Best Praise & Worship Guitars Under 1000 (2021)
So you are looking for affordable Praise and Worship guitars? Guitars capable of sparkling clean tones and overdriven lead guitar solos. This article is a roundup of the best electric guitars for lead guitar players on Worship Teams.
While it’s true that a great guitar player can make any guitar sound amazing, it certainly doesn’t hurt to start with the right tool for the job. Most lead guitar players for Worship Teams all seem to end up using a particular set of brands and models with many of the same guitar tone characteristics.
After 5 years of playing lead guitar on Worship Teams, and 20 prior years playing lead guitar in the rock/metal/punk genres, I’ve figured out what works best, and which combinations of gear produce the best ambient guitar tones. So if you are looking for the perfect worship guitar, that’s great because I happen to know quite a bit on the subject.
The good news is, there are a whole lot of great options from a wide variety of guitar builders. Guitar manufacturers have really stepped up their manufacturing quality while at the same time lowering prices. You can get a very solid, reliable, and great sounding guitar that is ideal for Worship and Church musicians, and all at a reasonable price.
Key Components of the Best Worship Guitars for Lead Guitarists:
- Great “Unplugged” Guitar Tone
- Versatile Guitar Pickups (Splittable Humbuckers are Ideal)
- The Guitar’s Tuning Stability (Locking Tuning Machines Help with Bigsby equipped guitars.)
- Comfortable Guitar to Play
- Quiet Operation (no hissing or line noise.)
- Guitars capable of both transparent clean guitar tone, and crunchy distorted lead guitar tones.
This page is packed with very detailed information on the best worship guitars under 1000 for lead guitarists on worship teams. I walk you through the best worship guitars available today.
If 1000 is out of your range, don’t worry! You can check out my list for Best Worship Guitars Under 500.
Before we dive in, I’d like to make sure you know basic principles of guitar tone, and pickups. However, if you just need a quick list, here is the rundown of my top picks.
Best Worship Guitars for Praise & Worship Guitarists:
- Fender Deluxe Tele Thinline
- Veritas Guitars Portlander
- Schecter Guitar Research PT Fastback IIB with Bigsby
- Fender Classic Player Jaguar Special
- Fender Vintera '60s Jazzmaster
- Fender Alternate Reality Meteora
- Fender Classic Series '72 Telecaster Deluxe
- Reverend Jetstream 390
- Schecter Ultra III w/ Bigsby
- PRS S2 Standard 24 Satin
- Schecter Solo-6B Solid-Body w/ Bigsby
- PRS SE Zach Myers
- Reverend Double Agent OG
- D'Angelico (DAPBEDBWMSTCTR)
- Key Components of the Best Worship Guitars for Lead Guitarists:
- Best Worship Guitars Under 1000
- Best Praise and Worship Guitar #14
- Best Worship Guitars #13
- Best Praise and Worship Guitar #12
- Best Worship Guitars #11
- Best Praise and Worship Guitar #10
- Best Worship Guitars #9
- Best Praise and Worship Guitar #8
- Best Worship Guitars #7
- Best Praise and Worship Guitar #6
- Fender Vintera '60s Jazzmaster - Ice Blue Metallic
- Best Worship Guitars #3
- Veritas Guitars Portlander Pro Line
- Best Praise and Worship Guitar #2
- Best Worship Guitars #1
- Fender Deluxe Tele Thinline
The biggest factor for guitar players in the worship genre is GUITAR TONE when discussing the best worship guitars. I cannot overstate the importance of guitar tone. If you don’t really know what I mean by guitar tone, don’t worry. You will learn what it means as you progress in this genre. But for now, here is a simple definition.
Guitar Tone: The quality and richness of the sound a guitar makes.
When I started in the Worship genre, I had very little idea about guitar tone or how to even get a decent guitar tone. I just had to learn through experience. I can help you however, by giving you a list of the guitars best suited for the Worship genre, and are capable of great tone. Any one of these guitars can be a great foundation for your guitar tone. This list is a culmination of my own experiences and those of well known guitarists in the praise and worship genre.
Things to Consider Before Buying a Praise and Worship Guitar.
Before you narrow down the best praise and worship guitars, you need to know what type of sound you want. Electric guitars can be divided into two groups.
-Single Coil Guitars
-Humbucker Guitars
This is referring to the type of pickup the guitar utilizes to “pickup” the vibrations the strings are making and sending to the amplifier.
