This video was sponsored by Skillshare. First 500 people get 2 months FREE membership here: skl.sh/csguitars4 The only 'stupid questions' are the ones you are Too Afraid To Ask. "What does a Presence control do?" is the question for this TATA video. Let's look at amplifier topology and power amp feedback loops to find out. Leave your TATAs in the comment section and I'll make a video answering them. More from CSGuitars: Gain access to exclusive content at: www.patreon.com/csguitars Buy CSGuitars Merchandise: csguitars.bigcartel.com/ Website: www.csguitars.co.uk Contact: colin@csguitars.co.uk
excellent video mate, I’m gonna take an educated guess based on how it sounds, that a resonance control basically does the same thing with the negative feedback loop and overall colouring of tone and gain, just with the Lower Mids and Bass frequency’s?
@@Jack_Rivet agreed, it would be so simple. by now, i don't even trust anyone that doesn't compare the exact same soundbits. who knows, maybe they want to downplay some shortcomings that would be way too evident otherwise.
9 minutes 59 seconds long instead of 10:01? Timer during paid promo? Why can't all youtubers be like this. The timing is also an amazing compromise. Steadier pay for youtubers, people can skip through without skipping too far.
You know, I bought a guitar tutorial DVD done by Scott Ian of Anthrax about 14 years ago, and there was a part where he was going through his amp controls and explaining what they do. When he got to the Presence control, he simply showed us the setting where it sounded good to him, and blatantly stated that he didn't know what Presence was, other than a Led Zeppelin album.
@Shockheadd45 Someone didn't watch the video... Dion R; I find musicians start to get confused when you explain phase cancellation to them. The idea that a wave can cancel another, including soundwaves, tends to make their eyes glaze over.
I know resonance is essentially the presence for the bass/low frequencies, yet I’d still love to a see a video on it. It seems like it’s rarer than presence yet your demos showing the context of presence made me want the same thing for resonance. Cause why not? XP
Interesting thanks for the info, ive been using a TPA-1 power amp vst, it emulates a power amp and you can pick the tubes and adjust a bunch of setting including a "resonance" knob which I always wondered about. In the end you just turn it up or down and listen if it sound good but it would be good to know whats really going on, and for some reason the resonance sound good turned up. Its a free vst plugin by ignite amps if anyone want to try it. You put your own preamps before it, software or real ones, like for example im using a digitech rp7 a floor effect thing that has a tube in it as the preamp, but its also got a presence knob so i dont know what thats about, maybe its got a poweramp in it too? While were at it might as well get into those bias knobs and settings too :)
I'm so glad you started this series. This was another very important, very informative video that I'm glad it's here for everyone to check. Thanks a bunch!
@@Lucartes98 I don't need the possibility to dial in 100 different shitty tones and a hand full of good ones. Give me one knob to cycle through the ones that are actually useful to me.
I never thought TATAs would tackle a question it hadn't occurred to me to ask. I mostly just left my presence controls at noon and worried about other things. Well done man! You have improved my tone immensely.
Learning so much every time ! I recently bought a guitar and an amp, so my parents asked me a lot of questions about what does everything and how, and I'm proud that I was able to answer every one of them thanks to your videos. You really are making me more clever with every single video. And the quality is so good ! Can't believe that you are still doing all of this by yourself, well done mate, you deserve every single subs you have and even more 🤘
Depth/Resonance controls/boosts also exist here! They're a high pass filter (the presence control is a low pass filter), so they behave basically the same way, but for low end. The only exception to this is the presence control in the Mesa Rectifier's modern mode - the negative feedback loop is disconnected so it's a treble dump right at the end of the tonestack.
Seriously, this series is phenomenal. Being completely selftaught, playing for about a decade, i never had anyone to explain some of these things like this to me, so this Michael Scott- esque "why don't you explain it to me like i'm 5" way of talking about those seemingly complicated and scary things is awesome. Much appreciated
I just want to thank you for making this video. I have been using an amp with a presence control for well over a decade. Until today, I had mistakenly believed that it controlled a frequency band above treble and was otherwise no different than the other eq controls. Thank you for opening my eyes!
Thanks Colin. After viewing many, many guitar technical videos over the years, I have come to the conclusion that yours are superlative. Your technical knowledge, understanding of what guitar players really want and your exuberant presentation style put you head-and-shoulders above the rest of the crowd. Outstanding.
I've been running my presence at about 2-3 o'clock once I heard Pete Thorn say increased presence adds more complex distortion. I lower the treble to compensate. Glad you confirmed all this in detail.
