"Presence" control

[hodgsonk]

Hi all

On my amp I have 5 controls, namely: Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass, and Presence.
What does presence mean, and what is its purpose?

Forgive my ignorance on the subject, but I can't find anything online that explains this adequately.

Thanks

Kevin

[Spartacus]

Presence is usually high treble, used to be part of the feedback loop between power amp and preamp on valve amps but got twisted over the years to mean the hissy high end estuff

[MuseMatt]

I thought it was mostly used to get through the mix when playing in a band

[Spartacus]

[quote name='MuseMatt' post='533820' date='Jul 6 2009, 02:37 PM']I thought it was mostly used to get through the mix when playing in a band[/quote]

You need the mids to cut through in a band situation. Presence is usually tuned to add sparkle and you need good speakers to reprosuce it properly. Most bassists will never need it unless you like a really bright slappy sound.

[Waldo]

Don't know what amp you have but this is from the Gallien Krueger manual:

[quote]Presence: The Presence control adds extra sparkle
on the high-end for better clarity and ‘openness’ in
your tone. This is particularly useful when soloing
or playing chords.

Equalizer:
Bass +10dB @ 60Hz
Lo-Mid +6dB/-10dB @ 250Hz
Hi-Mid +6dB/-10dB @ 1kHz
Treble +12/-17dB @ 7kHz
Voicing Filters:
4/5 String Bass +11dB@20Hz
Contour +2dB@50Hz /
-10dB@500Hz /
+3dB@7kHz
[b]Presence +9dB@10kHz[/b][/quote]

So basically, it's a high frequency boost. It just made my sound scratchy though.

Edited July 6, 2009 by Waldo

[Golchen]

All I know is I turn mine up high at Christmas.

[henry norton]

The higher it goes the more Darth Vader will feel it.

The presence on my Marshall adds a certain HiFi sparkle to the sound but for most styles I keep it more or less off.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

[quote name='Golchen' post='534062' date='Jul 6 2009, 07:09 PM']All I know is I turn mine up high at Christmas.[/quote]