What the knobs on electric guitars do, and how to access a variety of tones without touching a pedal

I’ve got a confession to make.

For years, I would set the knobs on my guitar to 10 and then use my amp to try and shape my tone (inevitably getting frustrated that I couldn’t get it just right).

But I wasn’t the only one, this is extremely common.

Beginners and more experienced players will often ignore the controls on the guitar itself, and instead rely on the amp or buy expensive pedals to get their “perfect” tone.

So in this article, we’re going to look at how to use a guitar’s control knobs effectively. The result is access to far more tone variety and, in my opinion, a lot more fun with each guitar.

We’re going to cover:

• What the controls actually do

• Different configurations on different guitars

• How to use a guitar’s control knobs most effectively (including achieving clean and dirty tones, and volume boosts)

• Which configuration I consider to be the most versatile

What a guitar’s controls do

In most cases, an electric guitar’s knobs will control the volume and tone. I say “most cases” becau…