My guitarist plays an Eric Clapton strat with active pickups (or active EQ - anyway there's a 9V battery involved). He usually keeps his volume knob on the guitar at 2 or 3, very low. My question is: Is he losing out on some sound or dynamics by keeping his volume that low? Will keeping his volume that low affect the gate on his Zoom 9.2tt floor unit? It often seems like his sound is being "crushed" when he plays. And when I plug in my passive Tele to his Zoom unit, I can hardly get a sound I like.

Any advice or insight on guitar volume/gain is appreciated. Thanks.