Guitar In The Church, part four: Less is More? Playing With Distortion

In today’s churches, the guitar is coming to dominate the landscape in the same way that the piano and organ once did. It’s important that as church musicians we give great care and thought to our guitar playing - everything from chord voicings to tones - so that the instrument is a servant of the congregation, not the star and not the distraction. Each week on Sojournmusic.com, Pastor Mike Cosper will post a guitarist’s feature, which will range from articles to links, online lessons and interviews:

Part Four: Less is More?

We all know the quote. “This one goes to 11.” Guitarists are quick to quote the line as they reach for the gain knob.

Starting with the flabby tones of torn speakers in the 1960’s, distortion has been a mainstay in the guitarist’s arsenal. The sound of an amp ready to burst into flames became more and more in demand. Guitarists tried crazy things to get those sounds. I’ve heard that “American Woman” was recorded with two Fender twins: the speaker output of one plugged into the guitar input of the other. The ensuing fire was supposedly spectacular.

Engineers figured out that by saturating the preamp tubes of a guitar amp, they could get these hot, compressed, harmonically rich tones. Soon they figured out ways of doing it with solid state technology — at times with surprising results. The fuzz pedal was born.

Today, the options are almost endless. Most amps manufactured are made with master volume knobs, allowing the guitarist to run the preamps into distortion. Many amps are two channel, allowing to run one channel clean, and another channel dirty. And a wealthy person could go broke buying distortion and overdrive pedals.

So how does a guitarist choose a distortion? What kinds of sounds are helpful in most church contexts? Here are a few thoughts:

• Less is more. Listen to some of the great rock tones of all time: most are not saturated with distortion. Consider Angus Young’s tones on Back in Black, or Jimmy Page’s tones on Led Zepplin II. In more recent history, check out Radiohead’s tones - definitely crunchy, but not saturated. Compare the tones of Pearl Jam’s Ten to Vs. - You’ll hear much more articulation and warmth on Vs., an album recorded with less distortion. Think about your guitar in the context of the band. Often a ton of distortion becomes white noise, hiding behind the cymbals and not offering any body to the sound. A warm, just-crunchy tone can be articulate and present. Go for a sound that is thick with midrange, and that has some dynamic range — that’s a little cleaner if you pick softer, and a little hairier if you pick harder.

• Beware of Fuzz. Fuzz pedals are great - for some things. If you’re Prince and you’re playing “Purple Rain,” you need a fuzz. If you’re looking for Brian May-like lead tones, you might need a fuzz. But most rhythm guitarists need to avoid it. Sure, Muse and the Smashing Pumpkins have created incredible walls of sound with fuzz pedals (a Fuzz Factory and Big Muff, respectively) but they also have the ability to lay down three or four passes of each track in the studio, on multiple amps, adding to the overall articulation. In most settings, a fuzz pedal becomes a wall of mush - an inarticulate bunch of noise. A simpler overdrive would usually suit you better.

• Make friends with your volume knob. Most effects and most amps respond pretty dramatically to rolling down the volume knob from 10 to 8. Often, if you have a crunchy amp, you can simply clean it up by rolling back the volume knob a hair. Then kick it up a notch for solos and leads.

Some recommendations:

The best all-around overdrive I’ve ever played is the Ibanez Tube Screamer family. The originals from the 70’s and 80’s are far superior to the ones made today, but several companies are building replicas according to the original specs. Robert Keeley sells a modified version of the original - and at one time offered a church musicians’ discount. His modified Rat is amazing as well — though it’s a monstrous fuzz, not necessarily suited to most church music:

For around $100, Maxon makes a great tube screamer clone as well

And the entire Fulltone family is worth looking at too.

Photo taken by Dan Canales: Pastor Mike Cosper plays guitar during a Sojourn worship gathering at The 930 Art Center

Read Part Three of This Series: Adding Color To Guitar Parts

Read Part Two: Pursuing Excellence With Acoustic Guitar

Read Part One: Jim Campilongo On The Lost Art Of Melodic Guitar Playing