Headroom, volume, voltage & preamps

[Woolworm]

Sooo, I recently got a Keeley Katana with the idea that I'll have it at the very end of my chain because it is 18volts and that will give me the maximum headroom and lower chance of clipping from all my loud pedals beforehand when going into a high headroom amp because if a clipped signal is going even into a high headroom amp, it would STILL be annoying.

Then I realised that my Morley ABC signal splitter which I use to use two amps at once (sometimes three with the bass amp) is 9v, so the chances of my boosted signal from my Katana going into this would mean even more chance of clipping? But now clipped going into two amps? LOL. I'm I getting this correct?

What I could do is put the Morley before my Katana, and then get another Katana or maybe another 18v preamp / boost like the MXR Ten Band EQ or the Orange Two Stroke Boost EQ. But its quite annoying cos theres a lot of great preamp pedals that run on 9v that take themselves out of contention cos I'm like "its not 18v, wheres the headroom BOI".

But I solve my own problem by doing a bit of research which renders this thread useless but I thought I would still share cos I dunno, none of my real life friends who are also musicians care or are big of a sonic nerd than me.

So Orange released the Amp Detonator, an ABY pedal which has internal 18v. SOLVED!!!! God I love Orange, they really know the features and specifications players really want and they give it to us. But even better might be the N-Audio Isolated Guitar Splitter / DI Box. That way I don't have to buy a DI box as well cos I wanna record the signal before the amp even when I play live cos God knows if the mic's start clipping or whatever kind of shitty dynamic mics they'll be using.

But I am still wondering if there are any 18v preamp pedals out there that are just not coming to mind right now. Or 18v boosters.

[voerking]

in my experience, you're giving 18v pedals too much credit for headroom. it REALLY varies from circuit to circuit. the best thing to do is control your gain-staging so you're not having to deal with a super loud signal when you get to something like an A/B box (which may or may not distort from the loud signal, anyway). it will just take some experimenting, but you can't just expect any pedal that runs on 18 volts to automatically solve the problem.
there are a lot of hypotheticals in your post - are you actually experiencing issues with clipping (and if so, what's the exact set up currently?)?

[Woolworm]

in my experience, you're giving 18v pedals too much credit for headroom. it REALLY varies from circuit to circuit. the best thing to do is control your gain-staging so you're not having to deal with a super loud signal when you get to something like an A/B box (which may or may not distort from the loud signal, anyway). it will just take some experimenting, but you can't just expect any pedal that runs on 18 volts to automatically solve the problem.
there are a lot of hypotheticals in your post - are you actually experiencing issues with clipping (and if so, what's the exact set up currently?)?

Not experiencing it thus far but I know my live playing will get louder because that is how I want to play. Well actually it did clip the last time before covid I was playing so, thats where my worries started. I know it was specifically from my BOSS FB-2 Feedbacker / Booster. That pedal is so fucking loud. I love it so much. I think its OOP now, I'll never sell it. WIll always forever be on my rig. Also my first ever pedal I bought LOL.

Cant wait for that waza craft version of it in 20 years time LOL.

[crochambeau]

I don't have a Morley ABC schematic sitting in front of me, but generally speaking signal path switching and signal amplification draw on power supplies in completely different ways.

(takes five)

I just peeked at an unverified schematic that popped up when I punched Morley ABC schematic into the old interwebs, and it appears to be a bunch of mechanical switching with 9 volts allocated to LED duty. You're not at risk of bottlenecking into this topology unless the physical contacts are oxidized.

If it's CMOS or solid state switching you can run into bottlenecks when you overshoot the capabilities of the parts used, but I would not worry about it unless you are dissatisfied with the end result of your set-up.

[Woolworm]

I don't have a Morley ABC schematic sitting in front of me, but generally speaking signal path switching and signal amplification draw on power supplies in completely different ways.

(takes five)

I just peeked at an unverified schematic that popped up when I punched Morley ABC schematic into the old interwebs, and it appears to be a bunch of mechanical switching with 9 volts allocated to LED duty. You're not at risk of bottlenecking into this topology unless the physical contacts are oxidized.

If it's CMOS or solid state switching you can run into bottlenecks when you overshoot the capabilities of the parts used, but I would not worry about it unless you are dissatisfied with the end result of your set-up.

Interesting.

[goroth]

Just get a klon.

[Woolworm]

Just get a klon.

Yeah been tinking about the Tumnus Deluxe. I'm a sucker for a full EQ section than just a treble knob or whatever. Or actually the clean version of the J Rockett Archer since I do not much care about overdrive. Saying that tho I don't have a simple overdrive. Its all fuzzes. Apart from my BOSS FB-2 buuuuut, the reason for that pedal is not the overdrive lol.