Presence knob on an amp

[El Chiguete]

I've never had an amp with a Presence knob on it, and I would like to know what does it actually do?... I know it¡s a newbe question, but I just never had one.

[Inazone]

It's basically a treble control for the power section. I have Presence and Resonance knobs on my Peavey Classic 50/50 power amp, which control the treble and bass, respectively. I have seen some amp documentation refer to it as a speaker-dampening function, which might be accurate, but I think of it as being the "last mile" of EQ and use it mainly to compensate for tinny or bassy mic'd tone through venue PAs.

[demeyes]

I've never read up on what it is exactly but on my Laney it seems to add more upper mids and treble. It really helps with cutting through a band mix.

[emperor_black]

it does exactly what it says... helps maintain your "presence" in the mix. its like a level knob for the higher frequencies that your treble has brought in. Its great for cutting through the mix.

[Joe_Steeler]

I have not researched it heavily to know technically exactly what it does.

However, my take is that is controls the mids and trebble on the power section side. Kinda pushes them up simultaneously. If not controlled properly it can give you a shrill tone that could be a bit sharp.
Will certainly help you cut through the mix since you are boosting your mid and upper frequencies. Kinda like a lead singer.

[Racerx2k]

Controls the highs, more so, normally around the 6 to 8 khz range, sometimes a bit more. I always tend to gravitate toward an amp with a good presence control. I always like to hear those frequencies in my tone, somewhat.

[Firebird V]

Controls the highs, more so, normally around the 6 to 8 khz range, sometimes a bit more. I always tend to gravitate toward an amp with a good presence control. I always like to hear those frequencies in my tone, somewhat.

Yeah me too. I use it pretty much almost dimed on some amps and use the treble very little...

[Kage]

It's the same as the other EQ knobs, it raises or lowers a certain frequency. On my amp it's centered on 8k, I believe, and the treble is on 11k. Turn it up to help cut through the mix.

[khabibissell]

IMO, It depends on the amp. On my Dual Recto, it adds a bit more clarity and tightens the response of the amp (used moderately). On my other amps (hotrod Marshall types), it adds more high treble but the feel stays the same.

[Racerx2k]

Yeah me too. I use it pretty much almost dimed on some amps and use the treble very little...

Well, I normally don't dime mine, but I DO like it to be noticed. I seem to be a sucker for the ~8 khz frequenzy area. Gives a nice sizzle to the tone. That, and about 650 hz, giving the tone some fullness and lower-mid warmth.

[demeyes]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLs0_jaDW2g

Its a clip from a Paul Gilbert instructional where he talks about presence....presents?

[Nazgul]

I always thought of it as a high treble setting....and resonance being the lower bass setting. I guess I was wrong?

[Shawn Lutz]

I look at it as output tube EQ. It typically for me doesnt do much unless you have the amp running hot at higher volume levels

[Racerx2k]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLs0_jaDW2g
Its a clip from a Paul Gilbert instructional where he talks about presence....presents?

Yeah, I love that clip. Paul's got a pretty good sense of humor...........oh, and his playing's not bad, either.

[marcus]

Presence controls the amount of upper treble frequencies fed back as negative feedback from the power stage. More upper treble fed back = less upper treble out. This is generally implemented as a low pass filter in the negative feedback loop. Resonance apparently does the same thing for lower frequencies.

FYI I cribbed this extensively from "The Guitar Amp Handbook" by Dave Hunter. Great book, by the way.