I've changed my mind about volume and tone controls

Well, I'm with you, Notes! I've always preferred one volume with two tone controls. So that's how I voted! :D

a Fender strat has two tone knobs and one volume knob.
the five way switch adds to the varieties of tones.

I rarely touch the middle tone knob. that back tone knob I am always working.
that and the volume knob.
I really really like the design. their placement is perfect for playing the strings and working the controls.
a my tele is almost the same. it's all right at hand, the right hand. :)

by law, if you don't use you controls midsong often enough, you should pack them up and send to

Scrybe
25 Guitarville
Music Valley
A13 Bb7

I mean, I like the old Esquire, with it's one tone on volume setup.

Currently I am starting to appreciate the simplicity. Just one pickup with volume and tone controls. Or like this Mark Hoppus bass: just a volume knob:

http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0138300357

I like the 1 volume, 2 tone controls like on a Strat. I don't know how many times I've changed pick ups on my LP & found that the volume was really low.

I like em all, thats why I got 20+ guitars. :lol: I vote Gibby though, cause I'm set in my ways.

I'm voting for just one tone and one volume, but that's all my electric has, so I don't really have any experience with others.

I tend to mix the contribution of each pick-up (either 2-volume or volume and pan) and then adjust the resulting tone, so I picked 2-volume, 1-tone.

For those that prefer 2+2, do you ever turn up both volumes, and set one tone to Bright, and the other to Dark?

PS: I play bass.

Having separate volume controls for the pickups gives you an excellent instant boost for solos/cut for rhythm when you flick the selector switch. Preset 'em where you want 'em, tweak as needed.

There is of course no right way to do this, and no right answer, as we all have our own individual way of playing and our own manner of getting expression out of the guitar (and that's a good thing so we all don't sound alike).

I've done the Gibson thing for years, two and two. In my gig I play a variety of music; rock, oldies, country, jazz, ethnic, Caribbean, Latin and a number of others. The mix depends on who shows up and where we are gigging.

I also use all 3 pickup combinations available to me on my guitar. So if I'm singing a song and playing fill-ins on the guitar, and then need to pump up the volume for a lead, I just use my little finger to boost the volume knob, no sweat - and on this guitar it's within easy reach of my hand in picking position. With my Gibson I need to first think which pup(s) I'm on, reach back to the guitar to twiddle one or two knobs, get back to the strings, and if I didn't tweak them enough, or too much, it's back again.

In the past I've used a boost pedal, but with my amp simulator on different settings, and now with the Varitone, it doesn't boost all settings equally.

So for me, at this point in time, as a multi-instrumentalist (on stage: vocals, sax, guitar, wind synthesizer, flute, percussion controller - off stage: bass, drums keyboard) and at my point in my journey through the delightful world of learning guitar (for the rest of my life I hope) the simplicity of the one vol, one tone layout is preferable to the additional tonal variances I could get with the extra knobs.

Of course YMMV.

This is my first poll here, thanks for jumping in.

Notes

I assume you meant physically, on the guitar??? I like minimal on the axe but heaps on the board. I set it up the best I can...then leave them alone...unless I am "violining" some notes off the guitar. My Ibanez has nine outputs...all going into the board on seperate channels.

Cat

I assume you meant physically, on the guitar???<...>
Cat
Definitely.

The guitar is the instrument, but much of the guitar sound is created after the signal leaves the guitar and goes through fx, amp or whatever.

I'm not much of an FX guy, some reverb, some fuzz at times, some wah when appropriate, and a twin reverb and an AC30 amp simulation, but that's about it. I have a friend who sits in front of about 25 pedals, I don't even know what they all do. With some people like myself, I wouldn't know which ones to stomp when, but this guy has it down. He is an excellent player, uses the pedals tastefully and makes some outstandingly great music.

He generally plays a strat, and I very seldom see him twiddle the tone on his guitar, but he does use the volume control a lot.

Notes

My Epi LP has two & two. My Strat has one & two. I prefer the Strat setup.

I posted a similar poll in an Epiphone forum, and got different results. As expected 2 and 2 is coming out ahead.

I think a non-branded board like this gives a more accurate result.

Notes