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unplugging guitar before shutting off amp?
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guitarguy
Got Rhythm
Got Rhythm


Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 78

PostPosted: Sat Sep 10, 2005 2:32 am    Post subject: unplugging guitar before shutting off amp? Reply with quote

i heared that its bad for your amp if you unplug the patch cord from your guitar before shutting off your amp. how could it be bad? and what can it do to your amp?
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Last edited by guitarguy on Thu Feb 17, 2011 2:25 am; edited 1 time in total
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lee_UK
Rolling Stone No.8
Rolling Stone No.8


Joined: 04 Feb 2005
Posts: 3384
Location: London, UK

PostPosted: Sat Sep 10, 2005 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I do it all the time, never had a an amp give up on me, is it bad? a buzz and click, sounds horrible when you do it but i never knew it was bad for the amp, one tip on amps, if you own a Valve amp switch it off and allow it to cool off for a while before moving, when the output valves a red hot they can be very fragile and clanking the amp around can damage them, look out for that all you Mullard rubbing virtuoso's. I always switch my amp off after a gig or rehearsal, and then pack everything away and load up my car and then go get the amp.
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guitarguy
Got Rhythm
Got Rhythm


Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 78

PostPosted: Sat Sep 10, 2005 4:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

yea, i heared it was bad for the speakers
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Last edited by guitarguy on Thu Feb 17, 2011 2:26 am; edited 1 time in total
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1bassleft
Lowdown Cack-hander
Lowdown Cack-hander


Joined: 16 Feb 2005
Posts: 3951
Location: "Hit The North"

PostPosted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 12:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

GeeGee, bear in mind I'm not an elecspurt. What little I do know revolves around sniffing Mullards Smile . Any IEEE type looking in would do everyone a favour if they chimed to contradict me...

AFAIK, you're right in that pulling the jack from your git doesn't worry the amp; it's your speakers you are risking. The tip of your jack sends the 'hot' signal and the sleeve goes to ground. By pulling the jack out, you momentarily reverse this. Correct me if I'm wrong, solder-monkeys, but the guitar's passive circuit means that the amp does a "so what", but amplifies a brief, high amplitude, low frequency "dur" noise.

This goes straight to the speakers and, if there's one thing they don't like, it's a low frequency square wave. Much shredding of cone from the rubbery surround bit, and subsequent farty noises.

I don't switch off the amp before pulling my 1/4" ( Shocked ) but I do roll the amp vol back to zero. Keeps the speaker sane (flicking to standby has the same effect). The preamp gets, and amplifies, that "dur" but the speakers receive Butkus and all is happy. At least, that's what I go by. Any other ops?
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Tim
Low Frequency Out
Low Frequency Out


Joined: 14 Aug 2005
Posts: 1182
Location: Probably at the bar.

PostPosted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The best thing is to do this on stage at a gig, all the tech guys in the audience flinch, then you can avoid them after the gig, although you find you have to avoid them as they all come up and say: "You should always turn off your...'
But yes when you're cranked up it certainly sounds unhealthy for your, or the venues, speakers.
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1bassleft
Lowdown Cack-hander
Lowdown Cack-hander


Joined: 16 Feb 2005
Posts: 3951
Location: "Hit The North"

PostPosted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I bet a lot of people have done this. Getting no, or a crackly, output you yank out the jack from the guitar and tap your thumb on the tip a couple of times. That "dur dur dur" noise comes from you grounding out the tip - quite OK at low volumes but a bit unpopular at gig levels.

I've done something I reckon most haven't, and I wouldn't recommend it. Getting no "dur dur", I wondered if my amp-cab cable was duff. Innocent teenager that I was, I pulled the jack out of the speaker cab and thumbed it. Now, this is a bad idea for the amp anyway. The output impedance has gone from a nice 8ohms to something like infinity and the tubes and output transformer work like burgery to make up the difference. Much amp-smoking if left too long.

More importantly, I wasn't touching the tip of a passive cable carrying no current. I'd stuck my thumb onto the tip of a lead carrying all the horses of a 100W valve amp, expected to turn around some pretty big speaker magnets. The rest of the band looked on, bemused, as I did a high-speed version of Ricky Gervais' dance from "The Office". I finally managed to fling the cable out of my grip and, a few seconds later, stop my arm flapping Embarassed

In any case, what made me think I'd get a "dur" noise when I'd disconnected the speakers? Rolling Eyes
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Michael
Lead Virtuoso
Lead Virtuoso


Joined: 02 Feb 2005
Posts: 1897
Location: Brisbane, Australia

PostPosted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 11:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Laughing ah the dance bit cracked me up.
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1bassleft
Lowdown Cack-hander
Lowdown Cack-hander


Joined: 16 Feb 2005
Posts: 3951
Location: "Hit The North"

PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Phew - Very Happy . I wondered just how far "The Office" had spread as a TV show. Could've been a bad simile, but I got away with it. Don't try it for yourself, though.
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Michael
Lead Virtuoso
Lead Virtuoso


Joined: 02 Feb 2005
Posts: 1897
Location: Brisbane, Australia

PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well... I wont because I'm not as flexible as yourself. Must be all that tennis Razz
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guitarguy
Got Rhythm
Got Rhythm


Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 78

PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 5:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

well what can it do to the speakers after time?
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Last edited by guitarguy on Thu Feb 17, 2011 2:26 am; edited 1 time in total
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