Pre- and post-gain controls

[Piehead99]

Ok, so this may be a slightly noobish question, but what do pre- and post-gain controls actually do?

I'm thinking of buying a Peavey T450 amp head, which has these controls on it, and i've used one in a practise before, but i've never actually bothered to find out.

[T.A.P Bass]

Pre = Input Gain
Post = Master Vol

If my memory serves me correctly...

[cchorney]

With a tube amp, I know a lot of people will push their pre-amp (gain) to get a distorted sound. Those of us with solid state amps get a pedal to serve that purpose, like the Ibanez TS-9. So the gain serves a tone purpose. It also serves a volume purpose. I've always been told that at least with solid state amps, you set the gain so you are as close to lighting up the clip light when you strike your loudest or sharpest note as possible - while not actually lighting it up. Then you set your post (volume) to the volume you want. This gives you the most clean volume.

[Piehead99]

Ok
Cheers guys