by Troy Trahan, GuitarforHISGLORY // Copyright November 2018

This ebook contains my findings, interpretations, experiences and, yes, opinions, over the years of passionately studying
this genre. I pray this resource helps you make sense of the maze of tones and approaches to achieving those tones. As
you navigate the maze, always remember the ultimate goal: true worship of Jesus Christ for dying for our sins, of the Holy
Spirit for living in us and making us alive again and for the Father, for orchestrating it all.

May this resource help you worry less about tone and more about worship to ultimately bring glory to God, joy to his
people and salvation to those who do not yet know Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

Humbly,

Troy, GuitarforHISGLORY
Conclusion
I moved the conclusion to the beginning. These words are more important than anything else in
this guide.

If you watch any of my videos on YouTube or GuitarforHISGLORY.com, you’ll notice I’m not ashamed to
talk about my love and affection for Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:16). He rescued me from a selfish, destructive,
self-serving, relationship-damaging, alcohol-and-drug-filled life. He rescued me to freedom, love, joy,
peace, patience, happiness, self-control, gentleness, worship, gratitude, perspective, sacrifice and, most
importantly, eternal communion with the Triune God.

If you get anything from this guide—anything at all—this is what I want you to take away: What we’re
doing—worship—is so much bigger than gear and tone. So much bigger. Teaching people about Jesus,
helping them worship in spirit and truth and, of course, individually worshiping the Lord, has eternal
implications.

We’re spreading the Gospel! Don’t ever miss that.

If you’re on the worship team simply to play guitar, jam or because it’s what mommy and daddy would
want you to do, drop that guitar, pickup your Bible and go read the book of Romans.

In that book, you’ll find that, apart from authentic faith in Jesus Christ, you are wretched.

You think terrible things. You do terrible things. You don’t do the things you should.
You are filthy.
You are not worthy.
And that unworthiness demands payment.
And that payment is death and eternal separation from God.

You’ll then find that when you confess that wretchedness and believe that Jesus is Lord of your life and
died, was buried and raised to life (Romans 10:9) to forgive your sins, impute to you his perfect
righteousness and restore your relationship with a loving and merciful God, that you’ll be SAVED. And you
didn’t have to clean yourself up for that to happen. You didn’t have to start doing everything perfectly—
because that’s impossible! In the glorious word of God, you’ll find this destiny-altering truth:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will
scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare
even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ
died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall
we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled,
shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Rom: 5:6-11, ESV)

On top of all that, God gives you the privilege of worshiping him. You just happen to use a
guitar in the process.
Let’s begin.
Is there a modern corporate worship guitar tone?
Yes.

Does it echo (pun intended) the delay-heavy sound of U2’s guitarist, The Edge?
Yes.

Is it more than simply a carbon copy (another pun) of The Edge’s signature sound?
Absolutely.

Is this tone necessary to capture the essence of most of today’s corporate worship songs?
Yes.

Is it easily obtained?
That answer is complicated.

If you’re reading this, it’s because likely for one of two reasons.

You simply have found it difficult to

You love chasing tone and want every
make sense of all the nuances in
nugget of information that could

OR
the guitar tone most often utilized in
possibly add anything positive to your
today’s modern corporate worship
personal tonal equation, no matter
music; it’s frustrating, tiring and robs
how significant the improvement is.
you (either totally or in part) of your
Every inch matters.
ability to worship freely.

My goal with this guide is, if you fall into the first category, to add something positive to your
tonal equation; or, if you fall into the second category, to make sense of the pieces so you can
effectively craft a tone that—and this the most important thing, regardless of if you fall into
category one or two—allows you to worship our Risen Lord and Creator God, instead of
obsessing over or becoming frustrated about your tone.

Again, one reason for this guide: worship of King Jesus.

Let’s begin, brothers and sisters.

Defining the
Modern
Worship
Guitar Tone
What is the modern worship guitar tone?

This is a valid question; it’s also not easily answered.

DEFINING THE MODERN WORSHIP GUITAR TONE
While most guitar players contributing to today’s worship songs use delay, reverb, overdrives
and Vox AC30-style amps, they don’t all sound the same. There’s differences, and they can be
vast or subtle. Each player’s personal use of delays, reverb, EQ and overdrives culminates in a
very personal tone—one that is unique, although with shared qualities. But there isn’t one
tone that can be defined as THE tone for worship. Listening closely to a Hillsong tune and a
Bethel tune easily reveals major differences and supports that notion.

