For Miss November, I’ve chosen a beautiful ’58 Les Paul Special in TV Yellow. It’s a great guitar and quite rare—only 429 Les Paul TV models were built in 1958. But the Soldano Surf Box is even rarer; it’s No. 29 out of 100, though in the end only 98 were built. Probably only a handful made it to Europe. But the rarest of all should be the Dumble Overdrive amp. The serial numbers of the early Silverface amps went up to about 0078; ours is number 0044.
This early Dumble Overdrive Special OD-50WX, with serial number 0044, was distributed in Germany by Applied Acoustics in Bochum.
They were the only ones who had a deal with Howard Alexander Dumble in the late 1970s and were authorized to sell his amplifiers in Europe.
The ready-to-use chassis were shipped from California and installed in handcrafted enclosures in Germany.
This amp corresponds to serial number 0046, which is pictured on page 119 of the Jesse Schwarz Dumble book. However, our amp is completely original and unmodified.
The previous owner used the amplifier with an Electro Voice EVM 12L; we reinstalled the original Altec Lansing 417.
The Surf Box #29 is a true gem from Soldano’s collection of rarities. It was hand-built, signed, and numbered by Mike Soldano himself in the early 1990s.
The plan was to make 100 units, but in the end only 98 were built. According to Soldano, he sold every single Surfbox for well below his own production costs.
This makes the Surf Box one of the rarest and most sought-after effects pedals ever. It’s not only of interest to Soldano collectors, but also an extraordinary piece of boutique effects history—especially when you consider that Mike Soldano himself had a hand in its creation.
In this YouTube video , Mike Soldano explains the iconic SurfBox.
The device can be controlled remotely using the Surf Command footswitch and, of course, runs on 110V.
Last but not least, we also have the ’58 Les Paul Special in the rare TV Yellow finish.
1958 is one of Gibson’s “magical years”; the brand’s best and most valuable guitars were built between 1958 and 1960.
This lady has been through quite a bit. Someone once milled a humbucker into the bridge; that was later carefully reversed, and the original P90 was reinstalled.
A volume pot was replaced, and at one point it had Groover tuners installed. Now the original Kluson tuners are back on. It also comes with an original Lifton case; the Specials often came only in a crocodile-patterned hat box, which usually didn’t survive the decades.
All three rare items are available for testing in the lounge and can be purchased.
1979 Dumble – Overdrive Special – Applied Acoustics – ID 6083
1993 Soldano – Surf Box – Super Rare Effect – ID 6084
1958 Gibson – Les Paul Special – TV Yellow – ID 5986
For safety reasons, the amplifier is not located in the Captain Guitar Lounge.
Trials are available only upon request and only for those who are seriously interested, with at least 3 days’ notice.