# What's Your Church Rig?



## neldom (Apr 29, 2009)

First off, I'm not sure if this is the best spot to post this or not...

Just curious to know what people are using for their rigs at church. I suspect it's mostly delays and AC30s, but let's see what's out there.

My current set up:

Gibson ES-339 > Korg Tuner > Dano Cool Cat Fuzz V1 > OCD Clone > Fulltone GT-500 > DIY Tap Trem > EB VP Jr (Set up as a vol / exp pedal) > Eventide Timefactor > Peavey Classic 30

All the pedals are on my homemade tweed board with built in looper / aux switches. When I muster the effort I want to move the trem and delay to the effects loop of the thirty.
But I already have a few other projects that I'm trying to muster the effort for.

What are the rest of the churchers using?


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

zak wylde bull's eye epiphone les paul stereo
mesa triple rec into a peavey 4x12 cab
supersonic 60 into matching 4x12 cab
on the board are the usual suspects, wah, delay, dirt, etc. 
were really super ultra contemporary christian worship. sometimes we play the baptist church, but when we do, i play a an old acoustic guitar that only has 5 rusty strings on it, and is missing the 7th fret. i apologize after every song. 










sorry, i just couldn't help myself.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

LaPatrie Collection classical guitar with K&K pickups into a Traynor acoustic amp with some onboard effects. Once in a while an alternative instrument. Not a regular church player.

Peace, Mooh.


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

I thought that live bands playing church and praise type gigs were mainly in the U.S.? Didn't realise that Canadian churches have a similar setup.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Haven't played in a few years, but when I did, it was mostly my Strat directly into my old Yamaha solid state amp with a bit of on-board reverb - occasionally I would use a chorus. 

Now our worship bands use all in-ear monitors and amp emulators, and it sounds great except when they use a heavy handed drummer.


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## Intrepid (Oct 9, 2008)

Wow! Some interesting Church rigs. When I played regularly it was with a '73 Martin D-18 into a SM57 through the Church PA.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

to be serious, every time i ever played in church it totally didn't matter what i played. the sound guy always cranks the piano and the worship singers, and and no one in the pews hears anything else.


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## gearalley (Oct 23, 2009)

I'm using a large pedalboard into a Bugera V22 usually with a Epiphone Riviera or VM Tele. Modern worship music guitar these days is all about dirt & verb/delay with Tele's and hollowbody guitars.


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## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

bw66 said:


> Haven't played in a few years, but when I did, it was mostly my Strat directly into my old Yamaha solid state amp with a bit of on-board reverb - occasionally I would use a chorus.
> 
> Now our worship bands use all in-ear monitors and amp emulators, and it sounds great except when they use a heavy handed drummer.


Electronic drums are the answer. The drummer in our band hits really hard, and if he was using his acoustic kit (which he loves) when we practice, it would be an issue, but his electronic kit sounds great and he can hit as hard as he likes and we don't all get into a competition.
-Mikey


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Spikezone said:


> Electronic drums are the answer. The drummer in our band hits really hard, and if he was using his acoustic kit (which he loves) when we practice, it would be an issue, but his electronic kit sounds great and he can hit as hard as he likes and we don't all get into a competition.
> -Mikey


Oh, I know what the answer is - but no one asks.9kkhhd


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## Samsquantch (Mar 5, 2009)

Usually a pointy Kramer with a Floyd into a Mesa Triple Rec through 8 4x12 cabs, but I only play at the Church of Satan. sdsre


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## kw_guitarguy (Apr 29, 2008)

For me it's my Pacifica or (as of this Sunday) my new Strat into my Pod XT Live, out to the board and back to my headphones...I may be switching to using my Pod XT just for effects and running into my Peavey Classic 50 head then micing my cab...

~Andrew


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## neldom (Apr 29, 2009)

I have used a PodXT in the past with a Epi Valve Junior as a monitor, but have very happily moved on to a digitalless setup (to the chagrin of our sound guys).
We also have gone the electronic drums route, mostly due to a smaller size venue, we may try the drum shield method as we all prefer the acoustic drums. 
A friend of mine has gone that way at their church and says it works very well.