This is an incredibly important assertion because, if it’s true, it means that a singular approach
cannot be used if your goal is to capture the essence of the various guitar tones heard on
today’s recordings. Or, at the least, if your goal is do the best you can with the gear you have
without obsessing over the nuances, you’ll at least need to understand the basic differences,
simply so you can create a balanced, semi-universal tone.

Agree or not, like it or not, five worship teams have defined the guitar tones used in today’s
worship music. We know this because songs from these worship teams are the ones most
frequently sung in the church today.

● Hillsong/Hillsong United
● Bethel
● Jesus Culture
● Elevation Worship
● Passion

Understanding the core characteristics of the tones most frequently used by these teams will
help us replicate the tone as best we can. Additionally, unpacking the various elements of these
tones will help us understand why our current approach works well or doesn’t work at all.

Take away. If your goal is to capture the essence of the guitar tones of the aforementioned
worship teams, a one-size-fits-all approach simply will not work. The differences are large
enough to make it impossible.
Tone In
Words
Describing tone can be incredibly amusing—and difficult. Listening to a guitarist fumble around
trying to describe a particular reverb tone or the tone of their favorite guitar or amp is, well,
interesting and comical. A person outside the guitar world must think it even more amusing. We
use words like breath-ee, airy, woody, round, wooly, fat, ice-picky, plinky, articulate, muddy,
mushy, bell-like, meat-ee, mid-heavy, bass-heavy, thin, thick, bright, defined, articulate and on
and on. But those are the words we have to work with, so we do the best we can. Funny
enough, we seem to enjoy trying to tackle explanations of tone with words. I certainly had fun
doing so for this guide.
There are always marginal examples where the tones from these teams falls outside these
basic descriptions; however, on the whole, these descriptions will serve to provide a zoomed-out
conceptual understanding of the tones and how to achieve them.
Team Description
Thinner amp tone with less breakup
to start. Overall, Hillsong utilizes the
cleanest, in terms of overdrive,
unaffected signal out of the Big 5.
Tones are shiny, and often use
shorter delay repeats. Hillsong also
uses 16th note and dual delays
more than the other teams
mentioned. Less emphasis on huge,
Hillsong/Hillsong washy reverbs. For leads, overdrive
United is soft and compressed overall.
Rhythm tracks are balanced from an
EQ standpoint. You’ll hear a range
of sounds from solid body to hollow
body guitars.
A good amount of amp breakup to
begin with. Thick in the midrange.
Chewy. Perceived brightness
(thanks, Tommy Zegers) from bright,
washy reverbs. Pronounced delay
repeats. You’ll hear sounds from
primarily solid body guitars.
Bethel
A good amount of amp breakup to
begin with. Thick in the midrange,
but with a razor sharp tone available
for leads. Chewy. Quarter note
delays are typically used under 75
BPM, while dotted eighth is used for
Jesus Culture over 75 BPM. Less emphasis on
reverb than Bethel, but more than
Hillsong. Reverb tone is darker
overall, with less decay. You’ll hear
a range of tones from solid body
and hollow body guitars.
How do they achieve this?
Midrange is backed off on the
amp a bit when compared to
Bethel, for example; this
creates a thinner (read: not thin
overall, just thinner) sound. But
don’t back the mids off too
much. Decreasing bass also
helps. Delays and reverbs are
not set for an atmospheric
sound, but more to give the
guitar a bit more body, or make
a part slightly more interesting
by using pristine delay repeats.
Overdrives are compressed
and singing. A nice boosted
clean tone is also utilized quite
frequently (Hosanna, O Praise
The Name, Who You Say I Am,
for example).
Balanced amp tone, with a
slight emphasis on the
midrange. Long bright reverb
decay. Lots of dotted eighth
note delay, typically set for a
very noticeable first and second
repeat; however, the repeats
are softened by the reverb. Big
overdriven tone is chewy. Light
gain typically comes from
picking harder or using a very
neutral drive or boost. Chorus/
vibrato-type effects
occasionally used to add a nice
swirl to the sound, especially on
clean picking patterns. Drastic
compression is not uncommon.
Balanced amp tone, with a
slight emphasis on the
midrange. Shorter, more neutral
reverb tone. Big overdriven
tone is straight up rock and roll.
Light gain typically comes from
picking harder or using a very
neutral drive or boost.
 More amp breakup than Hillsong,
but less than Bethel and Jesus
Culture. Spanky tone. Lots of
presence. More straight up rock n’
roll than the others, due to the less-
drastic use of delay and reverb and
EQ that’s a bit more lively. You’ll
Elevation Worship hear sounds from primarily solid
body guitars.
Healthy amount of amp breakup to
start. Very thick tone. Heavy in the
mids. Lingering reverbs. Great
combination of spacey reverb tones
and reverbs used simply to even
Passion things out. Overall, a pretty
balanced tone. Think Bethel, with
less articulation and definition. You’ll
hear sounds from primarily solid
body guitars.
Brighter amp tone by reducing
bass and pumping treble a
touch, using the midrange to
keep things from sounding too
thin. Will have a bit of a “honky”
tone, which is on purpose.
Overall, very moderate use of
delay and reverb (the Only King
Forever album would be an
exception here. James Duke
added a lot to those songs!).
Occasional use of chorus.
Guitar is simply more raw than
any of the other teams we’re
considering.
Take a balanced amp tone and
reduce the treble a touch while
pumping the mids. Overdrive
should be a bit messy and
flabby. Delay is primarily used
to add dimension, instead of
defined repeats. Reverb is all
over the map—bright, dark,
long, short.
 This visual illustrates how each team’s tone fits into
the larger tonal picture.

