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TelecasterSam · July 12th, 2008, 07:53 PM

Ever catch any flack for playing a tele in churches? I played one traveling 20+ years and only had one comment....a guy asking if we could play the theme from Dukes of Hazzard!

WallyArms · July 12th, 2008, 11:10 PM

I used to play in a small military chapel service and there were quite a few Sundays that me & my Tele were the entire band.

Stackabones · July 12th, 2008, 11:46 PM

Playing a telecaster in church is teleological.

TelecasterSam · July 13th, 2008, 05:14 PM

bobthecanadian · July 13th, 2008, 08:56 PM

Whenever I play guitar in church, I always play something that ends in 'caster. Usually a Tele.

DickensCPA · July 14th, 2008, 10:31 AM

I play a Tele at Church, but I'm not sure the people in the congregation would know a Telecaster from a Teletubby.

Doug Ferguson · July 14th, 2008, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DickensCPA

I play a Tele at Church, but I'm not sure the people in the congregation would know a Telecaster from a Teletubby.

bluesboy · July 14th, 2008, 10:48 AM

I'm sorry, I keep on forgetting that there are other guitars that the poor unfortunate might play.

junk126 · July 14th, 2008, 12:51 PM

I've gotten comments about other guitars (among them an Ibanez SZ320 and a Line 6 Variax) but my Tele

has never been criticized. I'm not brave enough to play the Ibanez Talman in the picture in church. The red star sticker might be too much with the black sparkle finish. Stickers in general seem to draw comments.

Farfel · July 14th, 2008, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DickensCPA

I play a Tele at Church, but I'm not sure the people in the congregation would know a Telecaster from a Teletubby.

Same here.

wbm68 · July 14th, 2008, 04:18 PM

I have found that a single coil Tele is the best match for the acoustic room sound of most churches.
The middle/neck position is good for strums etc. and the bridge pup cuts through nicely during the solos without getting lost in the enormous natural reverb of a high ceiling church.

hal · July 14th, 2008, 06:04 PM

I put Dimarzio VV pickups in mine because of one of my churches. It is the dirtiest room for power I have ever played. Lights, UHF, VHF video feeds, EMF--you name it they have it.

PraiseCaster · July 14th, 2008, 07:28 PM

Play a Tele in church? Yep, just about every Sunday!

franchelB · July 14th, 2008, 07:48 PM

I played one for years when I was with a "P&W" band...

Ptrallan01 · July 15th, 2008, 12:00 PM

With the pastor on this one, but then again, i'm the pastor!

No problems with tele's or any other guitar but some people don't like their ministers playing guitar!

telekaster1999 · July 16th, 2008, 06:25 PM

the folks in our church love my telekaster(at least i hope so,ive been playing one their 13 years).

DickensCPA · July 21st, 2008, 02:39 PM

A week ago two guys I'd never seen at Church before, I'm assuming visitors they weren't back this week, one walks up to the stage and hollers back to his friend, "You're right it's an MIM." That was the closest I've come to a comment about me playing a Tele.

Tele Fan · July 21st, 2008, 02:43 PM

I've never had a problem from anyone about playing mine at church.

telemaster03 · July 21st, 2008, 11:56 PM

I don't catch any flack about the guitar, but I have a KC Chiefs arrowhead sticker on the headstock and I catch tons of flack over that! Many donkey-Bronco fans in my area. I tell them "God still loves you".

Southpaw Tele · July 22nd, 2008, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by telemaster03

I don't catch any flack about the guitar, but I have a KC Chiefs arrowhead sticker on the headstock and I catch tons of flack over that! Many donkey-Bronco fans in my area. I tell them "God still loves you".

I have a MIM Tele on its way from Guitar Center. Are you saying I should leave the St. Louis Rams sticker off? btw, your team stole Dick V.!

Ethical · July 22nd, 2008, 07:32 PM

I'd be more worried if they were playing B C Riches (and I'm not even a practising christian :~) )

Ted

telepicker52 · July 22nd, 2008, 09:53 PM

Hey Southpaw,
Put a BROWNS sticker on instead! HA!

Mike

Jenix · July 23rd, 2008, 02:42 AM

first time i brought my electric to church they insisted I try plugging straight into the pa.

I bought my setup knowing i was going to be playing in church so its a nice clean sounding set up. It was one of the things that made me buy a tele, i had an sg before and I dunno if it was the horns or what but they didnt like it one bit.