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## kw_guitarguy (Apr 29, 2008)

We are looking at trying the drum shield route...our drums, no matter how quietly our drummers play, they are too loud! We may also try the electronic route again.

~Andrew


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## rev156 (Mar 2, 2008)

Custom 5watt amp into 1x12 mic'ed, pitchblack, tube screamer, bb preamp, dd-3, carbon copy(not both on at once!), small stone, holy grail; axe to suit taste of the day!
Cheers


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## sivs (Aug 5, 2009)

I do most of my playing in churches (because I work in one). There are certainly more US churches with big rock bands, but there are LOTS in canada too. My usual rig:

Anderson Hollow T Rosewood or Anderson Atom, Turbo Tuner, Diamond Comp, Fairfield Barbershop (probably switching out for a SolidGold Superdrive Synergy), Diamond J-Drive MK3, Empress Trem, Diamond Halo Chorus, Diamond Memory Lane 1, Eventide Timefactor, all into a Matchless Lightning Reverb 112 combo. It's a great setup.

I also use my acoustics often, but it's usually just guitar into DI (though I'm debating throwing together a small acoustic board on a pedal train nano). When the above setup is too much for electric, I'll run one of the guitars into an EP booster or one of the drives and the Memory Lane into a Reason Bambino.


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## Nork (Mar 27, 2010)

Basically it's my signature. Week in and week out:

ASAT Tribute/Parker to the SHOD (for sale, though), Timmy, VP JR, Timefactor, SHO clone then to my Orange TT clean. Sounds great


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## closetmonster. (Nov 26, 2009)

I just thought you folks might find this interesting.

[video=youtube;xssNBjyY-M4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xssNBjyY-M4[/video]

He's not a Canadian player, but he has a very nice, ambient setup that he also uses for worship.


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## corailz (May 1, 2008)

sivs said:


> I do most of my playing in churches (because I work in one). There are certainly more US churches with big rock bands, but there are LOTS in canada too. My usual rig:
> 
> Anderson Hollow T Rosewood or Anderson Atom, Turbo Tuner, Diamond Comp, Fairfield Barbershop (probably switching out for a SolidGold Superdrive Synergy), Diamond J-Drive MK3, Empress Trem, Diamond Halo Chorus, Diamond Memory Lane 1, Eventide Timefactor, all into a Matchless Lightning Reverb 112 combo. It's a great setup.
> 
> I also use my acoustics often, but it's usually just guitar into DI (though I'm debating throwing together a small acoustic board on a pedal train nano). When the above setup is too much for electric, I'll run one of the guitars into an EP booster or one of the drives and the Memory Lane into a Reason Bambino.


Wohaaaa!!That's a nice setup!!!!

For electric rig, i'm using one of my guitars( Gibson 339,1989 LP Std 1956, Rivard Custom Shop Strat or MIJ Tokai Breezysound) into my pedalboard(Polytune-> Tim-> OCD-> Catalinbread Valcoder-> Strymon Timeline 
-> Strymon Bluesky), then it goes into my TopHat ClubRoyale(Or my little Laney CubIIR for rehearsals).
As Accoustic rig, i'm using my Stonebridge Durango w/Highlander Piezo into the polytune->DI box....


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## kw_guitarguy (Apr 29, 2008)

Rig Update!!

It's now my Strat into my pedalboard, out to my Ibanez TBA15H/1x12 Voltage cab and the FOH system. Love my current setup and it's working quite well!

~Andrew


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## Cartcanuck (Oct 30, 2012)

The only place I have to play live is at church, and right now it's primarily for kids programs until I build up the confidence to play for the full worship team on Sunday mornings. I need a much bigger repertoire of songs.

My rig for the kids is my Washburn i64 into Polytune>Tube Screamer>Badass Distortion(when I chose to use it)>TC Electronic Reverb>straight into the system. In the main sanctuary we run entirely through buds with no on stage monitors or amps except for the bass player (an apparently that's going to change soon). For the kids programs we don't have an assigned (experienced) sound guy so I'm not able to use my amp+mic at all. I seldomly use the Badass Distortion at church. It seems to be a little "too much" for our songs. It's OK for practicing ACDC at home, but it doesn't really work for "I Want To Be a Sheep" or "Let Your Light Shine" 

When I play for kids church in the basement i use the same set up but run into my Fender Vibro Champ. On occasion I'll use my Fender acoustic for Kids church in the basement if its only me and piano or me and drums. 



