Guitar for Worship is designed to help musicians (specifically guitarists) best utilize their gifts for God’s glory. There’s tone discussions, gear reviews, technique and mindset articles, and quite possibly a few random musings. There will also be dates for worship guitar workshops, which I hold at my church from time to time.
–If you for any reason would like a workshop at your church, please contact me and we can make it happen. I charge a nominal fee to basically pay for the gas for me to get out there.
–I also serve as a guitarist for hire, just without the ‘hire’ part. As I’m employed at my church, I need to attend, play, and serve at just about 99% of our services, which are Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. Anything else is fair game if you’re short a guitarist for worship services, outreach events, or studio work. Please don’t expect too much; but I’ll do my best to help in providing a worshipful atmosphere through some guitar work. (And I’ll try to keep the clunkers to a minimum.)
Guitar for Worship was started by Karl Verkade, music director for Life Church of the Temecula Valley, in Southern California. (That’s me.) I don’t claim to be a fantastic guitarist or worship leader, but hopefully this blog will be of some interest, help, and maybe even humor? We’ll see.
Props where they are due:
Mike Huffman for so patiently (and sometimes impatiently) explaining to me about tone and minimalistic playing while I was still listening to Tourniquet and saying that my GT6 was the ‘way of the future.’
Travis Tingley for just plain awesome guitar-ing and advice.
Alex McLean for introducing me to U2 and to the idea of not playing five notes when one will do.
And of course, Jamianne…my wife, my girlfriend, my best friend, my muse.
Hi Karl!
It’s been a very long time since I’ve talked to you, so i thought I’d drop a note saying “what up?!”. How’s life?
Hey man, my worship leader told me about your site and it looks really cool. Tone crafting and effects are my biggest weakness in guitar so this seems like a pretty informative place to learn from. Thanks!
No worries at all! Great to have you here!
And apologies in advance that you’ll probably have to dig through a few of my ramblings to find the actual stuff pertaining to tone. hehe 
Cheers!
Hey, Ellie! Great to hear from you. Life is going quite fantastic right now. Only thing I could use would be some money, but hey. hehe
How’s life for you? I run across your blog from Mike Dalton’s links from time to time. Cool stuff. Hope all is awesome!
Cheers,
Karl
Just wanted to say thanks for the blog, my man…I’ve linked you in my rambling little musings, trying to get you some hits. You’ve inspired me to put 3 different delay pedals on my board (*drooooool*) and see the electric guitarists side in a whole new light.
God bless!
-Andy
Hey Andy,
Well, thanks man! Glad you’re enjoying the blog. And of course, the more delay pedals, the better!
Absolutely. hehe Hey, what’s your blog? I’d love to check it out!
Cheers,
Karl
I just found your site!
I was thinking about doing a blog similar to this, but I may just send a bunch of the young guitarists at our church to your site….you’re right on!
Shoot me an email sometime, I’ll send you some photos of my pedal board, amps and guitars.
T
one more thing….chorus pedals suck.
Hey Terry, thanks for the encouragement! I’d love to see your guitar gear! What’s your e-mail addy? You can e-mail me at karl@getlife.tv .
haha And nice one on the chorus pedals!
Hey Karl…thanks for posting on my worship team site…you can comment any time. I agree, Came to my Rescue is an awesome song! I’m excited to do it with the team tomorrow! Love your site! I frequently direct my guitar players to it!
heh… I’m going with Terry on chorus pedals!
BAM!
whoa you are just up the 15 from me! are you serious about the workshops? my band in escondido could really use some help and input, i’d be more then willing to pay you for gas etc.
Kenrick–ya, I’d be happy to! Maybe sometime after Christmas we can work out an evening that’d work for your team. You’re welcome to e-mail me at karl@getlife.tv, and then we can talk about how experienced your team is, etc. ‘Cause I usually taylor it, depending on the audience, to either playing guitar in a worship setting, using effects in a worship setting, tone in general, or a mix and overview of all three.
