How to use Electric Guitar Knobs

The secret of how to use electric guitar knobs.

If you’re seriously interested in learning how to use electric guitar knobs we’ve got the information right here.

While at first, it can seem challenging, once you know what they’re for it’ll open up a new world of possibilities.

There are two basic knobs on an electric guitar: The tone knob and the volume knob.

They each do separate and important things when it comes to crafting your sound so it’s important to understand them.

We’ll cover both today.

Check it out!!

How to use Electric Guitar Knobs: The Volume Knob

The volume knob on your electric guitar is one of the most important components of crafting your sound.

Some styles of electric guitar even come with only a volume knob and no other controls.

While at first it can seem very basic and straightforward, properly using your volume knob will take practice and some experimentation.

Volume knobs on electric guitars fall into two distinct categories:

• Guitars with more than one volume knob
• Guitars with only One Volume Knob

Let’s look at both in turn:

Guitars with more than one volume knob

With this setup, each individual pickup has a separate volume knob.

This allows you to control the volume of each pickup individually.

The most commonly seen guitar with this setup is the Les Paul.

Separate volume controls for each pickup gives you better control over your sound since you can set the neck pickup to full volume,
and the bridge pickup to low volume and have a unique sound.

You can also do things like turn the volume of the neck pickup to zero and turn the bridge pickup to full.

Then, you can use the pickup selection switch to go back and forth between them giving you a unique effect.

Guitars with Only One Volume Knob

If your guitar only has one volume knob, that means it’s a master volume knob.
As a result, it will change the volume of all of your pickups at the same time.

The most commonly seen guitar with this setup is the Stratocaster.

While this doesn’t have the benefits of a guitar with individual volume knobs, it does have its benefits.

For instance, when you switch between your neck pickup and bridge pickup, you don’t have to worry about the volume dropping or being raised.

You can also silence your sound at the end of a song in one step by simply rolling back the volume knob to zero.

How to Use the Volume Knob

Once you’ve figured out which volume knob setup your electric guitar has, you’re ready for the next step:

Learning how to properly use your volume knob to control your sound.

The best way to figure this out is by experimentation since your style of playing will have a lot to do with how you choose to use the volume knob.

Try turning the volume knob up on your amp and the volume knob very low on your electric guitar.

Play for a bit and see how you like the way it sounds.

Then, try the opposite and see how it sounds.

You’ll most likely prefer one over the other.

Once you’ve found a setting you like, practice raising and lowering the volume of your electric guitar using your volume knob.

A useful technique is rolling back the volume with your pinky finger while you’re playing.

Mastering this gives you a cool and useful effect and gives you the ability to end a song by fading out while still playing.

Try it for yourself!

How to use Electric Guitar Knobs: The Tone Knob

The tone knob on an electric guitar plays an important part in creating your sound.

Some styles of music, like jazz, make extensive use of the tone knob.

Others, like heavy metal, make little if any use of a tone knob.

There are even Some models of electric guitar that do not come with a tone knob.

So what are the differences between types of guitars?

Let’s look at the three main types of tone knob setups:

Stratocaster Style controls

Guitars with Stratocaster-style tone setups have two tone knobs.

Traditionally, the knob closest to the volume control is for the neck pickup, and the other tone knob controls the middle pickup.

The single-coil bridge pickup usually does not have any tone control at all.

This is because back in the day, the clean single-coil bridge pickup sound was very popular with guitar players.

Nowadays, you often see Stratocaster-style guitars with a humbucker in the bridge position.

In this case, the tone knob closest to the volume knob controls the neck pickup

The other tone knob controls the middle pickup and the bridge humbucker at the same time.

This has the advantage of allowing you to change the tone of two pickups at the same time giving you a uniform tone when you switch pickups.

Gibson Style controls

Like with the volume knobs, in this setup, there is a separate tone control for each humbucker.

This allows for more fine-grained control over your tone.

The tradeoff is you can’t change the tone for both humbuckers at once as easily.

Single Master Tone control

A single master tone knob is most popular on Telecaster and super strat style guitars.

This setup has the advantage of allowing you to change the tone for all of your pickups at the same time.

It allows for less fine-grained control but is a lot simpler to use since there’s only one knob for you to adjust.

How to use the tone knob to change your sound

Hopefully, you’ve now identified what setup your guitar has.

So how do we use the tone knob to change your sound?

Generally speaking, turning your tone knob down, or to a lower number, results in a darker, softer tone with fewer highs.

Under some circumstances, it can make your sound a bit “muddy” and cause you to lose some clarity.

This is because lowering your tone knob removes some of the higher frequencies of your sound.

The best way to experience this is to try it out using a clean tone on your amp.

Choose one pickup, and set the tone knob to ’10’ or all the way up.

Play for a bit so you know what it sounds like, and then lower your tone knob about halfway.

Continue playing, and notice how your sound changes when you change where the tone knob is set.

How to use Electric Guitar Knobs: Conclusion

Now that you understand what the knobs on your electric guitar do, the next step is to practice using them.

While adjusting your volume may seem straightforward, achieving a good tone often involves finding a balance between the volume setting on your electric guitar and the volume setting on your amplifier.

It’s a similar situation with your tone knob.

It’ll take practice and experimentation before you can intuitively find the right settings for the sound you’re after.

Also, less expensive guitars that use lower-priced components for the electronics on an electric guitar often don’t have much of a dynamic range.

All this means is that your tone may not change as dramatically or as smoothly on a $100 electric guitar as it would on an electric guitar that costs $3000.

Finally, some guitars have knobs with special features like push/pull tone knobs that split your humbuckers into single coils.

These aren’t as common, but they are something to look out for.

How to use Electric Guitar Knobs: FAQ

• What are the 4 knobs on my electric guitar?
  • This means that each pickup has a separate volume knob and a separate tone knob. Try moving your pickup selection switch to the neck pickup, playing, then twist the knobs back and forth until you know which one is which. For more on how to use these knobs, see this post.
• What do the tone knobs on an electric guitar do?
  • Turning your tone knob down, or to a lower number, removes the highs from your sound giving you a softer, warmer tone.
• Which way do I turn the knobs on my guitar?
  • Holding the guitar in playing position and assuming you’re right-handed: Turn the knob clockwise to raise your volume or tone and anti-clockwise to lower it.
• Why does my guitar have 2 volume knobs?
  • Your guitar has 2 volume knobs so that you can control the volume of each of your pickups individually.