Control knobs

Good morning guys. As a new electric guitar player, I have questions about the functions of the control knobs on the strat and how to use them. I understand that there are a volume and two tone controls. But can you give me an idea on how to use them to get different tones? The bridge tone control seems to sound better if dialed back to a 6 or 7. I usually keep the middle knob on 10. But would like to get input on how to use the volume knob to go from clean to some drive. How would you set the amp's volume and use the guitar knobs? I play mostly classic rock, blues, country and also play in the church p&w band.

After years of playing accoustic, I am discovering the joy of the electric. Just don't know enough about the controls yet. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks guys.

One thing to keep in mind is that on a standard wired strat the first tone knob (middle) does the NECK pup and the last tone only effects the MID pup.

The bridge is run wide open all the time.

It sort of depends on what sound you're after. My strats are wired as dougk describes above. I tend to keep the guitar controls on max and use the amp to get the tone I want. When playing with a band I stray from this plan as I usually need to be able to control things from the guitar. In this case I will set the amp for the right volume for lead playing with distortion with the guitar volume on max, then roll the volume back to play chords. This will be a much less distorted but not totally clean sound. It's a bit of a compromise.

On guitars with passive electronics, Fenders in particular, rolling back the volume control will also affect your tone. That's the main reason I've avoided using it. Sometimes I will turn a guitar's tone control fully ccw. When used with distortion, this gives you something like Clapton's "woman tone". If I was going to play some jazz, then I roll the tone control back a bit. Actually, rolling the volume control back a little on a Fender gives a nicer jazz tone, IMO.

gaddis, has it right: Play around until you get the tone(s) you like. And like doug say, if it's a standard wired strat, you have tone control over only the middle and neck pickups. With a Jimmie Vaughn type wiring, you have control over the bridge and neck, with the middle p/u wide open. I tend to run the tone controls on my strats on full all the time, but I also run .1 caps in them; gives a sweet warm tone. I've also found I get better tone control using the amp rather than the guitar's controls. Backing off the vol., as gaddis says, will also affect the tone, unless you've got a treble bleed cap in there. So, fiddle around until you hear what you like, either with the guitar or the amp. Welcome to the world of strats and to the forum! (And for your next electric: A telecaster! :wink:)

Thanks for the replies so far. I should have pointed out that I was curious as to how those of you that play in a band setting, use your guitar knobs or pedals for the amp to alter the tone while playing. I don't have any pedals, but when playing chords and then to do some lead licks can you use the volume knob in place of say a volume pedal? Sorry for the amatuer questions, but sure am curious!

I generally change the pickup settings to change lead and chording tones. Also, the pickup height affects vol and tone -- just make sure not to set them too high, or "stratitis" sets in. Occasionally I'll roll off the vol., but very rarely. Don't use a vol. pedal, but will tweak the amp vol. a bit as or if needed. Backing off the guitar vol. rolls off a good bit of treble.

One thing that might help with an answer, would be to state what type strat and year you have...no one has mentioned to you yet that Fender used different tone circuits in different models and years...there I go being sensible again ??

Mellecaster: you are right. I have a 2006 model MIM Standard with HSS pickup configuration.

I am curious as a player, how you guys switch from say playing clean chords to kicking in some overdrive/distortion on some lead licks or the chorus of the songs when playing without pedals? Hope that makes sense. The reason for these questions is that I play in church and play along with an accoustic guitar player. The accoustic player plays rythymn while I am trying to provide some "color" to the mix. I have always been a rythymn player and am just getting into playing electric. So I don't have much equipment at this point and am seeking ideas from you experienced players. I currently have a two channel Crate SS amp that is mic'ed to the soundboard and the amp has a few built in effects. I can switch between channels (effects or distortion) or click both switches for clean. What I would like to do eventually is to get a small tube amp and a couple of pedals. I just need to know how to best utilize all my options while playing.

I really appreciate all of you guys' playing experience and equipment knowledge.