The Fumble exists because of what JHS calls the biggest mistake in the company's history. In May 2025 JHS released the NOTADÜMBLË, its second solderless DIY kit pedal, combining two circuits from the Dumble universe — a boutique-style overdrive and what was meant to be a buffered clean circuit called the 'A Box Later', a device John Mayer owns an original of and had lent to JHS to replicate. While preparing a video about the pedal, Josh Scott discovered that the clean side actually used a different circuit entirely: a separate Dumble preamp he had also reverse-engineered for John Mayer back in 2019, and had confused with the 'A Box Later' when building the kit. JHS made a video explaining the mix-up, sold through the remaining stock, discontinued the NOTADÜMBLË V1 after its batch of 15,000 units sold out, and refunded anyone who wanted to return theirs. The Fumble is a standalone, production version of that other circuit: the Dumble BBC-1. Digging into its history, JHS found that the BBC-1 isn't really a Dumble original at all — it's a JFET preamp lifted almost part-for-part from a 1970s Barcus-Berry acoustic preamp, the kind of utility box once used to bridge piezo pickups into electric guitar amps. Howard Dumble is understood to have cloned that circuit and later used the same JFET stage inside his own amplifiers as the 'FET mode'. The Fumble itself is a true-bypass JFET clean boost with two controls. Output acts as a master volume, while Input attenuates bass and gain at the front of the circuit simultaneously — fully clockwise removes the cut altogether, while rolling it back gives a thinner, tighter response. It's built to work as a permanent buffer/clean boost at the front of a board, as a boost into the front of an overdrive pedal, as a boost into a dirty amp, or as a solo boost at the end of the chain. It's assembled in Kansas City.

Highlights

• True-bypass JFET clean boost, based on the circuit accidentally used in the 2025 NOTADÜMBLË V1
• Circuit traces back to the Dumble BBC-1, itself derived from a 1970s Barcus-Berry acoustic preamp
• Two controls: Output (master volume) and Input (simultaneous bass/gain attenuator)
• Works as a boost into the front of an amp, into overdrive pedals, or as an end-of-chain solo boost
• Assembled in Kansas City

Specifications

All our pedals are tested on arrival, and regularly after that. Fast, tracked delivery to Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Sydney, Melbourne & Australia-wide.

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