Best Guitars for Worship?

What guitars are best for worship? Let's find out!
www.worshipbuilder.com/

[@the-LeoKnightus]

As the sole electric guitar player in our worship band, I played an HSS strat exclusively for years. I also owned a couple of LPs and a tele, but I felt with the HSS strat I could really dial up any tone/thickness/texture better than any other guitar. Sure if I ran it straight into an AC30 with volume and tone wide open, it would be thinner than dental floss. But with a lil bit of compression, decent eq setup and judicious pickup selection, I could pull off more variety than anything else.

[@UnoDelDIM]

You guys seriously! it really doesn't matter if there are two Les Pauls or two Telecasters... or five. This thing about the challenges of playing with a Tele sound like ferry tales to me. What's important, is to know what to play when. Guitarists need to spend less time obsessing about the tone and more time practicing things like technique, timing and knowing the whole neck range so you can adapt your playing when another instrument is clashing with you.

[@davetozier9235]

That's "fairy tails" as in trying to sound like a fairy to play in church. How about EMG 81 / 60. Melt your face and your heart.

[@franciscobobadilla8598]

Also , what is it that we are in the worship for, for sound, for us , or for God .

[@sonwabisedzidzi]

@@franciscobobadilla8598 We ought to give God our best.

[@cowboy7x]

@@franciscobobadilla8598 Seriously? Come on. God blessed us with choices and likes and dislikes. No one is arguing WHY we worship. You can use a shoe box for drums, but I wouldn't recommend it. And to answer your question, it's for both. That's how He designed us. We worship to (and FOR) HIM. But he created us to enjoy worshiping Him. Having choices is a good thing and there's nothing wrong with "working it out". (Instruments, voices, mics etc.). Bad sound can be distracting and good sound has NO down side. Having said all that, it's all about making a joyful noise. God inhabits the praise of his people even if there's no music at all.

[@johnbenny7235]

What guitar model is it? That they showed here?

[@sublyme2157]

Me: Finally nailed my tone, yes!! Sound guy: Turns down guitar. Media guy: No idea which lyrics should be on the screen. Congregation: :| Lol, and we'll do it all again next week :)

[@matthewtabbytosavit4805]

I live this every week hahaha

[@rocknrollcowboy1620]

Yep!!

[@BrianLeverett]

The struggle is real.

[@fellowcomrade7357]

Every aspect of this comment is so relatable lol

[@rodfinlay333]

I have 2 gretsch guitars. I play lead and rhythm. I have a hollow body and a 59 duo jet. Love the tv jones pickups.

[@calebsalvi7573]

Do you have any tuning issues with the gretsch?

[@RickyTickyTV]

Very informative. Great job

[@macuse2008]

Yep Tele. He said you can’t really compliment a tele because it sits right in the middle. It’s all you need 👍🏻

[@jbert7289]

If the band is on…and your the only guitar. It doesn’t matter what you play. The congregation can’t tell either way. I do agree with the two guitar players. I always try to do something different than the other person, or I would have a conversation with the other person to see what they might play. Great video.

[@randeledquilang4769]

I have 4 different guitars I play for praise & worship...Stratocaster,Telecaster w/ bigsby, ESP eclipse, Epiphone LP. Depending on the song list on a particular sunday...I will decide what guitar to use and tweak my pedals get the tones i needed.

[@BrianLeverett]

I do something similar. I rotate through two Gibson Les Pauls, two Fender Telecasters, an Epiphone ES-335, and an Epiphone Casino. I just tweak the settings according to the song needs.

[@josh_ortiz]

Which guitar is that, the brand and the model?

[@erictripton]

For humbucker equipped, use low output pickups, you can always boost the signal. The low output are for nice even, full clean sounds. Less magnetic pull and more Air to your tone. High output pickups break up too quick and are more compressed and mid rangey. There are exceptions.....Lollars are nice but Seymour Duncans still have their place as does DiMarzio. I mainly use Duncan 59 bridge and Jazz Neck pickups for warm yet clear tones. Really its all subjective, but one thing for Worship is, a low output pickup to have nice clarity. LOL, I use old school rack delay and reverb in parallel through a mixer, use volume pedal to fade in and out. Dry Wet, one cab has dry tone, the delays fade in a seperate cab. A Germino 1968 Plexi through a load box is the main tone... I only turn up to a bout 3, just to get that great Marshall break up of an old non master volume, but cuts through with a nice clean sound.

