JTV guitar + POD HD500 for live worship music

[coreyhchan]

Anyone use a JTV guitar plus the POD HD500 for rhythm guitar in a live worship setting? If so, what guitar models are you using? Which amps and effects pedals? Please share your setup. Thx.

[brue58ski]

Yes I do. It really depends on the song and I'll try everything to match whatever the recording of the song sounds like, but mostly the Soldano's, JCM 800, and the Vox AC30. Guitars, Les Paul, Srat, Rickenbaker and Acoustic. I go direct and use a wedge fo monitoring. I have a mixer at home and so make sure my XLR output is a proper mic level (We;re mono). Then it's less work for the sound guy.

[coreyhchan]

Thanks for your reply. Do you use your JTV for rhythm or lead guitar? What is a typical setup that you use for rhythm guitar?

[HijlkoSoepboer]

Just out of curiosity as I haven't any clue what a worship setting actually is I wonder in what way a live worship setting differs from other live settings (local bar, small venues, small stage, big stage) ???

[Ed_Saxman]

Just out of curiosity as I haven't any clue what a worship setting actually is I wonder in what way a live worship setting differs from other live settings (local bar, small venues, small stage, big stage) ???

 

I think is a matter of proselytism. I've seen that before on other forums and I dislike very much.

 

Religions are a burden for humanity.

[claybert]

I've been using a Variax and POD for over ten years at my church.  I started with a Variax 500 through a POD XTL then to an X3L then to a POD HD500.  I've had my JTV59 for over two years now and I absolutely love it.  I usually play lead electric and have patches that use the Dr. Z for clean (lots of delay) and dirty rhythm sounds and I have a really nice lead patch that I use that was modified from the Lincoln Brewster patch directly off of his HD500.  I've also run acoustic guitar, lap steel, and mandolin through my HD500.  I can basically dream up any tone that our worship leader needs me to play, and even find cool alternate tunings to use on certain tunes..  I also play in a couple of cover bands too and have found my Line 6 gear to be indispensable for what I do.  I'm more of a rhythm guitarist turned lead guitarist (I'm no shredder) so I'm usually looking to do something different than what the other guitarists are doing, i.e. chord inversions and cool licks that use effects and such.

[coreyhchan]

Thanks for your comments Claybert. I love the versatility of the JTV-59 and the tones for playing lead were great but I found I was getinga little overwhelmed with all the options and spending way too much time trying to dial in the tone I wanted. So sadly, I returned my JTV-59. I usually play rhythm and lead worship with my Taylor T5 running through the Line 6 POD HD 500. I love the clean and dirty tones I can get through the Vox AC30 TB.

[claybert]

I understand, the amount of variables you have to play with when using a Variax and a HD500 is pretty mind boggling.  Sometimes simple is better.  Our worship leader plays a tele into a Morgan tube amp (kind of Vox-y), so I usually keep it simple and play the Les Paul model (B+N for clean, B for dirty/leads) with my stock Dr. Z patches or Marshall patches so we sound a bit different.  It works for us anyway.  I feel like my sound is getting a little stale and I can't wait for the POD HD model packs that are coming soon so I can experiment a little bit.

[mswhitsett1]

Hey Guys, 

I also play at my church and have the same setup, but i can't for the life of me get the actual functions of the variax working with the POD I'm trying to get a nice acoustic sound but the variax isn't controlling anything. Do you have any idea how to fix it?

[radatats]

Hey Guys, 

I also play at my church and have the same setup, but i can't for the life of me get the actual functions of the variax working with the POD I'm trying to get a nice acoustic sound but the variax isn't controlling anything. Do you have any idea how to fix it?

 

You need to use a VDI cable for the POD to control the JTV, not a regular guitar cable.  If you are using one already, check to see that Monkey can see your JTV while hooked to the POD.  If not, try a different cable and if that doesn't help, open a support ticket.

 

Also, just to cover the bases, you have to select the JTV model you want in the mixer section for the POD.  I use HD Edit and it defaults to the older Variax models which won't work with a JTV.

[musical1212]

My Pod HD 500X edit program has Tyler Variax for the default for the VDI input of the mixer section and works great with my new JTV-59. Variax control is set to preset, so each factory preset calls up the proper JTV instrument, from acoustic guitar to different electrics. I find that is a worship service, this HD500X and JTV should be used simply at first. I had a great time changing from a few electric patches and then to acoustic. I am going to introduce the banjo patch soon as we are coming across several songs that have that sound.   

