Session ace and guitar virtuoso Andy Wood has recalled the time Robben Ford attended one of his guitar retreats – and decided to bring his highly prized Dumble tube amp along for the ride.
The Suhr signature artist recently sat down with Rick Beato to take a panoramic view across a career that has seen him work with Rascal Flatts and Scott Stapp, as well as establish his own educational guitar retreat, the Woodshed Guitar Experience.
It was designed to remove the barrier between guitar superstars and those who sit back and admire their talents, and no tale epitomizes what it’s all about more so than the one that involves Ford and his legendary Dumble amp.
“It's a four-day weekend. We hard-limit it to a hundred people, and we bring in five or six of the best guitar players on earth,” Wood says of its concept. Those who have previously featured include Eric Johnson, Joe Bonamassa, and Andy Timmons – Paul Gilbert and Mark Lettieri are set to feature at September’s event.
It takes place in the tranquillity of Lake Frances, Crossville, TN, and pairs a live band – “no iPad garbage” – with “bad dudes from Tennessee”. Because Wood owns the property, jams often go late into the night with “100-watts ripping”.
“It’s so chill,” he says. “Everyone gets to be normal. My favorite Woodshed story: it was year two and we had Robben Ford there – he’s a sweetheart and a monster player. He comes in and I was like, ‘Hey, Robben, what kind of amp do you want me to have backline for you?’ And he goes, ‘I’ll bring an amp.’ He shows up with Dumble #102.”
There are a number of iconic Dumbles – Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Dumble tube amp is certainly up there – but Ford’s serial number 102 amp is one of the most coveted of them all.
Wood was not expecting his guest to bring such a prestigious, history-drenched amp – nor did he expect him to be so willing for attendees to take it for a spin. That wasn’t before he was faced with a brief gear scare, though.
“I’m teaching a class and I have my phone in my pocket and it buzzes like, ‘Hey man, Andy, come down to the stage three and see about Robben’s amp,’” Wood recalls. “I was like, ‘Oh, somebody poured a beer in it!’ I’m stressing out.
“I get down there, and Robben’s sitting laidback, chill, smiling, and the campers are playing his amp. And I come over to him like, ‘Brother, you don’t have to do this.’ And he’s so sweet. He’s like, ‘No, man. They were all asking about what it felt like, and what it sounded like, so I figured it’d be best to let them play.’
“That can never happen with 600 people,” Wood underscores. “[But] you put 30 people in a room, that can happen. And that’s what it's all about.”
Three years after the passing of Howard Dumble – the man who masterminded the Dumble amp brand – the firm is set for a shock return, with the Dumble Preservation Society at the helm.
Speaking to Guitar World at NAMM 2025, its new leaders said, “We have [had] the Dumble Preservation Society since Mr. Dumble passed. We promised him that we would keep his legacy alive. I wouldn’t want to put his name on something that wasn’t the best.”
