Not dumb at all. If you have this question, then I’m sure other do also. These are the kind of questions we’re all here to help out with.
Gain adds signal strength on the input which can affect tone, particularly with adding some amount of distortion. How and how much it affects the tone is going to vary from one manufacturer to another.
In general it doesn’t affect tone but there are always exceptions. For example, if you are using an all tube amplifier the higher you push the output gain (aka, volume) the more the power tubes heat up and that will affect your tone.
Gain and Volume work together in determining the output level. You can test this by setting your volume control and start turning the gain up and down.
Part of the problem with all this is the industry choice to use the term ‘volume’. Both knobs are gain controls that are implemented at different points in the circuit.
Whereas volume is about perception, which is affected by angle and distance from the source.
It seems they used the term ‘volume’ to avoid any confusion from an amp having two gain knobs. More accurate names would be something like, Gain IN and Gain OUT.
This. Where the gain knob will give you added distortion and possibly other more subtle effects on tone. The tone knob on your bass is where you want to begin when crafting the sound you want.
If anybody wants more information on what to do with all the knobs, check out this thread…
How To Adjust Your Bass and Amp Sound - Gear - BassBuzz Forum