Southpaw Tele · July 23rd, 2008, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by telepicker52

Hey Southpaw,
Put a BROWNS sticker on instead! HA!

Mike

Real quick hijack in defense of the great and wonderful Rams...

Mike, don't you mean the Ravens? Okay, even that was low for me. I need to go back to quiet time, huh?

Southpaw Tele · July 23rd, 2008, 10:56 AM

Back to the real thread question...I played an SX Strat copy in church and always received good comments about it. The other guy plays a PRS, so our worship team is "electrified." I waiting on a black MIM tele, and am sure no one will object (though I will be tempted to play the opening line of "Folsom Prison Blues" through our PA)

Southpaw Tele · July 23rd, 2008, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ethical

I'd be more worried if they were playing B C Riches (and I'm not even a practising christian :~) )

Ted

Our drummer at our former church was in "The Crucified", a speed metal band. Haven't seen any "Warlocks" yet at our current one...I should buy one to see what happens, huh?

tom grossheider · July 24th, 2008, 12:26 PM

Never caught any flak about any guitar I've played in church. Just got the mutt Tele and it is an excellent instrument. Thinking about another one.

TxTeleMan · July 25th, 2008, 03:47 PM

I've played my Tele for 8 years at church and never got anything but compliments. I use the neck pup alot, and the neck/bridge combo gets that nice 'ching' sound I love so much. I also use the neck/middle combo on my Nashville Tele. It's really sweet on the Tele rhythm pup playing fills and leads in the 10-15 fret area during Gospel songs.

Ocassionaly I get to used the bridge pup alone, usually when playing arpeggios or cross-picking.

I love my Tele, although in general, the sound is a little bright for our church band, and the thick humbucker sound usually fits in a little better for contempory stuff... unless it's the fill on Light the Fire Again, or the twang runs on Holy is The Lord or As Far as the East is From the West... or...

PraiseCaster · July 25th, 2008, 04:25 PM

Actually caught by camera, with a Tele in church:

Pickalittle · July 26th, 2008, 03:04 AM

Only comments I've heard regarding playing my Tele in church is:

"Crank it up, Scott, it sounds awesome!" And that by some of the more, shall we say, "mature" believers!

When I started playing lead (there are about 4 lead players that rotate playing so no one burns out after 5 sets/weekend!), I was the only one who played a Tele. Now most all the electric guitarists brings one!

It's contagious!

TelecasterSam · July 27th, 2008, 08:10 PM

I played a '70 blonde tele and a Twin in church back in the 80's, switched to a LP Custom for a few years, then to a American Std for about 15 years. It always cut through the mix of other instruments well and only had that one "Dukes of Hazzard" comment!

Praisecaster....nice pic, great looking band.

ce24 · July 27th, 2008, 10:30 PM

Yep me n my Tele and my home built BF vibro champ...the Champ sounds better in church than at home...

Cheers
ce24

admiralbob77 · July 28th, 2008, 01:33 PM

I had mine there yesterday, because it was the guitar I had with me. A few people in the congregation said to me after that they hoped they'd hear some chicken pickin out of me, but I don't know if I'll do it again. The monitors on the PA seem to be dead and I couldn't hear a thing.

We're an acoustic bluegrass/gospel/blues group anyway and I think I'm going to just keep to the acoustic and mandolin from now on. :)

Brian Krashpad · July 30th, 2008, 05:28 PM

I played all 3 of my Teles at my last church no problem. I even played a white Flying V, a burst Fernandes Ravelle, a DeArmond Jet Star, and a blue Ovation Breadwinner (all of which are way more radical-looking than a Tele) without anybody complaining.

However, I did position myself so that the organ console blocked a lot of the congregation's line of sight to me. ;)

benjsaynomore · July 31st, 2008, 01:33 PM

One of our lead guitarists uses an old kramer shredding guitar with a strap that has a cobra head snake looking over his shoulder...and no one minds. :)

Aengland77 · August 2nd, 2008, 03:31 AM

I would really love to get a nice Fender Super Champ to go with my Highway one tele. At the moment my AD50VT is waaaayy to big to be hauling to church (or college for that matter).. I do get to do some special worship music a week from this sunday.. Maybe i could pawn my Epiphone les paul (first guitar) for about 200 bucks so i can get one.. :D

randelli · August 2nd, 2008, 01:25 PM

I play a tele at my church but only get feed back from the other musicians. I don't think the general public knows one guitar from another. I do get a lot of lookie-loos because of how different my tele looks.

