go easy on the smiley faces, man - i can't see your face anyhow so go easy on it.
from the sound of your post, it seems you are looking to have this thing prepped up rather than have it intonated and played. first thing is first, since you don't know anything about your guitar AND you have no clue about the parts, bring the guitar down to your local guitar tech and have it intonated. just say this, "I want this guitar set-up and intonated." Have the saddles adjusted, the pickup heights adjusted and the frets dressed.
Next, you mentioned something about adjusting or improving your tone. This is a LENGHTY topic and I ain't even going to start because I can already sense questions along the lines of, "What amp should I get"? Please don't ask that. Tone thingy? Tone what? Tone pots? Tone plastic knobs? What can I do to better adjust my tone as far as pickups? Tone what exactly? You have to be clear and concise with what you want. The aesthetic parts of a guitar don't have anything to do with the playbility of your axe unless it involves the following: the physical condition of the wood, the integrity of the neck and body, the functionality of the pickups, the stability of the bridge and its parts as well as the nut, frets, and tuning machines. Other than those items, the thing could be smeared with peanut butter and it should work fine UNLESS the peanut butter is covering the pickups, of course.
wait - do you know how to play? reason I am asking is it will help others help YOU to better understand what parts you are looking to get serviced or replaced. But more importantly, is the guitar a Fender guitar or another brand. if that item was a vintage guitar and you repainted it...you need to whup your own a$$.