clipping

Clipping occurs when part of a circuit limits the maximum voltage of a signal, flattening the top and/or bottom of the waveform because the device cannot produce any more voltage¹². It is the core mechanism behind distortion effects: fuzz heavily clips the signal to produce a thick, buzzy tone, and in the extreme the waveform becomes a square wave, turning a guitar or bass note into something resembling a synth square wave²³⁴⁵. The character of the clipping shapes the effect's sound, with hard clipping described as more abrupt than overdrive and associated with saturated, aggressive tones³⁶⁷. Different clipping methods also alter the result: asymmetrical clipping produces both even and odd harmonics for a layered distortion, while choices such as silicon, germanium, or LED clipping give pedals different harmonic and openness characteristics⁸⁹¹⁰.