Why do amps clip?

[Bartmanpdx]

adouglas's posts are spot on -- anyone with an amp should know that information, yet many people sadly don't take the time to grasp the concepts, and end up damaging or destroying their gear. Read it over a few times.

Bottom line -- turn the volume/gain knob down until it is not clipping, or use the 14dB pad. Then turn up the "master" knob until it's the volume you want. If it won't get loud enough, then you need a more powerful amp, or a more sensitive cab.

Keep in mind, though, that it usually takes a DOUBLING of power to achieve a small 3dB increase in volume. Speaker sensitivity could be an issue, too. Some cabs just don't have a lot of sensitivity, and it takes a LOT more power to drive them to a louder volume than more sensitive cabs.

Resist the temptation to drive your amp into clipping by using too much volume/gain. It sounds bad for a reason.

 

[bassmancb]

Man, I learn a lot from you guy just reading the posts. Thanks.

 

[tadawson]

Go to school on that amp. You'll be glad you did.

There's a real problem with most musical gear IMHO...a lot of it has too many controls. That gives musicians too much to play with. If you understand what's really going on that can be very powerful...but if not, you're just as likely to flail about randomly and never get the most that the gear can give you. Worse, if you really don't know what the controls actually do you can make your high-end fantastic gear sound like a garbage truck with a bad transmission.

The EBMM folks know this very well. It is the exact reason, we are told, why the Bongo has "only" a four-band EQ. The prototype had many more controls...too many.

We all tend to wind up finding a setting we like and leaving the thing alone anyway.

I disagree . . . I think the problem is that there are too many people who are too lazy/thick/proud to read instructions and to understand them . . . I really HATE it when things get dumbed down 'cuz some folks are too lazy to take the time to learn how to operate them. Now bad manuals and documentation, don't get me started on THAT one . . . .

(And NO, that comment is not in any way referring to anyone in this thread . . . it's just a generalization of how the world looks to me lately . . . )

- Tim

 

[bassmonkey]

I disagree . . . I think the problem is that there are too many people who are too lazy/thick/proud to read instructions and to understand them . . . I really HATE it when things get dumbed down 'cuz some folks are too lazy to take the time to learn how to operate them. Now bad manuals and documentation, don't get me started on THAT one . . . .

(And NO, that comment is not in any way referring to anyone in this thread . . . it's just a generalization of how the world looks to me lately . . . )

- Tim

Hmmmm!

 

[adouglas]

I disagree . . . I really HATE it when things get dumbed down 'cuz some folks are too lazy to take the time to learn how to operate them. - Tim

On a certain level I agree with you. By nature I'm a tinkerer and tweaker, and I like having ultra-adjustable equipment available if I should choose to use it. But I've also come to the conclusion that the guys who build this gear know their business better than I possibly can. So I'm inclined to trust their judgment.

But I do think it's possible to have too much adjustability and control. The question is where you draw the line. There are things we really don't need to mess with all the time. Taking them off the control panel doesn't really mean the device is being "dumbed down"...it simply means it's being made more user-friendly.

Some examples:

- The Model T Ford had a manual spark advance, believe it or not.
- My first car (a 1964 Jeep) had a manual choke. Haven't seen one on a car since.
- I'm a pilot. The technology in the typical light airplane requires you to manually adjust the mixture.
- These days if you buy a vehicle with a two-stroke engine chances are pretty good it'll mix the oil and gas for you. Used to be you always had to do it yourself.
- Starting in the late 80s, computer control of my car got so good that I no longer had to do a "tune up" in the conventional sense, adjusting points, dwell, timing, etc.

Does not having to deal with this stuff mean the vehicle is "dumbed down?"

Taking the "more control is better" to its logical conclusion, then every amp should have multi-band, fully parametric EQ. Anything less is having the manufacturer make decisions for you. And every guitar should have every possible switching configuration for its pickups, and even sliding pickups so you can put them where you want. Or how about user-configurable tone controls so you can decide how the thing is voiced?

This is ridiculous, of course. It's just an extreme illustration to make the point.

 

[Rano Bass]

On your GK, try turning down the leftmost volume knob--that's the input gain--until it doesn't clip. Then turn up the woofer volume on the right. I never use the input pad since I can just turn down the input enough to eliminate any unpleasant overdrive noises.

That's a good sugestion right there.

 

[tadawson]

On a certain level I agree with you. By nature I'm a tinkerer and tweaker, and I like having ultra-adjustable equipment available if I should choose to use it. But I've also come to the conclusion that the guys who build this gear know their business better than I possibly can. So I'm inclined to trust their judgment.

But I do think it's possible to have too much adjustability and control. The question is where you draw the line. There are things we really don't need to mess with all the time. Taking them off the control panel doesn't really mean the device is being "dumbed down"...it simply means it's being made more user-friendly.

Some examples:

- The Model T Ford had a manual spark advance, believe it or not.
- My first car (a 1964 Jeep) had a manual choke. Haven't seen one on a car since.
- I'm a pilot. The technology in the typical light airplane requires you to manually adjust the mixture.
- These days if you buy a vehicle with a two-stroke engine chances are pretty good it'll mix the oil and gas for you. Used to be you always had to do it yourself.
- Starting in the late 80s, computer control of my car got so good that I no longer had to do a "tune up" in the conventional sense, adjusting points, dwell, timing, etc.

Does not having to deal with this stuff mean the vehicle is "dumbed down?"

Taking the "more control is better" to its logical conclusion, then every amp should have multi-band, fully parametric EQ. Anything less is having the manufacturer make decisions for you. And every guitar should have every possible switching configuration for its pickups, and even sliding pickups so you can put them where you want. Or how about user-configurable tone controls so you can decide how the thing is voiced?

This is ridiculous, of course. It's just an extreme illustration to make the point.

I'll always go for the device with everything on it . . . it's a lot easier to NOT use a control you don't need, than to use one you don't have . . . .

Oh, and I fly too . . . manual advance is there because it's hard for an automated system to die and drop you out of the sky, if it's not there . . . technology should never be a replacement for a functional brain!

- Tim