The Worship Initiative - Electric Guitar Rig Overview

Join Adam Westlake as he takes us through his guitar rig that is used on our records and live. We'll be diving more in-depth in all things electric guitar including delays, overdrives, amps and how to use them soon!
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Instagram: / theworshipinitiative
Facebook: / theworshipinitiative
Twitter: / we_are_wi

[@joshuahelmreich9966]

Adam - This was absolutely awesome man. I've been listening to the worship initiative albums for about two years now and I've always loved the guitar tone they've had going on them! I was so excited when I saw this posted! This was really encouraging - thank you.

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Joshua, Man, thanks so much! So glad it was an encouragement to you! Blessings, - Adam

[@Arthurgarzajr]

So I just watched you play at the Linger conference 2020. I was really curious to see your board and loved watching you and hearing you play! You’re definitely inspiring!

[@YeatzeeGuitar]

Sweet video! I actually much preferred the heavier mix delay example. In a live mix you'll never hear those repeats in the original setting, "over the top" delays like that tend to result in just audible enough delays in a full mix from my experience.

[@aarongreco434]

Thanks for taking time to explain this! I’ve just transitioned from playing bass, and this was helpful. Great tone.

[@ashtonb_416]

Finally a compressor demo when you can actually hear a quality difference! Love it subbed!

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Wow! Thanks Ashton. What an encouragement! Blessings to you, - Adam

[@danz2611]

Great video on worship approach to pedals. I came from a rock/metal/blues background before playing worship and it took some time before I was able to wrap my head around the right approach for worship. Good stuff.

[@timschultz2560]

17:30 - I like how the verse riff of 'This is Amazing Grace' made a cameo

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

;)

[@yeslelel]

Thank you for educate us and show your set up your pedals ..God bless you brother...

[@HarrisonEng2007]

Just got to this now. Beast.

[@arielbanda112]

Adam you da man! One of the most talented and humble guys I know! Super cool to see you doing things like this! Wish you the best and also, your gear is saweeet!!!

[@brettrecen1520]

Thanks a bunch, very helpful

[@cameronmowers1360]

Saw you at Generate camp this past week at ETBU. Your a very talented player thanks!

[@Cherps91]

Where is Adam today? Is he still doing music? Live? How can I see more of his fabulous guitar solos or playing?

[@felixguerrero6062]

Killer tone God bless 🙌

[@jeffreyfowler2805]

I love the Gretch! It has become too much to haul tube amps around, just too heavy. I love them but can't do it anymore (or afford it). You get a very good blend in the S&S music. Very nice.

[@philipbrister]

Well done sir. I also play through an ef86 matchless! Matchless Cobra. It was interesting to see your drive section. These are tricky amps to drive due to the already present mids. I am finding that I am using variations of boost to drive my amp. The only over drive I use is the T1M touch drive (pearl). With a boost before and after. I also use the supatrem. I find the preamp on that pedal to be very usable to thicken up my tone and can be used independent of the actual trem.

[@braxtonblomquist]

I love your psalms 23 shane and shane shirt. I'm wearing mine right now haha.

[@jaylamb1434]

I really enjoyed your video. Your tone is amazing. Blessings bro.

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Thanks, Jay

[@jaylamb1434]

The Worship Initiative: your rig inspires me to create more out of what I have and rethink my pedal chain. Because of your pedalboard I placed my sub-n-up first in the chain after my buffer and compressor. Blessings

[@anthonymchiles]

Thank you for diving more deep into the electric guitar space. This is going to help me enhance what I’m doing when I play.

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Howdy Anthony! So glad this was helpful. Thanks for watching! - Adam

[@bamartins3d]

Great, god bless you!

[@andystein4879]

Do you use the same thing with Shane & Shane too? The guitar tone on the live hymns album is amazing and I'm trying to nail that.

[@imb6068]

flexing his Gretsch

[@erikiversen6607]

Are you planning on doing tutorial guitar vids for your guys’ songs at some point in the future? Maybe the hymns album? My church has been using a lot of those renditions in our corporate worship

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Howdy, We actually have already made instrument training videos for the hymns album as well as hundreds of other songs. go set up a trial at www.theworshipinitiative.com! Blessings, - Adam

[@sangbawihrin3879]

Wow great video God bless you Can you please do a tutorial on the dual delay the dotted 8 and 8th note how you set it up

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Howdy! We have a delay breakdown with Adam right here! kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJPIlphnj8uEaac Hope this helps! - The Worship Initiative

[@TonySongDMD]

How come your pedalboard is so quite? Could you share some tips for making that pedalboard with almost no noise/hiss?

[@oleksandrk4853]

Soldered cables probably also he doesn't have real amp.

[@zacharykim295]

I agree with this rig.

