Which diode combination are the HEAVIEST ?

[digi2t]

 Water wave = signal wave analogy...
  Send a water wave down a hallway, if there is no impedance [the sides are smooth and straight] the waveshape will remain intact, linear.
 Now lower a board down from the top, across the waterwave-hallway, so it barely touches and flattens the top of the wave, this is 'non-linear' behavior, the board [diodes] clip' the wave peaks, removing anything above 'x' amplitude [height].
 The 'linear' [what looks like a specific line-wave-shape on a scope] wave has become non-linear, now instead of all original 'wave-curves', the tip-tops of the peaks are flat, having been removed by the clipping threshold.
 How low the board is lowered = how much of the top of the wave will be removed. Lowering the board [analogous to lowering diode threshold] .more. removes more wave, the analogy to diodes clipping an electronic analog signal wave is ~the same as a board clipping waterwave peaks...lowering threshold of clipping removes more of the wave, when say about 1/2 of the wave has been removed, it starts to 'look' [on a scope, [and sound'] square-ish.
  Making the wave bigger does the same thing as lowering the threshold, boosting the voltage 'amplitude' [hotter pickup, booster or volume control increase..anything that makes greater signal go into the clipping] makes higher wave peaks so a greater portion of the wave is removed. Boosting wave amplitude and lowering clipping threshold have a common effect: a greater portion of the wave is removed.
 

Even if I was blind, I believe I could visualize that. Very nice Pete. Thanks, you've made my day! 

[WGTP]

Which is the Heaviest Seymour Duncan Pickup?

http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?t=225554

[artifus]

love the bedroom amp quote. have had many a guitarist not understand why they sound so awful on a big stage once they've turned their amp up past 1 and all their carefully selected 'presets' suddenly go to pot. it's enough to drive me to it most nights.

[Somicide]

Which is the Heaviest Seymour Duncan Pickup?
http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?t=225554

That... was actually a really interesting video.  Though, I must agree with some of the comments in that forum, it should've been the same guitar for all the pickups.

[Mark Hammer]

Which is the Heaviest Seymour Duncan Pickup?

http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?t=225554

Quarter pounder....with cheese.

[WGTP]

Does Leslie West still sound as fat since he lost weight? 

[B Tremblay]

Does Leslie West still sound as fat since he lost weight? 

Sure, he has a leg up on the competition!

[DavenPaget]

love the bedroom amp quote. have had many a guitarist not understand why they sound so awful on a big stage once they've turned their amp up past 1 and all their carefully selected 'presets' suddenly go to pot. it's enough to drive me to it most nights.

It's always been interesting .
I always save 2 presets for every mode , or best , write in somewhere .

[brett]

Hi
as everyone has said - there are huge affects of filtering/signal size in/signal size out/...

But...as noted in previous threads, the Vf-I "knee" of different diodes are all very similar (as per electro-physical theory).
The Vf at which clipping occurs is obviously different (low for Ge, high for LEDs). This makes the clipped signal "almost rectangles" a different height for different diodes. e.g. LEDs have "almost rectangles" that are about 2V high.
So, consider that the "corners" are the same size for all diodes, but LEDs have much bigger "almost rectangles" than a Ge diode. Which is closer to a true rectangle ("hard" clipping)? The LED-induced clipping. Which has the greatest amount of high frequency distortion? The LED. Which has the greatest outut/volume? The LED.

IF reduced/boosted so that all signals are the same size post-clipping (e.g. 1V p-p), the diodes with the higher Vf will be "squarer" (a more correct term would be "rectangularer", but try to say that after 6 beers with marbles in your mouth).

OK, that's established that LEDs and other high-Vf diodes are "squarer". But what is the relationship between square and heavy? or HEAVY, as you put it. Hell, I don't know!
cheers

[Mark Hammer]

Does Leslie West still sound as fat since he lost weight? 

Sure, he has a leg up on the competition!

I was gonna, but I figured I'd let that one pass me by.   I'm sure we all wish Mr.Weinstein a quick recovery and successful rehabilitation.  In the meantime...and in VERY poor taste...here is the very thing that comes to mind for Brits everywhere: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFoagC5yGY0  Yes, it's Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in the Tarzan sketch.

[WGTP]

Cheap shots at my man Leslie, but I guess I started it.  To get back on topic, Mountain was the definition of heavy in the early '70's.  My FAVORITE guitar tone.  Sounds like no one else.  Phat as it gets.  Heavy is different today. 

For the children - Dream Sequence:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIpB86Ab2Uo&feature=related

[DavenPaget]

Hi
as everyone has said - there are huge affects of filtering/signal size in/signal size out/...

But...as noted in previous threads, the Vf-I "knee" of different diodes are all very similar (as per electro-physical theory).
The Vf at which clipping occurs is obviously different (low for Ge, high for LEDs). This makes the clipped signal "almost rectangles" a different height for different diodes. e.g. LEDs have "almost rectangles" that are about 2V high.
So, consider that the "corners" are the same size for all diodes, but LEDs have much bigger "almost rectangles" than a Ge diode. Which is closer to a true rectangle ("hard" clipping)? The LED-induced clipping. Which has the greatest amount of high frequency distortion? The LED. Which has the greatest outut/volume? The LED.

IF reduced/boosted so that all signals are the same size post-clipping (e.g. 1V p-p), the diodes with the higher Vf will be "squarer" (a more correct term would be "rectangularer", but try to say that after 6 beers with marbles in your mouth).