But if your team is interested, I’d be more than happy to do it.
Hey man – I don’t know who else to turn to for some support… I own over 100 U2 bootlegs, the full discography, and every meaningless b-side from Japanese CD singles.
I don’t know what to do about the fact that their new single is, quite frankly, crap. Not it’s-going-to-grow-on-me-over-time-as-I-discover-the-hidden-genius crap… just plain old crap.
If the song was on an album as a filler track, I’d skip it. Your silence on this issue tells me you’re trying to make sense of this mess as well.
Bold statement Jeff! I wasn’t going to say it…
haha Sorry to say it, but I actually like the song. Didn’t at first; it completely surprised me. But at the same time, I can totally see where people won’t dig it. I’ve gotten so many questions on this, that I finally just gave in and posted on it. haha
Karl,
Nice blog! Just stumbled upon your site tonight – I dig it!
GoofyDawg
Hey bro,
Glad to have you here! And I checked out your site as well. Killer stuff! I’ll add you to my blogroll if you don’t mind.
Cheers,
Karl
Hey Man – “No Line On The Horizon” has leaked! I’m pretty sure it’s not unethical if you’re going to be buying the CD anyway…
lol Ya, a friend texted me the other day!! Have you got it yet? I still haven’t brought myself to do it…there’s just something about playing the cd for the first time, and I don’t want to ruin it. But I know myself…there’s gonna be no way I’ll be able to wait…is it good?
1st 2 tracks will blow u away! Achtung Baby for 2009. Some killer tracks, some pointless explorations, some typically beautiful acoustic-ish stuff. It’s U2, so I need @ least 2 weeks for it to grow on me!
lol Yep, same for me with U2. Man, I’m so stoked to get it now!! It’s killing me!
Karl,
I just bought a Damage Control Timeline. Thank you so much for the great education on the pedal. It is an awesome delay! I play a lot of worship and this pedal is amazing! I play along side of the Diamond ML2 and that is a great combo. Thanks again.
Mark
Mark, congrats, bro!! Those have been becoming hard to come by, so that is awesome. Seriously, those are, as of now, the best digital delay pedals I’ve heard or played with. And you’re coupling it with the Memory Lane 2? Ah…so beautiful.
Props, my friend!!
It was tough to come by. I called Peavey and they tracked one down in a small guitar shop. I think I got the last USA made Timeline. The Memory Lane 2 has got an awesome vibe to it, but the dotted eights are tricky to tap. That is why I wanted the Timeline. Bought a Midi Mate this week. What are you favorite patches? Or did you write all of your own. God Bless you bro
Thank you for the great videos!
Right on! Ya, I felt the same with the Memory Lane. I had a version 1 with a dotted 8th mod, and it just always felt as if that pedal was much too warm and spacious to get enough crispness to make the 8ths work. So I agree; I don’t think that’s it’s strength. And ya, I wrote all my own patches on the Timeline.
And may God bless you, as well, and no worries on the videos. Just glad they can be a help to a couple people.
God Bless you and thank you serving.
Mark
I meant thank you for serving!! typing too fast…
Have you seen this: http://spidermanonbroadway.marvel.com/
Spiderman on Broadway – music by Bono & The Edge…
Hey, Chris. lol I’ve seen that before, and thought it was a joke. hehe I guess not? Well, maybe the music will rock. haha
Hey, Karl:
This is a copy of a message I sent through youtube, but in case you don’t check that a lot, I’m posting it here.
Thanks for putting those 3 vids up; I was considering getting a TimeLine, and yours was some of the only (worthwhile) info I could find on it. Thankfully, Damage Control is back up and running and I now own one of these superb pedals.
I hate to ask, but can you possibly give me an idea of what settings you might have used in part 2, specifically, the reverse with swell? I don’t own a MIDI (heck, I didn’t have effects pedals until last year!) and so I don’t know if the swell is something you add with that, or if it’s obtainable with just the pedal. Pete at Damage Control has been helpful, but as it’s your video that got me wondering, I thought I’d try asking you direct.