[@mattrodriguez2517]

Hey Adam. I was curious what your EP Booster Dip Switches are set to. If possible, please let me know.

[@Pyrokid1998]

Also using herdim standard picks...

[@jplee3]

Ok, I just stumbled across this and have to ask: what is the effects chain you're using for "Ancient of Days"!? kzbin.info/www/bejne/qobTYWWKacypo5I - I *love* the tone and effects you used for that recording! I'm guessing Big Sky (Cloud or Bloom?) is a huge part and maybe with a bit of El Capitan? Actually, I think you may go over it around 28:26?

[@_ssarine]

Very informative. Thank you. I was wondering why your delays are primarily 8th notes and not any quarter notes?

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Howdy Stephen, I've found that quarter note delay times tend to be too long for songs that are below maybe 100bpm or so. I use 8th note because it adds some of that depth and texture without having notes from past chords step on what's happening in the song right now. We have a delay video coming really soon that I hope answers some of these questions too.

[@EstebanOnGuitar]

Awesome sound! Thanks for the video demonstration. Are you running and reverb on the Kemper or is it just the DC30 profile? Thanks again!

[@GraeMcCullough]

great video! I'd love to know if you're still using pedals into kemper now, a couple years later?

[@MrWarrenjay911]

Nice video Adam. Hey , ages ago you did a guitar tutorial of Jesus Loves Me by Chris Tomlin. Is that video still on or have you removed it?

[@zeejonesy]

Kemper FTW. 😎 Love mine as well.

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

I didn't want to like the Kemper. But I really like it. Thanks for checking this out, Zach! - Adam

[@zeejonesy]

Neither did I! I used to lead worship for a church that ran a beautiful 85W Milkman, AC30, and a 65 Deluxe Reverb. Now they run complete Kemper. First time I played through one it blew me away. I use Tone Junkie’s AC30 profile, and have never looked back. 👊🏼 Btw, loving your tone. I think you have inspired me to run my Kemper a little dirtier and use my Compressor to level it out, using OD’s as more of a boost than going full clean to dirty.

[@Robert-ze4hd]

Great video. Any plans or existing places to get some of the strymon patches you use?

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Thanks! Not at this time, but we will be breaking down Adam's gear more and principles he uses to get tone.

[@christianmechoso1115]

Awesome

[@HenryHolsters]

Adam, this was a really helpful video, and gave me a bunch of new things to try, especially on pickup selection and tone knob use during volume swells and ambient sounds to avoid stepping on the keyboard pads. Thank you! The Kemper seems like an amazing tool, and one that would be useful for me live and in the studio. There's a lot of opinions on getting the Kemper powered or unpowered, and running it into a standard cab or into a FRFR cab. What have you found works best for your live sound, and do you just run the Kemper direct for recording?

[@carlostorres1171]

Now...I now Taylor Johnson doesn't have a patent on vibrato +16th delay + dotted 8th delay, but heck if I don't think of him every time I hear it.

[@nolanjohnoriginal2406]

haha, so true

[@lukecrouterfield1128]

Carlos Torres more talking about pedal choices dude

[@thesteelstrummer2307]

Hey man! Do you use that Fender Vibratone? I happen to own one. I got away with mine at church once LOL!

[@martinaddison4880]

I have one too!

[@HolyFacts]

Rock on Spiderman !, Subscribed.

[@kinz9351]

Thanks for the incredibly useful video. What do you use to monitor your Kemper through? Monitors? FRFR cab?

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Howdy. For This video it was just coming out of our studio monitors. What you are hearing is the signal that was recorded into protools Blessings, - Adam

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

When playing live it is direct into the system with an XLR

[@mandomatt81]

One of the best walkthrough videos I've seen, while still being time-efficient. Two thoughts: A) What actual board is this? I didn't hear you say. B) As mentioned below, it would be fun to put together boards at different limits... i.e. here's a $1k board, here's a $2k board, here's a $500 board, etc.

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Matt, Thanks so much! This is super helpful feedback. We have it noted down as something to start working towards. My board and case are from Creation Music Company. Blessings, - Adam

[@josephlozano6783]

From what song is that rift from?

[@samread7890]

Are you going stereo out of your board in to the L/R stereo FX return of the Kemper? Great sound and killer setup!

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Howdy Sam, I am going out of my board into the front of the amp. Blessings, - Adam

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Howdy Sam, I am going out of my board into the front of the amp. Blessings, - Adam

[@samread7890]

The Worship Initiative Thanks for the reply! Are you summing your stereo FX with the Goodwood box to go in to the front of the amp?

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

@@samread7890 That's exactly what I'm doing. Blessings, - Adam

[@YeatzeeGuitar]

What was the specific Dc30 profile? Tone Junkies, Selah, mbritt?

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Howdy, It is a profile from Tone Junkies. We own their Kemper library (they had a really great black friday sale) and everything of theirs sounds awesome!