I will not lie, when he pops schematics up, I sometimes pause the video to try and figure out exactly what's going on with my somewhat limited electrical understanding.
The scientific as well as the layman explanation is extremely helpful. I can always find out what I'm looking for. You're crushing it Viking! Very well done.
I have had amps with presence controls for years and my ears can hear what happens when I turn them, but now I know what they actually do. Best description on RUclips. Thanks.
Unlike so many other videos on these same subjects which are hit and miss, Colin, you seem to know exactly what I need to know and you convey it in a way that makes perfect sense. Thanks so much.
As a mechanical engineering graduate I absolutely love your videos, they pick up right where my formal education left off. It's like getting to go back to school, but learning about amp design which is just brilliant. Thanks for doing what you do the way you do it!
I learned something. Thanks for digging into the technical part of it. I always describe Presence & Resonance as the "Treble & Bass" controls of the power-amp section. The preamp tone controls help you push the part of the signal you want to break up, and the power-amp tone controls let you shape the final tone as you've already pointed out. Do you have a detailed video on the "Resonance" control?
Let me beat him to it. Like the presence control, a resonance/depth control (same thing) is an active EQ control. Instead of cutting high end in the negative feedback signal, though, it cuts low end - which means an increase in low end at the output of the amp. The usual configuration is a low-ish value capacitor (around 4.7nF-6.8nF, generally) in parallel with a potentiometer. Capacitors cut low end based on their size, and you can adjust how much signal goes through it with the pot. It comes before the presence control in the negative feedback loop, usually right after the resistor that sets the amount of negative feedback.
Amptweakers 'Depthfinder' pedal, will give you all your answers in real time. It turns good amps into ultimate beasts, and shite ss amps, into tube tone gods!
finally i know what that control does after all these years of not being bothered to investigate myself! thanks man. nice level of technical detail without it being too complicated or inaccessible
Great info! I've not had much experience with "presence" controls, and my simple, uninformed experimentation with it left me with the impression that it was just basically "more treble than treble", like maybe it was doing something above the frequency range covered by the regular "treble" knob. I noticed it tended to "brighten up" the sound.
Love it. I've also been told - and based on your explanation I'm inclined to believe it's true - that boosting the presence boosts the frequencies that tend to cause the most hearing loss. I've always kept my presence (very) low because of that, but I'm inclined to try to find a happier medium.
Definitely Explained Well My Friend, We Always Have To Remember That not everyone Knows All This Stuff So It Hs To Be explained on Beginner Mode And You Did It Rockin 👍👍🎶🎶🎸Keep Bringin The Awesome Videos.
Awesome video! Not only did it give me a better understanding of how the presence control is supposed to work, but in a roundabout way it helped me understand why a Vox ac30 doesn’t sound like a Marshall and gets confused for being a class-a amp. Strong work dude!
I've been playing for 6 years and because I learned most of what I know through RUclips, this series is a blessing for me because a lot of these terms are just thrown around and expected to be known, so thanks
Amazing topic. I have a friend who was hired as a session musician to do some recordings at abbey road studio (yes that one), tours internationally, heard him live and heard bonamassa live, and comparing those two performances I'd much rather listen to him than Bonamassa, his tone, his feel is absolutely amazing. Even he could not tell me what the presence exactly was. "Jus set it to middle, nobody ever gets their tone from turning that up and down anyway!" :) And he is not ignorant, he knows his gear, but nobody ever was able to explain it properly to him either.
Glad I’ve been using the presence on my amps correctly as I truthfully was not aware of it's (technical) functionality until watching this. Thanks, Colin👍
I've played amps that had both. Resonance and presence. I might be early with my comment, haven't seen the video all the way through, I am just rejoicing over the topic.
This blogger surprises me everytime. The information that I learn from this gent is informative. Smart. Well explained and thumbs up. You should have 1 billion subscribers by now
Thanks for this Tata! Could you do one on amp choices of Boutique, Crunch, Tweed, Ultra etc in multi - effects processors? Maybe add the cabinet choices like 4x12 and mic placement emulators.
I don't see what you are asking. Do you wanna know what amps those are supposed to be? Or are you asking how shitty effects processors are in practice?
Thanks for this post, I'm embarrassed to say 40 years of playing and wasn't sure ,you explained it nicely, I always tweaked the presence but never exactly knew why it worked clean vs dirty
I think the important question is how it sounds when you set your preamp tone controls for NO MIDS! Seriously though, this is the best, clearest explanation of what the Presence control does and how it works I have ever seen.
