Tag: worship guitar

Thoughts About Credit Cards and Purchasing Equipment

On By adamdolhanykIn church culture, culture, thoughts, worship1 Comment

Can I Buy Equipment With A Credit Card?

I see this question a lot. Mostly on forums and gear groups but sometimes I’ll get an email or something about it. With the cost of musical gear and accessories such as PA or computer equipment being so high, doesn’t it make sense to use a credit card to make purchases on high cost items? Won’t it be too late to use it by the time I save up for it?

Sadly, the answers people give are often over-simplified or limited in their scope. People living in one context might not see that the person asking the question might exist in a different situation then they do. In this post I hope to address the central question and give some perspective that might be helpful, not only in deciding when or if to use credit, but how we buy our equipment in general.

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Where Do I Put My Volume Pedal?

On By adamdolhanykIn electric guitar, reviews, worship3 Comments

Where to Put the Volume Pedal?

Now, we’ve talked about signal chain before on the blog (HERE). There’s no right or wrong, only guidelines. Generally compression goes towards the front and reverb goes to the back. But some effects can find a home almost anywhere along the line. Where’s the best spot in your signal chain to put a Volume Pedal (VP)? What are the pros and cons? Is there one VP that’s better than the rest? Let’s talk about it.

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Spring Q&A: What’s the Best Thing and Other Questions

On By adamdolhanykIn band practice, church band, church culture, electric guitar, thoughts, worship5 Comments

Every so often I look over the search terms from engines like Google and Yahoo that lead people to this blog and turn them into a sort of Q&A. This one is pretty guitar and musical gear heavy but hopefully it’s helpful to someone. (warning, if some of my comments seem like I’m being snarky, it’s because I am 🙂 )

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The Electric: Worship Guitar Amplifier Buying Guide

On By adamdolhanykIn band practice, church band, electric guitar, thoughts, worshipLeave a comment

In this series I try and address different aspects of the practical side of playing electric guitar in church music. This week we’ll continue the conversation about finding the best amp for worship.

 

Last week I gave some thoughts about finding the best amp to use for worship leading (HERE).  This week I thought it might be helpful to write out a check list or buyers guide of sorts that you can use as a tool in your search for you amp. The goal of this tool isn’t to tell you what to buy but to help bring clarity to your decision process.

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The Electric: Setting Up Your Reverb For Worship

On By adamdolhanykIn church band, electric guitar, thoughts, worship1 Comment

In this series I try and address different aspects of the practical side of playing electric guitar in church music. This week we’ll talk about setting up your reverb effects for a worship service.

Reverb is essentially a “space” effect in that it both recreates the sounds of a “space” (room, hall, church, etc) but also because it fills in the space between the notes and chords we play. What is reverb? How do you dial it in for playing music at church, and which type do you choose?

If you’ve ever been a large hall or church and yelled loudly, you’ve heard your voice crash and echo off the walls. That non-linear delayed echo is reverberation, or reverb. There are essentially 3 different types of reverb: Room. Spring. Plate. All can be very useful in a church setting.

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The Electric: The Best Overdrive Pedal For Worship

On By adamdolhanykIn blog, church culture, electric guitar, worship40 Comments

In this series I try and address different aspects of the practical side of playing electric guitar in church music. This week we’ll talk about overdrive and gain pedals worship bands.

 

What is the best overdrive pedal for a worship guitar player?

The question is asked constantly on Google searches, blogs, forums, and even people who find their way to this blog.

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The Electric: Chord Voicing

On By adamdolhanykIn blog, blogs, electric guitar, thoughts, Uncategorized, worship1 Comment

In this series I try and address different aspects of the practical side of playing electric guitar in church music. This week we’ll talk about chord voicing and how they can be used when playing in the church band.

 

THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO PLAY THE G CHORD

A while back I was asked to play electric guitar at the last minute. The church had an electric and an amplifier and that was it. No overdrive pedal, no delay, the amp  had some reverb but the options were pretty much just “on” and “off'”. What’s a guitar player to do?

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The Electric: Setting Up A Guitar Rig For Worship. Part 4- The Guitar

On By adamdolhanykIn blog, blogs, electric guitar, thoughts, worship9 Comments

I try and address different aspects of the practical side of playing electric guitar in church music.

This week we’ll talk about setting up your electric rig for the first time or upgrading it to something better, specifically Effects. This is part 4 of a 4 part series. Part 1 can be found HERE, Part 2 can be found HERE. Part 3 can be found HERE.

SO NOW IT’S TIME

Now that you have your amp and effects squared away you need to look at your guitar. As with all of the post in this series, this is not a buying guide where I tell you what to buy. It’s meant to be a starting point from where you go on to do your own research and make your own informed choices.

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The Electric: Setting up a Guitar Rig for Worship. Part 2- Amplifiers

On By adamdolhanykIn blog, electric guitar, thoughts, worship16 Comments

I try and address different aspects of the practical side of playing electric guitar in church music.

This week we’ll talk about setting up your electric rig for the first time or upgrading it to something better, specifically amplifiers. This is part 2 of a 4 part series. Part 1 can be found HERE. Part 3 can be found HERE. Part 4 can be found HERE. 

The Most Important Thing

As I said in the last post, I believe the amplifier is the most important part of the guitar rig. I didn’t always think so, I used to think that the most important thing was to get the right guitar. This thinking stemmed from years of acoustic guitar playing where the guitar is everything in getting a good sound. For years I barely gave the amplifier a second thought beyond how loud it could get. Then one day I was in a guitar shop trying out a reverb pedal when it struck me that this pedal will never sound as good in my rig because my amp wasn’t as good. It wasn’t a bad amp, but it just wasn’t able to compete. So I sold some gear and bought a very good mid-priced amp, and switched my long term gear savings plan from a high end guitar to a high end amplifier which I hope to get in a few years. Since that time I have not regretted that decision. A great amp can make so/so guitars and effects sound much better, while a great guitar will be hamstrung by a low quality amp.

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