The Doom Room: ILF Edition

[new05002]

read this article

http://www.aikenamps.com/BlockingDistortion.html

Essentially what happens is that if you drive the grid of a tube to a large enough positive voltage it will start to conduct current into the grid. Since gain stages in tube amps are capacitively coupled there is normally no source for the current to flow from so the signal gets clamped down like a diode clipper. The resulting sound is often described as farty, and shitty sounding by many but a little bit of blocking sounds good. It sort of adds this texture under your note. Too much its pure farty flub. Its more of a problem as the capacitor becomes larger in the coupling circuit due to a larger RC constant and a long charge time. Thus one way to avoid this is to cut bass down between stages ala make the amp brighter

[sergiomunoz74]

http://thebeauty2s.bandcamp.com/
I-I don't know what to guys but is there more bands like this. I just can't get down with some of these Chicago local bands.

[samzadgan]

OK, I'm a dumbass. Somebody 'splain to me what blocking distortion is / does.

i'm glad you asked, because i was going to ask it at some stage...

[new05002]

So as you increase the gain in the amp and increase the low end it becomes more susceptible to blocking distortion. Power tubes can also go into blocking distortion as well. you can combat blocking by using some interstate signal dividers to decrease the signal between stages, decreasing the coupling cap values to decrease bass and speed up the RC charge up time, use grid stoppers to decrease blocking. Power tube wise u can more coldly bias the output tubes but that also increases crossover distortion.

[Ancient Astronaught]

Yeah, I think it depends highly on speakers and like I said, it's such a fine line imo.

I did the same with my Metro though, definitely wanted to avoid any blocking when I slammed that amp with fuzz but that's my pure pedal amp. I think it sounds smoother when it's just amp gain involved though.

It is a fine line, definitely agreed. As Nick said in amp distortion it can add a certain character, but its more prominent and less pleasurable with pedals.

Great minds think alike!

[new05002]

Amps like oranges and matamps and Fenders (old or vintage ones) are more susceptible to blocking then Marshalls or marshall clones. Those amps have much more bass early in the amp so that can be more problematic while Marshalls tend to cut bass and boost treble and avoid the issue somewhat.

[samzadgan]

Amps like oranges and matamps and Fenders (old or vintage ones) are more susceptible to blocking then Marshalls or marshall clones. Those amps have much more bass early in the amp so that can be more problematic while Marshalls tend to cut bass and boost treble and avoid the issue somewhat.

but my question is when does it kick in? do you have to crank the amp before you start getting it? Just wondering if my Rocker 30 will do it if i have the opportunity to crank it.

[new05002]

Amps like oranges and matamps and Fenders (old or vintage ones) are more susceptible to blocking then Marshalls or marshall clones. Those amps have much more bass early in the amp so that can be more problematic while Marshalls tend to cut bass and boost treble and avoid the issue somewhat.

but my question is when does it kick in? do you have to crank the amp before you start getting it? Just wondering if my Rocker 30 will do it if i have the opportunity to crank it.

soo many variables as to when it happens, what your EQ is, what ur guitar is, what tuning you use, what gain level, which cab (as they can accentuate the sound more or less). Those Rockers are like Marshall clones so i think they are more immune to some degree.

[samzadgan]

Amps like oranges and matamps and Fenders (old or vintage ones) are more susceptible to blocking then Marshalls or marshall clones. Those amps have much more bass early in the amp so that can be more problematic while Marshalls tend to cut bass and boost treble and avoid the issue somewhat.

but my question is when does it kick in? do you have to crank the amp before you start getting it? Just wondering if my Rocker 30 will do it if i have the opportunity to crank it.

soo many variables as to when it happens, what your EQ is, what ur guitar is, what tuning you use, what gain level, which cab (as they can accentuate the sound more or less). Those Rockers are like Marshall clones so i think they are more immune to some degree.

Marshall Clone??? DAMN! and there i was thinking that it was a vintage orange clone...

[AngryGoldfish]

I must be an odd bird as I specifically asked Nick to prevent blocking distortion in the Naki design as it bugs me so much. Maybe it was that at the time I was using Emi Swamp Thang speakers which extremely emphasize any blocking dist in your signal in an unpleasant way (IMO of course). I like my dirt tone like good peanut butter, smooth and crunchy.