Uneffected Tone
re
n tl u
o ng
at
io
s Cu e l
sio
n
ills v su th s
" H E le Je Be Pa

Thin, more emphasis on brightness Balanced Thick, especially in the midrange

Use of Delay

re
n l tu
g u
t io on C n l
va li ls us ssio th
e
" E le H J es Pa Be
Use delay sparingly Moderate use of delay Lots of delay

Use of Reverb



re
tl u
io
n g Cu n
at on us
sio el
le
v li ls es s et
h
" E H J Pa B
Use reverb sparingly Moderate use of reverb Lots of reverb

Take away. After studying that visual, do you now see why a singular approach just
won’t cut it? How can we have, at the same time, a thick, mid-rangey tone and a
thin, cutting tone at the same time? Easy answer: we can’t.
The
Wonderful
World of
Overdrives
The most loved and hated pedals in all the world: overdrives. Some find them frustrating,
because they can’t seem to find THAT one. Some find them inspiring, knowing every pedal is
different and can add something fun and positive to the sonic landscape. Some have figured out
that there’s only a few circuits that produce a few sounds, and there’s really nothing new under
the sun (wink).
THE OVERDRIVES THAT WILL HELP YOU GET THERE
Although countless overdrives flood the market, there are a select few that will help us with our
purposes. While many of the pedals are mentioned here waaaaay more than once, my hope is
to help you understand the tones these particular pedals will nail for you.

For that creamy, compressed, singing tone: Any

Hillsong/Hillsong United
Tubescreamer-based pedal. Cusack Scream, Maxon
OD9, Ibanez Tubescreamer, Selah Effects Scarlett
Love. Analogman King of Tone and Prince of Tone get
there as well, oddly enough.
For that boosted clean tone: ZVex SHO, Wampler
Tumnus, Klon, Jackson Audio Prism.

For that big, chewy tone: JHS Superbolt, hands

down. JHS Kilt, Fulltone OCD, Walrus Audio Iron
Horse.

Bethel For that more balanced, light gain tone: Pick harder.
Analogman Prince of Tone/King of Tone, JHS Morning
Glory, Klon-style pedal.

For that razor sharp lead tone: JHS Superbolt.

For that more balanced, overdriven tone: Pick

Jesus Culture harder. Analogman Prince of Tone/King of Tone, JHS
Morning Glory, Bondi Effects Delmar, Greer
Lightspeed.

For that straight up rock tone: J Rockett 45, JHS

Charlie Brown, Zvex Box of Rock, Analogman Prince of
Tone/King of Tone.
Elevation Worship
For the balanced rhythm overdriven tone: JHS
Morning Glory, Analogman Prince of Tone/King of Tone.

For the “falling apart, flabby” overdriven tone: JHS

Superbolt.

