Generally speaking you can play any musical genre with most guitar rigs. No matter what sound you are hoping to achieve most setups will have a basic clean sound for pop and roots based music and some form of overdrive or distortion for punchier, “rockier” styles. Many entry level “bedroom” amplifiers offer so much more these days than just two basic channels with onboard effects and even connectivity to handy apps helping you to produce your desired sound.

As you develop your playing and move into more specific sounds and styles you may find you will want to personalise your rig to suit a particular genre of music. The good news is putting together a genre specific rig to suit a certain style does not have to mean spending major dollars and the advantage being not only will you get the sound you want, you will also start to feel you have invested in and connected to your chosen musical style. We assembled a panel of dedicated Musos Corner product demonstrators who are very serious about their respective musical styles and asked them to put together two rigs, one for under $1000 dollars to suit someone who is upgrading from their first basic all round set up the second is most or less a dream rig where money is no object just to see what is possible. The caveat here is we are not just spending money for the sake of it rather putting together a pro rig that will deliver the right sound, feel and aesthetics and stand up to the rigours of playing night after night.

All the pricing we are working from are the approximate street prices at time of publication. (July - 2022)

Budget Rig

For the “budget” set up we have tried to make this as close to your first upgrade to your rig as possible, with this in mind we are not really specifying a professional rig meant for stage use. We are concentrating on getting you a rig with the sound, playability and vibe of your chosen style. As upgrading all of your rig in one go is a rare thing due to budget we suggest you swap out your equipment as necessary to your requirements. You will find depending upon the style that amp wattage (volume) will vary considerably as required by each style.  

Dream Rig

For the “dream” set up we have specified no budget, however, as specified earlier we are not just looking to burn money here like a rockstar but just meet our favourite requirements based on sound, playability, reliability, durability and vibe, this can be often achieved without just going out and buying the most expensive equipment available. As we are “the people’s music store”, you won’t find any boutique or overly exotic gear on these lists, just easily readily available classics that have stood the test of time. 

What's in a rig?

Hypothetically included in each rig:

  • We have hypothetically included all the leads and patch cables you will need for each rig
  • We have hypothetically included a clip-on tuner for the budget rigs and a pedal tuner in the dream rig. We have also included a power supply or power brick for all pedal setups.
  • The other proviso we have is we are hypothetically supplying a road crew for the Dream Rigs so space and weight is not a factor in these decisions as you don’t have to lug it so you can knock yourself out.
  • All the pricing we are working from are the approximate street prices at time of publication.

Budget Worship Rig

for under $1000 (spec’d by PM)

Guitar - Gretsch G2215-P90 Junior Jet Club in Sahara Metallic ($535.00)

Gretsch guitars are a popular choice for worship music styles due to their chime and versatility, The P90 loaded Junior Jet Club will give you the sparkle for lead lines, high parts up the neck or partial chords and a fat warm tone for chords and rhythm. The classic mid-present Gretsch sound will also punch through the mix in any house of worship no matter how large.

Amplifier - Vox MV50 Amplifier and Cabinet Set ($379.00)

Vox AC30 and AC15 amplifiers are also very popular as they complement the Gretsch’s chime with their very subtle shimmery clean tone and their punchy valve driven dynamics. Although the MV50 is not a classic valve model it does utilise NuTube technology which pairs a tiny vacuum tube with a class D amplifier for a classic sound in a tiny package. The 8’ speaker in the set is probably a little small compared to a usual 12’, however, for valve amp value on a budget this one is really hard to beat.

Effect Pedals - Behringer FX600 Multi Effect ($54.00)

Sure worship players love their individual pedals and worship pedalboards are notoriously large packed with delicious reverbs, delays, compressors, overdrive, modulation, volume and beyond, we are on a tight budget here so we are going with an all in one solution at a ridiculous price point. The owners of Behringer, Music Tribe actually produce a lot of chips for many renowned pedal manufacturers so even though this pedal is relatively cheap PM is on pretty solid ground here and we have found all Behringer products to be relatively reliable and durable.