This is very true, and it shows how important speaker choice is. My old Soldano, and to a lesser extent my modified Jet City, had quite a bright attack to it. The Vintage 30's in my Matamp cabinet emphasised that and it wasn't particularly pleasing. I know Soldano used V30's before in their cabinets, but that's what Mike and crew maybe had in mind with their sound when they were designing the SLO100. I don't know for sure, but maybe the reason why they reverted to, I think, custom Eminence Legends was because it had the same character as a V30 but without the honking midrange and sizzle.

I did the same with my Metro though, definitely wanted to avoid any blocking when I slammed that amp with fuzz but that's my pure pedal amp. I think it sounds smoother when it's just amp gain involved though.

This is why I want the Dunwich Iron lung. It'll mean I can drive the front-end really heavily without too much blocking distortion. The Fryette Memphis 30 is almost at its limit every time it's turned on, so it's compressing a lot. And although I love that sound, sometimes it's just too much, especially with pedals. However, I need the small combo more right now so the Iron Lung has gone on the back burner. Once I've paid the 1x12 combo off I'll probably pick up something like a Marshall Super Bass or a cheaper equivalent until my name comes up for another Dunwich.

Amps like oranges and matamps and Fenders (old or vintage ones) are more susceptible to blocking then Marshalls or marshall clones. Those amps have much more bass early in the amp so that can be more problematic while Marshalls tend to cut bass and boost treble and avoid the issue somewhat.

but my question is when does it kick in? do you have to crank the amp before you start getting it? Just wondering if my Rocker 30 will do it if i have the opportunity to crank it.

A good way to test it is by putting something like a BAT Pharaoh in front of an already loud and distorting amp and maxing out the controls, tuning your guitar to C, and then flicking to the neck humbucker. If your amp rumbles and 'cuts off' or compresses heavily, that could be blocking distortion you're hearing. That Neil Young tone has some blocking distortion in it. Those old Fender Tweed amps did it with the right input.

[new05002]

Amps like oranges and matamps and Fenders (old or vintage ones) are more susceptible to blocking then Marshalls or marshall clones. Those amps have much more bass early in the amp so that can be more problematic while Marshalls tend to cut bass and boost treble and avoid the issue somewhat.

but my question is when does it kick in? do you have to crank the amp before you start getting it? Just wondering if my Rocker 30 will do it if i have the opportunity to crank it.

soo many variables as to when it happens, what your EQ is, what ur guitar is, what tuning you use, what gain level, which cab (as they can accentuate the sound more or less). Those Rockers are like Marshall clones so i think they are more immune to some degree.

Marshall Clone??? DAMN! and there i was thinking that it was a vintage orange clone...

nah, anything other than a OTR, OR, or an OD is mostly marshall flavored type amp. Marshall or Fender EQ, Marshall or Fender PI, marshall style eqing in the stages.

Sorry bro.

[Droneforbreakfast]

been doing that for a while....shhh dont tell people.


Well actually i barely cut even but no worries.

Making this for ms. dunwich

I didn't know she actually played guitar. That's cool.

I had a girlfriend who played piano once. It was hawt.

definitely. super sexy.

Nope, not even ceilings but the wife says she can feel it downstairs, which is when it becomes 'loud' to her. She's never been in the room when I had both amps even slightly opened up (20 whole watts) - I can imagine her just falling over like the Moro Reflex kicked back in

Sorry, but that made me giggle.

[ryan summit]

i learn so much shit here
awesome
im lookin forward to graduating
to the tube lifestyle
i like bein able to fuck around
with everything i own
mess with the guts and stuff
seems like a big commitment though

[Iommic Pope]

Thanks for the welcome.

Hey, has anyone seen unida on this current tour? They're hitting oz soon and I'm super stoked. Just wanna know what the set might be like?

[Droneforbreakfast]

just get a couple of circuits first and tweak them, simple cheap circuits, like Melx V2 Fuzz or a Bazz Fuss, and tweak those, then move on to the nice ones you have you want modded.

that's what i'm gonna do when i'm ready to venture into that world.