Head damage question

japeall · Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:37 am Post subject: Head damage question

I have 2 quick questions that I've always heard mixed opinions about concerning heads...

1. Is it bad to have a head turned on without a speaker plugged in?

2. Is it bad to use an instrument cable rather than a speaker cable to connect a cab?

Herb · Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 5:22 pm Post subject:

Here's 2 quick answers:

1. Yes

2. Yes
_________________
Yer guitar pickin' friend,
Herb
"It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!"
Doghouse Jazz

japeall · Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 7:27 pm Post subject:

why though?

Intonator · Tadpole Joined: 09 Jan 2008 Posts: 20

Without a load (speakers), the output has nothing to help tame or restrict the power.
Output transistors (and circuits) can easily be fried in this way.
"Some" better heads have built in loads or shunts that are in place when there is nothing plugged into a speaker jack.
Unless you are sure that your head has this safety feature, I would not use the head without having a speaker connected.

As far as the difference in cables, an instument cable has more resistance to it. A speaker cable has almost no measurable resistance. The amp is manufactured to use the resistance of the speaker system itself...usually 4 or 8 ohms. Again, this is back to the proper load on the output of the amp.

Hope this helps

Jim