This is somewhat of a mediocre question, but it's bothered me for quite some time... What do you usually set the tone knob on your guitar to (0% , 50% , 100%)? I am still trying to find a tone that I like, and I really like your overall tone .

Also, what do MOST players set their tone knob to? I know every player has their preference, but what do guys like Paul Gilbert and Jason Becker (two examples) like to use?

I like to put it on 100% to get that nice distorted metal tone.......

It depends on the style and the player. I like to put it like 80% with the neck pickup to do solos.
I think both of the players you named uses a 100% or closer to that.
Jazz players usually to get that warm and darken tone uses closer to the 0%.
Imagine the tone knob like an eq., where you can eliminate or not the upper harmonics.

I hope you find it useful.

I think most players keep it on 100%.
Actually, I dont think i've ever even used the toneknob on any guitar i've had.

me neither, 100% all the way

Yeah,I believe 100% is most often nowdays.
This tone pot had more use back in the days when amps where pretty simple
and there where no pedals,preamp,external EQs to do all sound tweaking.
But still this pot might be useful sometimes,
to get some nice effects like ala Santana muddy tone etc.
The only problem with tone pot on guitar is that it
kills too much of signal attack as well the highs when you turn it to lower value.

Alright guys, I will take your advice! 100% all the way ... The only problem is getting the right sound out of my amp. I have a Line 6 "Spider Valve 212". It's really nice (In my opinion)... But, I can't really seem to make a good standard setting for myself. Do any of you have this same amp? Or, suggestions?

I would really love to help you more here
but I don't have Spider Valve 212

But I'm sure some other GMCers have it
and so you'll get few advices pretty soon.

I use it quite abit actually, depends on what I'm playing..
But mostly on 70% - 100%

I use it a bit as well. About 6-10, specially the bridge and middle tone.

I usually keep it a bit lower than 100%, and don't use it much really.

Point with tone knob is this,
100% means full sound spectrum from your guitar/pickups.
That is how your guitar sounds in total.
If you wanna less highs I suggest cutting it somewhere else,
amp EQs,preamp,pedal or whatever,
tone pot is more like a filter,not typical EQ tool.

Gets about 70-100% here too, but it does of course depend on what I'm playing

Thanks Muris! That gives me a good idea of what I should do! I actually don't have any pedals, not even a wah... So, now I know what's next on my "To-Do/To-Get" list ...

Yep, full on most of the time. I use it sometimes, but only when I have a guitar with good pots. The cheap ones really don't do much.

Tone knob??? whats that then ??

Same as Trond here, cant say that I`ve ever used it on any guitar I`ve ever had, as Muris has said most of the tone tweaking is done for me at amp level or at effects etc

Mate,no worries,that's the rounded object between volume pot and output jack

oh I seeeee I thought it was a handy place if ya wanted to hang your coat on it or something

And there's me hanging my purse off of mine to keep it safe while playing- That was the only use i found for it

I always have it somewhere between 70~100%, only with jazz stuff I put it on like 30~40%

In general, I think it is just easier to keep it on 100% and play with amp equalizer instead. (though I have to admit I never experimented too much with tone knob).

However, in my Ibanez there is one pickup setting that has "too much" harmonic content, which is good for chorus and reverb effects, but not so good for some clean sounds. Then I move it back to 70% sometimes.

Tone knobs are 99.9% useless unless completely cranked. Try this:Click to view attachment
It's called a ToneStyler by Stellartone.

I use mine all the time, if I want to change how it sounds in the middle of a song I obviously don't go to the amp and change the settings, but I change something on the tone knob. I use everything between 0 and 10, but it's mostly on 8 or something. I might try having it more on 10 after reading the posts here though.

interresting

Thanks for sharing!

I used to turn the tone knob amost all the way down with neck pickup selected on my Les Paul when I would play "Money for Nothin". It kind of gives that nasal quality that I thought I could hear in the main riff.

Man, I do miss having a toggle switch for the pickup selector. The PRS I've got uses a rotary knob to select the pickups. ...nice looking, but just not quick for going from neck to bridge pup in the middle of a song.

Funny you mention that.
I've played with it 100 per cent all the way for years and just started experiencing on different settings yesterday.
But the difference is more noticeable with a really good amp I think.

Spot on David, it's hard to get some serious results playing through digital gear,
nice tube amp is something else tho, it reacts on everything and reacts properly!