I admit to having played my old marshal Mk2 lead for years without knowing sweet FA what the presence actually does, only fiddling with it occasionally and generally effectually, usually leaving the damn thing at 12 o'clock and forgetting about it. This explanation is pure gold. I have never come across anybody who has explained this at all never mind with such accuracy, clarity and useful practical applicability. My score for this video is 12/10. Bravo.
That's because overdrive adds harmonics which are the cause of the 'dirty' sound in the first place. Put those through your amp which is already overdriven, and you have odd harmonics which are the result of all of the other harmonics, causing the angry, fuzzy sound instead of the crunchy overdrive sound which is comprised of even harmonics only. Tubes cause even harmonics (overdrive) while transistors cause odd harmonics (distortion and fuzz). One of the main reasons we're still using tubes in our amps or try to imitate them digitally. Colin should really do an item on Fourier transform which describes this really, really nicely.
I've looked up the Presence control before but didn't understand what it does: I now know! Thank you for this great video, I have learnt something today.
@@ScienceofLoud Colin, those companies appreciate nice T.A.T.A 's like all of us should. Thanks to the likes of you, we all learn something new all the time. Keep them coming!
I love it when you talk nerdy to me. But seriously, I really do appreciate the more in depth technical explanation. As a matter of fact I'd be interested in any other technical explanations you have to offer.
VERY informative. Before watching I was like "I know what presence is why would I watch this" but your comparison of presence with distortion was eye opening
Just watched a PBS show on the great Viking invasion and one of the artifacts was a hammer of Thor. Noticed yours, Colin, and realized we share that heritage as well as our love of guitar. Thanks for generously sharing your knowledge.
Great video. I always though that presence was just an extra high treble EQ control, pretty sure everyone I've ever talked to about it has thought the same thing. This knowledge is so important for guitar players. How can you go for tones if you don't understand what you're doing?
I love these videos, coming from the type of player that just twiddles the dials until I get the tone I'm after it really is great to understand what they actually do! Thanks man.
I understood the high shelf boost concept of presence before but I didn't know it was implemented in the feedback loop of the power amp. That explains a lot about why tube amps sound so good.
This is something I've heard and noted, but never understood at the technical level. I love the nerdy guitar sound explanation stuff. Your channel is a personal boon.
Holy crap, such a great explanation, never had an amp with a presence control before, so no reason to look into it myself, other than for interest of course. This is why your videos are the best, having someone with a technical background actually sharing their knowledge, rather than the myriad of other guitar channels out there with fluffy Chinese whispers explanations that makes absolutely no sense.
Great explanation ... I think. Made sense the first time around. Will have to replay. Edit: Got it! Controlled distortion = mc squared. Working on it ... Edit again: Honestly the best explanation ever ... just trying to grasp it. Rock on!
I am not a metal player, but love your videos! Once I got my first amp with a Presence control decades ago, I'll never go back - love me some hi-mids, but I am no mid volcano tube screamer dude.... using P90s and a little bit of presence gets me a tone I like AND gets me an empty space in the mix to be heard easily
great explanation Collin! I think this is the greatest channel for explaining the science of loud. I think one thing to note about presence controls is that not all presence controls are made equal. For instance: I have three tube amps, A Marshall JCM2000 DSL50, a Marshsll DSL100HR, and a Marshall Origin 50. The presence controls on the honest to god, made in England JCM is paramount in adding definition to the red channel gain and does exactly what you have so eloquently described here. On the outsourced to Vietnam amps (DSL100HR and Origin 50), the presence controls seem to affect the tonal characteristics in a different fashion, at least to my ears. The DSL does okay with the addition of presence but what really makes it a metal behemoth is the resonance control. On the ORI50H, adding too much presence (in my experience, anything after 10 o'clock) tends to make the tone too fizzy for my taste. Let me know what you think about that Collin... maybe I'm approaching it incorrectly. Keep up the awesome and hilarious content coming man!
100%. I was on the verge of selling my savage 60 mk II. Though it was dark overalls, then I just cranked the presence while reamping and voila! Especially impressive on how much of an impact it has on a savage
Can't wait to see you talking about fourier transform. I'm doing my masters in neurosciences, studying electrophysiology , and fourier transform is something that I'll have to understand when I start processing my data - which is pretty soon... And relating that with music should help!
