What is "headroom"

[Scotty 2]

I play clean signal.Single string and dougle stops mostly.
I have DRRI and Am Std tele,no mods to either.What does
headroom mean? Someone please explain to this old codger.
Thanks in advance.

[blowtorch]

Headroom is the "amount" of clean volume that you have on tap through your amp, until it starts to break up some.

[sacizob]

In an amp its the amount you can turn it up before it starts to distort. What is a dougle stop?

[yardleyboy]

Its when you dont have to many conflicting thoughts at the same time

Apart from that its whats already been mentioned

[blowtorch]

Also when you get inside your car and there is clearance between the roof and your hair

[jefrs]

It's the gap between the top of your head and the top of the door-way, if you have to duck then you have run out of headroom and are starting to distort.

A 50W amp running at 10W output level will have a lot more headroom before it hits that bar than a 15W amp will have.

[Jakedog]

Headroom- Max's last name.

Or, how much you can turn up your amp before it starts to break up. For instance, on gigs where I like some breakup, and dont need a lot of "headroom", I'll use my Vox AC15. On gigs where I need to be a little louder, and still stay clean, I'll use my 30 watt Marshall and 2X12 cab. If I had some gigs where I neede to be super loud, and not have distortion, I might look look to something very high wattage (60-100 watts) with at least two twelves.


I used to have a Peavey Stereo Chorus 212. 260 watts RMS. 130 watts per side in stereo. LOTS of headroom. Almost endless. My Vox on the other hand, distorts at what I consider to be very low volumes.


The amount of volume you need to achieve without breakup = how much "headroom" you need. The more you need, the more power you need.

[magicguitar]

Double stop: playing two notes (two strings) at one time.

[Hoopermazing]

It's what I want a lot of when I'm playing a jazzbox through a solid state amp, and not so much when I'm playing my Tele.

[fendrguitplayr]

In digital and analog audio, headroom is the amount by which the signal-handling capabilities exceed a designated level known as Permitted Maximum Level (PML).

Headroom can be thought of as a safety zone allowing transient audio peaks to exceed the PML without exceeding the signal capabilities of an audio system (digital clipping, for example).

[sacizob]

Originally Posted by magicguitar

Double stop: playing two notes (two strings) at one time.

I know what double stops are. My question was "What are dougle stops?"
See OP.

[limbe]

Dougle is when you eat a lot,so dougle stop must be when you stop eating a lot.That was an easy one,even for me.
A double stop is a harder one.Is that when half the band stops playing after the third chorus and the other half ends the tune after the fourth chorus?

[jhundt]

the way they use it here is "how loud can I play clean?"

So a little Champ has very little headroom; a Deluxe Reverb has more headroom; a Twin Reverb has lots of headroom.

This is not what the term really means, but it's the way guitar players have decided to use it.

[BigDaddyLH]

[ce24]

I really liked Max Headroom

[yardleyboy]

Originally Posted by jhundt

the way they use it here is "how loud can I play clean?"

So a little Champ has very little headroom; a Deluxe Reverb has more headroom; a Twin Reverb has lots of headroom.

This is not what the term really means, but it's the way guitar players have decided to use it.

This is the most sensible answer

[FenderLover]

Originally Posted by jhundt

the way they use it here is "how loud can I play clean?"

So a little Champ has very little headroom; a Deluxe Reverb has more headroom; a Twin Reverb has lots of headroom.

This is not what the term really means, but it's the way guitar players have decided to use it.

^^ Exactly. That's why getting a more efficient speaker for 'more headroom' is a misinformed idea. Everything is louder, even the clean part, but it doesn't change the amplifiers 'clean headroom'.

[BigDaddyLH]

Originally Posted by FenderLover

^^ Exactly. That's why getting a more efficient speaker for 'more headroom' is a misinformed idea. Everything is louder, even the clean part, but it doesn't change the amplifiers 'clean headroom'.

Wouldn't the dBs at the point of breakup be greater? That sounds like more clean headroom to me, even if it still occurs when the volume knob hits "6".

[middy]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLH

Wouldn't the dBs at the point of breakup be greater? That sounds like more clean headroom to me, even if it still occurs when the volume knob hits "6".

Yeah, that's how I see it. More efficient speaker = more headroom.

Who cares what the dial is set at?

[Boubou]

I thought it was a room for training interns