I’ve played pedal steel (exclusively) for over 30 years, and this whole FX area is something I’ve only just begun exploring, so in that sense I’m a “newbie” and appreciate anything you can tell me.
Thanks a lot.
dan morris
Hey Dan,
Congrats on the Timeline! Ya, what a great pedal. I was so stoked when I found out about them…real sleeper pedal that just sounds great.
As far as settings for the reverse delay with the swells, it’s all the pedal. The midi devices do only switching…so they just allow you to access and save more presets within the pedal, but all the sounds come from the Timeline itself.
The first swell patch, I believe I have the middle knob on reverse delay (obviously, hehe). Then repeats pretty high at around 3-4 o’clock. Time is fairly slow…probably around 12-1 o’clock. Then grit is at about 10 o’clock, mix is full up, smear is down to about 9-10 o’clock, filter is up at around 2 o’clock, modulation speed is very low, almost not on, and mod depth is around 12 o’clock. Then I just pick very lightly and kind of feel the delay…let the pedal play me.
As for the second one, right as the video runs out, it’s probably the same settings, just roll off on the filter a good deal from the previous settings, and roll the mix back to about 2 o’clock.
I think. I don’t have the pedal right next to me at the moment, but I’ll check when I get home. Also, within the next week I should have videos up and a post here on ‘How to Use Delay’, and a lot of it will center around the Timeline, so hopefully that will help, too!
Cheers,
Karl
Thanks very much for the (lightning) reply, Karl!
I’ll be watching for those videos; I’ve learned that nothing replaces playing around with a pedal, but starting points, suggestions and such are quite valuable.
dan
Karl!!!! I freakin love your tone. Best guitarist ever!
–Jeff
Dan–wow, sorry I saw this so late! But you’re welcome, and glad to be of some help. And great point about how you really have to play a piece of gear to completely formulate your opinion on it. Cheers!
Jeff–lol You’re way too kind, brother. I’m just blessed to be able to serve alongside you.
Hey Karl.
I can’t find your email address anywhere. Could you shoot it to me?
bobby@clcsantacruz.org
Thanks!
Hey Bobby! I just sent it over.
Hi Karl
Just came across your site. We’ll feature in our worship blog round-up soon. Some really good stuff here. You might like to do a link or something? http://musicademy.com/blog – there’s a section on worship guitar and loads of other stuff
Marie
Hi Marie,
Thanks for checking out the page! And wow, I just looked at your site, and you guys have a great thing going on over there. I’ll definitely put you in my links section and frequent the site myself. Thanks so much, and have a great morning!
Cheers,
Karl
This is a cool place, I just discovered it. I have read thru some of the things here, and I am finding myself saying “been there, done that”. And that what is being said is pretty right on in my book.
I have a website that hopefully might help some people with electronics skills get exactly what they want – http://www.DIYguitarist.com
Hey, Paul! Great to have you here!
I checked out your site, and it’s fantastic! I’ve even been there a few times myself with some questions. I’ll put a link to it in my links section for sure.
Cheers, brother!
Cool! I’m always happy to hear when something on my website has helped someone.
This is a cool place, I’m sure I’ll be hanging out here more often in the days to come.
BTW, do I have to become a member to use a picture? How does that work? I’m not used to this format…
Hey Paul, thanks for your site, and I’m stoked to have you hanging out here as well, as much as you like.
And I think you do have to get a wordpress account to have a picture on wordpress blogs, but honestly, I’m not sure. hehe I’m kind of challenged when it comes to that stuff. Maybe check out wordpress, because the accounts are free.
Hey guys umm a freind recommended this site to me and I wanted to check it out.. I play lead guitar for my church but lately my guitar is screwing up.