Passion For the balanced rhythm overdriven tone: JHS

Morning Glory, Analogman Prince of Tone/King of Tone.

Take away. The JHS Superbolt, JHS Morning Glory/Analogman Prince of Tone or
King of tone and a Tubescreamer-based pedals easily produce the essential tones.
Tips for
Dialing in
Delay
Soooooooo many knobs, settings, parameters. This is how many people feel about delay. Let’s
untangle the mess and make this a bit easier.
TIPS FOR DIALING IN DELAY
These are safe generalizations; however, there will always be marginal examples where a
particular tone will take you way outside these fence posts. That’s the fun of it! But these are
great rules of thumb.

Mix is how loud or soft the delay repeats are.

People often fall into the trap of turning this up
too high when they want to hear more of the
repeats. What happens when they crank the mix
is the first delay repeat becomes too prominent
after striking the strings, which makes things
Mix/Level sound weird. Gets in the way of playing any kind
of rhythm as well. What’s worse, is the further the
mix is cranked up, you’ll start to lose your dry
signal. Yuck. So be careful not to get carried
away with the mix. There’s othe ways to make
those repeats more noticeable. Sidebar: for
swells, crank the mix.
Ahhhh. This is the most important control on your
delay. These controls effect the tone of the
repeats, making them darker or brighter. So, if
you’re not hearing enough of your delay repeats
and increasing the mix has made things sound
weird, then, first, turn the mix down to an
Filter/Tape Bias/Tone acceptable level. Then use these controls to
make the repeats brighter, which will allow them
to cut through and be heard without increasing
the mix to the place of weirdness. The High Pass
control on a digital delay also helps with this.
Turning it up gives us the same result. Awesome!

Dotted eighth delays will be set to the BPM of the

song 99% of the time. Quarter notes could be set
to the BPM of the song, unless it’s a very LOW
BPM; say, 75 or less. It might still sound good,
depending on the part. Sometimes you’ll double
Time the BPM of the song for your quarter note delays,
effectively making it an eighth note. Eighth notes
are nearly always set to the BPM of the song.
Same with 16th notes. Sidebar: for swells, keep
the time at or below 75 BPM; use dotted
eighth or quarter notes.
 Delay repeats can linger in the background and
really fill things out. Don’t be afraid to turn this up
to where you’re getting 4-6 repeats, as it will
create a cool pad underneath your tone.
Repeats HOWEVER, be mindful that Hillsong and
Elevation use the lowest amount of delay repeats
out of the teams we’re discussing. Sidebar: for
swells, crank the repeats.

This impacts the movement of the delay repeats

—the warble, wiggle and waggle. Want pristine
repeats? Keep this very low. Want repeats with a
bit of chirp and waggle? Turn it up. Learn where
Modulation/Crinkle/Wow too much is too much, though, because they can
make your sound a bit wonky—which can be
& Flutter good or bad, right? Just depends! Sidebar: for
swells, feel free to get crazy with this. It’ll
make your swells more interesting.
Tips for
Dialing in
Reverb
Yes, I copied and pasted this section, because people feel the same way about reverb. I’m
trying to make a point by way of being drastic.

Soooooooo many knobs, settings, parameters. This is how many people feel about reverb.
Let’s untangle the mess and make this a bit easier.



TIPS FOR DIALING IN REVERB
These are safe generalizations; however, there will always be marginal examples where a
particular tone will take you way outside these fence posts. That’s the fun of it! But these are
great rules of thumb.

Mix is how loud or soft the reverb is compared

with your dry signal. Turn this up too high and
you’ll muddy up your pick attack or lose it all
together. Too low, and you’ll have a wimpy reverb
(unless that’s what the tone calls for). People
Mix often fall into the same trap as mentioned in the
delay section: turning this up too high when they
want more out of their reverb. Sidebar: for
swells, crank the Mix.

This, like delay (tone, filter, etc.), is also the most

important part of your reverb pedal. Once you
find the Mix setting that preserves your pick
attack and isn’t overwhelming the signal, turning
the tone to achieve a brighter reverb decay will
help your reverb stand out more. That’s the
“perceived-brightness” we hear on Bethel
Tone recordings and many others. By the way, that
term was coined by my buddy, Tommy Zegers;
it’s a perfect way to describe that tone. Want a
lush, spacey sound without the brightness, turn
the mix up a touch more, but keep the tone nice
and dark.