Single Coil Pickups
Single Coil Pickups are the first type of guitar pickup to be invented. They utilize one coil of copper wire wrapped around a magnet and pole pieces. They produce a very bright, crisp, and thin guitar tone. They sound particularly good for clean and low gain guitar parts. They also can cut through the typically heavy mixes of the worship genre.
Pros:
Bright, Crisp, Clean Tone
- Classic Choice
Cons:
Can sound a bit harsh and thin
Noisy
Not great for high gain (distorition) guitar tone.
Humbucker (Double Coil Pickups)
Humbucker (Dual Coil) Pickups are the response to need for quieter(hum cancelling) guitar pickups. They consist of two coils of copper wire wrapped around a magnet and pole pieces.
When paired together, these two coils cancel out the hum created by the single coil. They produce a very strong and thick guitar tone. Lots of low and middle frequencies. They have a bit flatter EQ for clean playing, but really shine when it comes to heavier (high gain) guitar tone.
Pros:
- Versatile
- Thick Bass and Mids, Warm Clean Tone
- Noiseless
- Great for high gain (distortion, fuzz, overdrive)
Cons:
- Duller Clean Tone
- Can be harder to cut through a full mix.
I prefer humbucker guitars myself. I find they are more versatile and can always be modified with push/pull potentiometers to get the single coil sound if need be.
Most electric guitar players have at least one single coil guitar and one humbucker guitar.
Best Worship Guitars Under 1000
The Fender Telecaster holds a special place in my heart, and thats true for tens of thousands of guitar lovers. The 72 Classic Series Telecaster Deluxe is one of the best worship guitars I can think of in terms of versatility, wide ranging tone, and proven track record.
Like its ancestor, the Classic Series ’72 Telecaster Deluxe rocks a pair of Fender Wide Range humbucking pickups and a quartet of skirted control knobs. Other features include an alder body, C-shaped maple neck with bullet truss rod nut, three-bolt neck plate with Micro-Tilt adjustment, maple freeboard, large headstock, three-position pickup switch, vintage-style string-through-body hard-tail bridge and vintage-style tuners.
Ronald Ellis gave this guitar 5 Stars, and here is his detailed review:
“Best buy for a Telecaster out there. The S1 position is great if you need that faux Humbucker sound. Very versatile. The phase button is interesting, and allows for tonal variation, but I don’t find myself using it that often. Like all telecasters, you can get ice-pick treble out of the bridge pickup, but it seems MUCH less so that many other comparable models (also easily handled with by dialing down the tone knob.)
All in all, you could easily get through a night of covers without changing guitars; there’s enough there for everything. A mild complaint is that there is a significant volume drop off if you roll off for a cleaner sound. I’d like to be able to dial a slightly dirty tone, and clean it up with vol knob, and I’ve had mixed success.
Overall build quality is excellent. Very solid feeling and could find no flaws in the finish or hardware. I am a big fan now of the ‘soft V’. I’ve played them before and liked them, and it continues with this one. I will emphasize that (in my case) is a VERY soft V shape; you can barely tell the difference between a medium C and the soft V.
Highly recommend for the price. I’ve played $1200 Fender Models that didn’t feel this nice. It is not my primary guitar, so my expectations might be lower than if this was my number 1, but if you need *that* sound, and don’t want to break the bank, this is the best option I’ve found (I had a CV Squire before, and the pickup upgrade alone is worth the price.)”
Features:
- Two Fender “Wide Range” humbucking pickups serve-up loads of huge ’70’s Classic Rock tones.
- This model’s “amp” knobs
- Large Strat headstock
- Bullet truss-rod nut
- “F” tuners
- 3-Bolt neck-plate (with Micro-Tilt)
This page is packed with very detailed information on the best worship guitars under 1000 for lead guitarists on worship teams. I walk you through the best worship guitars available today.
If 1000 is out of your range, don’t worry! You can check out my list for Best Worship Guitars Under 500.
Best Praise and Worship Guitar #14
Gretsch Guitars have become something of a traditional brand in the Worship Guitar community. I think the main reason for that is their reputation for rich tone, and of course…the Bigsby. In fact, many of the guitars on this list sport a Bigsby. Not only does it look cool, but it adds another dimension to your overall guitar tone.
