How do you use your Presence Control?

schecterplayer

schecterplayer

New member
I recently picked up a Mesa Boogie amp, and one of the features it has that my old single channel amp lacked is a presence control. I thought it was just an upper treble tone control but it seems to change the whole character of the lead channel. What exactly does it do and how do you guys use yours?
 
Re: How do you use your Presence Control?

In rectos there's two different presence controls one it's just a high end boost it's there because the modern mode in rectos disconnects the negative feedback making a regular prescence control useless.

The "regular" kind is the one located in the negative feedback net, it's more of a way on how the cone reacts. Not so much a real high end boost.

Anyways a use it dimed in lead channels and 0 on clean channels.
 
Re: How do you use your Presence Control?

It is the single most powerful control on an amplifier. It puts more of a defined edge to the sound but can also make the tone less complex and sound "harder" (and even "brittle").

Presence controls are usually quite unique to each amplifier's circuitry so what works at 10 on one amp might sound horrible on another.

I like a bright hard edged tone so I usually find myself reaching for it and cranking it up. Marshall's presence controls are pretty much the benchmark as far as I'm concerned.

That said, I've moved on to Fenders and usually prefer an amp without a presence control these days. I crank the presence all the way to 10 with my Marshall and Fender amps inside of my modeler though FWIW.
 
Re: How do you use your Presence Control?

When I am using a presence control I find that I use my thumb and first finger to grip the knob....from there I turn it until I like the resulting sound.
 
Re: How do you use your Presence Control?

I change the presence (and reverb) depending on the sound of the room. The eq's i generally dont change much from room to room.
 
Re: How do you use your Presence Control?

All the smart ass answers aside, mine works kind of like a sizzle or sparkle control depending on the level of preamp gain. If I run the gain high, I usually turn the presence down a bit to get more of a growl. When I run it clean, I turn up the presence to give some of that clean sparkly goodness.
 
Re: How do you use your Presence Control?

Go to www.mesaboogie.com and check out the owner's manual for your amp (*.pdf file). It will give you some good recommended settings to start from, and then just adjust to taste.

The Presence control in the old Mark Series amps works differently than in many of the newer models.

Bill
 
Re: How do you use your Presence Control?

You turn it clockwise or counter-clockwise, dependent on the tone you selected…


Another dumb question again….
 
Re: How do you use your Presence Control?

I tend to keep it up about halfway on my cleaner settings and turn it down the dirtier the tone gets.
 
Re: How do you use your Presence Control?

I use mine to add more presence (duh!) and also as a smoother treble control. I bounce the Presence and Treble knobs off of one another until the desired high-end effect is achieved. It's a lovely control to have.
 
Re: How do you use your Presence Control?

I keep it close to 0 when I'm wanking alone (some SD forum members know lot about this) and I turn it up when I play with my bandmates. It helps to cut better. I describe it as a mid band pass booster.
 
Re: How do you use your Presence Control?

I guess a better way to phrase the question would have been "what does the presence control really do?" which the answer seems to be different things in different amps. I am actually aware of how knobs work, but thanks for the humor guys. I had originally thought it was just a high treble eq control but it changes the transient response of the amp and seems to have a very different effect depending on the volume so I think I just need to play around with it at different volumes and get a better feel for how it reacts.
 
Re: How do you use your Presence Control?

Whenever I'm using an amp with a Presence knob, I usually turn it

This way

<------

until it stops.
 
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