enlighten the newbie

[nt]

hi all,

just purchased a telecaster from the recent sale, together with a Fender G-Dec junior. as this is the first time im touching an electric guitar, i have a few question.

1) The tone and volume knob. as we all know, both the guitar and the amp have both the knob. so which one do u all adjust? u guys will set up the tone and volume on the amp, then adjust the ones on the guitar?

2) the gain knob. wat exactly is gain? if i set it to the highest(10) there will be a constant buzzing comin from the amp.

3) buzzing from amp. touching on q2, there is always a constant buzzing. i suspect that it is due to the cable that connects the guitar to the amp. but the strange thing is, when i place any part of my body to any metallic surface of the amp(the handle or the metallic part of the cable), the buzzing stops. is it due to the improper grounding?

so far i have only these 3 questions. lemme explore more than i'll shoot more of the question. thanks!

 

[Jiterator]

Q1: it's all about what you prefer man, there aren't any rights or wrongs when it comes to setting up your tone.. usually my tone and volume are at 10, and from there i set the EQ on the amp to something i like.. and if need be, i'll adjust the volume to control the amount of gain i'm getting in my overdrives.. the tone knob does play an important role also, so of course try exploring what works best for you..

Q2: the gain knob on most amps would determine the amount of drive you're crunching up your guitar signal with.. more gain = more crunch.. the constant buzzing could be due to a number of factors.. is ur amp on a 2 pin or 3 pin plug? 3 pin plugs effectively get rid of quite a bit of buzzing due to grounding issues.. and ur telecaster's most likely got single coil pickups on it, which will hum and buzz if you pump too much gain into them..

Q3: as above.. try switching ur amp plug to a 3 pin head so that ur amp is grounded, and also, surrounding appliances might cause a bit of buzz as well..

 

[nt]

hmmm... as wat i have suspected about the grounding. thanks alot Jiterator. u have being a great help.