NGD......again

Denverdave

Denverdave

Resident Ragamuffin
This is a NGD that I honestly was not planning. Now that I'm playing at church again once or twice a month, I really saw a 'hole' in my guitar herd. I figured out years ago that my 'favored' pickups are Filtertron style pups. They have a clarity that helps me get that 'sound in my head'. Tele pickups are in the equation as well, but they remain in second place.
Modern worship music has morphed into it's own genre with it's own 'sound' for better or for worse. The church I attend, and now play at, has an international following of their worship music, and we have three world renown writers (one of whom won a Grammy two years ago) as part of our church staff at the main office. So we have actual written expectations of the musicians, and one of those is that while we love creativity, on Sunday morning our job is to reproduce the sound and playing style of the original recordings. This helps with consistency every week when the musicians are not always the same people. There is a bit of wiggle room at the church I'm playing at since it is much smaller than the parent church, but I'm still trying to nail what I can of the sound and 'vibe' of the original recording. And to do that - I needed a guitar with a Bigsby. They are big in worship guitar - along with Filtertrons.

So - enter in the Reverend Contender....basically a LP style set neck with Filtertrons and an Bigsby. I got it Saturday afternoon and played it Sunday morning at church. Love it so far - though it does not stay in tune as well as my other guitar. Probably the Bigsby. My only gripe is the pickup selector switch. Not crazy about that location when I have to switch pups in the middle of a song.

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Of note - in the musician handbook when they are talking about instruments, they mention for guitar players that you need to start with a quality instrument and list several brands as examples - Reverend is one of them. Funny thing is, the main guitar player at the 'big' church plays a Squier Tele quite a bit. But it has all upgraded hardware, new pups, and has a Bigsby installed.
 
Man that one is mojo on a stick. :cool: HNGD

And the gig sounds interesting, and something that could really help you develop as a player. I wouldn’t mind playing in a worship outfit if it was comfortable. About the only thing that could get me back in church…
 
Denverdave said:
This is a NGD that I honestly was not planning. Now that I'm playing at church again once or twice a month, I really saw a 'hole' in my guitar herd. I figured out years ago that my 'favored' pickups are Filtertron style pups. They have a clarity that helps me get that 'sound in my head'. Tele pickups are in the equation as well, but they remain in second place.
Modern worship music has morphed into it's own genre with it's own 'sound' for better or for worse. The church I attend, and now play at, has an international following of their worship music, and we have three world renown writers (one of whom won a Grammy two years ago) as part of our church staff at the main office. So we have actual written expectations of the musicians, and one of those is that while we love creativity, on Sunday morning our job is to reproduce the sound and playing style of the original recordings. This helps with consistency every week when the musicians are not always the same people. There is a bit of wiggle room at the church I'm playing at since it is much smaller than the parent church, but I'm still trying to nail what I can of the sound and 'vibe' of the original recording. And to do that - I needed a guitar with a Bigsby. They are big in worship guitar - along with Filtertrons.

So - enter in the Reverend Contender....basically a LP style set neck with Filtertrons and an Bigsby. I got it Saturday afternoon and played it Sunday morning at church. Love it so far - though it does not stay in tune as well as my other guitar. Probably the Bigsby. My only gripe is the pickup selector switch. Not crazy about that location when I have to switch pups in the middle of a song.

4rLGdNT.jpg


hLYwm1M.jpg
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HNGD! Looks dishy! A bit of pencil in the nut slots might help keeping it in tune as long as you don't get too carried away with the Bigsby.

Motorik said:
IF you're going to play Worship music, Reverend seems an appropriate brand. :embarrassed:

HNGD, that looks like an excellent twanger. I'd quite like to try one.
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Oh man, you so beat me to it! :embarrassed:
 
I've got a contender with two P90s and a regular stoptail - I have had to tune it twice in the couple of months I've had it - it's as solid as a tele - so I think perhaps a little work to help compensate for the Bigsby - maybe roller saddles or lubing the nut - might pay off big for you.
 
bsman said:
I've got a contender with two P90s and a regular stoptail - I have had to tune it twice in the couple of months I've had it - it's as solid as a tele - so I think perhaps a little work to help compensate for the Bigsby - maybe roller saddles or lubing the nut - might pay off big for you.
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I already has roller saddles. It could also be new strings, but I will lube the nut a little.
 
Denverdave said:
Of note - in the musician handbook when they are talking about instruments, they mention for guitar players that you need to start with a quality instrument and list several brands as examples - Reverend is one of them. Funny thing is, the main guitar player at the 'big' church plays a Squier Tele quite a bit. But it has all upgraded hardware, new pups, and has a Bigsby installed.
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Is it true that Worship musician handbooks forbid you from playing SGs, or is that just a myth?
 
What's it like in a band context? I've never played a guitar with that type of pickups.
 
Monson said:
What's it like in a band context? I've never played a guitar with that type of pickups.
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They cut through the mix quite well unless you bury the tone in Reverb and delay. Not Tele level cut, but they have greater clarity and high end sparkle than most humbuckers. Really taylor made to go with the Voxish amps types. When I was with the classic rock band I used filtertrons nearly exclusively and it was a great tonal difference from the other guitar player (who played Strats and Music Man guitars mostly).
 
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