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Over the next several of months we will explore the elements of good guitar tone. Deep down in every guitar player there is a tone that inspires the guitarist. It may have come from a recording that stirred your inner being or it may have come from a live setting. Wherever you heard it the same principle remains: Good guitar tone is good guitar tone.
Conversely, bad guitar tone distracts. The most common mistake that a lot of guitar players make is more treble makes more sustain. More treble may make you cut through the house mix, but it is like fingernails on a chalkboard to the listener, who is trying to worship. The next common mistake is more drive/gain/distortion is better. I see this a lot with younger guitar players. Unless you are playing in a venue where heavy metal is played, turn down the drive/gain/distortion on the amp. If you can’t pick out individual notes when you arpegiate a chord then you may have too much drive. Let me be clear on this point, I am referring to your base tone. The one without any effects. Alternatively, I sometimes hear guitar tones that are too thin which can affect the energy of the song being played as well. There is a balance and there is an art to all of this.
So how do you set up good guitar tone. First, a good tuner, good guitar and a good tube amp is key. I’m not saying that you need to run out and buy new gear, but for instance, if your guitar goes out of tune often then get locking tuners installed. It’s a cheap investment that really pays off. Spend $50 and get your guitar professionally setup too. Tune your guitar often. Listen to your amp. Listen to how the guitar responds with different pickups and with different effects. Everything affects everything. Strings, guitar, tube amp, effects, cables, fingers, etc. They all matter. BUT they all allow room for preferences, except your fingers 
. I use .10 strings, but I am considering changing to .11′s. Why? Thicker strings provide more grit, better response and better tone. Thinner strings provide more treble frequencies and make it very difficult to get a guitar and amp to “growl” together.
. I use .10 strings, but I am considering changing to .11′s. Why? Thicker strings provide more grit, better response and better tone. Thinner strings provide more treble frequencies and make it very difficult to get a guitar and amp to “growl” together. Speaking of “growl”. How do you get it? I usually strum a D2 chord and a full bodied A chord. These seem to really produce good growling with some nice harmonics. They also give you a good range of low to high pitches. Start with the gain about a quarter of the way turned up and with the EQ settings at midnight. Play with the EQ settings to find the warmth of the amp. Sometimes amps need the treble completely turned off, sometimes they need a boost. Work the highs and lows to get a good warm tone and then begin playing with the mid range. Once this is set then start playing with the gain. Not too much, not too little. Just try to get the right amount. If you need tighter overdrive or more breakup of the tone then add an overdrive pedal for those parts. I even use two overdrive pedals together on many of my sets. Most worship songs require the guitarist to be very dynamic. Having a good range of clean to all out blow your head off is essential.
Do you have a volume pedal? I think you should. A good tuner? I think you should. A delay pedal? An overdrive pedal (not distortion)? You guessed it. I think you should. In the coming months I will talk about my preferences in each of these areas, but each is essential in today’s worship ministry. There is a lot to cover and there is no definite right answer.
So to answer the first question, why does guitar tone matter so much? Because as lead worshipers with a guitar in our hands we all need to strive for excellence and seek to enhance the worship experience for the Body and to seek to not distract, but to enhance. I hope this helps. Let the discussion begin…
