Can a fuzz blow an amp?

[cuddlemonster]

I just bought a really old Polytone Mini-Brute (it's not a combo, it's a 3 channel PA amp that's in a neat little box, but I don't know how old it is) and it sounded AWESOME.

Played a bass and a tape recorder through it for an hour or so with no problems, but the last time I tried using it, I powered it up with the volume all the way down, and while turning it up noticed that my Fuzz Factory was on, and then two seconds later there was no sound at all, from any input on any setting. Tried going straight in and still nothin'...

SO my question is: Could the Fuzz Factory have blown out the amp??

I know it's a harsh pedal, but I didn't think it was that bad

 

[dubcut]

A true pa amp will accept a wide input range without eatin' dirt.

The real question is did you exceed the output thermal capability of the amp?....

The fuzz, set to line level, EXACTLY line level, will not hurt a thing. If the pedal was cranked...maybe, LONG SHOT kinda maybe. Unless, of course, you had the PA cranked as well...

Did the amp seem to play louder than normal? 3-4 decibels louder equals a Doubling of power. Doubling power equals Death.

For future reference, always crank your amp to the full tilte level,and note the volume(dry,no effects), KNOW your amp. Never use a pedal to exceed the output capabilities of you amp...

A fuzz produces a square wave, cut from the sine wave it is fed. The PEAK of the wave is reduced, therefore LESS output. At the same volume level, the fuzz actually helps....

I just bought a really old Polytone Mini-Brute (it's not a combo, it's a 3 channel PA amp that's in a neat little box, but I don't know how old it is) and it sounded AWESOME.

Played a bass and a tape recorder through it for an hour or so with no problems, but the last time I tried using it, I powered it up with the volume all the way down, and while turning it up noticed that my Fuzz Factory was on, and then two seconds later there was no sound at all, from any input on any setting. Tried going straight in and still nothin'...

SO my question is: Could the Fuzz Factory have blown out the amp??

I know it's a harsh pedal, but I didn't think it was that bad

 

[bongomania]

Sounds like a coincidence to me.

 

[BassIan]

A true pa amp will accept a wide input range without eatin' dirt.

The real question is did you exceed the output thermal capability of the amp?....

The fuzz, set to line level, EXACTLY line level, will not hurt a thing. If the pedal was cranked...maybe, LONG SHOT kinda maybe. Unless, of course, you had the PA cranked as well...

Did the amp seem to play louder than normal? 3-4 decibels louder equals a Doubling of power. Doubling power equals Death.

For future reference, always crank your amp to the full tilte level,and note the volume(dry,no effects), KNOW your amp. Never use a pedal to exceed the output capabilities of you amp...

A fuzz produces a square wave, cut from the sine wave it is fed. The PEAK of the wave is reduced, therefore LESS output. At the same volume level, the fuzz actually helps....

This is actually not true.

First, the wave is not "cut". Fuzz is a type of slipping or signal distortion that causes a large number of harmonics to be added to the signal. These harmonics, when added to your clean sound, result in the "fuzz" you hear. You can read yourself to sleep about this if you look into Fourier Analysis.

Second, for a given voltage, a true square wave carries twice the power that a true sine wave does. In reality, your bass does not produce a real sine wave, and your fuzz doesn't produce a true square wave (though some are close). Still, for a given voltage, your fuzz effected signal can carry more power.

Did this blow your amplifier? Possibly, but there are a number of other things that could have gone wrong as well.

To answer your question, in most circumstances you cannot "blow an amp" with any effect unless you've managed to significantly increase your power demand for a long enough period of time to cook a component.

 

[Jerrold Tiers]

With an old Fender, you definitely CAN let the tar out of the transformer by using fuzz......... Don't ask me how I know this..................

 

[BassIan]

With an old Fender, you definitely CAN let the tar out of the transformer by using fuzz......... Don't ask me how I know this..................

That actually sounds like it could have been fun...

Hopefully the same is not true of my 2-Pro.

 

[nostatic]

I think the bigger question is whether or not a penguin can blow a seal...

 

[Bassamatic]

If the clipped wave of the fuzz is at or near the clip level of the amp - it will be forcing the amp to be steadily putting out twice it's rated power for a long time. If it doesn't have good thermal protection, it could damage something.

However, from your description, it doesn't sound like you were anywhere near full volume.

Square waves are composed of gobs of high order harmonics, perhaps the amount of high frequencies did something.

It could just be coincidence that the old amp died though.

Did you look inside to see if there is a fuse?

 

[KramerBassFan]

You did say the amp was OLD.

Maybe it was so old, that some of the caps dried out, and are your primary culprit.

 

[Mr. Foxen]

Is there a tweeter in it? Fuzz might have upset the crossover, usually would just kill the crossover, but might take something with it.

 

[johnk_10]

i have seen a high gain fuzz/overdrive blow the first op amp or transistor in the preamp/front end circuit of some old SS amps before, rendering them seemingly dead.