freestompboxes.org

Forgive me for asking a simple question.(I've been knocking back a little bit of Grandpa's Cough Medicine.lol) Symmetrical Clipping is with 2 Diodes.Asymmetrical Clipping is with 3 Diodes.If you use more than 3 Diodes in the Clipping Section(i.e. 2 sets of Diodes in series.) Would that still be Asymmetrical Clipping?

soupbone wrote:Forgive me for asking a simple question.(I've been knocking back a little bit of Grandpa's Cough Medicine.lol) Symmetrical Clipping is with 2 Diodes.Asymmetrical Clipping is with 3 Diodes.If you use more than 3 Diodes in the Clipping Section(i.e. 2 sets of Diodes in series.) Would that still be Asymmetrical Clipping?

Symmetry....balanced proportions!

Can be two diodes of like properties. However, if one diode is germanium while the other is silicon....one dropping .2V and the second dropping .6v, then those two diodes are asymmetrical. They are equivalent to one diode to 3 diodes.

assymetrical is unequal forward voltage on the each side of diodes clipping.
symmetrical means equal forward voltage each way.
Put this and what PokeyPete said together and I think you get the idea.

If the diode test function on your multimeter reads the same for each set, that's what people mean when they say symmetric.

There's variation between diodes, but I find the effect of having asymmetric clipping is most pronounced when one side is approx. double the other.

However you will get minor textural differences by using 0.6V worth of germanium diodes on one side and 0.6V of fast silicon diodes (1N914/1N4148) on the other. Slower silicon diodes like the 1N400X family I've found have a similar sound to germanium, in that they are less bright than 1N914/1N4148s. Once the values on each side are similar though, the differences become very subtle.

Interesting stuff folks!Thanks!

Some good links on the subject with sample circuits:

http://www.muzique.com/lab/warp.htm

http://www.muzique.com/lab/tclip.htm

http://www.muzique.com/lab/zenmos.htm

http://www.muzique.com/lab/sat2.htm