[HijlkoSoepboer]

"Church", "worship", "rhythm and lead worship", etc, etc, yet no one seems to be able to explain what this actually means.  Please enlighten me in these so far non-info replies.

 

So again in what way does a live worship setting differ from a non-worship live setting ?

[coreyhchan]

Well, HijlkoSoepboer: you've asked a lot of questions but to get to the main question you're asking, what I meant by "live worship setting" is a non-acoustic setting, where all the instruments are plugged into an amp or PA system and the service is "live" verses recorded in a studio setting.

[HijlkoSoepboer]

Thanks for clarifying that.

 

So it's basically the same setting as you will find most bands in when playing live for an audience then...

 

Great, now I can place your postings in the right perspective, thanks again.

[Hey_Joe]

Just thought I'd through my 2¢ in here.

For most Praise and Worship players the setting is in a church (usually a sanctuary) and the band plays and leads the singing of Christian rock/hymns that the congregation sings to the Lord during the Saturday night / Sunday morning services, specific holy holidays; Christmas, Thanksgiving, weeknight prayer meetings and teachings, etc. and we usually play other Christian recording artist's songs but it's not exclusive to non original songs - So, not exactly "basically the same setting as you will find most bands in when playing live for an audience then..." It can be a concert like any secular gig at any type of venue with any genre of "rock" or just in church during the service for worship. There are certain popular artists that charge big bucks for tickets at regular concert type auditoriums or free concerts at particular events by lesser known bands doing copy or original music - church, parks, halls, parking lots, you name it - fairly typically not bars. The mind set is not as people being performers but more as musicians and singers leading people in song -the focus is on who we are singing to not who is singing or playing and how cool they sound not that we are not well rehearsed and strive to play and and sound our best and also consider it as our mission or service to God and the congregation.

Just a little more perspective for you to visualize.

Not trying to be a wise guy or know it all or holier than thou by chiming in here.

[musical1212]

I have a JTV-69. I have my patches on my HD500X set to recall the Vairax model I want. It seems if I change the model say from Lester 1 to T-1, the patch now stays changed. Is there a way to protect a patch so it will recall the original way you set it up after you go through a song and make some manual changes?  

[robertmcollins3]

Thanks for clarifying that.

 

So it's basically the same setting as you will find most bands in when playing live for an audience then...

 

Great, now I can place your postings in the right perspective, thanks again.

"Most bands" don't play in a room that has the same acoustics as a church.  It may be a bit off-topic to the post, but the challenge is playing and sounding good while keeping the volume level moderate enough (at least in most churches) to not run people off.  Since most churches are small compared to other live venues, stage volume also becomes more important to control.

 

And as another poster said, it's a much different audience that we play for.  You may need to think about that one though :-) 

[chuskey]

"Church", "worship", "rhythm and lead worship", etc, etc, yet no one seems to be able to explain what this actually means.  Please enlighten me in these so far non-info replies.

 

So again in what way does a live worship setting differ from a non-worship live setting ?

Another way to think about praise & worship music is that it's a genre.  Typically a mid tempo type of music that, guitar wise, has a lot of influence from U2.  Meaning lots of delays and quite often a similar tone to what you'd hear the Edge using.  

 

This is why lots of P&W players use Vox style amps and have extensive pedal boards.  

 

Also it is for a church service so it's a little different than a club gig.  As others have mentioned stage volume is typically much lower.  The last couple of churches I've played at used Aviom in ear monitoring systems and there were no amps on stage.  Once you get used to this it's quite nice.  You can make your own monitor mix and it's not like you're going to be ablt to crank a 100 watt amp in this setting anyway :)

 

I do miss the days of standing on stage in front of a cranked Marshall half stack, but truth be told I think the sound from the audience prospective is better when the sound guy can control the mix and doesn't have 100db of guitar coming off the stage.  

 

The OP question is really similar to someone asking if the HD500/Variax combo would work well for a rock gig, or a blues gig.  

 

Overall it's the same thing I was doing when I played in clubs, but my ears aren't ringing afterwards and I'm home before 4 am :)

 

Personally I'm not crazy about how the term "praise & worship" has come to identify a genre of music.  It really should be describing an act, but it is what it is.