This is how long the reverb will hang around in

the background. For lush, ambient reverbs, I’m
going 6-9 seconds. For reverbs that are more
Decay/Time subtle, 3-4 seconds. Sidebar: for swells, crank
the Decay/Time.

This is the second most important control on your

reverb pedal. Pre-delay impacts how immediate
the reverb is. With a short pre-delay setting, the
signal is immediately reverb’d. This decreases
the clarity of your pick attack, or the transient.
With a long pre-delay setting (generally up
around 180-250ms), the reverb “waits” before
Pre-delay effecting your signal, allowing the pick attack to
be more defined and the transient to be more
evident. Want a lush, ambient reverb with defined
pick attack? Turn that pre-delay up to not-less-
than 200 MS. Sidebar: for swells, keep the pre-
delay low or off.

This impacts the movement of the delay repeats

—the warble, wiggle and waggle. Want pristine
decay? Keep this very low. Want decay with a bit
Modulation/Crinkle/Wow of movement and waggle? Turn it up. Learn
& Flutter where too much is too much, though, because
they can make your sound a bit wonky—which
can be good or bad, right? Just depends!
Tips for
Dialing In
Your Amp
As with delay and reverb, the big idea here is untangling the mess. Starting with a neutral tone
and making adjustments from there helps to simplify the process.
TIPS FOR DIALING IN YOUR AMP
Personally, I start everything at a Bethel-esque tone (closest to balanced, in my opinion) and
make adjustments from there. My ears work best using that as a starting point. I recommend
you find your starting point and learn how to mold that into each tone listed below, using the
overall descriptions from the prior pages in this book as the end game.

Start with a neutral sound, nice and balanced.

Hillsong/Hillsong United
There should be a small amount of overdrive
from the amp when you play with your hardest
picking dynamics, but should be nice and clean
when played normal. From neutral, back off the
bass and midrange. Test the tone by using the
neck pickup with a boost. The tone you get
should be very defined and glassy. If the tone is
still muddy, back off the bass a bit more. If that’s
not enough, increase the treble until the glassy
tone is achieved. The bridge pickup on it’s own
should be a little shrill. You’ll curb that on the
clean parts by being thoughtful with your pick
attack. The compressed overdrives will help to
soften that up when it’s lead time.

Dial in a neutral tone. There should be a good

amount of gain from the amp when you play with
your hardest picking dynamics, and should clean
up when you use a really light touch. Increase
Bethel the midrange until the tone is a little too mid-
heavy, and then back off the mids just a hair.
Back off the bass a bit from neutral.

Dial in a neutral tone again. There should be a

good amount of gain from the amp when you play
with your hardest picking dynamics, and should
clean up when you use a very light touch.
Increase the midrange until the tone is a little too
Jesus Culture mid-heavy, and then back off the mids until the
tone clears up. The tone should be mid-heavy,
but not honky. Increase the treble a bit from
neutral.
 Dial in a neutral tone. There should be more gain
from the amp than our Hillsong tone, but less
than Bethel. Some of the perceived-as-less gain
comes from the tone being clearer overall.
Accomplish this by taking our neutral tone and
Elevation backing off bass and mids, while increasing
treble (but not as much as Hillsong). The neck
pickup should sound a bit more round and full
than Hillsong; less glassy. The bridge pickup will
sound straight up rock and roll.

Start with the Bethel tone and increase the mids

a hair more. There should be a good amount of
gain from the amp when you play with your
hardest picking dynamics, and should clean up
Passion when you use a really light touch.
Tips for
Dialing in
Overdrives
Just because overdrives are more simple at first glance doesn’t necessarily mean they are easy
to dial in. Failing to understand how gain and volume impacts things downstream the signal
chain can make a great setup sound bad.
TIPS FOR DIALING IN OVERDRIVES
Don’t rely too much on your pedals for gain, and don’t push the signal (volume) too hard.

