stevorc321 said:
VegaBaby said:
...And even
if it would default to '5', new users could still be confused by seeing such a high default value, eventhough it isn't, since they may not realise that noon is 'off''. RTFM is something I highly recommend to especially new users of such an advanced machine
Fair enough RTFM - but there also needs to be a degree if intuitiveness with how things work. On the other 'presence' thread there was a 'boogie' guy saying that he couldn't get the axe boogie sims to work as he expected a boogie to work (without a lot of eqs etc). Once he twigged that presence needs to be cranked up to three-quarters to get typical mid way boogie presence level, it all fell in to place. Presence (as I understand it) is highly interactive with other tone controls on a lot of amps, so unless you have the presence set approriately, you may not get the amp to react as you expect - so 'using you ears' alone as other have said may be more difficult than it appears.
I think, I'm just surprised (embarrassed!!) that I had missed this info. I'll have had the axe for 2 years in July and I had completely misunderstood the presence control. I've been very happy with the sounds I've been getting, but I often don't fuss too much with the presence and I never really take notice of the numbers on the controls. I notice I usually have the 'bass' level way down on all my patches. Perhaps I'll get even better results with a new understanding of the presence control.
Yeah then the next person comes around wondering why his amp sounds like an ice pick and "too bright" and the he realizes the presence was turned up. Difficult or not, using your ear not your eyes is just about the only reliable way to get desired results. There are just too many other variables. The same is true for analog amps. The tone controls (bass, treble, mid) set at 12:00 are not a good place to start on many amps. They are that way for convenience no other reason.
Moving the default knob position will not really change any intuitiveness, IMO. The person that thinks that 12:00 is 5 will just think 3:00 is 7.5. You have to understand there are negative values available that you don't get with a normal amp. The presence is not interactive w/ the preamp tonestack AFAIK. Altering it can change the apparent tonal quality of the tone, but so can any EQ. It does interact highly with the power section though. "Appropriate" on a amp or tone will vary wildly, so you would have to tweak it anyway. Personally, I don't care. I'm going to turn the knob anyway.