The Dream Worship Rig

+$1000 (spec’d by PM)

Guitar - Gretsch G6134T-58 Vintage Select ’58 Penguin with Bigsby in Vintage White ($5499.00)

Gretsch guitars are a popular choice for many high profile worship guitar players. Citing the classic charm and the ability of the clean filtertron pickups to take pedals well and cut through the mix, Gretsch is one of the first choices for worship guitarists on any budget, The Gretsch White Falcon is considered the holy grail of guitars by players of all persuasions, however, PM has gone for its lesser known little brother, the Penguin. Although the Penguin is not a true hollowbody, a full and resonant tone is assured via a chambered mahogany body which helps articulation and harmonic richness as the air vibrates between the top and bottom. The vintage white with gold hardware is all class and is worthy of gracing the stage in any house of worship.

Amplifier - Vox AC30HW2X Hand Wired ($2889.00) & Roland JC120 Jazz Chorus ($1579.00)

Like the Gretsch, Vox amplifiers are another popular choice for worship guitar. The unmistakable Vox chime and crystalline tones are magical particularly when paired with effect pedals. The hand wired AC30 does not contain the classic Vox reverb and tremolo, however, PM has plenty of options available to cover these on his pedalboard. The twin speakers will give plenty of sound reinforcement on stage and the 30 watts of power will be ample to remain clean at higher volumes. PM has chosen some pretty sweet effect pedals which can be run in stereo so he is going right over the top with the addition of the super clean JC120 which can support stereo pedals though more likely he will be using the JC120 in stereo with the AC30 which will be an absolutely mighty combination.

Strymon Effect Pedals - Strymon Timeline ($729.00), Strymon Big Sky ($749.00) & Strymon Mobius ($699.00) )

To keep his sound as pristine as possible PM is using studio grade Strymon effect pedals for his reverb, delay and modulation. The Big Sky is renowned for an array of classic and future reverbs promising all the shimmer and long tail effects required by this style. The Timeline is another premium option offering 12 delay types, 200 presets and MIDI capability.

All of PM’s modulation will come from the Mobius which like the Timeline has 12 different modulation types including favourites like chorus, flanger, phaser and tremolo as well as cool lo fi options such as the Destroyer bit crusher and the Quadrature wave-shape modulator.

Effect Pedals - Ernie Ball MVP Volume Pedal ($325.00), Earthquaker Devices The Warden Optical Compressor ($295.00), Ibanez TS808HW Overdrive Pedal ($459.00) & JHS Prestige Clean Boost ($185.00)

For angelic ethereal volume swells the Ernie Ball MVP is a superb choice with unparalleled control and aircraft grade housing for durability.

To add sustain and punch, the Earthquake Devices ”‘The Warden” optical compressor is a musical and simple solution for squeezing every last drop of tone from this rig and for a slight drive / boost who could go past the legendary Ibanez tube screamer, the TS808HW, built to last in Japan and a staple of pedalboards and since the late 1970’s and is widely regarded as one most imitated pedal of all time.

For a simple clean boost to bump up the parts in certain songs the JHS Prestige is a simple and well built solution which will keep PM’s tone up where it needs to be without scuffing his tone up with too much saturation and the in built buffer will ensure his signal stays strong and consistent through the entire pedal chain

Auxiliary - E Bow Electric String Sustainer ($205), Swamp Industries Amplifier Isolating Sound Shield ($229.99), Boss ES8 ($989.00) & Altoids Mint Tin ($6.00)

E-Bow Electric String Sustainer - The E-Bow provides string and synth like characteristics as well as endless sustain and this will work perfectly in concert with the other pedals particularly the volume pedal.

Swamp Industries Amplifier Isolating Sound Shield - To keep the sound on stage manageable many houses of worship use isolation screens to minimise drums and amplifiers on stage. This handy product is portable, lightweight and effective and will keep the worship leader happy.

Pedal Switching Option - Boss ES8 - There may be a showdown to see which pedals can be switched in stereo as the ES8 can only accommodate two pedals in stereo, however, you can run nine separate pedals if you run the volume loop. The ES8 will keep the pedals accessible and tidy on stage as well as being ultra durable for countless numbers of changes.

Altoids Mint Tin - This concept is a little dated in 2022, however, there is still some solid reasoning behind rocking an empty tin of Altoids on your board. The tin is great for storing spare picks, ear plugs, pedal toppers, batteries, etc. Whatever is compact enough to fit in the tin and you need to store safely with easy accessibility is a candidate here. Some savvy guitarists have even turned the tin into an actual working pedal.