Aside from fuzz, we should always limit the amount of overdrive we are
getting from our pedals. Goal: set the overdrive pedal so it melts in to
the amp, so they sound organically linked. This requires the right
balance between volume and drive. Too much overdrive from your
Tip 1 pedals will make your tone increasingly “fake” sounding. Be very
careful here. If you turn on the drive pedal and it makes you go, “Yikes,
that sounds fake-ish.” Turn the gain down. But watch that you don’t
overdo the volume, as explained in Tip 2. As usual, there are times
when we will break this general rule, but those times are marginal.

If you’re running your entire pedalboard in front of your amp (i.e.,

‘verbs and delays NOT in the effects loop), you need to watch how
hard your signal is hitting the input of your reverb pedals, which means
you need to keep a close watch on the amount of signal/level coming
from your overdrive and boost pedals. Too hot of a signal can make the
Tip 2 reverbs sound terrible. Goal: strike the balance between slamming the
amp nice and hard (which is how we get overdrives to melt in to the
amp) and hitting your reverb input too hard. You’ll have to experiment,
but getting it right is vital. If your reverbs are getting out of control and
the decay is way too dirty, you likely need to turn the volume down on
your drive and boost pedals.

Use your ears, not your eyes. If it sounds good, it is good. Period. Who
cares if the tone control is almost maxed? Does it sound good? Then
stick with it. Don’t look at your favorite player using the same pedal, try
Tip 3 to replicate their settings and then become frustrated when it doesn’t
sound good. You’re not them. You’re you. Turn the knobs until it
sounds good! If you’ve employed all the previous tips and it still doesn’t
sound good in your rig, sell it or give it to someone as a blessing.
Tips for
Swells
Swells are much more than a bunch of reverb and delay.
TIPS FOR SWELLS
If you’re not careful, your bad note or less-than-great swell tone can last forever…

Don’t just use reverb. Don’t just use delay. Both are important. Reverb
helps to smooth things out, while delay provides movement and texture
and more interesting decay. For swells, I lean toward cloud and hall
reverbs and reverse, tape and analog delays. There’s no right or
wrong, of course, but I gravitate toward those algorithms.
Tip 1
Long decay/repeats is a must. Mix is more personal, as it depends on
how aggressive you are with swelling in with your volume pedal—kind
of like pick attack.

Know the safe shapes. 5-heavy shapes are very safe. 3-heavy shapes
pop out of the mix more, but can be a bit of a gamble at times. If you
want to melt into the soundscape, stick with 5-heavy shapes. I have a
video in Worship Guitar Boot Camp that explains this.

Tip 2 Playing less strings keeps things nice and clear. Most times, you’ll stick
with not-more-than three string shapes.

Melody can be nice. Sometimes swelling a simple melody during a

prayer time can add a lot.

Experiment! Try both bright and dark decay on your reverb. The same
with delay: experiment with bright and dark repeats. Remember, you
won’t break your pedals by turning those knobs! So turn ‘em and find
the tone that inspires you.
Tip 3
Also experiment with modulation effects, such as chorus and vibrato,
as well as octave effects, such as a POG. These can add dimension
and interest to your swell tones.

Make your go-to swell tone a versatile one. You should be able to pick
extremely lightly without the swell tone going absolutely bonkers. You
want to be able to use that feather-light touch and pick a melody if
Tip 4 needed. You should also be able to slam the swell tone with a drive
and have it still be pleasing to the ear. This requires you to experiment
with the Mix on both your delay and reverb to strike that balance. It
also necessitates that you become a master with your volume pedal.

Utilize the tone and volume knobs on your guitar to soften up a bright
tone if needed. Experiment with your pickup selector as well. Neck
Tips 5 pickup will produce a very round tone, while the bridge pickup will be
more articulate and piercing. Good or bad? Just depends on what the
goal is!
Taking
Advantage of
Today’s
Tools
I never thought I’d enjoy saying this as much as I do: The future is now. The gear we have
access to is mind blowing. The palette of tones we can achieve is astounding. Today’s gear can
shape shift mid set and flip your tone on it’s head in the best way possible.
(FINALLY) TRUSTING DIGITAL GEAR MIGHT BE THE SOLUTION YOU’VE BEEN AFTER
If I could give advice to today’s players it’s simply this: do not be afraid of digital gear. 20 years
ago was different, yes. But you simply cannot tell the difference between high quality digital gear
that’s dialed in with care and intentionality from it’s analog counterparts. Especially in a mix.
You’ve heard so many Line 6 Helix, Kemper and Fractal units on recordings and you don’t even
know it. You love those tones, and most of you don’t even know it’s not real amp. #mindblown
#notlying

Also, most of us play in churches where sound guys are volunteers, have no clue how to mic an
amp and don’t understand how to dial in a mix. Digital units simplify both of those pieces of the
equation as well.

