What is Diode clipping?

[Riffmeister]

I was told the boost function on my new amp utilizes diode clipping, but I can swear years ago, Chuckracer was saying that my DSL used diode clipping period. What is this and is it a bad thing ?

[mjtripper]

I don't know anything about the dsl amp but diode clipping can be either good or bad depending on if you like the sound or not, some do and some don't. Many distortion pedals use some form of diode clipping. Many people say tube clipping sounds better but some amps such as earlier marshall jcm 900 and carvin mts use diode clipping to augment the tubes and those are both popular amps. There is nothing reliability or electrically related wrong with using diodes for clipping circuits, it's just a tone/preference thing. If you like the sound of the dsl then I wouldn't worry about what it uses to get that sound. I'm sure there are others that disagree though and this is all just my opinion anyway

[DonP]

I was told the boost function on my new amp utilizes diode clipping, but I can swear years ago, Chuckracer was saying that my DSL used diode clipping period. What is this and is it a bad thing ?

Chuckracer was full of it. DSL's don't use diode clipping. 900s and Silver Jubilee used diode clipping.

Clipping is the main way you get distortion. If the signal wasn't clipped, it would be pretty much clean (there may be other distortions besides clipping). Clipping occurs when the gain of a circuit excedes the limits of what it can do keeping things clean.

People love tubes because they clip asymetrically. They clip the bottom a little more than the top. This type of clipping creates even order harmonics pleasing to the ear.

People hate solid state because they clip evenly. This creates odd order harmonics, not pleasing to the ear.

Diodes are an easier way to cause clipping because you don't need to increase gain (and noise) in order to get distortion.

Diode clipping could be considered good (Silver Jubilee) or bad (JCM900). It all depends on the circuit.

Some tube purist say diodes are evil and bad (after hearing the JCM900s) and that's why the JCM2000's came out, using pure gain to get the distortion.

But you need to ask, are there tube amps that sound good and some that sound like crap?

Once again, it all boils down to the circuit.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

i think the JCM 900s sound great when you set the knobs right.
also the JCM 800 2210 uses diode clipping aswell.
and most overdrive and distortion pedals use diode clipping, too.

[rstites]

Furthermore, different types of diodes clip differently and the specific circuit also has a significant affect on how a given diode will clip. The JCM2000's are full of solid state devices, but they're used for switching and power filtering, rather than creating distortion. There's nothing inherently bad about using diodes for clipping, but they definitely sound different than pushing a tube past it's cut-off point.

[Riffmeister]

Well, I have to confess, using the boost doesn't make the sound "Brutal" as someone put it weather it is diode clipping or not.

I don't know if this makes sense or not, but with this amp it almost seems as if the gain cleans up the louder your turn it up, or maybe the word should be tightnes up. Maybe that is due to the 6l6 tubes?

The boost doesn't sound harsh, at least not to me.

[rstites]

That's pretty traditional with Marshalls. The old Master Volume amps, diodes or not, all cleared up and became far less buzzy and harsh as the volume went up. The problem is that they had to be turned up beyond the point of a small club level to sound their best.

[Riffmeister]

Well this amp is actually a Peavey. I had the Marshall about 5 years ago, and like you said, I was always getting crap from the sound guy, always wanting me to turn it down.