![5 Ways To Use EQ Pedals | Too Afraid To Ask [Boss EQ-200]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rA17mta5kq4/mqdefault.jpg)
This video was sponsored by Skillshare. First 500 people get 2 months FREE membership here: skl.sh/csguitars4
The only 'stupid questions' are the ones you are Too Afraid To Ask. "What does a Presence control do?" is the question for this TATA video. Let's look at amplifier topology and power amp feedback loops to find out.
Leave your TATAs in the comment section and I'll make a video answering them.
More from CSGuitars:
Gain access to exclusive content at: www.patreon.com/csguitars
Buy CSGuitars Merchandise:
csguitars.bigcartel.com/
Website:
www.csguitars.co.uk
Contact:
colin@csguitars.co.uk
can you make a video about SweetSpot?
I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you mean?
Can't help but feel like you need to do a related follow up on this now, explaining the resonance knob. Haha
excellent video mate, I’m gonna take an educated guess based on how it sounds, that a resonance control basically does the same thing with the negative feedback loop and overall colouring of tone and gain, just with the Lower Mids and Bass frequency’s?
@@ScienceofLoud i mean the sweetspot of the amp, the best sound you can get on the amp
FINALLY someone who plays the SAME riffs when comparing settings. THANK YOU!
what judas priest and mozart are different?
@@KC9MDO I think he means he plays the same riffs after tweaking a setting, pointless to tweak something and then play something else
I've been waiting for someone to play something into a looper and do their tweaking while that runs
@@Jack_Rivet agreed, it would be so simple.
by now, i don't even trust anyone that doesn't compare the exact same soundbits. who knows, maybe they want to downplay some shortcomings that would be way too evident otherwise.
Yea, I hate it when they play some heavy palm muted riff then an open chord rock lick to compare...
Nice of you to show a timer during the add 👌
Yeah I did not at all fast forward to when the timer disappeared.
9 minutes 59 seconds long instead of 10:01? Timer during paid promo? Why can't all youtubers be like this. The timing is also an amazing compromise. Steadier pay for youtubers, people can skip through without skipping too far.
You know, I bought a guitar tutorial DVD done by Scott Ian of Anthrax about 14 years ago, and there was a part where he was going through his amp controls and explaining what they do. When he got to the Presence control, he simply showed us the setting where it sounded good to him, and blatantly stated that he didn't know what Presence was, other than a Led Zeppelin album.
LOL! Not very 'pro' was he?
if the knob was called 'led zeppelin', no explination would be necessary, just turn it all the way up to 10
@Shockheadd45 Someone didn't watch the video...
Dion R; I find musicians start to get confused when you explain phase cancellation to them. The idea that a wave can cancel another, including soundwaves, tends to make their eyes glaze over.
@Scooters Videos lmao!
@@inthefade I think some guitarist needs some physics lessons
So you tweak your tone with bass mid treble to get your sound and after that you tweak the presence to tweak the tones tone.
Pretty much
yo dawg, I heard you like tone so we added tone to your tone so you can tone while you tone
@@caixiuying8901 I tone so hard that my tone is toneception
Sort of! Until you turn up the amp, and the negative feedback has less effect. Then it’s just tone.....but loud.
@@NathanielBTM [Inception sound intensifies, but with more presence]
I know resonance is essentially the presence for the bass/low frequencies, yet I’d still love to a see a video on it. It seems like it’s rarer than presence yet your demos showing the context of presence made me want the same thing for resonance. Cause why not? XP
Literally what I was thinking throughout the whole video 😂😂
Yay! We want resonance!
Yes! A resonance video would be good.
Presonance.
Interesting thanks for the info, ive been using a TPA-1 power amp vst, it emulates a power amp and you can pick the tubes and adjust a bunch of setting including a "resonance" knob which I always wondered about. In the end you just turn it up or down and listen if it sound good but it would be good to know whats really going on, and for some reason the resonance sound good turned up. Its a free vst plugin by ignite amps if anyone want to try it. You put your own preamps before it, software or real ones, like for example im using a digitech rp7 a floor effect thing that has a tube in it as the preamp, but its also got a presence knob so i dont know what thats about, maybe its got a poweramp in it too? While were at it might as well get into those bias knobs and settings too :)
I'm so glad you started this series. This was another very important, very informative video that I'm glad it's here for everyone to check. Thanks a bunch!
@Johnny Tightlips True! I've been following it and it has been super helpful.
The best explanation I have ever heard. I'll just fiddle with the knob until it sounds good.