So, guitar player of today, embrace digital gear and watch your tonal options expand, allowing
you to better mimic and switch to these tones not just at home; but in the middle of a set, with
just a press of a button or two.

Let me illustrate.

Song # 1 in our set is Glory To Glory by Bethel. 


Song # 2 in our set is O Praise The Name by Hillsong.

My goal, and yours likely is as well, is to capture the essence of the tones in both of those
songs. As we’ve learned in the previous pages, these tones are NOT the same.

The Bethel tone is balanced. The Hillsong tone leans toward the bright side.

Bethel loves reverb. Hillsong likes reverb.

Bethel leans toward using the bridge pickup. Hillsong is all over the place, but this song
is straight neck pickup.

We simply can’t achieve both tones with one approach.

Traditional The player must work with ONE amp tone, thus compromising their ability to
properly dial in the tone for each song. They sort of have to settle for good
amp enough on both songs, or nail one and severely miss the mark on the other.

Because the digital unit is nimble and can switch on the fly, the player can
Digital unit completely change the core character of the tone with one press of a button. Both
tones nailed. No compromise. Done. Oh, and the sound guy loves him (wink).
So why do most of the professionals use amps?
You know, I don’t really know anymore. Digital units are so convincing, that I can’t figure it out. I
do have a few guesses:

• They can. Roadies, amp techs, multiple amp setups, etc., make it much easier.
• They are typically going for ONE tone: theirs. We are trying to mimic MANY tones.
• Owning amps can be cool; it really can. If you don’t have to lug them around or maintain them
(roadie and amp tech comment above), it makes it even better.

But here’s the cool thing: many professionals are using Kempers, Helix and other solutions as
well. Watch live worship videos and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.

DIGITAL GEAR IS NIMBLE

Another benefit of today’s digital gear is the added flexibility.

We can have an all-in-one unit that functions as an amp, volume pedal and pedalboard.

We can have a hybrid setup, where we use say, the amp modeling from a digital device,
and maybe combine a few of it’s effects with our standalone pedals.

We can run our beloved pedalboard into the front of one (or two for stereo) high quality
modeling units, and have a footswitch to switch the amp models when needed.

We can even run a version of the above utilizing software on a laptop.

Even better: as tones evolve, so will digital gear. You’ll never be unable to nail a tone you need.
Ever.

Wow.

And, just to reiterate, we can do all that without compromising the quality of our tone. We aren’t
settling. We are NAILING tones with this stuff. And the quality just keeps getting better.

Here are some great products:

Line 6 Helix. All-in-one.

Kemper Profiling Amp. All-in-one, hybrid or strictly as a replacement for an amp.

Atomic Amplifire. All-in-one or amp replacement.

Line 6 HX Stomp. All-in-one or amp replacement.

Fractal AX8. All-in-one.

And many others.

Tips for
Choosing a
Guitar
The same as pedals, there is a paralyzing amount of options for guitars out there. What’s the
right guitar? You have to answer this question for yourself, because choosing a guitar is a very
personal process. However, there is a method you can employ to help ensure you buy a guitar
that is effective and feels like home.
THOUGHTS ON CHOOSING THE RIGHT GUITAR
Guitars, to me, are more personal than even pedals can be. Turn on an Analogman King of
Tone through a cooking amp, and I’m fairly certain we’ll both love it. But I could hand you my
Veritas Portlander and you may say, “Meh, it’s okay.” Hand me your Fender Telecaster and I
might fall in love, or I might walk away underwhelmed.

While there is a general thought process that we can safely apply to choosing a guitar, no one
can ever tell you that “this guitar is all you’ll ever need.” They simply don’t know what you need
to feel in a guitar, how it needs to respond, how it needs to vibrate against your belly, how that
bridge position has to sound just right . . . and all that other great stuff about guitars.