I have a ESP Ltd with a floyd rose.. And my bridge is sinking to far into the body of the guitar.. Any help? Hopefully not but , I might just have to go get it fixed
Peace, love, and happiness
Carter
God bless
Hi Carter.
I have worked on all my guitars for the last 20 years, and most of them have a Floyd Rose style bridge on them.
If your bridge is going back too far into the body, then the springs are not providing too much counter-pull compared to the tension of the strings. This usually happens when you put a lighter gage of strings on it than it was set up for. The only real remedy is to have it re-adjusted so that the springs aren’t pulling as hard. You want the bridge to be parallel with the body when the strings are at full tension (guitar is in tune).
If you don’t know how to work on them, yes, they can be a real pain in the neck. It might be worth it to you to just have a guitar tech adjust it. It’s not too hard for a guitar tech to do.
Hey, Carter! Welcome!
As for the ESP, I’ll be honest…I hate working with Floyd Rose systems because, well, because they’re hard to work with. I would assume that either the springs underneath the bridge have tightened due to a change in climate, that your neck has contracted due to change in climate, or that you might have changed string gauge? Any of that could cause not enough tension on the Floyd, and cause it to start to recess into the guitar’s body.
So you could try re-setting up your truss rod and action (if you’ve never done it before, make sure you find a good online guide, otherwise you can really damage your guitar), or, if you have recently switched to a lighter gauge string, just switch back to your original gauge. Or even go into the back of the guitar and try to loosen the springs on the Floyd.
Or, unfortunately, it could also just be the Floyd breaking. In which case, taking it to a good tech may just be the best option. My sincere apologies that I’m not more experienced with Floyd systems. Maybe someone who is can chime in. Usually I just stay away because although they’re cool and can sound good, they’re just hard to work with and maintain.
But, maybe that helped a bit? hehe I don’t know. Anyway, welcome to the site, and hope to chat with you more!
In Christ,
Karl
hey karl,
i am thoroughly enjoying your blog. the transparency of your entries (and tone) do not go unappreciated. as a relative tone n00b and recent G.A.S. sufferer, i was wondering if you could enlighten me about the difference between the Diamond Memory Lane version 1 vs 2. I have found several deals on ebay for a much cheaper version 1. Is there a reason enough to buy the 2? I know you may be biased cause you own the V1 but it’s ok.
-josh
Hey Josh,
Welcome! Great to have you here! As for the Memory Lanes, they are essentially the same sound, with the v.2 being a little less dense on the modulation, and a little more ‘normal’ sounding on the repeats. The v.1 has really intense modulation, and a really different flavor of repeats. It can almost play you sometimes, and it’s fun to play right on the verge of it getting out of control. I love its flavor, personally. But it is different, and a lot of people like the slightly more classic sound of the v.2 .
Also, version 2 has two delay time settings that you can switch between with a third footswitch, which the v.1 does not have.
Hope that helps!
Cheers,
Karl
thanks Karl. love your rapid and informed responses as usual. much love!
No worries, bro! hehe I just checked the time between when you posted the question and when I answered you, and you’re right…it was fairly rapid. I usually try to not look so much like I just hang out at my own blog all day waiting for someone to ask me questions so I can pontificate on gear!
hehehe
Hey ,
I found you by doing a search for Prairiewood Guitars on youtube . I just got this one .
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=595961
I’m in Dana Point . I’m old (50)and was part of the Jesus movement in the 70’s lived with Kieth Green in the 80’s hung out a bit with Lonnie Frisbee before he died . Your playing is great on youtube . Sure hope you can do something to better worship music , it should be the best music made if inspired by God but most is far from even being any good at all .
Korby–congrats! That’s a beauty of a guitar! Ya, Rob does some incredible work!
So you were involved in the Jesus Movement, with Keith Green? That is awesome. Wow, bet you’ve got some incredible experience and wisdom. If you don’t mind my asking, what in your opinion, made that movement so powerful and ‘work’ so much? From what I’ve heard, it seemed that the church at that time finally started to just accept people for who they were.
