I've been playing for many years and am familiar with most of the terms to describe a guitar that most musicians know.
Terms such as QUACK and WOODY.(as in a Strat's neck pickup)

I've been shopping for a new AMP lately and there's one term I'm NOT familiar with.
I hear/read it used all the time to describe an amp.

The term: HEADROOM

For the life of me....I don't know what the heck it means!!
(I'm 6'3"...to me headroom applies to a vehicle where my noggin' doesn't get lumps!)

Please describe in a way that I can understand and possibly make a non-musician understand. (the wife)

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I refuse to have a battle of the wits with an unarmed man!

An example of headroom:

A Twin Reverb will go retardedly loud before it starts to distort, it has lots of headroom.
A 57 Champ will distort at bedroom levels, it does not have much headroom.

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I traded my car in for a microphone.

Okay...so HEADROOM is described as the point where the amp starts to break up/distort?

Twin Reverb=LOTS of headroom....because of the very LOUD point where it starts to distort.


My Pro Junior=not much headroom....distorts early....


Correct?


Thanks!!

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I refuse to have a battle of the wits with an unarmed man!

Go to the head of the class.

Or the Head of the Room

I'm gonna go to the room with the head.

I tend to think of headroom as extra power waiting to be used.

Like this: you set your amp at your operating volume, but it's still got some power that can be used for some real big dynamics without going into some nasty clipping.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.