Things to consider when purchasing a guitar:

Looks are great, but function is better. What

guitar will give you the best chance of capturing
the essence of the tones you need to replicate,
while being reliable and quiet (buzz can be
annoying)? See Be a student…again.
Be practical

To a certain extent, you’ll want to see what your

favorite players are playing. If you love Michael
Pope’s tone and he primarily plays a guitar with
Look to your favorite humbuckers, that’s something to consider, as you
probably won’t be able to approximate his tone
players as well with a single coil guitar. That’s just a fact.
 Understand what affects the tone of your guitar.
Hollow bodies have a very distinct tone, as do
solid bodies. Thinline guitars are semi-hollow, but
don’t alter the tone much, if at all. PAF style
humbucker pickups sound nice and round, but
aren’t as defined as some of the modern
humbuckers that combine the best things about
single coils and humbuckers (e.g., Lollar El
Rayos and Pioneer Pope’s). If you like a certain
Be a student…again tone, study what that player uses and try to
identify the pieces of his or her signal chain that
define their sound. And be realistic about what’s
needed. For example, it’s pretty tough to nail
some of the Hillsong stuff without a Gretsch-style
guitar; it really is. I, personally, have to
compromise in that area, because I’m not a huge
fan of Gretsch guitars; they just don’t feel right to
me, but many, many, many players love them!

Great guitars can be had at any price point—

$200 to $5,000. Once the prices start to increase,
however, you’re getting into the territory where
you can guarantee quality and personalize the
guitar a bit. If you’re just starting out or are not in
a financial position to invest significant dollars
into the guitar of your dreams, be patient. You
CAN get the tones without spending that kind of
Be patient money. Be efficient, research, put your money
where it makes the most difference: tuning
machine heads, pickups, fret leveling and a nice
setup. If the time comes when you can invest in
that dream guitar, great. If not, be faithful and
grateful for what you have. The Lord is
apparently teaching you something and has other
plans.
Working With
What You
Have
Be faithful in little. You have the gear you have for a reason, so dig in and do the best you can to
make it work. The end game is worship, not having the best and latest gear.
BE FAITHFUL AND WORSHIP
God is sovereign. He rules over all. He knows all. He orchestrates everything.

He has you where you are for a reason.

He has given you the gear you have for a reason. Or he has given you convictions about not
owning expensive gear for a reason. Or he has blessed with you the ability to buy anything, but
you don’t feel right about spending money on gear. Whatever the case may be, if you don’t have
the gear you think you need and can’t do anything you feel at peace with to change the
situation, work with what you have. And, please, NEVER GO INTO DEBT TO BUY GEAR.
EVER. Be faithful and learn to use the gear you presently have in a way that helps you worship.

If you find yourself in this position, here’s a few tips.

If you play songs from all the teams listed, you’ll

need to find the balance. And I know we’ve been
talking about NAILING these tones, but
sometimes we simply can’t. So, if this describes
your current situation, don’t try to nail one tone at
the drastic expense of others. Find that middle
ground that allows you to contribute positively to
Focus on balance all the songs. Be okay with the limitations,
knowing that God is using your faithfulness to
reach people.

Turn every knob on your guitar, amp and pedals

Be a student of your gear
until you know exactly what it does. Then turn
knobs in different combinations to find out exactly
how different sounds can be achieved. Most of us
just scratch the surface of our gear. But knowing
your gear front and back can be a huge game
changer. Also, understand that rolling off your
guitar volume can hugely impact your tone, and
should used as a tool. This is equally true with
your guitar tone knob and pickup selector switch.

Learn how to turn pedal knobs with your feet.

Get good with your feet
Sometime this requires less fancy shoes, or
bigger knobs, but it can immensely expand the
tones available at your finger (toe?) tips. I find
this to especially true with reverbs, overdrives
and compression. Sometimes you don’t need a
new or different pedal—you just need to get
really good at tweaking stuff on the fly. Ask
James Duke. Big knobs from RadioShack help
with this!
Thank you for reading this. I truly pray that it was informative, helpful and provides some actionable tips to help you worry
less about tone and concentrate more on glorying in our Redeemer, our Rescuer, our God and King, Jesus Christ.

Please feel free to reach out to me with questions. I love to help when possible.

If you’re looking for more training resources such as this, I recommend Worship Guitar Boot Camp on
GuitarforHISGLORY.com.

Jesus at the center. Always.

Blessings,

Troy, GuitarforHISGLORY
www.guitarforhisglory.com