As for the drum question, our church went to a full drum enclosure about 3 years ago primarily as a way to control the sounds. We have a couple real heavy hitters, a couple super savy drummers, and a couple beginners, so the sound off the kit varies dramatically. Most of the drummers don't like the enclosure because they are so "separated" from the whole worship experience, but it was the only way to control the sound and provide a decent mix for the entire sanctuary. Our enclosure is glass 180 degrees around the front, with a wooden back and a wooden ceiling (both back and ceiling are padded to absorb sound). When I see the hamsters, um I mean drummers, in there I really appreciate being a guitar player


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

forum rules

[10] No political or religious related threads. Topics that create a combative atmosphere may be locked and or deleted by GC moderators.


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## Accept2 (Jan 1, 2006)

How is this thread religious? I dont see any creation (of a combative atmosphere). Thread stays............


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## neldom (Apr 29, 2009)

I did ask for permission before I started the thread and was told as long as it remained gear talk only we were all cool.


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## neldom (Apr 29, 2009)

Now that I'm here I suppose it's a good time to update the rundown...
Gibson 339 > Blackout Effectors Twosome > Empress ParaEQ > EB VP Jr > Tuner Out to Polytune > OCD Clone > RAH Clone > Strymon Timeline > Strymon Flint > Peavey Classic 30

Still using the 30 at church because the Z is too much work to haul back and forth.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

I've been subbing in on bass a fair bit lately with a pretty streamlined rig: Yamaha EBX bass > DI > PA 

Part of me wishes I'd taken up bass years ago.


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## Nork (Mar 27, 2010)

Updated the rig a bit, but now it's into an AC15C1 with a Voyager. Pretty standard stuff for what's being played nowadays, but it works well for us.


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## zurn (Oct 21, 2009)

This must be a western thing, I've never seen a guitar in a church here in Québec.

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk HD


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## elliottmoose (Aug 20, 2012)

I am using a fairly involved pedalboard at church these days. There's plenty of better guitarists but hey, I'm a fan of the gear.

'69 Thinline Reissue or AVRI Jazzmaster into:

Turbo Tuner, Fuzz Factory Clone, Fairfield Four-Eyes, Klon KTR, Fairfield Barbershop, Empress Compressor, Diamond J-Drive mk3, SuperSigna OD, Empress ParaEQ, EHX POG2, Diamond Memory Lane2, Strymon BLue Sky

through: Dr Z Maz18 NR 

don't judge. Okay feel free to judge.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Mooh said:


> LaPatrie Collection classical guitar with K&K pickups into a Traynor acoustic amp with some onboard effects. Once in a while an alternative instrument. Not a regular church player.


Update: The last couple of times I've used a 6 string steel string acoustic plugged into the same system. I failed to mention earlier that I always use a passive volume pedal to control my volume and use as a kill. The mandolin player who most often plays with us uses an Eastman or Kentucky into a small Ibanez Troubadour acoustic amp. It's hard to get a good balance with the grand piano, even though the pianist has killer chops and is very attentive and sympathetic to the mix, especially when the congregation starts to sing. It's a huge room with superb acoustics but the relative volume issue is important when we don't use a p.a., nor can we position ourselves in the ideal place.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Dannypop (Oct 2, 2012)

*Church Setup*

Hey Guys,

Church is the only place where I get to play live and I can honestly say I really enjoy it! We have a really talented group of musicians so its always a good time!

My Rig:

EBMM Jp6/Piezo > EB VP > Wah > Fulltone Fulldrive 2 > Eventide Timefactor > A/DA: GCS-2(Cab Sim directly to FOH) > Morgan DAG15 (SM57)

Dan


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

zurn said:


> This must be a western thing, I've never seen a guitar in a church here in Qu&amp;#233;bec.
> 
> Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk HD


Me neither! I don't remember last time I put a feet in a church too.


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