Aengland77: I wish my other guitarist would pawn his epi lp too lol

WideAwake · September 10th, 2008, 01:05 PM

We go to a christian music fest in NH every year called Soulfest. Tons of big bands in the scene, smaller ones, etc. I'd say a tele+vox combo was just about THE standard last year.

Also, half the people can't tell the difference between the bass and lead guitar players, so there you go. :)

refin · September 11th, 2008, 12:37 PM

I've taken this one to services before....

A few times I even used an Esquire,for that challenge!

junk126 · September 12th, 2008, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by refin

I've taken this one to services before....

A few times I even used an Esquire,for that challenge!

I'd love to see and hear that in church!

July 12th, 2008, 07:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
TelecasterSam Tele-Meister Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Indiana Posts: 291 6 Photos	Playing a Telecaster in church Ever catch any flack for playing a tele in churches? I played one traveling 20+ years and only had one comment....a guy asking if we could play the theme from Dukes of Hazzard!

July 12th, 2008, 11:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
WallyArms Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: TN Posts: 1,067	I used to play in a small military chapel service and there were quite a few Sundays that me & my Tele were the entire band. __________________ Save The Hymnals!

July 13th, 2008, 05:14 PM	#4 (permalink)
TelecasterSam Tele-Meister Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Indiana Posts: 291 6 Photos	Tele in church

July 13th, 2008, 08:56 PM	#5 (permalink)
bobthecanadian Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: EDMONTON, Alberta... yes, in CANADA Age: 43 Posts: 1,729	Whenever I play guitar in church, I always play something that ends in 'caster. Usually a Tele. __________________ It don't mean a thang if it ain't got that TWANG!!!

July 14th, 2008, 10:48 AM	#8 (permalink)
bluesboy TDPRI Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Paris, MI Posts: 14	I'm sorry, I keep on forgetting that there are other guitars that the poor unfortunate might play. __________________ If 'nit ain't a tele, it ain't worth playin'

July 12th, 2008, 11:46 PM	#3 (permalink)
Stackabones Tele-Meister Join Date: May 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 147	Playing a telecaster in church is teleological.

July 14th, 2008, 10:31 AM	#6 (permalink)
DickensCPA Tele-Meister Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Lebanon, TN Age: 38 Posts: 214	I play a Tele at Church, but I'm not sure the people in the congregation would know a Telecaster from a Teletubby.

July 14th, 2008, 12:51 PM	#9 (permalink)
junk126 Tele-Meister Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Alabama, United States Age: 30 Posts: 135	I've gotten comments about other guitars (among them an Ibanez SZ320 and a Line 6 Variax) but my Tele has never been criticized. I'm not brave enough to play the Ibanez Talman in the picture in church. The red star sticker might be too much with the black sparkle finish. Stickers in general seem to draw comments. __________________ I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it. -- (Terry Pratchett)

July 14th, 2008, 04:18 PM	#11 (permalink)
wbm68 Tele-Meister Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 354	I have found that a single coil Tele is the best match for the acoustic room sound of most churches. The middle/neck position is good for strums etc. and the bridge pup cuts through nicely during the solos without getting lost in the enormous natural reverb of a high ceiling church.

July 14th, 2008, 06:04 PM	#12 (permalink)
hal Tele-Holic Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 871	Tele in church.. I put Dimarzio VV pickups in mine because of one of my churches. It is the dirtiest room for power I have ever played. Lights, UHF, VHF video feeds, EMF--you name it they have it. __________________ Wherever you go, there you are.

July 14th, 2008, 07:28 PM	#13 (permalink)
PraiseCaster Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Whittier, California Posts: 5,885 16 Photos	Play a Tele in church? Yep, just about every Sunday! __________________ Later! PraiseCaster Visit Guitarists Praise and Worship Forum!! Dance Like David, MySpace

July 14th, 2008, 07:48 PM	#14 (permalink)
franchelB Friend of Leo's Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Irving, United States of Texas! Age: 44 Posts: 2,303	Yep, I played one for years when I was with a "P&W" band... __________________ Feel free to visit my homepage! http://www.myspace.com/francisbalagtas

July 15th, 2008, 12:00 PM	#15 (permalink)
Ptrallan01 Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 670 3 Photos	No Problems With the pastor on this one, but then again, i'm the pastor! No problems with tele's or any other guitar but some people don't like their ministers playing guitar! __________________ Ooh, I want my guitar to sound like Jimmie Smith's organ!!!