Introduced in 1961, this guitar was Gretsch’s first true solid-body instrument. That classic design is once again available in the G5135 CVT, with an ultra-slim body, mahogany set-neck, dual Mega’Tron™ pickups, anchored Adjusto-Matic™ bridge, chrome-plated die-cast tuners, Bigsby® B50 tailpiece and burgundy finish.
- Solid mahogany body
- Mahogany neck (24.6″” scale)
- Rosewood fingerboard
- 21 medium jumbo frets
- Bone nut (1-11/16″” wide)
- Vintage style machine heads
- Dual Mega’Tron pickups
- G-arrow knobs
- Anchored Adjusto-matic bridge
- Bigsby B50 vibrato tailpiece
- Gretsch knurled strap knobs
- Chrome hardware
Best Worship Guitars #13
The Double Agent W is a high-tech axe, undercover in a vintage package. The W is built with a Korina body, Double Agent W Features, and custom Reverend pickups with high-tech electronics, making it great for guitar players who want modern specs, concealed in a vintage package.Korina BodyKorina wood is a medium/light weight wood, with great consistency and solid tonal quality. It’s used in all Reverend guitars.
Reverend names Korina as a key factor in producing their awe-inspiring instruments, thanks to its great resonance and rich harmonics.Double Agent W Features Reverend threw a lot of cool features into this guitar. For starters, it’s got a roasted maple neck, which is heat treated at over 300 degrees to remove any impurities in the wood. This creates a lighter, more stable neck, with a vintage look.
- BODY: Korina Solidbody
- NECK: Roasted Maple
- FINGERBOARD: Roasted Maple 12″ Radius
- BRIDGE: Wilkinson WVS50 IIK Tremolo
- This guitar comes in a CME Exclusive Outfield Ivy Metallic finish!
- NECK PROFILE: Medium Oval
- FINGERBOARD: Pau Ferro
- FRETS: 22 Medium Jumbo
- TRUSS ROD: Dual Action –
- TUNERS: Reverend Pin-Lock
- NUT: 43mm Width – Boneite
- CONTROLS: Volume, Tone, Bass Contour, 3-Way
- STRINGS: 10-46
I’ve always been a huge fan of the Les Paul. I can remember the first time I got to play one. It just felt and sounded right. There is something about the power of the pickups, they just drive the amp in just the right way. They have a heavy body and thick tone. If you prefer a darker, warmer guitar tone then this could be the right choice for you. I can tell you that my experience with Schecter Guitars has been nothing but EXCELLENT.
The Schecter SOLO-6B Electric Guitar consists of solid body and also delivers high-performance sound and playability in an eye-catching, retro-styled package. It is made up of a mahogany body with a 3-piece set mahogany neck. A adaptable combination of Schecter humbuckers with coil-tapping and high-end hardware offer professional-level control and expression. Chrome hardware involves Grover tuners, TonePros tune-o-matic bridge and Bigsby tremolo.
- Top Contour- Arched Top
- Construction-Set-Neck
- Body Material-Mahogany
- Binding-White Multi-ply
- Bridge-Bigsby Flat Top B50 w/ Roller TonePros TOM TPFR–T3BT
- Controls-Volume/Volume/Tone (Push-Pull)/3-Way Switch
- Bridge Pickup-Schecter Diamond Alnico Plus
- Neck Pickup-Schecter Diamond Alnico Plus
- Tuners-Grover Rotomatic 18:1
- Fretboard-Rosewood
- Neck Material-Mahogany 3-pc
- Inlays-Abalone & Pearloid Tempest Split Crowns
- Scale-24.75” (628mm)
- Neck Shape-‘C’
- Thickness-@ 1st Fret- .826” (21mm)/ @ 12th Fret- .905” (23mm)
- Frets-22 X-Jum
PRS is a common brand choice on most lists for best worship guitars. They’re reputation for producing quality guitars has put them in direct competition with the biggest guitar manufacturers. PRS guitars have a modern, contemporary feel to them.
The S2 Standard 24 Satin is a new approach to a timeless classic. The original PRS Standard, introduced in 1987 evolved from Paul Smith’s pre-factory all-mahogany guitars. The S2 Standard 24 Satin takes that classic platform and reimagines it for the modern player.
While the sleek satin finish and pickguard-mounted electronics will have you looking good, our 85/15 “S” pickups will have you covered sonically. On stage or in the studio, the resonance of the all-mahogany satin body will shine through your amp or pedalboard.
