Beginner Amp Settings Options

[riffgiant]

Hey everyone, Riffgiant here.

I've been playing guitar about a month now and I'm still fighting to understand the basics like how to get a decent tone out of my guitar/amp. I listen to Kris jamming on the beginner lessons and I'm trying to get a similar sound so I can compare my technique as I practice and play along. I know I won't be able to match it perfectly, just want to be in the ballpark.

Here's my gear.

Guitar:
Model: Greg Bennet Torino
Details: 2 pickups, 4 knobs on the body (2 volume, 2 tone)

Amp:
Model: Crate GTX15
Details: 2 knobs located together labeled 'gain' and 'level', one knob to control 'clean' volume, 3 eq knobs (low, mid, high) and a knob that adds some built in effects like reverb, delay, chorus, etc.

I'm also trying to understand how to manage the combination of knobs on both the guitar and the amp. For example, I decide I want to increase the volume for a particular exercise, do I pump it on the guitar or just tweak the amp? What's the difference?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Riffgiant

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[Igorrr]

Hi RiffGiant,

concerning Volume on the guitar or the amp it actually depends if you are playing distorted or clean guitar.

Distortion is actually clipping meaning that the guitar signal is louder than the "volume limit" (trying to put it simple) of your distortion pedal or preamp. This means that if you play soft or hard the loudness coming out of the amp is the same.
Try it out yourself when playing with heavy distortion. If you go down on the volume on your guitar the sound will not become softer but cleaner. The volume on the amp will of course change the resulting volume.

When playing clean both guitar and amp volume change the resulting volume.

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[riffgiant]

Hi RiffGiant,

concerning Volume on the guitar or the amp it actually depends if you are playing distorted or clean guitar.

Distortion is actually clipping meaning that the guitar signal is louder than the "volume limit" (trying to put it simple) of your distortion pedal or preamp. This means that if you play soft or hard the loudness coming out of the amp is the same.
Try it out yourself when playing with heavy distortion. If you go down on the volume on your guitar the sound will not become softer but cleaner. The volume on the amp will of course change the resulting volume.

When playing clean both guitar and amp volume change the resulting volume.

Hey Igorrr, thanks for addressing how the knobs behave differently depending on if you are playing with distortion or clean. I tried what you suggested and was surprised how the volume didn't change when I lowered it with the guitar knob but it did change when I toggled over to the clean channel (like you said it would).

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