My Guitar Gear Setup
Here’s the deal. I don’t have a very sophisticated guitar set up, and I don’t think that you have to in all settings. In fact in the average church setting, what I have will probably work just fine. I’ve had no problems with it at all. Along with that, I would like to say that I’m NOT the best guitar player, and i’m sure there are some of you out there who know a lot more about it than me, but this works for me and it’s a nice concise set up.
Guitar: It’s important to have a guitar that you love, and that you enjoy playing. I’ve had guitars that I didn’t enjoy playing and that didn’t sound that great. Thats 0-2 people, and thats not good! So a couple of years ago finally got a guitar that I love playing and that I enjoy listening too. I decided to go with a smaller body guitar because it fits me better (i’m a small guy). To me there’s nothing worse than seeing someone on stage and they are completely overshadowed by an oversized guitar. I play a Larrivee and I have really enjoyed it. I bought one that I could install my own pick-up of choice in, and I went with an LR Baggs pickup which sounds great.
Director Box: I think DI boxes are equally important for sound. I love using the LR Baggs Acoustic DI. It has great controls that really let you manage your tone, before it ever gets to FOH.
Tuner: Everyone needs a good tuner, and you can’t go wrong with Boss TU-2 or now TU-3
Line 6 Delay and POD: I don’t play much electric but when i do, I usually play through this Delay and the Line 6 Pod. Since i don’t play a lot and it’s mostly just rhythm i’m not to concerned with tons of effects. I just need a nice overdrive sound with some delay on it. So these two things do the trick just fine. I’m sure there is much fancier equipment I could use, but these 2 work. One thing i’ve learned is that it’s ok to have simplicity in gear, don’t make it harder than it needs to be. Keep it simple and focus on leading, inspiring, and being a transparent worship leader. I’m not saying that tone isn’t important, IT IS. But for some folks, like myself, electric guitar isn’t my main instrument, so I just need it to sound good, and the easier the better!
Boss AB Switch: I love using this switch from boss. Makes it super easy to switch between guitars on stage, and lets me have less cables to get tangled up in. I usually will have an acoustic and electric on stage at once and they go out to 2 different channels, so this allows me to still only have 1 guitar cable for both guitars.
Here is a picture of my stage set up and what it looks like, minus the guitars sitting out:
So there you have it. Questions? Comments?
-Bradley
Canon 7D
If you or your church is in the market for a great Camera that can handle both Photos and Video, then the Canon 7D is a great option for you to consider. The 7D has all the features of a fantastic DSLR for photos, and it gives you excellent video quality as well at the flip of a switch. The reasons why i love this particular camera are numerous, but i’ll mention a few.
The Size: Great because I can take it anywhere and it can get just about any shot i need with the appropriate lens attached. It’s lightweight and still has great battery life when you add the battery grip from Canon as well.
The Quality: great quality is an understatement. It works well with FCP and imports fairly easily. There are a lot of tutorials online that you can look up to find the perfect Video set up, but right out of the box is really good to. It will shoot in 30, 24, and 60 frames per second which is great for all applications.
Lenses: I love being able to use my go-to lenses in photography for video. The 24-70mmL series lens is a great everyday lens for video, and the 50mm 1.4 prime is super sharp. Both, to me, are must haves for the Camera.
The Lenses are a great Pro, but they are also a Con, for churches, because of the price tag that comes with them. BUT you can pick up the 50mm 1.4 prime for a reasonable $350. That should get you through your interviews, etc. You’ll eventually want to get a nice zoom, but that can wait.
The other Con, isn’t really a Con, just a “not sure yet” Sound isn’t really an issue once you grasp the difference in how it records and you have the proper equipment. You can use a simple on camera shock mount camera for most applications, but you’ll want to invest in a nice lapel for other applications.
I give the Canon 7D a high ranking and would recommend it to any church that is in the market. Pick one up, and use it to tell faith stories, and shoot motion backgrounds that will inspire you congregation to worship in new, fresh ways.
Here is a link to Canon’s site with all the specs on the 7D. Click here
Below you’ll see a video i shot recently all on the 7D. I’m still working some kinks out when it comes to sound and the best method for recording sound on it, so i’ll let you know what i come up with.
This is My Story Promo Video