OK, that's established that LEDs and other high-Vf diodes are "squarer". But what is the relationship between square and heavy? or HEAVY, as you put it. Hell, I don't know!
cheers

Well yeah , i was looking for a diode pair that had the heaviest distortion , i forgot that word at the moment i posted .
Well i could have it range from Metallica-ish to Whitechapel-ish . Yep .

[sault]

The question can't be answered meaningfully without talking about a specific circuit, or class of circuits... or signal level, or number of gain stages, or EQ, or what type of tone you're looking for, etc...

It's all about how the circuit level hits the voltage drop of the diode. Too low, and you basically lose tone, too high and you don't clip enough, or at all.

For instance - sure, an LED with a 1.5v drop will let more signal through, absolutely, and a lot of times that can be a good thing. However, that means you have to make sure your signal hits that voltage drop, too, or you won't clip *enough* to get that "heavy" tone. But a higher drop isn't always better... what if you go up to a 3v LED? Or a 5v LED? On a 9v power supply you'll have a harder time getting that high of a signal.... you might have more headroom, but that means less clipping, and therefore a lower chance of getting that heavier tone!

In general, if you're getting your clipping from diodes, an LED with a 1.5v drop is a good alternative. JFET and MOSFET wired as diodes are, too, though, although they may clip a little softer, depending on their specific values. You can always wire two diodes in series, too... 0.7 + 0.7 = 1.4v voltage drop, and that's about the same as an LED. The clipping will be a little different, so it's worth mentioning.

*shrug*

In my opinion EQ (both pre-distortion, post-distortion, and between gain stages) is more important than how you clip.


Saul t

[Mark Hammer]

Couldn't agree more.

[DavenPaget]

For instance - sure, an LED with a 1.5v drop will let more signal through, absolutely, and a lot of times that can be a good thing. However, that means you have to make sure your signal hits that voltage drop, too, or you won't clip *enough* to get that "heavy" tone. But a higher drop isn't always better... what if you go up to a 3v LED? Or a 5v LED? On a 9v power supply you'll have a harder time getting that high of a signal.... you might have more headroom, but that means less clipping, and therefore a lower chance of getting that heavier tone!
In my opinion EQ (both pre-distortion, post-distortion, and between gain stages) is more important than how you clip.
Saul t

Does any 5v LED's even exist ? No .
I've seen my small amp have small led's , clearly i know the drop of that is easier to manage , 3V is almost impossible .
When you look for headroom , might as well make it a clean amplifier .
AND red led's are not silicon . But AlGaAs .
>In my opinion EQ (both pre-distortion, post-distortion, and between gain stages) is more important than how you clip.
It's not that , i just want to secure a good pair of clipping diodes that clip more violently .
And my diodes won't be stuck AFTER a EQ stage , i have never seen a pedal do that , anyway .
I don't know how to explain this but , i am not very satisfied with my current 1N4001 parallel pair setup , they clip too early and aren't that heavy enough for me .
Mind you , i am designing a circuit for a VERY HOT guitar setup , because i have at least 1 or 2 +24db boosters .

[Main.Ace.FX]

Diodes sound different in different circuits, there isn't one type that ALWAYS sounds best....when I build circuits I have to use diodes that sound best in that circuit...I can't use the same ones in everything and expect the same result

[DavenPaget]

Diodes sound different in different circuits, there isn't one type that ALWAYS sounds best....when I build circuits I have to use diodes that sound best in that circuit...I can't use the same ones in everything and expect the same result

Typically , yes , i was very aware of that right from the start , no two circuits sounds the same and i am not expecting the same result from 4 circuits
I just wanted to know what worked out for you guys , i am pretty sure a few guys here love heavy stuff , eh ?    
Anyway , i created this topic to ask , not get arguements about how different pairs of diodes sounds different entirely in different circuits .
I WANTED ANSWERS NOT POINTLESS ARGUMENTS I ALREADY KNOW .  

[defaced]

i am pretty sure a few guys here love heavy stuff , eh ?

Yep, I have an amp for that.  High gain pedals don't sound right to me.  My current love for that heavy sound is a Fryette Deliverance D120 and the older VHT Deliverance D120s (slight tweaks to the preamps). 

[anchovie]

I WANTED ANSWERS NOT POINTLESS ARGUMENTS I ALREADY KNOW .  

In that case, seeing as the diodes are so important to you and it's nothing to do with the treble boost that so many metal distortions have before clipping (even the Tube Screamer does this - just because there isn't a knob for it on the box doesn't mean you haven't seen a pedal with pre-clipping EQ) or the mid-scoop in the tone stack afterwards, use a pair of 1N4148 and be done with it. If you find they clip too early(!), turn your guitar's volume down.

[DavenPaget]

I WANTED ANSWERS NOT POINTLESS ARGUMENTS I ALREADY KNOW .  

In that case, seeing as the diodes are so important to you and it's nothing to do with the treble boost that so many metal distortions have before clipping (even the Tube Screamer does this - just because there isn't a knob for it on the box doesn't mean you haven't seen a pedal with pre-clipping EQ) or the mid-scoop in the tone stack afterwards, use a pair of 1N4148 and be done with it. If you find they clip too early(!), turn your guitar's volume down.

Right about there , i am using a overdrive pedal in conjunction with my mid-scoop "metal" pedal .
I am thinking whether to do 1N4148 or Red LED's