- Top Contour- Arched Top
- Construction-Set-Neck
- Body Material-Mahogany
- Binding-White Multi-ply
- Bridge-Bigsby Flat Top B50 w/ Roller TonePros TOM TPFR–T3BT
- Controls-Volume/Volume/Tone (Push-Pull)/3-Way Switch
- Bridge Pickup-Schecter Diamond Alnico Plus
- Neck Pickup-Schecter Diamond Alnico Plus
- Tuners-Grover Rotomatic 18:1
- Fretboard-Rosewood
- Neck Material-Mahogany 3-pc
- Inlays-Abalone & Pearloid Tempest Split Crowns
- Scale-24.75” (628mm)
- Neck Shape-‘C’
- Thickness-@ 1st Fret- .826” (21mm)/ @ 12th Fret- .905” (23mm)
- Frets-22 X-Jum
Maybe you are a bit confused on this one. A Schecter on the Best Worship Guitars list? Isn’t Schecter normally reserved for Rock and Metal?
Schecter Guitar Research is in my opinion one of the best manufacturers of guitars in the world. I own two Schecters and I love them. They put the word “Research” in their name for a reason. They really know what they are doing.
SCHECTER TONE WITH OLD SCHOOL LOOKS!
Check out these modern retro-inspired masterpieces! The same quality and construction instilled in our more popular lines but with specialized development to fit our unique niche players. With thin classic bodies like our SOLO II Special, to full hollow bodies like our Corsair Customs, these guitars are truly special.
In this collection you’ll find features like Schecter USA Pickups, Bigsby terms and lipstick pickups and many other appointments to form the perfect union between Retro flair and Schecter soul!
- Chambered Mahogany Body
- Mahogany 3-pc Set-Neck
- Schechter Diamond Super Rock-MH Pickup Set
- Bixby Flat Top B70 Tremolo System w/ Roller Tone Pros TOM TPFR – T3BT Bridge
- 22 X-Jumbo Fret, 14″ Radius
- 24.75″ Scale Rosewood Fretboard
- Grover 18:1 Tuners
This page is packed with very detailed information on the best worship guitars under 1000 for lead guitarists on worship teams. I walk you through the best worship guitars available today.
If 1000 is out of your range, don’t worry! You can check out my list for Fender Jaguar, Jazzmaster, and Mustang Alternatives:
Best Worship Guitars #9
This is one guitar that will set you apart from any other guitar player anywhere near you in the Worship Genre. Its another Schecter and it has the cool looking Bigsby on it. It has alot of the same bells and whistles as the Fender Jaguar. The color is amazing and the body shape is completely unique. I haven’t seen anything like it.
According to a review from Dana Foote on Amazon,
“I am absolutely in love. I didn’t stop playing it for 3 hours. It was in tune out of the box (which were like Russian nesting dolls). I’ve played strats the past 15 years, this is a flatter finger board which I should have changed to years ago. I was a little apprehensive on the reviews because I play a lot or hard rock – it’s fine. I played Link Wray to Kiss to Faith No More and fit in some Anthrax. Adjust your settings and you’re good to go.”
- Set Neck
- Duncan Designed FG-101
- Scale:25.5” (648mm)
- Fretboard Radius:14” (355mm)
- Roller TOM with Bigsby B-50 Vibrato
- Grover Tuners
- Chrome Hardware
Duncan Designed FG-101Captures the big, brash sound of the great rockabilly hollow-body guitars with a touch of “snarl” thrown in.
The Reverend Jetstream 390 Electric Guitar boasts an awesome tonewood combination, featuring a double cutaway Korina body. An amber-tint satin-finished maple neck has been carved into a comfortable medium oval profile with a 25.5 scale. The fingerboard is topped with 22 medium Jumbo frets and a 12 radius for extremely fast playability and effortless string-bending.
The electronics boast a trio of Reverend-designed CP90 pickups that deliver traditional-style twang with a little extra kick. The bridge pickup is slightly hotter than a vintage P90. You get raw, classic tone with slightly less hum than most other P90 s.
These pickups will cut through any setting with twang to spare. The neck and mid position CP90 s offer clear, open tone that delivers extra punch when needed. These versatile pickups deliver great clean sound but can also deliver the goods with heavy distortion added.
The Jetstream 390 possesses a tremendous range of tonal possibilities that could cover any gig.The controls include a master volume, and a master tone, and a bass contour control. The bass contourh is great for tightening up the low-end, which makes the Jetstream390 even more versatile. Chrome hardware includes Reverend pin-lock tuners, and a Wilkinson WVS50 IIK tremolo.