Nothing wrong with that!
My amp has "Tone" and that's probably one knob too many already.
@@recreationalelmersglue6053 Joyo Zombie
Mine just has a gain knob.
@@Pfaeff I love the simplicity of mine because there is so much less I can fuck up than my previous amp, It always sounds good.
I've got a micro dark and have no idea what I'm doing...
@@Lucartes98 I don't need the possibility to dial in 100 different shitty tones and a hand full of good ones. Give me one knob to cycle through the ones that are actually useful to me.
I never thought TATAs would tackle a question it hadn't occurred to me to ask. I mostly just left my presence controls at noon and worried about other things. Well done man! You have improved my tone immensely.
"Remind me to talk about fourier transform sometime."
Colin, talk about fourier transform!
You're welcome.
Guitar Nerd - I second this.
Yes
Plz
Or watch 3blue1brown's video on the topic. Or, perhaps both would be good.
And then Laplace Transform :)
If there's a presence control... is there an absence control?
yep. volume knob on your guitar. if you got a passive pickup, rolling it down makes all the good sounds absent. basically an acoustic-inator,.
My dad has that knob!
@@hjelpinternet seems an odd reason to bring your dad's knob into the conversation mate
A limiter knob
@@blahblahsen1142 best comment xD
Learning so much every time ! I recently bought a guitar and an amp, so my parents asked me a lot of questions about what does everything and how, and I'm proud that I was able to answer every one of them thanks to your videos. You really are making me more clever with every single video. And the quality is so good ! Can't believe that you are still doing all of this by yourself, well done mate, you deserve every single subs you have and even more 🤘
Thanks friend, I'm really glad all that knowledge is sinking in and becoming useful to you.
Good luck with the new guitar!
Depth/Resonance controls/boosts also exist here! They're a high pass filter (the presence control is a low pass filter), so they behave basically the same way, but for low end. The only exception to this is the presence control in the Mesa Rectifier's modern mode - the negative feedback loop is disconnected so it's a treble dump right at the end of the tonestack.
Gotta love the combination of hair, accent and good info
Nu nog een kopje koffie :)
Levi Kalkman daar zit in nu aan ;)
Fefties.... :-)
Seriously, this series is phenomenal. Being completely selftaught, playing for about a decade, i never had anyone to explain some of these things like this to me, so this Michael Scott- esque "why don't you explain it to me like i'm 5" way of talking about those seemingly complicated and scary things is awesome. Much appreciated
I just want to thank you for making this video. I have been using an amp with a presence control for well over a decade. Until today, I had mistakenly believed that it controlled a frequency band above treble and was otherwise no different than the other eq controls. Thank you for opening my eyes!
Well that explanation was just perfect. Thank you, I have wondered what that control did for about 30 years!
Thanks Colin. After viewing many, many guitar technical videos over the years, I have come to the conclusion that yours are superlative. Your technical knowledge, understanding of what guitar players really want and your exuberant presentation style put you head-and-shoulders above the rest of the crowd. Outstanding.
I've been running my presence at about 2-3 o'clock once I heard Pete Thorn say increased presence adds more complex distortion. I lower the treble to compensate. Glad you confirmed all this in detail.
Yes to Fourier transforms! Finally I've found a guitar channel that gives th scientific explanation!
Right!
Such well rounded content.
I will not lie, when he pops schematics up, I sometimes pause the video to try and figure out exactly what's going on with my somewhat limited electrical understanding.
He should do a collab with Because Science. They could have an epic hair battle.
The scientific as well as the layman explanation is extremely helpful. I can always find out what I'm looking for.
You're crushing it Viking! Very well done.
He's not a viking though, his people were pillaged and raped by the vikings...
I have had amps with presence controls for years and my ears can hear what happens when I turn them, but now I know what they actually do. Best description on RUclips. Thanks.
As usual a brilliant explanation of something that could become incredibly over technical. Great work.
Unlike so many other videos on these same subjects which are hit and miss, Colin, you seem to know exactly what I need to know and you convey it in a way that makes perfect sense. Thanks so much.
Yea! That tone! I personally like to crank up the presence, makes it sound heavier and clearer too!
My favorite ENGL amp is the Powerball
As a mechanical engineering graduate I absolutely love your videos, they pick up right where my formal education left off. It's like getting to go back to school, but learning about amp design which is just brilliant. Thanks for doing what you do the way you do it!
