This post is part of a series that my blog friend, Mathew Garrett Reames, called “the soul of tone.” The series is basically telling people what kind of gear we are using and how cool we look using it. So let’s get into it.
In church it is not very often that I have a full band so my setup changes drastically based on who is playing with me. Typically we are literally a drum and guitar setup. No bass or keys 90% of the time. Because of this I tend to play acoustic in that setting. However I also lead an IHOP style multichurch worship time where I will play my electric gear.
Guitars:
Breedlove acoustic Atlas series AC25SRplus – I absolutely love my acoustic. It is very natural sounding and needs very little EQ compensation. I would however love to upgrade to the custom series with a cedar top.
Gretsch 5120 – Low level gretsch with low end pickups gives me a great smooth, jazzy and buttery tone. Eventually the pickups will get an overhaul. It also has a tiger decal on the pickguard which I am positive helps with the tone.
Parker Nitefly SA – This is my main electric because it is so versatile. It has a 5 way switch that lets me get all the different strat tones I could ever want. It also has piezo pickups so I can make it sound exactly like an acoustic. It also has the ability to split both of those sounds with a Y cable, but I have yet to try that.
Epi Les Paul Custom – This was my project guitar. It has all new 500k pots, knobs that go to 11 and Sperzel locking tuners. I also replaced the pickups with a breed and tone zone dimarzio pickup set. Last it has a push pull pot which makes it so I get full on les paul sound, but when pulled I get a tele sound out of it by splitting the coils.
Pedals:
Line 6 M13: I recently sold my pod xt live for the M13 and have not looked back. I love the control I get out of this unit. My clean sound usually comprises of just reverb. However I like to mix in tube screamer and double up on delay. I use pretty much every sound and love them, but kind of avoid Chorus like the plague.
Cry Baby Wah: I have had my wah forever. It is a limited edition powder white wah. It sounds great and looks better!
Maxon OD808: It is kind of odd to throw this in the mix with the m13, but I love the smooth tone I get from it and it makes it so I have an extra bank of effects available on the M13.
Visual Sound Volume Pedal: I recently got this and I LOVE IT!! it has LED lights that tell me visually where my volume is. I do a ton with volume swells and this thing is so fluid and has a great sweep.
Amp:
Vox Ac15C1: This amp is the reason why I sold my Pod. I get amazing, dark tone out of this amp. I love the reverb and the response of the tubes. It breaks up nicely, but also has an amazing chimey clean tone.
Misc:
The rest of the stuff that makes up my tone are things that beginner guitarists neglect.
I use Mogami and planet waves cables. The mogami stuff is amazing and I saw a huge difference in my tone when I switched to it.
Snarling Dog picks .88 make it so I get nice bite out of my strings and when I sweat they have grip so I don’t lose them.
Ebow Plus – I love using this if I am playing lead in a band
Strings:
breedlove – D’adarrio EXP17
Les Paul – D’adarrio EXL115w 11’s with a wound third. a heavy string and the wound third helps keep G string in tune
Gretsch – D’adarrio EXL115w
Les Paul – D’adarrio EXL120
And there we go… That is my arsenal that I like to use. I am very into tone that I like so often switch guitars multiple times while leading worship because everything I have has a different feel, tone and emotion to it.
