dynamic, multi-dimensional tone that immediately reminded us why the hallowed Dumble ODS circuit has grow to be so… properly, hallowed. Plummy, wealthy, thick, it’s a voice that may shock you by feeling extra like a reed instrument than an overdriven guitar amp, however which proves extraordinarily expressive when you study to work with it.

Lest we neglect them fully, the amp’s clear tones – typically missed on this archetype – are extraordinarily good, too. All of which is to conclude, if you recognize the ODS sound, Mr. Rosano does it very, very properly.

This text initially appeared in VG’s September 2024 concern. All copyrights are by the writer and Classic Guitar journal. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.