I learned something. Thanks for digging into the technical part of it. I always describe Presence & Resonance as the "Treble & Bass" controls of the power-amp section. The preamp tone controls help you push the part of the signal you want to break up, and the power-amp tone controls let you shape the final tone as you've already pointed out. Do you have a detailed video on the "Resonance" control?
Great A/B. High presence sounds great on extended range/baritone guitars, rreally tightens and brightens them which they always need.
This is one of your best vids, Colin. Great description of this feature!
Moo
I already knew what the presence control does to the sound, but I never thought about how it actually works. Very nice explained!
PLEASE COLIN, TELL US ABOUT RESONANCE NEXT!
And the depth, which is present on other amps
Let me beat him to it. Like the presence control, a resonance/depth control (same thing) is an active EQ control. Instead of cutting high end in the negative feedback signal, though, it cuts low end - which means an increase in low end at the output of the amp. The usual configuration is a low-ish value capacitor (around 4.7nF-6.8nF, generally) in parallel with a potentiometer. Capacitors cut low end based on their size, and you can adjust how much signal goes through it with the pot. It comes before the presence control in the negative feedback loop, usually right after the resistor that sets the amount of negative feedback.
Lol
Amptweakers 'Depthfinder' pedal, will give you all your answers in real time.
It turns good amps into ultimate beasts, and shite ss amps, into tube tone gods!
@@Caged63Man"shite ss amps" - all relative my friend. I've been running SS amps for over 20 years and would never go back to tubes.
finally i know what that control does after all these years of not being bothered to investigate myself! thanks man. nice level of technical detail without it being too complicated or inaccessible
Great info! I've not had much experience with "presence" controls, and my simple, uninformed experimentation with it left me with the impression that it was just basically "more treble than treble", like maybe it was doing something above the frequency range covered by the regular "treble" knob. I noticed it tended to "brighten up" the sound.
I had no idea that I didn't know this, thank you!
Love it. I've also been told - and based on your explanation I'm inclined to believe it's true - that boosting the presence boosts the frequencies that tend to cause the most hearing loss. I've always kept my presence (very) low because of that, but I'm inclined to try to find a happier medium.
Definitely Explained Well My Friend, We Always Have To Remember That not everyone Knows All This Stuff So It Hs To Be explained on Beginner Mode And You Did It Rockin 👍👍🎶🎶🎸Keep Bringin The Awesome Videos.
So this is why presence still works if go in thru 'return'. Makes so much sense now.
Excellent overview of presence! Can you do one on Depth next? And maybe the relationship and interplay between depth and presence?
Cheers!
Awesome video! Not only did it give me a better understanding of how the presence control is supposed to work, but in a roundabout way it helped me understand why a Vox ac30 doesn’t sound like a Marshall and gets confused for being a class-a amp. Strong work dude!
I always thought it controlled the volume on Zeppelin's best album. Don't most amps have that album built in?
CLardPercussion, Achilles Amp Stand, with some models.
Nice
Niiiiice
I used to boost Presence when playing Dark Side of the Moon tunes. What an irony, or big mistake. Nobody's fault but mine.
Hmmm... Not hearing anything but mangled zeppelin coming from my amp. Must need a presence upgrade.
Excellent explanation. 30 years playing and I never had a clue.
Is there a Colin's Scottish english accent class on skill share??
I can't begin to imagine what a transcription of this would look like in American English. 😂
"Scottish English" is a term you REALLY want to avoid in Scotland!
Spend an hour in Glasgow and see if you think he is hard to understand. I'm Scottish and I can't understand half the people in Glasgow at times.
@@geetarwanabe I meant to learn how to speak Scottish accent, it's awesome!
@@xneurianx last time I checked more than half of us were perfectly happy being united with England 😊
Wow someone who really knows what he is talking about. BEST explanation I have seen.
starts 2:09
I've been playing for 6 years and because I learned most of what I know through RUclips, this series is a blessing for me because a lot of these terms are just thrown around and expected to be known, so thanks
Amazing topic. I have a friend who was hired as a session musician to do some recordings at abbey road studio (yes that one), tours internationally, heard him live and heard bonamassa live, and comparing those two performances I'd much rather listen to him than Bonamassa, his tone, his feel is absolutely amazing. Even he could not tell me what the presence exactly was. "Jus set it to middle, nobody ever gets their tone from turning that up and down anyway!" :) And he is not ignorant, he knows his gear, but nobody ever was able to explain it properly to him either.
