My Mark amp presence control is @10 from now on!

"You can think of the PRESENCE as a control that allows you to either clamp the power amp down, compressing it and darkening the sound, or open it up and let the full spectrum of upper harmonics come blazing through. It also has a great deal to do with how dynamic the signal is and how a sound will cut
through the mix in an ensemble environment."
If you look at the owner's manual for the Mark lll amp you'll see the presence setting for metal tone at 10. All pillows-over-the speaker tone is gone and the amp is very responsive with primo attack, it rips! When I played (old) Marshall amps, the presence knob didn't make that big a difference, what channel balance I had, did. Ditto whatever stomp box I was using that day. That Mark IV I owned was similar to those old Marshall in that respect. Last week at band practice I turned my C++ amp's presence knob to 10 and I'm not looking back, yet, anyway. What was I thinking playing with the presence at 3-7? I would compensate for the loss of highs and attack with more volume, treble and 6600hz on the GEQ. I'll never have a tone as bright as the blues players I've been listening to lately or as bright as my old Marshalls were. And the tone is not even in the ballpark of a vintage Fender's brightness, even with the bright switch off. DANG, my face shearing amp rips like no other! Every day is a new adventure for me and my Mark amps.

Man that must sound really really bright/harsh?
I can't have my presence any higher than 3-4 and even then the lead channel is too bright.That's a IIB though!
Granted I don't play metal though.
Can't imagine having presence at 10
Where's your treble set?

Treble is at about 7. The GEQ is the key, the harshness can get out of control easier with the 6600 slider than the presence knob. Mark amps tend to be dark in the first place and like I said, I never even approach the brightness of a marshall or fender amplifier, so no, it is not overly bright at all in a band setting.

Markedman said:

Treble is at about 7. The GEQ is the key, the harshness can get out of control easier with the 6600 slider than the presence knob. Mark amps tend to be dark in the first place and like I said, I never even approach the brightness of a marshall or fender amplifier, so no, it is not overly bright at all in a band setting.

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Ah!I don't have the GEQ on my amp.It gets really harsh/ice picky with the presence control any higher than 4 for me.

After yesterday's practice and the compliments I received from the band on how much clearer my tone is, I can reaffirm that is the Boogie tone I've craved and needed all along. The dark Mark tone might be for Eric Johnson tone lovers but for a super aggressive tone ala Hendrix + Pantera, the presence control is what "10" is all about! Also, I have a ++, I'm not playing anything mild, even songs like "The Wind Cries Mary" I'm pushing the tone to the point of feedback, so I'm not typical in the sense that anyone plays like me. For most songs I play, the guitar is pushed so hard it would feedback if I didn't keep my fingers on the strings or turn the volume down on the guitar. I'm way more EVH than I am Eric Clapton.

https://youtu.be/CN2Huuy_UFA

Solid with plenty of texture and growl, not bright at all as you can see in this video I took today to show the new guitar and how the pick ups sound. The amp sounds like it's in the same room, not all muffled and distant as if I put a pillow over the speaker. I have the middle, 750, slider at just below center, not a typical V. If it were a V, it would sound spiky with the presence @ 10. The V will give you more Fender & Marshall tones but the 750 is the kick in the gut tone I like from Mesa amps that plows through the mix without the shrill of M & F amps. These Steinberger's really fit me perfect and the Tom Anderson H3+ pick up made the sound full and rich. It's amazing how when you change one pick up, the other ones sound more awesome. The volume is slightly lower than I use at practice and at about half of what it would be in a show.

My JP2C on shred mode with the presence at noon is a zillion times brighter then my C++ could ever be. My C++ doesn't do shred mode!

Markedman said:

It's amazing how when you change one pick up, the other ones sound more awesome.

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There is so much that goes into getting ones "tone"!
Some can have a huge impact while others are more subtle.

Pickups, speakers amp, not to mention what tubes in an amp.
Guitars themselves are an amalgam-am of items that affect tone (other than the pick-ups).
One piece neck through designs vs glued on neck vs bolt on necks, Rosewood vs Ebony vs Maple vs ??? fret boards,
Solid body vs Hollow body, the Woods uses to make the guitar regardless of design such as solid or hollow body guitar.

Bottom line what works for one person isn't necessarily the be all and end all for everyone.
When someone is psyched about their tone it's a good idea to hear what they sound like.
If you dig it then find out what guitar, pick-ups speakers they are using.

On another forum people were raving about a particular speaker in a certain amp (non-Mesa).
So I tried one of these speakers in the same amp. To me it sounded like mud.
Later I discovered that those raving were all using single coil pups.
The added lower end worked for those with single coils them but not for me as I play guitars with humbuckers.

Regardless congrats on finding your sound / your tone!

I don't think I could stand to be in that room!! I definitely couldn't play in front of the amp. I never go above 4-5 and it seems perfectly bright then.

Awesome. Glad you found what's working for you. I think the tone would slice me in half if I had my presence on "10", but that's in my setup with how I play. Sounds like you're finding your groove!

:lol: I had to read the OP twice to make sure whether you were saying 10:00, or 10 as in DIMED!. I kept thinking "no way he means all the way up." But, never say never. Those controls ALL make so much difference... a setting that seems hard to believe on one, can be made usable and even good, by dialing the others.