Presence: pushed or pulled?

[ultra high gain]

For tight heavy metal rhythms, I prefer pushed. I seems crunchier, better suited for thrashy tight metal for me. Watching the JP2C launch video with Petrucci, I notice he prefers pulled for his rhythm tones. The manual says that the pulled is the original IIC+ tone. So I might actually prefer the JP2C to even the re-release of the Giboogie IIC+, sonically, for rhythm. Feel-wise, I never played a real IIC+, and I have heard a comparo clip that stomps the JP a little, so who knows?
For leads, I prefer the pulled tone, as it seems to be thicker, with more lows, and rolled off highs, and overall maybe gainier? It reminds me of the pushed mark IV (I don't like the pull presence on that one, it scoops a lot).
So I thought it was interesting that the JP2C has that cool pushed presence trick in its bag, makes it just a little cooler to me.

 

[bandit2013]

Depends on the cab or cabs I am using. I may prefer the presence pulled out. If you run two cabs loading the amp to 4-ohms, the tone will drop some of the top end so the presence pull may gain some of that back. Just a single cab, presence pushed in works best when there is an 8-ohm load on the amp.

 

[ultra high gain]

That's interesting about the impedance/number of cabs tonal differences combined with different presence settings. I use the 16 ohm, so never heard that yet. I use a marshall cab, but I put mesa 16 ohm v30s in there, seems warmer and tighter.

 

[bandit2013]

I generally found that with most Mesa amps when running two 8 ohm loads having a total of 4 ohms. Change in OT windings more than likely with the 4 ohm output. It is not very dramatic but notable. Why Mesa chose to have on 16 and one 8-ohm output jack is interesting. If you were to run two 16-ohm cabs, if they have an in/out jack to run them in parallel, you have the option to make use of the 8-ohm output. More or less there is a slight drop in upper frequency when running two 8-ohm cabs in parallel using the 4-ohm output. Even the manual indicates there will be a slight miss-match when using 60W and they suggest plugging in the 8-ohm load into the 4-ohm output jack.

I copied the part of the manual on page 25 where it references this. Perhaps it is just to compensate for the larger power transformer on the pair of tubes at 60W.

NOTE: To achieve the full 60 WATTS of power and a better overall sound, move the Speaker from the 8 Ohm SPEAKER Output jack to the 4 Ohm SPEAKER Output jack. This scenario sounds bolder and punchier and puts a more correct load on the Output transformer when in the 60 WATT power mode. If you prefer the sound with the Speaker still connected to the 8 Ohm SPEAKER Output, feel free to leave it there, but realize your overall power will be lower and the sound may be a bit “slower and looser”, have less punch in the midrange and be a bit darker on the top end. Some players prefer this mismatch, especially for more vintage inspired sounds and it is acceptable to use the amplifier this way.