Best series in the Guitar community. So brilliantly explained. Thanks as always, Colin!
Now we need an explaintaion of what the "Contour" control does:D
Contour is a mid cut
I’ve learned more from you in the past month than I have from everyone else in the past 10 years. Thank you for these great videos!
So, basically, it’s like a built in treble booster that doesn’t bleed off any low end signal?
In a sense, yes. Obviously it's a bit more complex than that, but not a bad way to look at it.
Glad I’ve been using the presence on my amps correctly as I truthfully was not aware of it's (technical) functionality until watching this. Thanks, Colin👍
So that means Peavey's Resonance (Depth on Revv amps) is the same, but for the lower frequencies
I've played amps that had both. Resonance and presence. I might be early with my comment, haven't seen the video all the way through, I am just rejoicing over the topic.
Ákos Tolvaj The 5150 amps have both.
This blogger surprises me everytime. The information that I learn from this gent is informative. Smart. Well explained and thumbs up. You should have 1 billion subscribers by now
Thanks for this Tata!
Could you do one on amp choices of Boutique, Crunch, Tweed, Ultra etc in multi - effects processors? Maybe add the cabinet choices like 4x12 and mic placement emulators.
I don't see what you are asking. Do you wanna know what amps those are supposed to be? Or are you asking how shitty effects processors are in practice?
This is one of the best explanations I've ever seen on RUclips about any gear anytime. So detailed and yet so comprehensible.
Subscribed (:
when you’ve only got gain, volume, bass, and treble on your main amp
When you've only got volume xP
When you only got input jack
Perfect! You've completely demystified the presence control! I will no longer be afraid to play around with it on my amp.
hey CSGuitars for your next TATA what is RESONANCE/DEPTH on an amp?
David Piland II - I second this!!
My understanding is that it's the same concept as presence, but for low-mid and bass frequencies.
Thanks for this post, I'm embarrassed to say 40 years of playing and wasn't sure ,you explained it nicely, I always tweaked the presence but never exactly knew why it worked clean vs dirty
Do TATA Ceramic vs Alnico magnets.
Omg this please!
Perfectly explained. I always struggle to give people an answer when i've been asked why I have presence on my amp.
Clear and presence danger 👻
I think the important question is how it sounds when you set your preamp tone controls for NO MIDS!
Seriously though, this is the best, clearest explanation of what the Presence control does and how it works I have ever seen.
Here is a TATA question for you: What does the Resonance control do on the amp?
Sorta like a bass control of the power section of your amp as is the Present knob is like a Treble control of the Power amp section.
The lower frequencies ...
Hands down the best video explanation of presence in the history of amplifiers. AWESOME!!!
Got an amp with dual "Resonance" controls for the corresponding video? :-)
I admit to having played my old marshal Mk2 lead for years without knowing sweet FA what the presence actually does, only fiddling with it occasionally and generally effectually, usually leaving the damn thing at 12 o'clock and forgetting about it. This explanation is pure gold. I have never come across anybody who has explained this at all never mind with such accuracy, clarity and useful practical applicability. My score for this video is 12/10. Bravo.
Why does increasing output level on an overdrive or distortion pedal that is in front of a dirty channel increase the "angriness" of the sound?
That's because overdrive adds harmonics which are the cause of the 'dirty' sound in the first place. Put those through your amp which is already overdriven, and you have odd harmonics which are the result of all of the other harmonics, causing the angry, fuzzy sound instead of the crunchy overdrive sound which is comprised of even harmonics only. Tubes cause even harmonics (overdrive) while transistors cause odd harmonics (distortion and fuzz). One of the main reasons we're still using tubes in our amps or try to imitate them digitally.
Colin should really do an item on Fourier transform which describes this really, really nicely.
As someone who is currently studying physics this subject really interests me. I hope colin does a video about it.
I've looked up the Presence control before but didn't understand what it does: I now know! Thank you for this great video, I have learnt something today.
This guy must of hit the lottery or robbed a music store. He sure got a lot of nice equipment awfully fast.
I'm just getting a lot better at sweet talking gear companies into letting me borrow things.
@@ScienceofLoud Colin, those companies appreciate nice T.A.T.A 's like all of us should. Thanks to the likes of you, we all learn something new all the time. Keep them coming!
Thank you. Now I finally understand it completely.
(Please don't tell anyone that I didn't really know before...)
I love it when you talk nerdy to me. But seriously, I really do appreciate the more in depth technical explanation. As a matter of fact I'd be interested in any other technical explanations you have to offer.
