How to "adjust" an Electric Guitar/amp

Well, I don't really mean "adjust" it, but I can't think of a better adjective, and I know "set up" has a different meaning....

I recently bought my first Electric guitar and a very basic amp with no effects...
However, I'm finding that I'm a bit lost on how to set it for playing. The guitar has 2 pickups and volume and tone controls for each one. And a 3-way switch for each pickup or both. Then, the amp has volume, preamp and tone controls. Between all of that, I'm finding that there are too many combinations to figure out.

Is there some basic "rule" that would get started?? Such as "turn the volume all the way up on the guitar and adjust the amp volume"....or "max the eq settings on the amp, and adjust tone on the guitar"....or "set them even on both pickups, select one, and adjust xyz, then switch to the other and xyz...." etc
I know some is going to be personal preference, or what I'm playing, but I'm not sure where to start. Is there by chance a video on that here that I just can't find?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by: samata
I recently bought my first Electric guitar and a very basic amp with no effects...
[/quote]
Congrats!
[QUOTE=samata]
However, I'm finding that I'm a bit lost on how to set it for playing.
... Is there by chance a video on that here that I just can't find?

Depends upon what you want to play and how you want the guitar/amp to sound in order to help you achieve that goal.

I suggest to watch the lessons at the end of the Blues & Rock Style 1 Courses. The last chapters will give you a basic idea of how & why to set the controls on your guitar & amp.

http://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=blues1
http://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=rock1

Make sure to ask if you think of something not covered by the vids. Have fun with your new gear!

Thank you!

Once again, those are VERY helpful :) I've been a little bit frustrated. Which is okay. As when that happens....I just pick up the Classical guitar :)

Sometimes a good starting point is to set everything on 6. Then add to the sounds you like and reduce the sounds you don't. It depends on what you want to play as well. Some tone settings are more often found with certain genres, such as scooped mids in metal music.

Thank you for the advice. I apprecaite it. To be a bit more specific, though, I guess part of what I'm asking is the confluence of settings that are the same between the amp and the guitar. Ia one set more static and the other adjusted, etc.

If I get your question, then it depends. You can set it and forget it. Heck, you could pull all the knobs off and leave it that way. Or you can tweak according to each song you play. Or something in between.

In this, it depends greatly on what you play and what kind of player you are. Generally speaking, when I jam, the only thing I adjust during the evening mostly is mids on the amp. I guess in that sense my guitar (at least) is the most static (except the occasional roll off on volume to adjust overdrive). I hardly see why I need knobs on that at all :D

As you can tell, I'm not a major tweaker. If it sounds good, it's good enough!