There’s a million different sounds that you can get from your guitar alone, and Joe Bonamassa shows us how to really dial them in.

According to Bonamassa, it’s possible to achieve a plethora of sounds without the need for any pedals. This is simply done by using the volume, pickup selector and tone knobs on a Les Paul guitar.

He describes the tone control as being the “forgotten pedal” or “forgotten knob”, and adds that you should explore the tones of your guitar first before you begin experimenting with pedals.

Here’s the video…

Joe Bonamassa’s Les Paul Tones

Woman Tone (Eric Clapton)

• Neck pickup
• Tone turned down
• Volume turned up

Jazz (Wes Montgomery)

• Neck pickup
• Tone turned down
• Volume turned down

Clean 1

• Neck pickup
• Tone turned up
• Volume turned down

Solo (Larry Carlton, Johnny Winter, Freddie King)

• Bridge pickup
• Tone turned up
• Neck pickup volume turned up

Clean 2

• Bridge pickup
• Tone turned up
• Neck volume turned down

Creamy Fusion Lead (Jeff Beck)

• Bridge pickup
• Tone turned down
• Volume turned up

Country

• Bridge pickup
• Tone turned up
• Volume turned down