What happens if I put a clipped INPUT into a gainclone?

Spasticteapot · 28th September 2006, 12:04 AM

I'm working on a guitar amplifier for a school project, and was wondering how well this would work.

I'm hoping to use a simple class-A tube amp, but with a very small, cheap tube in place of the usually massive output tubes. (In other words, a headphone amplifier). This will let me overdrive the amp, and get all the "tube-y" distortion guitar players love. (NOTE: I do not play guitar. I do, however, know a lot of people who do.)

This high-impeadance would then be fed into a gainclone through a bias-blocking capacitor, and then sent to a conventional guitar speaker cabinet.

So, how wild is this idea? I'm hoping that a "pre-clipped" input won't turn on the anti-clipping feature, and a bridged Gainclone connected to an 8-ohm speaker should work nicely.

poobah · 28th September 2006, 02:18 AM

That should work just fine.

Your gainclone wont regard it as clipped per se... it will just respond to all the harmonics present.

This will give the soft fuzz, "overdrive" type sound rather than "crunch"... but it's all good.

Spasticteapot · 28th September 2006, 02:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by poobah
That should work just fine.

Your gainclone wont regard it as clipped per se... it will just respond to all the harmonics present.

This will give the soft fuzz, "overdrive" type sound rather than "crunch"... but it's all good.

I was hoping that I could get "tube sound" by simply amplifying the output of the tubes. Would the output from the gainclone be similar to that of the output of the tube amp?

Tim__x · 28th September 2006, 02:24 AM

The output of the GC will be virtually identical to the output of the tube amp, but the output of the tube amp driving another amplifier will be different than the output of a tube amp driving a speaker.

poobah · 28th September 2006, 02:27 AM

No... transistors clip hard... while tubes soft... different sound.

I thought you were talking about clipping a preamp stage and then just using the gainclone for faithful amplication?

You will get tube sound from overdriving a preamp stage... very usuable and truly part of the "tube sound". The rest of the tube sound comes from from overloaded OPTs, output tubes, and sagging power supplies.

Spasticteapot · 28th September 2006, 02:58 AM

Any suggestions for tubes? A spiffy-looking (and really simple) amp can be found here:

http://annex.ax84.com/media/ax84_m311.pdf

12AX7's can be had for 10$, and this only uses one!

poobah · 28th September 2006, 03:22 AM

12AX7 is probably THE most popular "pre" tube for guitar amps...

A good choice... easier to overload (clip) by virtue ot its high gain.

Keep in mind, you use both triodes to accomplish your task. Use the first to amplify and overdrive the second triode.

Member "tubelab" would be an excellent guy for some insight on this... tube guru... but also guitar guy.

Spasticteapot · 28th September 2006, 03:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by poobah
12AX7 is probably THE most popular "pre" tube for guitar amps...

A good choice... easier to overload (clip) by virtue ot its high gain.

Keep in mind, you use both triodes to accomplish your task. Use the first to amplify and overdrive the second triode.

Member "tubelab" would be an excellent guy for some insight on this... tube guru... but also guitar guy.

I'm going for a "KISS" amp, as I've yet to get a gainclone to work properly yet. I'm willing to bet that I could make a kit without much trouble, but I figure a single-tube amp might be the way to go.

poobah · 28th September 2006, 03:32 AM

Just so we are on the same page here... A single 12AX7 has 2 triodes in the bottle. So a 2 stage "overdrive" amp is simple.

There should be plenty of circuits out there done up already. If you're a student, do it the hard way.

Maybe google [tube + distrotion + preamp + guitar]

Spasticteapot · 28th September 2006, 10:24 PM

I'm well aware that the 12AX7 is a dual-triode tube. That way, I can have a tube-overdrive amp with a single 10$ tube!

28th September 2006, 12:04 AM	#1
Spasticteapot diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Wisconsin....what did you expect?	What happens if I put a clipped INPUT into a gainclone? I'm working on a guitar amplifier for a school project, and was wondering how well this would work. I'm hoping to use a simple class-A tube amp, but with a very small, cheap tube in place of the usually massive output tubes. (In other words, a headphone amplifier). This will let me overdrive the amp, and get all the "tube-y" distortion guitar players love. (NOTE: I do not play guitar. I do, however, know a lot of people who do.) This high-impeadance would then be fed into a gainclone through a bias-blocking capacitor, and then sent to a conventional guitar speaker cabinet. So, how wild is this idea? I'm hoping that a "pre-clipped" input won't turn on the anti-clipping feature, and a bridged Gainclone connected to an 8-ohm speaker should work nicely.

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28th September 2006, 02:18 AM	#2
poobah diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2005	That should work just fine. Your gainclone wont regard it as clipped per se... it will just respond to all the harmonics present. This will give the soft fuzz, "overdrive" type sound rather than "crunch"... but it's all good.

28th September 2006, 02:24 AM	#4
Tim__x diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Edmonton area, Alberta	The output of the GC will be virtually identical to the output of the tube amp, but the output of the tube amp driving another amplifier will be different than the output of a tube amp driving a speaker.

28th September 2006, 02:27 AM	#5
poobah diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2005	No... transistors clip hard... while tubes soft... different sound. I thought you were talking about clipping a preamp stage and then just using the gainclone for faithful amplication? You will get tube sound from overdriving a preamp stage... very usuable and truly part of the "tube sound". The rest of the tube sound comes from from overloaded OPTs, output tubes, and sagging power supplies.

28th September 2006, 02:58 AM	#6
Spasticteapot diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Wisconsin....what did you expect?	Any suggestions for tubes? A spiffy-looking (and really simple) amp can be found here: http://annex.ax84.com/media/ax84_m311.pdf 12AX7's can be had for 10$, and this only uses one!

28th September 2006, 03:22 AM	#7
poobah diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2005	12AX7 is probably THE most popular "pre" tube for guitar amps... A good choice... easier to overload (clip) by virtue ot its high gain. Keep in mind, you use both triodes to accomplish your task. Use the first to amplify and overdrive the second triode. Member "tubelab" would be an excellent guy for some insight on this... tube guru... but also guitar guy.

28th September 2006, 03:32 AM	#9
poobah diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2005	Just so we are on the same page here... A single 12AX7 has 2 triodes in the bottle. So a 2 stage "overdrive" amp is simple. There should be plenty of circuits out there done up already. If you're a student, do it the hard way. Maybe google [tube + distrotion + preamp + guitar]

28th September 2006, 10:24 PM	#10
Spasticteapot diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Wisconsin....what did you expect?	I'm well aware that the 12AX7 is a dual-triode tube. That way, I can have a tube-overdrive amp with a single 10$ tube!

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