"For the Honor" Tones and Geek Talk . . .

I have had a few people ask me about Guitars, Pedals, and my general setup in regards to the recently released album from Elevation Worship “For the Honor”. I wanted to sit down and relive the night for myself anyway so I did so with a bunch of coffee at Rush Espresso in Ballantyne and listened through the album. While trying to remember exactly what I used and how I set stuff I suddenly remembered I took notes. I took notes?! What the what?! Guess I wanted to act all professional or something.

First, just a general overview. For this album, since we were tracking everything live and shooting a DVD I borrowed a few extra guitars to deal with different tunings and things. For instance, I generally play in Drop-D now. No, I never played in a hardcore band, I just like the voicings I can play and the option of throwing that lo D into things. So, my guitars “Josephine” and “Mary-Jane”, which I played mostly, were in Drop-D. I just have such a good relationship with them. Josephine is an ’82 Epiphone Riviera made with all solid woods and a translucent Red finish on the bird’s eye maple top so you can see all the wood lookin’ through (sorry for the lame pun). “Mary-Jane” is a 90’s Mexican Black on Black Tele Custom. She’s the one with the big humbucker in the neck position and the pickup switch up top. Both guitars sound quite unique from any guitars I’ve heard or played before and so different from each other. It’s really cool to have them to choose from. I don’t know if most people name their guitars but I do. I have no logical reason for it or why I chose those particular names. I just do, and I just did.

I borrowed a Fender Mustang for “Standard” tuning, a Custom Strat for 1/2 step down Drop-D tuning, and a Gibson ES-125 for bowing since the rosin gets all over the strings and deadens them real quick, which was also in Drop-D. The ES sounded awesome for bowing because of the hollow body. Gave it a big cello type of openness. I actually used the ES on a record for Brandon Gilliam called “A Love Better Than Life” not too long after tracking “For the Honor” and it sounded incredible without the bow too. I’m real lucky to have such good friends with killer gear who are so nice as to let me borrow it from time to time. For instance, I used a 90’s British-made AC-30 for the night of the live recording but my friend Mark Mathis had to get it back for his tour but Kevin Neil Smith (who is featured on the DVD in a “Where’s Waldo” kinda way) has the same exact amp so I used his for overdubs.

Most of the album my parts are panned to the left side . . .

Here’s a track by track breakdown of what I used. Sorry, I know it’s pretty long but whatever . . .

Exalted One

I used “Mary-Jane” for the opener and played mostly big power chords on the turnarounds and the root note 16th note thing on the verses.

As far as the tone went it was quite simple. My Barber LTD set for a mild drive (my version of “mild” is probably dirtier than most). Memory Man was on the whole time (it usually is ;-) just a slight slapback with the mix a lil lo. On the Bridge and Turnarounds I played them big ol’ fat chords and kicked on my Divided by 13 Highball.

The Lord Is My Rock

For this tune my tone was quite simple. “Josephine”-Barber LTD- Memory Man.

I always set my Memory Man so there’s a slight boost once it’s engaged but, as I mentioned it’s pretty much always on. I like the lil preamp in it so if I need less delay I just turn the mix down. I also use the “Vibrato” setting and have the mod knob turned up a lil- nothing crazy (which is a relative term) but for just a lil life in it.

Live I stood for most of the song right against my amp on stage (Big props to the genius Producer @MackBrock for letting us have amps on stage) so as big diamond chords would ring out you’d have the slightest bit of feedback on the tail. It really opened up the resonance of the hollow body too. The guys wrote this song a few years ago after @WadeJoye the Worship Pastor of Elevation, had his beautiful twin daughters delivered prematurely with lots of health issues. In the middle of what seemed hopeless He and the rest of the guys grabbed on to the truth of Christ and wrote this song. I think of Wade’s family and what I have been going through at different times while playing this song and continually see the Lord meet me with hope and strength. Wade’s daughters are growing miracles and doing great by the way . . .

For the Honor

For this tune I used the Gibson 1960 ES-125 I borrowed from my good friend @LanceGatch. It was his first guitar so it was cool playing a guitar so sentimental to him while onstage with him. He’s a swell fella.

