First time Electric Guitar/ amp settings confusion.

My favorite EQ settings on my Peavey Bandit for blues is...
Low: 5-6
Mid: 6-8
High: 3-5
Gain: 4-7 (depends on how "dirty" you want it)
Volume: 1 less than where your neighbors complain
(I'm betting that Tweed setting would be a good amp model to use for blues)

A lot of metal players like to "scoop" the mids, meaning turning them way down. I don't really like that sound. I usually crank up the lows (7) and the highs (6) and keep the mids about in the middle (5). I can't remember my exact settings, but this is a start...
Low: 7
Mid: 5
High: 7
Gain: 7-10 (depending on how "metal" you want it. The higher the gain usually the less "defined"*. )
Volume: 1 more than where your neighbors complain (hey, you're playing metal. What fun is it if they don't complain?)

Gain is usually the amount of distortion or drive. Different amps do this in different ways. I looked up the Cube and it looks like it does it the same way mine does. On your lead channel, Gain will increase the distortion and Volume controls the actual volume of the output. Sometimes you will these labeled as Channel Volume and Master Volume. Turn down the Gain and turn up the volume and you will have a loud, clean sound. Turn up the Gain and you will get more distortion.

As for the Strat, I don't have one but my son does, so my knowledge of the different knobs and pickups are limited. The tone knobs do basically what the EQ does on the amp, but it's limited. The closer to 10, the "brighter" the sound. The volume is tricky, it really depends on the amp you are using. On mine, if I'm running on the clean channel, volume on my guitar does what you would expect, make the amp louder. But when you go to the lead channel and add gain and distortion, it will control the volume a little, but mainly it alters the amount of distortion. Think of the volume more like the power of the signal coming from the guitar, not the loudness. With some amp settings, what it enables you to do is play on the lead channel with distortion and get that almost clean sound by turning the guitar down to 1 or 2, then when you turn the guitar up to 5 or 10, the amp doesn't get louder, but you get the heavier distortion.

Pickups (in a nutshell): the further away from the nut, the "brighter" the sound. So your neck pickup is going to give you a deeper sound than your neck pickup. Once again, I don't play a Strat, but it seems like a lot of players will play rhythm with the neck and/or middle and then switch to the bridge for lead.

That completely exhausts my knowledge of sound. Some of the above is probably incorrect and there may be parts that were made up on the spot. :D

* "Defined" sound. I don't really know the term I'm looking for, but you can have distortion and still have definition to your playing. Listen to AC/DC (good example is the chorus to "You Shook Me All Night Long") and their guitars are distorted, but you can hear single note picking. A lot of metal is so distorted you lose that. IMHO, that's not a good thing to lose.

Wow, thanks for taking the time to type all of that. Very informative stuff. Its a bit overwhelming looking at all of the different settings on an amp when you are used to an accoustic. Thanks a ton. Anyone else?

You're amp is pretty popular, so you could just google for settings, try different things till you find the one that sounds good to you

strat palyer here.

your five way switch is your best friend.

position 1. switch pointed forward towards guitar neck.
this turns the neck pickup on. that is all. you get the best clear bell tones there.
wonderful for full bottom blues and jazz styles. good for full sounding rhythm.

position 2. one step back. here the middle and neck pups are on. I find the treble is pulled down here. almost muddy sounding.
I don't use this much.

position 3. right in the middle. all the pups are on. not many players use this setting. I don't know why. this is a good setting for rhythm and generic rock songs. I noticed when watching Crossroads 2207. almost all the strats were set in position 3. curious.

position 4. the middle and bridge pup are on. this is a great setting. blues for sure. Buddy Guy uses this alot. so do I.
it gives the sound a pucka pucka tone. really loosens the dirt up when gain or overdrive is used.

postion 5. the bridge pickup setting. this is the most popular. it adds killer drive to your gain and overdrive. it is bright and twangy on it's own. great for rock, with the treble tone rolled off a hair, great for classic surf...add a bunch of reverb!

the knobs.
the first one nearest the bridge is volume. it is close to there because you can reach it with your pinkie finger.use your finger to control volume while playing. a good technique.
the other two knobs control tone. the middle knob runs the front two pups and the third knob controls the back two pups.
depending where the switch is set.

keep a notepad handy for awhile. write down some settings you stumble on that you like. then you will remember.
eventually you will come to know your ax.

I noticed when watching Crossroads 2207.

Clapton is God, he's never going to die! :D

I've got one of those Cube 30s. The r-fier amp model with the gain turned up a good ways provides a really heavy crunch, especially with the guitar dropped down 1 1/2 steps like with Linkin Park. I have not played around with the other settings much. Well, not enough that I've remembered settings, etc.

Great info!! Thanks.

You guys have explained this stuff better than anywhere else I have seen on the net. Bravo!

Hi Guys,

I think my Strat (Squire) must be wired differently than the one Dogbite is talking about.

I downloaded the manual from Fender.com when I bought my guitar because I was asking the same questions Sprntmage is.

5 way switch:
1. Neck
2. Neck/Middle
3. Middle
4. Middle/Bridge
5. Bridge

Knobs:
1. Volume
2. Neck pickup tone.
3. Middle pickup tone.

Bridge pickup has no tone control. I remember thinking my guitar was broken because I couldn't change the tone on the bridge pickup!

Hope this helps.

Marty.

I thought mine was broken too, until I looked it up. Didn't know that the tone on the bridge pickup wasn't adjustable.

newer strats have the second tone control controlling the bridge and middle pups, while older ones don't have a bridge option.

I think... (dont hold me to this), but I think that I read the cutoff was in 2005 or 2006. So it's relatively new that the strats have adjustable bridge tones.

If you want to make your bridge P-up tone adjustable take your guitar to a good guitar shop or an experienced friend that can do it and have them do a slight re-wire. There is probably a wiring schematic on seymour Duncan's website. They have all kinds of wiring schematics, it is really astounding how many ways you can wire up a guitar!!!!!!