[@YeatzeeGuitar]

@@TheWorshipInitiative sweet I've got it too. What's the specific profile? The ef86 Lo has been a mainstay of mine for a while but it's less gainy than this one sounds like.

[@kinz9351]

@@YeatzeeGuitar Yeah, the EF86 HM2 Lo is my GO TO as well !!!

[@leedurden4366]

Wow. I’ve searched on Reverb and eBay and I can only find one Gretsch Country Classic with real, bound f-holes and the two switches above the neck pickup, which like the idea of rather than have to turn a knob. I did confirm that the Gretsch naming convention is not the easiest to navigate though. Sheesh.

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Howdy Lee, That particular Gretsch is a 2004 6122ii. Hope that info is helpful! Blessings, - Adam

[@misterknightowlandco]

Yeah Gretsch and Ibanez want to make sure you have no idea how to find the model you want 😆

[@KingGodson316]

Gretsch lost the copyright to “Country Gentleman” when Chet Atkins moved over to Gibson. Instead of completely getting rid of the model, Gretsch just renamed it to Country Classic. There are a few iterations of the Country Classic from this time. Some are identical to Country Gentleman with the mutes and back access port. This iteration is my favorite. You have real f holes, no back pad, no mutes and a normal neck joint around the 17-18th feet. The vintage classic country gentleman and many of the country classics have the neck joint at the 14th fret.

[@jeshuabenson12]

Are you the guitarist of Jimmy Needham??

[@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

[@amr77]

The intro riff you were playing...is that from a song of yours? Very curious as it was great! Enjoying your videos. Thanks for sharing!

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Howdy Adam, It's just a melody I came up with for the intro music of this video. Thanks for the encouragement! Blessings, - Adam

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

It's a lick Adam made up for this video. :)

[@malachiskelly]

@@TheWorshipInitiative That is really creative! Wish I was that creative! Maybe one day. 😀👍

[@marcusj5375]

hello

[@zacharynorman397]

I love videos like these and love hearing/seeing other people's setups, but when someone is running with $4,000 worth of amps, effects and guitars, I kind of expect you to be able to get some good tone.

[@matthamner]

yeah, that's close to 14k and I think I've undersold it. I even went with used prices for half of it. Exact total at the bottom. *Buy a helix* I gave up a 4k pedal board and just bought one of those, saved on the rest for other things, and I can't tell a difference, neither can my sound engineers. I'm surprised for how much stuff this guy has, he doesn't have a midi-looper. Vibratone amp -800 Kemper - 2800 Kemper 4u road case -100 Pedalboard case - 300 Country Classic guitar - 3k Assume 1000k for other 4 guitars minimum- 4k Keely Compressor 1k Goodwood interfacer - 200 Micropog - 200 Rockett Audio Archer - 200 Fulldrive 3 - 150 Ep Booster - 100 Ernie ball VP Junior -100 Supa Trem - 100 TC electronic SCF+ 250 used Boss Vib-2 Reissue - 230 Strymon El Capistan - 265 used Strymon Timeline - 450 Strymon Big Sky - 450 Polytune -100 Pedal Board Power (Voodoo iso I bet) - 300 Custom Pedalboard Cabling - 200 Guitar cables - 60 $14,455

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Howdy Zachary, Having good equipment has definitely helped me get the sounds that I'm going for. But I would be the first person to tell ya that most of it isn't necessary to get a sound that would be really awesome for worship stuff. Do I need a Timeline? probably. A DD20 would be great. Do I need 2 overdrives? No, but it's definitely fun to have. The plan for us moving forward is to make more content that shows different pricing options of different types of pedals so that you can find some options that work for you and your budget. I would also say that good gear is great to have, but that it is no substitute for really learning your instrument and honing your craft. All the other stuff is just extra things to enhance what I'm doing. Hope this and our other videos are helpful to you. If you have any questions or need anything at all, hit us up here or on our site and I'll do my best to help out. Thanks for watching! Blessings, - Adam

[@zacharynorman397]

@@TheWorshipInitiative thanks Adam. Your board is amazing. I didn't mean for my comment to come across the wrong way. That being said, I think discussing a bit about pricing of pedals, etc is good and helps make the channel more informative and transparent. Thank you!

