Lots of people ask me about the gear and settings I use to get the sound I have out of my electric guitar. It is confusing to see a guitar running through two pedalboards and a laptop, but there is a method to the madness.
At any moment, my guitar tone runs through a compressor/sustain pedal, modulation, dual delay, stereo reverb, another stereo sparkle delay, and then another stereo reverb after that! The trick lies in the careful selection of pedals (and cables) that preserve the original tone and the careful measurement of the effect of each pedal on that tone. There can be too much effect, or to little, but the trick is to find the perfect balance.
I am very picky about each pedal on my board and their settings. A lot of careful consideration goes into the pedals on my board. My goal is not to have a full pedalboard that looks cool with lots of effects and different sounds. I want the pedalboard arrangement that I am most comfortable worshiping with. So I limit the pedals on my board accordingly. The only reason for the second pedalboard is for the midi controller that gives me control over my software effects. Honestly, I hardly use it.
Recognizing that the goal of my musicianship is to worship changed everything about the way I play guitar. I am not just on stage to sound good and fill a spot on a team, I want to worship with the room. I am most comfortable on my Paul Reed Smith, so I never change guitars. I'm most comfortable with the pedals that I have, so I have nothing left to gain, just worship. I will say that I have had several dreams about guitarists who over-obsess about their tone and completely miss the worship aspect of their musicianship. To me those dreams have always served as a warning to keep my heart in check. It's all about singing and playing to Jesus, and that heart posture enables me to worship undistracted by my gear.
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