I’m just gonna put it out there; I’m a big fan of Sigur Ros. Playing in bands growing up we were always getting comments like, “Sugar Rose called and wants their bow back” but we never took offense because the Scenesters didn’t know how to pronounce the band’s name. Anyway, when Mack showed us this song for some reason I pulled out the bow and it just came to life for me. I mean, what else was I gonna play on a song in Eb? ha ha

I used the LTD- DD20 (analogue model w/long delay time and feedback)- Memory Man- Boss RV-5

God Be Praised

This song needed something different for me. I have no idea why, I just had this feeling something needs to change tonally for me in this one. I borrowed a ’66 Fender Mustang from my ol’ friend @TheJamesDuke which he had just gotten. That was the jelly. For the intro double stop rhythm stuff I used my EHX Lil Big Muff with gain all the way down and volume all the way up. Rest of the song was the LTD-DD20 (analogue/1/4 note/long feedback tail)- Memory Man- RV-5.

When Mack showed us this song before the recording he told me to just play some hi moving part on the Choruses and I ended up finding this cool lil riff which originally had a lot more movement involving palm muted stuff. Mack loved it but wanted it simpler so we took out the Post-Hardcore influence and it got super melodic.

The Church

I absolutely adore this song. Something heavy has happened every time we’ve played it over the past few years. There’s something special about making huge statements in songs about who we are as a church and who we are as The Church.

I grabbed Josephine for this one and played most of the fast single note stuff on the neck pickup cause she just has this really warm throaty tone there. Pedals were LTD-DD20 (modulate/ half-note/ long tail)- Memory Man- RV5.

On the “Whoa” section and following bridge I flip to the bridge pickup (fitting eh?) kicked on the /13 and followed the vocal line then played the moving part up high. Back to original tone then the bridge tone again for the big outro walk-down . . .

Let Your Kingdom Reign

While the down outro of The Church was happening I grabbed my slide and kept the tone very similar to the first half of the The Church, still using Josephine. On the solo I just switched to the bridge pickup and used an Xotic AC Booster with the same tone as before. For the actual slide part and solo I played off the vocal melody.

In this context, I like to stay real close to vocal melodies. I’ve found it strengthens them and makes guitars not so “guitar-ish”. What I mean is in this setting the point isn’t to impress with licks and tricks. We’re supposed to be creating a musical environment for people to have a legitimate experience with God Aurally and Spiritually, so distracting people’s attention with, “Hey! Look what I can do!!!” is just gross. Don’t get me wrong, I in no way mean we should dumb down our skill or technique. God gave us our talents and trusts us to finely tune our craft. Part of the skill is knowing what not to play though. An incredibly wise man, Don Potter, says it something like- Taste is being able to play a thousands notes but knowing which one is the right one in the moment. God doesn’t just want us to have skill but taste too . . .

The Highest

This one I used a custom Strat built by Andy Elliot of Elliot Guitars which I borrowed from my friend Jimmy Brown of @MatrimonyBand. For everything ‘cept the Choruses and Bridge I used the Neck Pickup. I just really love the warmth on the mellower parts. Pedals were like other ambient parts, LTD-DD20 (analogue/half note/long tail)-Memory Man-RV-5. I turned off the DD20 and went to the middle pickup for the chorus hook. Remember, I tuned the Strat a half-step down since I was using the open “B” string in the hook. Then the Bridge lead was the bridge pickup and the /13 to play around the vocal melody.

Only Love

“Mary-Jane” was best for this one. Back to the basic tone of the LTD-Memory Man for all the diamond strums and rhythmic chunky stuff. Added the RV-5 for the Prechorus hi line. On the second Verse I had the DD20 set to “Tape” with the dual head engaged and set to 1/4 note short tails for the choppy stabs. I love me some Minus the Bear and Edison Glass. One of my favorite things to do while playing rhythm is to play right with the drums. It just brings this muscle to the track and gets mean. I’ve been playing regularly with @LeeWorley for a few years now so we have a tendency to go the same places rhythmically which you can hear on the Bridge . . .

We Rejoice

This song is just plain sick, I mean it has a literally fatal disease on it. It’s just nasty. I love it.