[@benhail3624]

If I just want a 4 string small acoustic guitar that would give a somber worshipfull tone not like a high pitched ukulele sound what should I get? Dont need anything fancy just to help sing in a small house group setting.

[@worshipbuilder3267]

If you're set on a 4 string, I think a baritone ukulele would do the job the best. Otherwise, I'd just stick with a regular 6 string acoustic guitar.

[@sarasegador8998]

So if I get a Les Paul (epiphone) in a small church group (one pianist, one drumer one worship leader with a guitar) would that be okay?

[@sloppybunz7229]

More than okay my dude. You got this 👍

[@jessemoore6085]

anything would be ok there

[@franciscobobadilla8598]

Also what is it that we are doing, is it for sound, for us , or for God

[@jayyoungmusic919]

Something to add especially when looking at Fender guitars they make a ton of instruments that look the exact same, but a peek under the hood will reveal other truths. A Start made to Mimic that of its vintage predecessors will tend to be warmer and low output with strats with the modern player in mind tend to be brighter and higher output. Buying a strat or a tele without knowing exactly which one you are buying may accidentally send you in the wrong direction

[@macuse2008]

So true. I put fat 50s in my strat and now it twangs like a tele. Really fantastic pick ups.

[@Sawmte964]

Am I the outcast for using ibanez rg prestige

[@gregjgman]

You can use even a Strat as a sole guitar for a worship band. Most modern worship is U2-like and on some U2 songs, the edge, (the only guitarist in a band with NO keyboard) even used a…… (gasp)…… STRAT! I think it comes more down to how you dial your tones in with the amp and effects and what/how you play if playing with another guitarist or keyboard player.

[@romeou4965]

Gretsch and Telecasters are main ones used by recording worship bands

[@maraviyoso8473]

A very good reason for NOT using Gretsch guitars. Telecasters can stay.

[@justnoah9524]

I have A Budget to Get IBANEZ GRG270DX please tell me Will this work For Worship Music i know This will work For sure because it all about Lord Nad All I need to do is Worship but i wanna ask you Is Ibanez a Good and a best Choice for worship music if Not then would you please suggest Me A Guitar in Same price Range of Ibanez grg270dx?? Please it would be a Great help

[@uclark18]

Ive using a jem at my church and it is pretty good, just some worship effects and youre good to go

[@adro3828]

What about the Gibson or Epiphone SG guitar? Is it good or is it an evil electric guitar that I shouldn’t own since I’m a Christian myself?

[@carterthiessen2664]

A guitar is an inanimate object. It can't be good or evil. I literally played a gibson SG in my church this morning

[@macuse2008]

An SG is pure evil 😂

[@user-xc7uw5hp4c]

I love Ibanez RG - A Dive Bomb

[@austinhill4305]

What guitar is that in the video

[@braianmelo]

I thinks it's a Veritas, don't know the model name....

[@useurfullname]

Veritas portlander

[@robn.7426]

Nothing wrong with trying to have great tone to enhance your church's worship. Awful tone, a bad mix, or playing that's not somewhat proficient would hinder my worship experience - i.e. those things would be distracting. Banging on these guys for not being spiritual enough, etc is short sighted to say the least.

[@jimlupino6923]

All fine advice, if you were going guitar into an amp. Worship guitar nerds plug into pedalboards (some as big as a twin bed). At that point, you could play a shoe box with a rubber band around it and still sound like “worship guitar”….😆

[@nazinas21]

😂😂😂😂

[@kntapln1363]

still watching despite the fact that our church don't have it's own guitar hahahha

[@dookieeater]

Is that an Emery tattoo on his arm?

[@worshipbuilder3267]

Of course!

[@Ironworthstriking]

@@worshipbuilder3267 Your 2000s Christian Hardcore cred just went WAY up.

[@jammer777]

Use whatever sounds good. Who cares what anybody else says. I like Duesenberg and Tele’s.

[@keeps4970]

how about yamaha’s guitar?

[@c0unterac342]

Love The Modest dress amen brother

[@justincase4925]

Never saw one

[@maraviyoso8473]

BTW, what really is Worship Music? Sounding like Hillsong, Bethel, Elevation, etc? What if you want to not sound like them? It's not worship anymore?