And I hear ya on the worship music thing. There’s some stuff out there that I dig, but it is unfortunately few and far between. I always like to think that it’s better than it is; but then I have to ask myself why every time I just listen to music for fun rather than learning for a service or outreach, why there are precious few Christian bands I’ll put on. You make a great point, brother!
Anyway, cheers, and really stoked that you came by! Looking forward to chatting more in the future!
In Christ,
Karl
I think the Jesus Movement had the Holy spirit’s power behind it and the hippies and druggies were burnt out and desprate and the few churches that would accept them grew immensely . I dont think it was a person planned thing but only Chuck Smith Sr. would know that . I know once Lonnie Frisbee’s bringing in the thousands of unwashed was no longer needed he was cut loose . But I can also see how a senior pastor could be afraid of a person like Lonnie , probably with good reason in hind sight . Church back then was a little dangerous , really nothing like today .
Right on. I love that perhaps when the time is right, maybe God just takes over? And maybe we’re just blessed to be along for the ride. Very cool, and thanks for sharing that insight. I especially like the part about the danger. I’ll be the first to admit that my faith isn’t dangerous enough right now.
Thanks again, brother! Cheers!
Hi Karl,
I just randomly stumbled across this website now well over an hour ago in my web search for a Duesenberg guitar. I’ve now spent about an hour and a half browsing through this site, utterly amazed at what an awesome resource it is for worship guitarists! Wow! And then I notice that you are a worship leader in Temecula!
Basically, my mind has been blown by the fact that such a rad community of worship guitarists exists only an hour from where I live. In San Diego, I know of just a few guys sprinkled across several churches all over town.
I help out with worship at a church in La Mesa (San Diego), and our worship pastor and I have been focussed recently on trying to really build a community of worship, which I know includes excellence and of course good tone!
Since I am also a guitarist, I’m interested in building this aspect of our musical expression. Right now at a church of 2,600 people there are only two guitarists for the main congregation and college group; me and one other guy (both of us in our early 20’s) who are relentlessly pursuing great tone.
I want to see other guys excited about how amazing a guitar can sound, and understanding the things that the Edge and other truly great guitarists do well; making the most of every note and serving the song and the experience. This would also be huge for our students in high school and middle school who are involved in worship as to see from an early age.
Basically, I’d love to meet you and have you come to my church for a workshop. If your friend with the Duesenberg wants to come too, that would be sweet! haha
Seriously, my mind is still being blown by the amazingness your website. Do you still have that Matchless Spitfire? If so, I would love to hear you play that thing – I recently missed an opportunity to pick one up used, and ended up getting a Goodsell Super 17 MkII instead, which I love, but I need to hear if I’m missing anything because thats always stood as the holy grail in my mind for some reason
Thanks brother!
-Tim
email: dashtim7@hotmail.com
Hey Tim! Great to meet you, and I’m stoked that the site can be a source of some info. There is a pretty cool community of worship musicians up here. We’re definitely blessed. And I would love to meet you and do a workshop down there. Just let me know when, and if there’s enough interest at your church, and that’d be awesome!
And I’m actually selling the Spitfire. Not for a lack of tone, but because I needed a 30 watt amp. So I just got the Spitfire’s older brother, the HC30. Almost the same tone, just a little more power when I need it.
People have been comparing the Goodsell to Matchless, but I’ve yet to play a Goodsell. I think I’m still on a Matchless high right now. hehe Anyway, have a great evening!
In Christ,
Karl
Hey Karl,
I’ve been reading your blog a little over a month, im not a guitar player I’m a sound guy. Just as you are in a quest for great tone. I’m in a similar if not parallel quest for great sound. I believe in order for me to do a good job, i need to know the music just as well if not better than the musicians. I consider my board my instrument, and i do my best to know my instrument well. (too bad i can’t trade mine in like a guitar and get a new one
) However i want to learn more about the True Bypass I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of one of you posts dealing with this? Ive looked and cant find much on it.