July 16th, 2008, 06:25 PM	#16 (permalink)
telekaster1999 Tele-Meister Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Heath Springs SC. Age: 41 Posts: 100 2 Photos	the folks in our church love my telekaster(at least i hope so,ive been playing one their 13 years).

July 21st, 2008, 02:39 PM	#17 (permalink)
DickensCPA Tele-Meister Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Lebanon, TN Age: 38 Posts: 214	A week ago two guys I'd never seen at Church before, I'm assuming visitors they weren't back this week, one walks up to the stage and hollers back to his friend, "You're right it's an MIM." That was the closest I've come to a comment about me playing a Tele.

July 21st, 2008, 02:43 PM	#18 (permalink)
Tele Fan Friend of Leo's Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Louisville, Ky Age: 30 Posts: 2,977	I've never had a problem from anyone about playing mine at church. __________________ Life is better when you just make it up as you go along.

July 21st, 2008, 11:56 PM	#19 (permalink)
telemaster03 TDPRI Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Garden City, KS Age: 47 Posts: 15	I don't catch any flack about the guitar, but I have a KC Chiefs arrowhead sticker on the headstock and I catch tons of flack over that! Many donkey-Bronco fans in my area. I tell them "God still loves you". __________________ "Each guitar has its own character and personality, which can be magnified once the player engages in beatin' it up"- Billy F. Gibbons -ZZ-Top

July 22nd, 2008, 07:32 PM	#21 (permalink)
Ethical Tele-Meister Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Norfolk, UK Age: 53 Posts: 361 1 Photos	I'd be more worried if they were playing B C Riches (and I'm not even a practising christian :~) ) Ted __________________ If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all

July 22nd, 2008, 09:53 PM	#22 (permalink)
telepicker52 Tele-Meister Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Lima, OH Age: 57 Posts: 236	Hey Southpaw, Put a BROWNS sticker on instead! HA! Mike

July 23rd, 2008, 02:42 AM	#23 (permalink)
Jenix Tele-Holic Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Illinois State University Age: 20 Posts: 507	first time i brought my electric to church they insisted I try plugging straight into the pa. I bought my setup knowing i was going to be playing in church so its a nice clean sounding set up. It was one of the things that made me buy a tele, i had an sg before and I dunno if it was the horns or what but they didnt like it one bit. __________________ USA Ovation MIA Standard Telecaster * Vox AC15CC Martin 000C-16RGTE Aura ISP Decimator - MXR Super Comp - Wah - Keeley TS9 86 Pro Co Rat - Volume Pedal (Boss TU-2) - Boss DD6 Some people sing in the shower, I play guitar...

July 23rd, 2008, 10:56 AM	#25 (permalink)
Southpaw Tele Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: The Golden State Age: 37 Posts: 468	Back to the real thread question...I played an SX Strat copy in church and always received good comments about it. The other guy plays a PRS, so our worship team is "electrified." I waiting on a black MIM tele, and am sure no one will object (though I will be tempted to play the opening line of "Folsom Prison Blues" through our PA) __________________ "A man's got to know his limitations" - Harry Callahan in "Magnum Force"

July 24th, 2008, 12:26 PM	#27 (permalink)
tom grossheider Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Mokena, IL Posts: 789	Never caught any flak about any guitar I've played in church. Just got the mutt Tele and it is an excellent instrument. Thinking about another one.

July 25th, 2008, 03:47 PM	#28 (permalink)
TxTeleMan Tele-Meister Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Austin, Texas Age: 54 Posts: 352 22 Photos	I've played my Tele for 8 years at church and never got anything but compliments. I use the neck pup alot, and the neck/bridge combo gets that nice 'ching' sound I love so much. I also use the neck/middle combo on my Nashville Tele. It's really sweet on the Tele rhythm pup playing fills and leads in the 10-15 fret area during Gospel songs. Ocassionaly I get to used the bridge pup alone, usually when playing arpeggios or cross-picking. I love my Tele, although in general, the sound is a little bright for our church band, and the thick humbucker sound usually fits in a little better for contempory stuff... unless it's the fill on Light the Fire Again, or the twang runs on Holy is The Lord or As Far as the East is From the West... or...