[@mariohristov7909]

The reality is that we, as guitar players, geek on this kind of stuff and notice it more than a regular church attainder!!! Let's be honest here ... is a person in the Sanctuary going to notice or say "Hm ... those two guitarists are both playing with a Gretsch right now ... how dare they!?! They should have one single coil guitar and a humbucker for the second guitar" That would literally never happen!! Not just that but if I cover your eyes before you enter the church, how many of you would be able to tell the difference between a guitar that just did the lead part with P90 vs. a guitar with Filter-trons ... the answer is 98 percent of the time NO. All of this is important to US and not to the congregation! What we must ask ourselves is "Where is my heart? How's my relationship with God? Am I on stage for the right reasons?" After all you guys if we are on stage we are Levites!!! This may sound cliche but when the Holy Spirit is working and the congregation can feel God's Presence nobody cares about your pickups!!!

[@perrypelican9476]

What does the music have to do with worship. I have no issues with anything, it's just that I see a lot of stuff called worship whatever with no connection to worship except for the fact that it's called worship. Is it just that the people involved are christians or what. I find it strange. Does religion ever come into it? Is it only a Christian thing or what. When I watch these videos, there is never anything that relates to any kind of worship. Please don't take me the wrong way. I really want to understand. Does worship mean praying? Again, I am not criticizing. I watch videos about music making and don't see any difference between the worship ones and non worship ones except that the word worship is in there in the name. Do worship musicians work with non worship musicians? Is there restriction in the music in any way? Are the people making the worship ones trying to promote religion in any way. It's not obvious to me. I was waiting while watching this video to hear sone connection to guitars and worship, but it never happened.

[@worshipbuilder3267]

Worship music is simply a term used to describe music that is played in churches. The most popular worship songs currently have a certain style and tone and so when I refer to worship music, it simply refers to attempting to recreate the sound achieved by the artist on their songs.

[@simply3141592654]

How about starting with what Christian worship properly is in terms of the means of grace? Completely human, non-theological starting point.

[@javiercabrera3517]

People getting all caught up and making videos like these, its all on the flesh. When Christ clearly tells you to live in the Spirit of Life. So Play, purchase, practice with whatever guitar sounds good and feels right and good to you!! but FIRST, ASK GOD first what DOES HE thinks is TRUE about your tone, gear, guitars, playing NOW with what you have as you are where YOU are, because being a Christian is not based off of our WORKS but based off of the fact, FACT, that we were saved and WORSHIP GOD! The FATHER !! not guitar brands, nor amps or whatever guitar player you see out there in worship bands, Whatever sounds good to you then thats it. GOD doesnt care what guitar or how expensive of a guitar or how huge of a pedalboard you do have to worship Him ?! This is all people, being humans, in the flesh, in this world, and the flesh hates GOD, hates the Spirit. Romans 8. Just play what makes you happy, listen to recommendations but play and buy what God says is ok. You dont need to impress GOD, JESUS, HE IS already IN LOVE With YOU !! and IF you have already and went and bought whatever brand because someone on a video told you so, then well ... just make the best of it FOR GOD's Glory and Not your OWN. Myself, im still trying to figure out, do I "need" a semi hollow or not ? Because I want that sound i hear in my head. If GOD wants it then HE will make it happen. But also at the end of the day, if the sound person doesnt know what HE/SHE is doing then it wont matter what guitar you are playing, it just wont matter because no one will be able to hear you LOL.

[@victorsantiago7391]

lol

[@jeff4h20]

So when did you get to decide what worship is. I don't enjoy your music at all. It's not bad. What worship is at my church is totally different. You really assume everyone likes what you do they don't. I've heard people take 335s and make it sound just like a tele. I have a Tele with a middle pickup you can't tell from a strat. You can change pickups and make a strat sound like anything Your music to me sounds like a bunch of guitars with so much ambience you don't have the clarity you talk about. So please stop assuming you are worship. Your one style of worship. You use so much reverb you don't know what your guitar sounds like. Obviously some people like it. But not all young people do. Watch a country concert someone. The most important thing is the message. When the method covers up the message is not good no matter the style. Just something to think about

[@robn.7426]

Someone near Jeff please hand him a Snickers.

[@maraviyoso8473]

Oh, boy! These "worship tone" videos are so cringey! Guitarists, develop YOUR tone first. And the first thing to achieve that is to be a better guitarist, to play WITH the band. After that (50 boutique pedals will only make you sound like the rest of the other worship guitarists, not like YOU), talk to the sound guy and try to produce a good sound for the congregation and the rest of the band.

[@jonasjung7501]

^ this. Be you.