The Jetstream 390 brings together classic styling with modern features, making it the perfect weapon for today’s players. Case not included.Get your Reverend Jetstream 390 Electric Guitar today at the guaranteed lowest price from Sam Ash Direct with our 45-day return and 60-day price protection policy.
- Single cutaway Korina body
- Amber-tint satin-finished Maple neck
- Maple or rosewood fingerboard
- 22 medium frets
- Three CP90 pickups
- volume, tone, bass contour
- Chrome hardware
- Wilkinson WVS50 IIK tremolo
- Reverend pin-lock tuners
The SE Zach Myers has enough features to satisfy even the most demanding musicians. The resonance of the semi-hollow body paired with the smooth feel of the satin finish neck will make an immediate impression in your hands.
Zach Myers, lead guitarist of the multi-platinum rock band Shinedown, picked up a PRS Custom 22 at the age of fifteen and announced his first SE signature model in 2010. As a guitarist who has rocked PRS on the stage and teched for several PRS bands, Myers has an intimate understanding of how a guitar should feel and what the build quality should be.
After months of design and conversations, Zach and PRS were pleased to introduce an all-new SE Zach Myers. The SE Zach Myers features a chambered mahogany body with maple cap, flame maple veneer and single f-hole that provides smooth mid-range tones with a natural, resonant internal reverb. The 22-fret 24.5 scale length wide fat neck boasts a satin finish that gives the guitar a very comfortable, woody, worn-in feel.
This PRS has excellent ratings and reviews. One in particular had this to say along with a 5 star rating.
My Les Paul substitute. I played 8 different Les Pauls from Tribute models to customs going for thousands but just couldn’t get over the neck joint high up making it difficult to reach high notes. The PRS solves this problem and plays like any other PRS…smooth. I like that the neck is unfinished and plays like butter! I use this guitar regularly at practice and gigs, stays in tune and the toggle switch is perfect (though I may replace it with a swtichcraft later).
I may also change the strings to 10’s because of the shorter scale length making the feel very “slinky” and loose. Finally, the look of the guitar is just beautiful, I’ve had so many compliments. I say, what about the other PRS’s? People say “yea, they’re nice too” lol
- Beveled Maple Top with Flame Maple Veneer
- Chambered with Single F-Hole
- Mahogany Back
- Wide Fat Mahogany Neck with Satin Finish
- Rosewood Fretboard
- Bird Inlays
- 24.5 Scale Length
Based on Bob Weir’s high-end Deluxe model, the D’Angelico Premier Bob Weir Bedford is a high-performance solidbody electric guitar.
The Bob Weir Bedford is built around a comfortably contoured offset body for naturally resonant tone. Dual stacked Duncan Designed P-90s and a single-coil pickup work in tandem with an ultra-flexible wiring system to deliver an insane array of tones.
From clean jazz to overdriven blues to searing high-gain — every conceivable sound is at your disposal. Enjoy effortless playability, courtesy of a great-feeling C-shaped maple neck and fast-and-smooth 14″-radius fingerboard, while a 6-point tremolo adds expressive vibrato, flutters, and gentle dives to your repertoire.
The Premier Bob Weir Bedford includes an eye-catching F-hole-shaped pickguard, White Pearloid Block fingerboard inlays, 3-ply fingerboard binding, and Bob Weir signature-engraved Skyscraper truss rod cover.
Features:
- Solidbody Electric Guitar
- Basswood Body
- Tremolo – Matte Stone
- Ovangkol Fingerboard
- 1 Single-coil Pickup
- 2 P-90 Pickups
Best Worship Guitars #5
This Fender Meteora Alternate Reality is without a doubt, one of the coolest guitars fender has come up with in a very long time. This alternate reality series of guitars are genius. The fender meteora is especially stunning, and you know its as solid a guitar as you can buy today. It has a futuristic offset shape with a pair of humbuckers to make it blast off when you need it to.
And that’s not all…This thing was specifically designed with built in controls for volume swells. Swells are a staple of Worship Guitar, and that makes the Meteora one of the most exciting guitars I’ve found for this list.