I stuck with “Mary-Jane” and actually turned off the Memory Man for the majority of the track. I used the LTD-Lil Big Muff for all the nasty Intro and Turnaround stuff then the LTD-/13 stuff for the Choruses and Solo Section. Although the solo on the record is panned over to the left where most of my stuff is that’s actually the brilliant @LanceGatch playing it. The single note hi stuff on the bridge is LTD-DD20 (Modulate/half-note/long tail) Memory Man-RV5

Victorious

“Mary-Jane” LTD-DD20 (Modulate/quarter note/long tail)- Memory Man- RV5. I swelled in the notes on the first Chorus playing the same idea from the other Choruses just simpler. Oh yea, I have flipped the lil DIP switch on my Ernie Ball VPjr to smooth out the swell rate. I turned off the RV5 and DD20 for the Prechorus riff then back on for everything else. Again with staying close to the vocal melody for the chorus line . . .

Sing Forever

“Mary-Jane” again. She really did get the majority of face time on this record. For the first time on the record I used a dotted 1/8th delay. Went with a lil thumb slap thing (sometimes I wish I played bass; not really though) for the intro. I kept the tone real simple throughout the whole song. I think I turned the RV5 on for the down bridge part (the Explosions In the Sky soundin thing). It was fun playin a lil duet part with @LanceGatch there. Then, just kicked the /13 on for the bending double stops going into the last chorus.

Give Me Faith

More of “Mary-Jane”. Used the Memory Man and DD20 together while have the DD20 on “Tape” with 2-heads and 8th note with short repeat then the MM made a syncopated repeat. It was one of those things which is quite subtle and you can’t even hear on the record but I had fun geeking out making. I played root notes and chords throughout so there wasn’t much in the way of tone changes. I just stayed in the background driving root notes accenting a “horse-trot” kind of rhythm to give the new version an understated pulse.

All Things New

This one was fun. First of all, it’s in C#. C-freakin-#. What’d I do? That’s right, I copped out and grabbed the bow. Bwahaha!!!! No, it really needed it I think. I even looked at the bass player @PrestonHayden and asked if he thought I was overdoing the whole “bow gimmick” and he reprimanded me for the thought.

Mack told us he wanted a note to sustain throughout the entire song so I put the DD20 on “Reverse” at a dotted half-note and 100% feedback then grabbed my Ebow (YES!!! I used a bow and an Ebow!!!! INSANE!!!!) and swelled a G# in then an octave lower then turned on my Whammy w/ Octave up harmony and did the same two notes again. Then I turned off the DD20 but since it was set to 100% FB (feedback not facebook) it sustained throughout the entire song. Once I had created the sustained notes I switch to the ES-125 and bow and kept that tone simple with the LTD-Memory Man-RV5 which also effected the sustained notes coming from the DD20.

You Reign Alone

Went to Jimmy’s Strat tuned down a half-step still. LTD-Memory Man. I played rhythm and went with a Bazan-ish lo double stop with open “D” string (which was actually Db) on the Choruses and Bridge. For the second and third Verse I put the DD20 on dotted 1/8ths and played a lil arp part on the neck pickup so it’d mellow out and be kinda synth-like.

Give My Life to You

This may be my favorite track on the whole record. Usual ambient tone with DD20 on Analogue at half note and long tail. Ebow on verses but dropping an octave for the second Verse. It was fun switching from the Ebow to the moving part on the PreChorus like I’m a real guitar player and stuff who has to do things live, ha! Again with following the vocal melody on the Choruses and Bridge. Mack comes up with some beautifully emotional melodies and the two of us worked a good bit back and forth on this one for the Chorus/Bridge line. I think it really turned out great.

Our King Has Come

Once “Give My Life to You” was done @ChrisdotBrown went to the piano and while the rest of the band walked off the stage I kept the same tone as before and added the Whammy an octave up and did simple swelly swells to pad behind Chris. It was a magical moment being on the stage alone in the dark hearing our church all singing together, “He is alive and we are free, He is alive and we have found our Peace. Our King has come”. I could hear them just fine with my monitors in but pulled them out to hear their true voices. It was by far my favorite moment of the night; more than any cool leads or parts I got to play . . .