rockymtnryan, please read what Church-Audio said directly above your message. He is absolutely correct; the overload light on most preamps can't be trusted at all. In general you can't know what it means unless you measure the input and output clip levels of the preamp in relation to the indicator.
I've measured 25+% distortion in a well-known, very widely sold mike preamp before its "clip" LED came on, because the LED was attached to the output stage rather than the input. And that was at a voltage level that my microphones can very well put out. This type of design defect is common even in high-priced, fully professional studio preamps.
And some indicators come on ~6 dB before clipping, on the theory of being a "distant early warning", while others come on only after the clipping point has been exceeded for some amount of time, on the theory that a small amount of clipping can make a recording sound "punchier". There is no one standard or normal behavior.
--best regards