dmckee Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 [font=Verdana][size=3] Hi,[/size][/font] [font=Verdana][size=3] I've had a bit of a read around other posts on this but can't quite get my head round it so maybe someone can help me out. [/size][/font] [font=Verdana][size=3] I've just bought a TH500 and love the tone. However, I found at a louder rock gig last night that my clip light was flickering quite a bit, basically at the start of most notes. I guess I'm a reasonably heavy player, but while the overall volume was quite loud, it wasn't crazy loud, and I'm worried I'm already at the limit of the amp's power, which (if true) is a bit disappointing. [/size][/font] [font=Verdana][size=3] What I don't really understand is why the master volume seems to feed the preamp and not just the power amp. i.e. how do you increase the volume of the power amp, without clipping the preamp? [/size][/font] [font=Verdana][size=3] I've attached a pic of my settings from last night. I tried various combinations of gain up or down / master up or down but still seemed to be getting this clipping light flickering at the same overall volume levels. For info, the -10db pad was in, I was playing a Stingray at about 90% on it's volume control, and was playing through a TC Electronic RS210[color=#22229C] [/color]and a 112 (i.e. 4 ohms load overall). [/size][/font] [font=Verdana][size=3] I really expected to get more volume out of this amp without the fear of a clipped signal. Is there something I'm missing? [/size][/font] [font=Verdana][size=3] Cheers, [/size][/font] [font=Verdana][size=3] Dave.[/size][/font] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 As far as I know, it is not a clip light. When it's on is not as a result of clipping and you are doing no damage to the amp. That's how I understand it..... what I've read has been as a result of people asking the same question on Talkbass. Drop an Email to Aguilar. They should be able to explain the detail it to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Yep, Ignore it. From my manual and in short "Clipping can be a desirable characteristic depending on your taste" and "Clipping the TH500 WILL NOT cause any shutdowns or damage to your amplifier" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmckee Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 I understand that it doesn't damage the amp, but I assume it is (or will be) audible, at some volume. It just seems odd that you can't control the preamp and power amp separately, as you do on most other amps, in order to prevent any clipping at all by the preamp. i.e. what if you don't think clipping is a "desirable characteristic"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulie Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I had a Tone Hammer 500 and ran it pretty hard, My mate then bought one and played in similar venues and had this issue of the light comming on a lot! He returned his to the shop and went with something else. Id say just ignore the light, its probably getting triggered too easily. My Tone Hammer could pump out huge volume and never clip so I wouldnt worry about headroom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 As the guys on Talkbass are confirming it's NOT a clip light in the traditional sense, so you shouldn't be concerned that this is an indication of a problem with the signal, or your sound. Can you hear any issues with your sound? IME, MM basses can have very hot output but I would just take the Gain down a little. On most of my amps I've found that running the Gain lower and Master higher gets me the sound I prefer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0175westwood29 Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 with your gain set hi as above with a hot bass, could be the reason. however are you using the gain hi to get some grind? andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 [quote name='0175westwood29' timestamp='1389107808' post='2330070'] ....however are you using the gain hi to get some grind?.... [/quote] Isn't that what the Drive control is for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0175westwood29 Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1389108292' post='2330084'] Isn't that what the Drive control is for? [/quote] yeh just wondering as he has that turned off, but the gain pretty high andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmckee Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 I did have the gain down lower and the master up higher to achieve the same overall volume and the clip light was still flickering. Anyway, from what I can gather, most folk seem to basically ignore the clip light! Need to play about more with the gain and see what it does to the tone. It obviously doesn't function anything like a normal gain, in that you can have it off completely and still have a signal based purely on the master volume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0175westwood29 Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 [quote name='dmckee' timestamp='1389129769' post='2330504'] I did have the gain down lower and the master up higher to achieve the same overall volume and the clip light was still flickering. Anyway, from what I can gather, most folk seem to basically ignore the clip light! Need to play about more with the gain and see what it does to the tone. It obviously doesn't function anything like a normal gain, in that you can have it off completely and still have a signal based purely on the master volume. [/quote] that is weird andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Get on over to the 'aguilar amplification owners' page on Facebook. The Daves from Aguilar regularly comment and help people out and if not, you've got countless users of the same gear who can help/reassure you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 This reminds me of what happened with the Genz Benz Shuttles, they too have a clipping light comming on too soon. When talking to GB i was told that that is normal, not bad for the amp, just an indication of the functioning of the preamp. I kept playing my 9.0 for the rest of the time i had it with me and never looked back at that light, it never failed on me. Reading that this is happening with the TH500 isn't strange for me, both the TH500 and the STL9.0 share some components and maybe something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmckee Posted January 10, 2014 Author Share Posted January 10, 2014 Thanks guys. All helpful. I had a guy somewhere else saying he just disconnected the light altogether. :-) Everyone, including Aguilar, seem to say to just ignore it. Why bother putting it there then, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leroydiamond Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 [quote name='dmckee' timestamp='1389373838' post='2333568'] Thanks guys. All helpful. I had a guy somewhere else saying he just disconnected the light altogether. :-) Everyone, including Aguilar, seem to say to just ignore it. Why bother putting it there then, eh? [/quote] I tried out the Th500 and the clip light continuously flashing put me right off. Indeed what its doing there at all seems to be a bit of a mystery, and arguably poor design if it has no function. Regardless I found the Th500 was not as loud as the Markbass F500 when matched with Markbass cabs. Pity because the tone on offer was a nice alternative to the F500 but in the end I stuck with the F500. Recently I moved to the Tecamp puma 900 which is a really powerful beast with plenty of welly on tap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highfox Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Not sure if it's of any help or not, but I run a Ray with a TH 5oo and a pair of GS112's. I have the volume on the Ray down about half way and let the drive and gain form the TH drive the signal. I run mine at loud venues with drive and gain at about 12'0 clock with a slight boost to the bass and treble.. volume I never usually need to go past about 10-11pm.. Good to know about the clip but never seen it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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