VERY informative. Before watching I was like "I know what presence is why would I watch this" but your comparison of presence with distortion was eye opening
Awesome explanation. Simple enough to understand, but also very thorough and detailed. Learned a few things, keep up the great work!
A very well done explanation, with the technical aspects delivered simply enough to sufficiently address the sonic details. Now I know.
Just watched a PBS show on the great Viking invasion and one of the artifacts was a hammer of Thor. Noticed yours, Colin, and realized we share that heritage as well as our love of guitar. Thanks for generously sharing your knowledge.
Excellent explanation of feedback shaping frequency response and distortion harmonics without introducing Fourier. Thanks.
As an engineer with Guitar as a Hobby I really like how you use circuits. signals and components to explain the function of everything.
Have no clue why I hadn’t subscribed to you yet. I find your videos all the time. Thank you for the info.
Great video. I always though that presence was just an extra high treble EQ control, pretty sure everyone I've ever talked to about it has thought the same thing. This knowledge is so important for guitar players. How can you go for tones if you don't understand what you're doing?
Thanks for demystifying presence. Mad respect for your presentation skills, intelligence and accent.
Absolutely fantastic and if you're new to tube amplifiers (like me) this is a great explaination of the pre-amp and power amp! Well done!
I love these videos, coming from the type of player that just twiddles the dials until I get the tone I'm after it really is great to understand what they actually do! Thanks man.
I understood the high shelf boost concept of presence before but I didn't know it was implemented in the feedback loop of the power amp. That explains a lot about why tube amps sound so good.
This is something I've heard and noted, but never understood at the technical level. I love the nerdy guitar sound explanation stuff. Your channel is a personal boon.
Nice explanation of the PRESENCE control on a guitar amp. Colin knows his audio engineering!
Holy crap, such a great explanation, never had an amp with a presence control before, so no reason to look into it myself, other than for interest of course. This is why your videos are the best, having someone with a technical background actually sharing their knowledge, rather than the myriad of other guitar channels out there with fluffy Chinese whispers explanations that makes absolutely no sense.
Colin.... I cannot thank you enough for this!! After all these years!! A 'Revelation'
Very intriguing. Noticed the presence knob does a lot more after installing fresh vacuum tubes. Sounds great
I been literally tHINKING BOUT THIS SINCE LAST WEEK AND WAS ABOUT TO ASK U
My mind reading device is a success!
Great explanation ... I think. Made sense the first time around. Will have to replay.
Edit: Got it! Controlled distortion = mc squared.
Working on it ...
Edit again: Honestly the best explanation ever ... just trying to grasp it. Rock on!
Great graphics. Terrific explanation.
I am not a metal player, but love your videos! Once I got my first amp with a Presence control decades ago, I'll never go back - love me some hi-mids, but I am no mid volcano tube screamer dude.... using P90s and a little bit of presence gets me a tone I like AND gets me an empty space in the mix to be heard easily
Same thing goes for the resonance control too. What the presence control does for the high end, the resonance does for the low mids and bass as well.
great explanation Collin! I think this is the greatest channel for explaining the science of loud. I think one thing to note about presence controls is that not all presence controls are made equal. For instance: I have three tube amps, A Marshall JCM2000 DSL50, a Marshsll DSL100HR, and a Marshall Origin 50. The presence controls on the honest to god, made in England JCM is paramount in adding definition to the red channel gain and does exactly what you have so eloquently described here. On the outsourced to Vietnam amps (DSL100HR and Origin 50), the presence controls seem to affect the tonal characteristics in a different fashion, at least to my ears. The DSL does okay with the addition of presence but what really makes it a metal behemoth is the resonance control. On the ORI50H, adding too much presence (in my experience, anything after 10 o'clock) tends to make the tone too fizzy for my taste. Let me know what you think about that Collin... maybe I'm approaching it incorrectly. Keep up the awesome and hilarious content coming man!
Both of my tubes amps head has Presence and a Resonance. Love it!
100%. I was on the verge of selling my savage 60 mk II. Though it was dark overalls, then I just cranked the presence while reamping and voila! Especially impressive on how much of an impact it has on a savage
Can't wait to see you talking about fourier transform. I'm doing my masters in neurosciences, studying electrophysiology , and fourier transform is something that I'll have to understand when I start processing my data - which is pretty soon... And relating that with music should help!
Finally....I now have a good understanding of presence. Thank You! I always wanted to know, but I was afraid to ask!