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

@@matthamner Howdy dude, Just wanted to bring some clarity around pricing because I know it can sometimes be discouraging and feel like getting good sounds isn't possible unless you drop tons of money. I have also spent the last 10 years acquiring gear like this, and don't know if it would be wise for someone who owns nothing to go buy all of this at once. Some of the equipment in this video is owned by the studio where we shot this. Just wanted to have a good looking video set. Here's some pricing that reflect more what I paid for what is in this video. Kemper - 1700 Pedalboard/case - 300 Gretsch - 1400 Kelley Compressor - 84 Goodwood - 260 Micropog - 140 archer - 130 fulldrive 3 - 120 EP booster - 85 VP Jr - 70 Supa Trem - 100 TC SCF - 145 VB2 - 150 El Cap - 250 Timeline - 420 Big Sky - 420 Polytune - 70 Hope that helps bring some clarity to some things. Thanks for checking out the video! Hope it was helpful Blessings, - Adam

[@matthamner]

@@TheWorshipInitiative Hey Adam, my comment was only intended to adjust expectations for someone who undervalued your set up, either out of ignorance or exaggeration. No shade thrown at your meticulous choice in taste. I had all the same styrmons, the full drive, the Keely, etc. I used to have 6.5k of value sunk into my board, amp and guitar and still needed more pedals and a looper. I was getting tired of continuing to buy, sell and trade. Pigs flew because I did something I swore I'd never do and decided to dive into a multi-effects pedal (either a Kemper or Helix - went with a helix) with the money planned for the pedals and looper I needed and I was shocked by the sound. Since then, I've not needed another pedal or amp (or that chorus pedal and looper I originally was going to spend the money on).

[@profmartin1967]

When did worship guitar get so expensive. When I started 30 years ago it was 12 string acoustic or maybe a basic amp and guitar set up. Even now I would never be able to afford anything like this.

[@JorgeGarcia-id8wp]

"hey kids, the worship-guitar-player course starts at $10k"

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Howdy, Definitely understand your perspective on this. I'll be the first to tell you that you don't need all of the things in this video. This is simply an overview video of what I use, not a "you have to have this in order to be able to play electric guitar at church." A single overdrive, a delay, and a reverb pedal would cover the vast majority of sounds you would need to sound great. For me, playing for my job has allowed/required me to be able to come up with a bunch of different sounds really quickly, hence the larger set up. I certainly don't want this video to be a discouragement, but rather a "here's some ideas/principles to take and apply with whatever setup you're using." Thanks for checking out the video Blessings, - Adam

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

@@JorgeGarcia-id8wp We're not saying you should start here. This is 10+ years of collecting and learning. This video is just showing Adam's setup and principles he uses. We hope it's helpful!

[@JorgeGarcia-id8wp]

@@TheWorshipInitiative totally get it and I'm sure Adam is doing this with all the right intentions. The issue here is that worship guitar players are now carrying a stigma where all they do is spend money in gear while barely breaking fingertip skin if at all. There is a MASSIVE lack of skill set going on because of this. I doubt anybody needs instructions on how to play an open D chord on a $10,000 rig. I wish someone sat down and simply taught how worrying about equipment should come dead last, and how spending countless hours with God and your instrument is one of the very few things of value you will ever take from this world. Go against the grain and how all the "mega churches" operate now; have Adam sit there with a cheap guitar and a cheap amp, I'm sure that will give him something much more meaningful to say/teach. Have a great one and thank you for the chance to engage!

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

@Gene Kelley we're glad that you found something that works for you!

[@rickystokes891]

What do you know about tonevyoure nothing but a u2 clone

[@lindeicyperez9939]

I've been investigating best worship guitar courses and found a great resource at Worship fixer formula (look it up on google)

[@uzzielmoraleslopez8674]

Song? Intro...... Good

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Howdy Uzziel, That's not from any particular song. Just a line I came up with for this video. - Adam

[@uzzielmoraleslopez8674]

@@TheWorshipInitiative thanks Adám. Good vídeo

[@hiptoalieu]

Nice rig, click on the phaser for some PLANETSHAKERS!

[@joshuaharris6638]

don't mind me watching this with my squier strat and 3 pedals

[@herxu06]

You can do all this and much much more on a Helix for only $1.5k.

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Howdy Xu, That's definitely another great option. This is just the set up I use with some examples of how I achieve certain sounds. Thanks for checking out the video. Blessings, - Adam

[@Jayyy_Wav]

Won’t sound as raw as pedals.

[@herxu06]

Jay will probably sound the same through the house.

[@benleitch6087]

Xu Her or do it for less than 1k with a Helix LT

[@alexfzg9936]

That guitar must be super heavy....

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

It definitely isn't the same weight as the SG ;) - Adam

[@murraymiles5837]

Do yourself a favour and get a line6 Helix😂

[@ryanslauderdale]

They are great stuff, aren’t they?

[@Sushi_Dinner]

"I use the compressor to get a little more sustain" *plays choppy rythym parts*

[@ELIDOTORG]

Like how he messed up his solo in the beginning

[@lukecrouterfield1128]

Somebody likes Taylor Johnson

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

Very true

[@a.monkey1275]

Stealing from the Edge. All of you do that.

[@TheWorshipInitiative]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it ;) Nothin new under the sun. Blessings, - Adam