Originally Posted by: OMFG its DaveAlright thanks for the help. I have one more question however. My amp has a pre-gain dial and a post-gain dial. Should one be higher than the other?

Typically you will set the amount of Gain (distortion) with the "Pre" control and the actual volume with the "Post". For a Hi-Gain "Rock/Metal" tone during a typical, low-level practice session at home w/a 30watt amp...You would most likely be cranking the "Pre" gain anywhere from 6-10 (depending on how much gain you want) and the "Post" gain down in the 2-4(5) range (depending on how loud you can be).
That's just for your basic, straight up preamp distortion, as your primary source of gain. If you are using any Overdrive/Distortion pedal in front of the amp as you main source of Gain, then you would probably be dropping that Pre-gain considerably and maybe bumping up the Post a bit. Again...totally depending on the pedal/amp setup that you are using.

Hopefully that's a little bit on the helpful side for ya.

Don