What does it take to damage a solid state preamp?

[Hogarth]

Just bought the SWR Workingman's 160w Solid State Bass amp for my guitar rig. In order to get the warmth I want from the preamp section I am maxing out the gain, plugging into the passive pickup input, putting a max volume distortion pedal in front of it, and playing a guitar with active pickups. The clipping led is constantly on.

If I run this for 20 to 30 minutes at club level volume will I risk damaging the preamp or any other components in the amp?

And, out of curiosity, what would it take to damage the preamp in this manner?

 

[agedhorse]

It depends, at high volumes you could damage the power amp and/or speaker but “probably” not the preamp.

 

[abarson]

For so much “warmth” and distortion, I have to ask why you’re not using a guitar amp?

 

[stigbeve]

To be safe I would turn the gain down until the light doesn't come on when you play hard.

 

[Hogarth]

For so much “warmth” and distortion, I have to ask why you’re not using a guitar amp?

My main reason was not being able to find a decent solid state guitar amp on short notice. I also figured, at the very least, I could get a unique tone with a few pedals and the color from the preamp. Unfortunately I don't know enough about the circuitry to know if I'm damaging the amp. My instinct and agedhorse's response is telling me "no".

 

[fdeck]

My thought is that 160 Watts is likely to be phenomenally loud as a guitar amp if run full tilt. Assuming you're blending with the band and playing at moderate volume, you won't be pushing this amp anywhere close to its limits.

 

[DTRN]

It has been my experience the best SS guitar amp is a Roland Jazz Chorus.

 

[Element Zero]

Speaker level 1/4” to the input outta do it…

 

[johnh89]

If I run this for 20 to 30 minutes at club level volume will I risk damaging the preamp or any other components in the amp?

If you ran that for 20 or 30 seconds near me , you would risk damaging more than just the preamp.......

 

[FFEJY]

What does it take to damage a solid state preamp?

 

[yberwaffe]

You need to feed the preamp with about 30 volts to risk damaging it.

BTW, bass amps works just fine with guitar.

 

[moreblues]

Buy a Mesa Boogie Mark V and no more worries.

 

[Barticus]

Buy a Mesa Boogie Mark V and no more worries.

Agree!

 

[micguy]

A well designed preamp circuit should be protected against things it can do to itself - clipping, etc.

It can be broken by external forces - applied voltages, etc., or by time. Most electronics, you can calculate a mean time to failure - there are various methods to do that calculation, and things you can do to increase the time substantially (heat is a major concern), but eventually, you should expect any circuit to eventually fail. Well designed stuff can last decades, poorly designed stuff will go faster - how much faster depends on how poor the design is.

Complexity also matters - a big multichannel console is much harder to keep working than a simple pedal.

 

[IanStephenson]

From experience: connecting two power amps into the same cab, so they short each other out, will definitely do it...

 

[TyBo]

It has been my experience the best SS guitar amp is a Roland Jazz Chorus.

As long as you don't mind hauling it around.

Shout out to Quilter also, their Mach 2 series amps can do some credible distortion tones.

 

[paskisti]

Buy a Mesa Boogie Mark V and no more worries.

Mesa seems to be some kind of universal solution to every problem and non problem here in TB.

 

[agedhorse]

Speaker level 1/4” to the input outta do it…

Yup, roasty-toasty!

 

[ihixulu]

I imagine clipping the preamp as the OP suggests runs the IC's in the circuit at full bore, at the maximum end of their ratings. Won't that shorten their lifespan, due to the heat that would generate? Or are the voltages and currents too low in SS preamp circuits to be of significance?

 

[micguy]

I imagine clipping the preamp as the OP suggests runs the IC's in the circuit at full bore, at the maximum end of their ratings. Won't that shorten their lifespan, due to the heat that would generate? Or are the voltages and currents too low in SS preamp circuits to be of significance?

Sourcing significant current is harder on an op amp than clipping is - that'll generate heat, but clipping doesn't generate significant heat, unless something is poorly designed. If you've ever heard of a computer, those things run transistor circuits into "clipping" essentially 100 percent of the time, and some of them can last quite long - at least the circuit parts. Yes, some of them run warm or hot, but that's because they pack BILLIONS of parts into 1 chip. An op amp has ...maybe a dozen.