July 25th, 2008, 04:25 PM	#29 (permalink)
PraiseCaster Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Whittier, California Posts: 5,885 16 Photos	Actually caught by camera, with a Tele in church: __________________ Later! PraiseCaster Visit Guitarists Praise and Worship Forum!! Dance Like David, MySpace

July 26th, 2008, 03:04 AM	#30 (permalink)
Pickalittle Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: USA Age: 57 Posts: 430	Only comments I've heard regarding playing my Tele in church is: "Crank it up, Scott, it sounds awesome!" And that by some of the more, shall we say, "mature" believers! When I started playing lead (there are about 4 lead players that rotate playing so no one burns out after 5 sets/weekend!), I was the only one who played a Tele. Now most all the electric guitarists brings one! It's contagious! __________________ Don't die with the music still in you! Psalm 150

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July 27th, 2008, 08:10 PM	#31 (permalink)
TelecasterSam Tele-Meister Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Indiana Posts: 291 6 Photos	Tele in church I played a '70 blonde tele and a Twin in church back in the 80's, switched to a LP Custom for a few years, then to a American Std for about 15 years. It always cut through the mix of other instruments well and only had that one "Dukes of Hazzard" comment! Praisecaster....nice pic, great looking band.

July 27th, 2008, 10:30 PM	#32 (permalink)
ce24 Tele-Holic Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Idaho Age: 59 Posts: 847	Yep me n my Tele and my home built BF vibro champ...the Champ sounds better in church than at home... Cheers ce24 __________________ www.motagator.net/slackwater "you can be happy or you can be miserable..the amount of work is the same"

July 28th, 2008, 01:33 PM	#33 (permalink)
admiralbob77 TDPRI Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Ottawa Age: 44 Posts: 45	I had mine there yesterday, because it was the guitar I had with me. A few people in the congregation said to me after that they hoped they'd hear some chicken pickin out of me, but I don't know if I'll do it again. The monitors on the PA seem to be dead and I couldn't hear a thing. We're an acoustic bluegrass/gospel/blues group anyway and I think I'm going to just keep to the acoustic and mandolin from now on. :)

July 30th, 2008, 05:28 PM	#34 (permalink)
Brian Krashpad Tele-Holic Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: GVL FLA USA Posts: 804 39 Photos	I played all 3 of my Teles at my last church no problem. I even played a white Flying V, a burst Fernandes Ravelle, a DeArmond Jet Star, and a blue Ovation Breadwinner (all of which are way more radical-looking than a Tele) without anybody complaining. However, I did position myself so that the organ console blocked a lot of the congregation's line of sight to me. ;) __________________ Visit Crash Pad at: http://krashpad.fortunecity.com http://www.myspace.com/CrashPad Gear List/Pics: http://krashpad.fortunecity.com/brian.html

July 31st, 2008, 01:33 PM	#35 (permalink)
benjsaynomore TDPRI Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Vancouver, WA Age: 25 Posts: 52	One of our lead guitarists uses an old kramer shredding guitar with a strap that has a cobra head snake looking over his shoulder...and no one minds. :) __________________ I help make this music

August 2nd, 2008, 03:31 AM	#36 (permalink)
Aengland77 TDPRI Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Peoria, Illinois Age: 19 Posts: 70	I would really love to get a nice Fender Super Champ to go with my Highway one tele. At the moment my AD50VT is waaaayy to big to be hauling to church (or college for that matter).. I do get to do some special worship music a week from this sunday.. Maybe i could pawn my Epiphone les paul (first guitar) for about 200 bucks so i can get one.. :D

August 2nd, 2008, 01:25 PM	#37 (permalink)
randelli TDPRI Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bakersfield, CA Age: 43 Posts: 16	I play a tele at my church but only get feed back from the other musicians. I don't think the general public knows one guitar from another. I do get a lot of lookie-loos because of how different my tele looks. Aengland77: I wish my other guitarist would pawn his epi lp too lol

September 10th, 2008, 01:05 PM	#38 (permalink)
WideAwake Tele-Meister Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Portland, Maine Age: 38 Posts: 150	We go to a christian music fest in NH every year called Soulfest. Tons of big bands in the scene, smaller ones, etc. I'd say a tele+vox combo was just about THE standard last year. Also, half the people can't tell the difference between the bass and lead guitar players, so there you go. :)

September 11th, 2008, 12:37 PM	#39 (permalink)
refin Friend of Leo's Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Florida Panhandle Age: 53 Posts: 2,594	I've taken this one to services before.... A few times I even used an Esquire,for that challenge! __________________ "For You,Lord,are good,and ready to forgive,and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You." Ps. 86:5 http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/refin_music.htm MASTER VOLUME? WHAT'S A MASTER VOLUME?