Motion meets balance with a touch of elegance with the Meteora HH, which sports a sleek body shape that carries on our tradition of arresting aesthetic design. The sound is as propulsive as its visually stimulating lines—it wants to roar on stage, thanks to the two fat-sounding Player Series humbucking pickups. With its retro-modern offset body shape, the Meteora HH has guts and grace and is distinctively Fender.
Powered by a duet of powerful Players Series humbucking pickups with chrome covers, this guitar can kick out anything you need from sparkling cleans to growling grit. The push-pull tone control lets you split the pickups, giving you classic Fender single-coil tones. We put another cool trick in too; a push-push switch on the pickguard swaps the volume controls, so you can easily do volume swells using either pickup
Features:
- Two Fender “Wide Range” humbucking pickups serve-up loads of huge ’70’s Classic Rock tones.
- This model’s “amp” knobs
- Large Strat headstock
- Bullet truss-rod nut
- “F” tuners
- 3-Bolt neck-plate (with Micro-Tilt)
This page is packed with very detailed information on the best worship guitars under 1000 for lead guitarists on worship teams. I walk you through the best worship guitars available today.
If 1000 is out of your range, don’t worry! You can check out my list for Best Fender Telecaster Alternatives
Best Praise and Worship Guitar #4
For players who want the style and sound of Fender’s Golden era, we created the Vinterra ‘60S jazz master. Equipped with the coveted features that defined the decade—including period-accurate neck profile and playing feel, along with re-voiced pickups—this guitar has all of the warm, smooth sound that made the Jazz master a legend.
For authentic, vintage-style tone we re-voiced the pair of wide single-coil jazz master pickups to behave more like the originals. The warm, smooth-sounding neck pickup is balanced by the bright, cutting bridge pickup.
Up until just recently if someone wanted to sell me a MIM Fender I would have said ‘not a chance’. My overall impression was ‘made in USA’ = good; ‘custom shop’ = really good, ‘made in Mexico’ = bad. Bad meaning hit and miss quality, 2nd rate electronics, likely to go out of tune after 30 mins of playing…just an inferior product that had compromises in almost every area.
But when I picked this one up the other day I was seriously impressed. Perfect fit and finish…perfect setup/intonation/action…really good looking fretboard….great tones…and get this…a flamed maple neck. Not crazy flamed like you see on the high end boutique guitars, but a very nicely medium flamed neck all the way from the body to the headstock.
Every piece of wood and every guitar is different so maybe I just got lucky but I’m serious when I say the overall presentation of this guitar is as good as other guitars I own that cost 4x the money. And these jazzmasters with their single coils are really versatile.
They have this very cool switching capability where you can isolate the neck pickup and run it off a completely different set of tone and volume controls. I’m really enjoying playing this one and while I’m not ready to completely change my views yet on MIM guitars, I like this one enough that I thought I’d share my feedback.
Features:
- Two ‘60s jazz master single-coil pickups
- “Mid ’60s C”-shaped Maple neck with painted headstock; 7. 25”-Radius Fingerboard with 21 vintage-style Frets
- Alder Body
- Jazz master floating tremolo and Bridge
- Includes deluxe Gig Bag
Best Worship Guitars #3
Who’s the Veritas Portlander For?
This is for the modern guitarist who wants a classic vibe, but appreciates modern upgrades. These guitars boast stellar craftsmanship by innovative luthiers that pay attention to every single detail.
They feature custom handwound Pioneer Pickups, and can come in solid-body or semi-hollow body configurations. They offer a pro-line for under $1000, but they sell out quickly.
Veritas Custom Guitars is a small, but growing Boutique Guitar Company based in downtown Vancouver, Washington. Each guitar is handcrafted to express the individuality of the owner.
Their popularity of Veritas Guitars has surged in the Praise and Worship Music Genre. Lead guitarists from bands like Hillsong, Jesus Culture, Bethel Music, Rend Collective, and Casting Crowns play them almost exclusively.
These guitars are capable of exceedingly great tone, and thats obvious just from listening to live tracks from any of the bands above.
Features:
- Solid Body
- B50 Bigsby Vibrato
- Bearcat or The Pope Humbuckers($300 Upgrade)
This Veritas Mini Master is technically not under $1000, but I just couldn’t leave it out of this list. Its truly a perfect guitar for Worship Guitarists. You can find the Veritas Mini Master used for just over 1000, but it is well worth the investment. Just like the Portlander it comes with b50 Bigsby Vibrato and Veritas’ Pioneer Pickups.
