Presence

Jim Ives · Post by **Jim Ives** » 30 Apr 2019 4:42 pm

What is presence on my amp? What does it do?
Jim

Paul Sutherland · Post by **Paul Sutherland** » 30 Apr 2019 7:54 pm

Presence is generally the very highest pitches, above the range of a normal treble control. For a vocalist or for an acoustic guitar, etc., increasing the presence can add a breathiness and sparkle to the overall tone. It's only effecting overtones, as all the fundamental tones we hear are well below the normal range for a presence control. On a steel guitar amp it should do the same basic thing.

If your hearing is impaired in the upper range, like mine, you may find a presence control does very little for you. I wish I was saying that in jest, but I'm not. I hear very little above 7k, and virtually nothing above 10k.

Michael Hill · Post by **Michael Hill** » 30 Apr 2019 7:56 pm

My understanding is that it's to be used as a tone control for frequencies above the treble control. It's a separate control as it's incorporated into the circuit at a different place than the standard preamp tone controls.

Some people say it's the 'Air' control. You can turn it up to add sparkle and turn it down when it gets ice picky. I run mine around 4 out of 10.

Michael Hill · Post by **Michael Hill** » 30 Apr 2019 7:58 pm

Paul Sutherland wrote:Presence is generally the very highest pitches, above the range of the normal treble control.

If your hearing is impaired in the upper range, like mine, you may find a presence control does very little for you. I wish I was saying that in jest, but I'm not.

Yes! Excellent point. If you can't immediately hear the difference, you might want to consult some younger ears.

I'm on my way down this road too. I've lost a lot of high end but sometimes this a good thing as I don't hear the whine from electronic equipment anymore.