Right on, Seth!
Always awesome to have the sound techs over here as well. You guys are probably the most important musicians to the service. And good form on the buying/selling soundboards comment. haha Classic.
As for true bypass, here’s my main post on it:
http://guitarforworship.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/effects-chain-part-1-tone-suckage/
Cheers, my friend!
Hey Karl,
I’m a guitarist from India and I really Liked your idea in that “Ambient Pad Setup” post..
Thanks a lot for posting such useful tone-krafting ideas for U2 maniacs like me….
Keep posting on how to get those ethereal tones out of the axe..
I am happy to meet a guy like you whose interests matches mine…
All The Best
–Ronn
Hey Karl,
Just happened upon your website after within the past week, and man this is just the stuff I was needing to hear (well, read). I play lead guitar in our praise band, and love what you got going on here. This is really a great resource and I am looking forward to reading more and more. I’ve got some catching up to do though, because you have quite a few posts. So thanks for what you are doing!
Nick, it’s great to have you here! Thanks for the kind words, and hopefully you’ll be able to sort through some of my mindless ramblings.
So stoked to meet another worship guitarist, and welcome! Feel free to jump into any discussions you like, and to tell us how it ‘really’ is, if need be. 
Cheers, bro!
In Christ,
Karl
I met Marc Ford last week , former lead guitarist for the Black Crows . He now is in the worship band at the Vineyard Community Church in Laguna Niguel . I may be the last to know but check out what they are up to here . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36E4pP_VKi8
Is it OK if I am developing some definite bromance for you and your blog? And, to clarify, for me, said man-love is not wanting to BE you, it is wanting to hang out with you. See, I am different from you in a little way. Other than that, its like we are mental twins. Except I haven’t found a way yet to get paid for guitar. That would be awesome. I keep thinking that The Edge will see me, want to jam, and discover that I am the 2nd electric he has been missing for 33 years. But, alas, my time with them in Tampa was shared with 75,000 other people, so I lurk, as of yet undiscovered (most likely discovered, and ignored). Anyways, just wanted to say thanks again, and if you are ever in FL, let me know, would totally love to steal your ideas and pass them off as my own.
Korby–right on! I had no idea. That’s incredibly cool!
Joel–haha Thanks for the kind words, bro! And if Edge ever contacts you, you’ll let me at least be the guitar tech, right? haha How were they in Tampa?
I dunno dude, I would totally accept Dallas’ job. Tampa show was amazing, pretty much everything you described. Excepting that Bono didn’t really say anything all that crazy, and those mistakes you mentioned were non-existent. Semi-random question about strings: what strings do you prefer? Not that I want to copy you, I’m just curious.
Ya…the mistakes were actually pretty cool to see, because you could tell they were just the slightest bit tense about the show going live to 7 continents. lol I mean, it was almost imperceptible; but it was nice to see that they are human!
And I really don’t know what strings I prefer. I’m using the Ernie Ball green pack right now because they’re good and they work. I’m not sure I could argue that they’re amazing, but every time I try another string, I always take them off and go back to the Ernie Ball’s.
Interesting. Everyone I play with tells me Ernie Balls suck, and yet I feel myself gravitating toward them every time. Have you noticed any difference between the regular slinkies, and the classic rock n roll version?
You know, I’ve never tried the classic rock version strings. What’s their gauge?
They have them in the same gauges. They are a pure nickel wrap, as opposed to the nickel/steel alloy of the standard versions. Supposed to be more vintage-sounding, but I notice it as being slightly warmer. Or maybe I’m just tricking myself.
You know, nickel makes sense to me in theory. But last time I tried some (Snake Oils), it was just dull and lifeless for me. But perhaps it was just the brand. I’ll have to try Ernie Ball’s version! Thanks, bro!
Ultimately, its about what works for you as an individual. I prefer the nickels. They are warmer, especially in the high end. Its just a lot smoother, and it works well on my Tele.