By now you’ll have noticed that Schecter made quite a few appearances on the list. There is good reason for that. They make, in my opinion, one of the best guitars on the market. I currently own two Schecters, and have played dozens. Things they all have in common include:
Excellent setup straight from the factory
Great Tone, Even When Uplugged
High quality hardware
Fast & comfortable necks
Versatility
Features:
- Alder Body
- Maple Neck with Rosewood Fingerboard
- Graph Tech XL Ivory Tusq Nut
- Grover Tuners
- Schecter Diamond SuperRock Custom Alnico Pickups
- Bigsby Flat Top B50 with Roller TOM Bridge
1972 was a big year for the Telecaster guitar – it was available in new designs, with more options than ever before. The
Alright, so this guitar is a great option for those players that play electric but want to retain some of the tone of an acoustic. Using a hollowbody adds an airy depth to your tone. The Deluxe Tele Thinline is a very popular choice amongst Praise and Worship Players. One player in particular is the lead guitar player from worshipartistry.com. This is a classic and safe choice. You will get that well known punchy telecaster tone with the modern upgrade of humbuckers.
The tele is one of the classics and it never gets old. There are a ton of different configurations in terms of pickups, bridges, controls, headstock, etc. They are super comfortable to play and can really cut through the big full mixes in the worship genre. If this is the only guitar you have for Praise and Worship then you are in good shape. It can cover most all the needs of the modern worship player.
Features:
- Two Fender “Wide Range” humbucking pickups combined with a semi-hollow Ash body recall some of the biggest guitar tones of the ’70’s.
- This model’s hard-tail bridge, bullet truss-rod nut, “F” tuners, and 3-Bolt neck-plate (with Micro-Tilt) recall the hallmark aesthetics of the decade.
There are some insanely good new custom electric guitar brands out there. Many of them make guitars that are perfect for this genre of guitar playing. You can find out more here.
9 Best Custom Electric Guitar Brands You’ve Never Heard Of (2021)
1. What is "Guitar Tone?"
Guitar Tone is a term guitar players use to describe the overall sound produced by a player's choice of guitar, gear, and playing style.
It is the depth, character, texture, and emotional feeling encompassed in your sound. Tone is not accidental.
It is something you learn to sculpt and refine as you mature as a guitarist. Tone is everything.
2. What is "Worship Guitar"?
“Worship Guitar” is a niche or style of guitar playing. Many churches have a Praise & Worship Team that leads the congregation in songs, almost like a live concert. There are usually two to three guitarists in any one team. (Along with Bass, Drums, Keyboard/Synth, Vocals, etc.)
3. What is the best electric guitar for worship music?
The short answer is, the one you like to play. However there is a short list of guitars that sound amazing and are particularly well suited to the Worship Genre.
5. Gretsch Double Jet (w/ Bigsby)
4. G&L Doheny or Fender Offset (Jaguar, Jazzmaster, Mustang)
3. G&L ASAT or Fender Telecaster
2. Veritas Mini Master
1. Veritas Portlander (Used by all guitarists of Bethel Music)4. Humbuckers vs Single Coil Pickups which is better for Worship?
That is a great question. Humbuckers and Single Coil Pickups both have their place in Worship Music. In terms of how to be best prepared, you should ideally have one single coil guitar, and one humbucker guitar.
That being said, not all of us can afford two. In this case I would highly recommend choosing a humbucker guitar. If single coil tones are needed, you can always add coil splitting pots to your guitar.
5. Who is Veritas Guitars?
Veritas Custom Guitars is a small, but growing Boutique Guitar Company based in downtown Vancouver, Washington. Each guitar is handcrafted to express the individuality of the owner.
Their popularity of Veritas Guitars has surged in the Praise and Worship Music Genre. Lead guitarists from bands like Hillsong, Jesus Culture, Bethel Music, Rend Collective, and Casting Crowns play them almost exclusively.
These guitars are capable of exceedingly great tone, and thats obvious just from listening to live tracks from any of the bands above.
6. Why do Worship Guitarists like Bigsby Vibratos?
The Bigsby Vibrato has a special place in Worship Guitarists hearts because...
- They look cool.
- They sound cool.
When guitar tone is your main focus, you want to have every tool available to make that tone better. The bigsby vibrato frees up space on your pedalboard that an auto tremolo/vibrato would normally take up.
Here is what Barry B. had to say about the Schecter PT Fastback iiB