Best Overdrive Pedals for Worship – Transparent Church Guitar Tones!

Author: Dedrich Schafer | Updated: | This post may contain affiliate links.

While there are no pedals designed specifically for worship music, some pedals are certainly better suited and make more sense than others.

I wouldn’t suggest using a Metal Zone to play worship music, not only because it’s not going to give you the appropriate tone, but you might also get some strange looks.

For worship, the best overdrive is a transparent drive that retains your guitar’s character without going too far into distortion territory. 

The guitar is primarily a supporting instrument, with occasional lead breaks, in a worship environment. That means you want a drive that will make your playing sound incredible without dominating the other instruments in the mix.

5 Best Overdrive Pedals for Worship

1. JHS Morning Glory V4

Transparent overdrives are, in theory, not supposed to color your guitar’s tone. The JHS Morning Glory feels about 90% transparent: it mostly just boosts your guitar, but it does add a bit of special sauce on top.

On the low gain setting, the drive is crisp and smooth. I’d recommend this setting to most worship players, as this setting really brought open chords and their extensions to life. I can’t see this tone obscuring the other instruments in the ensemble.

There’s also the new gain boost (red LED on) that not only boosts the gain output but adds some more low-end to fatten up your tone. Even in a worship environment, I think the gain boost can be a useful tool to make certain parts sound bigger. For example, you might have a solo or a lead line. A slight gain boost will compress the signal and make sure you’re audible without the power of extra notes in a chord.

The two modes aren’t wildly different, though. I didn’t find it to be a switch between a boost and full-blown distortion, but more of a clean boost to a fat boost. As a bonus, you can also connect a Red Remote switch to quickly switch between the gain modes.

There’s also the new hi-cut filter on the side of the pedal that I appreciate. It allowed me to really push the gain boost without it becoming brittle or harsh at higher volumes.

Another important thing that I also usually look for in a transparent overdrive is that it isn’t trying to emulate the sound of another pedal or amp. During my time with the Morning Glory, I found that it wasn’t trying to emulate another sound, but rather enhancing my amp and guitar’s tone.

There’s nothing I dislike about the Morning Glory, but I did experience a little bit of noise on the pedal while it was in a chain with a digital pedal. It was just a very faint hum, but I did notice it even with the digital pedal turned off.

PROS

  • Very smooth, crisp, natural tone
  • Hi-cut filter helps keep the pedal from being too bright
  • Red Remote input allows for easy switching between modes

CONS

  • Digital pedals can cause some noise

2. Wampler Tumnus V2

The Wampler Tumnus is a very nice little pedal that faithfully recreates the legendary Klon circuitry without Klon’s hefty price tag. For worship guitarists, the Tumnus brings that high-end, often expensive quality well within your reach.

I see the Tumnus as a sort of one-two punch pedal because it works very well as both a boost that helps to elevate other pedals, but can also stand on its own as a straight overdrive pedal.

As a boost pedal, it adds some nice sparkle and I found that it gives any pedal (that it’s put in front of) a decent push without going too far. While playing just through the Tumnus, I got a nice crunchy tone, even with the gain turned almost all the way down.

Turning the gain up, I did start to notice a little bit of fuzz and the pedal does start to become quite aggressive. I think this might be a bit overkill for most worship bands, but it’s nice to know that the option is there, especially if you want to make your lead parts stand out a bit more.

I feel the Tumnus shines best when paired with another pedal. It pushes and shapes its partner pedal quite beautifully, with the bonus of a buffered bypass which means you can place it anywhere in your pedalboard.

The only real downside for me about the Tumnus is its limited controls. It only has Gain, Treble, and Volume controls. I would have liked at least two different gain modes to switch between and not just a simple on/off.

Unless you’re just going to leave it set a certain way, I think some guitarists might find it a bit limiting in terms of dynamics, especially since the pedal gets a little aggressive on higher gain settings.

This is just a small nitpick with what is otherwise a very good pedal. I would still highly recommend it as a boost pedal to complement and enhance the rest of your sound.

The Tumnus also scores some bonus points for the illustration on the front, referencing its Chronicles of Narnia namesake.

PROS

  • Complements other pedals well
  • Great as both a boost pedal or standalone overdrive
  • Great recreation of the Klon sound

CONS

  • A bit basic in terms of controls and versatility

3. EarthQuaker Devices Plumes

The Plumes is often labeled as a Tube Screamer-style pedal or even clone, but the amount of versatility it offers makes it so much more than that. After spending some time with it, I think it’s also one of the most versatile worship pedals.

My first indication that the Plumes isn’t just a Tube Screamer clone is the 3-mode clipping switch on the front of the pedal. These aren’t just simple, crunch, more crunch modes either.

The first mode I would consider to be the straightforward crunch setting. The first mode is more midrange focused and I find it to be fairly crisp. It’s also not a very aggressive sounding crunch, especially with the gain dialed back which I feel smooths it out quite nicely.

Mode three is somewhat of the opposite of mode one. Mode three has a lot more clarity, which I would almost call a ‘transparent’ sound. It’s a very bright sound, a bit too bright for my liking actually.

Rolling back the level did help remove some of the harshness I was experiencing, but I’m still not a big fan of this mode. A warmer valve amp and pickups could make mode three sound great, but my experience wasn’t very pleasant.

Luckily, I had mode two to bring me back to the Plumes side. In mode two, I heard a lot more bottom end and grit. It isn’t the same overdriven sound as mode one, I would describe it more as a fat clean sound with some grit mixed in.

Even when I pushed the gain the sound stayed clean and clear, and I didn’t experience any muddiness. For worship music, I think mode two is going to be a favorite for guitarists, I know it’s mine.

One last cool feature I should mention is the Flexi-Switch. This basically lets you keep the pedal in bypass mode, and then when you want to use it, you just hold down the footswitch until you’re done needing it.

I’m also amazed at how all of these features are packed into a pedal that costs a fraction of other more high-end pedals that don’t do nearly as much as the Plumes.

PROS

  • Three clipping modes for extra versatility
  • Very affordable for what you’re getting
  • Flexi-Switch is a cool feature

CONS

  • Might be a bit harsh in clipping mode three

4. MXR Timmy Overdrive

Paul Cochrane’s famous Timmy Overdrive was always designed to be as transparent as possible. The idea was to retain as much of the hard-earned guitar-and-amp sound you already dialed in as possible.

While many overdrive pedals like the Tube Screamer color and shape your tone, the Timmy aims to offer a subtle, smooth overdrive.

Upon plugging Timmy in and running it with a flat EQ, I was first impressed by the low noise level. It didn’t push my 335 into feedback territory or offer some unpleasant distorted hiss or buzz.

This is great for worship music as you could leave Timmy on between sections without getting some annoyed stares at your buzzing amp.

I found the Timmy pedal most useful in two situations. The first, and most obvious, is as a smooth signal booster for solos. You get plenty of note definition and minimal fizz from chords, double stops, and single notes alike.

Keep the Timmy off for rhythm playing, and kick it on for solos, a la John Mayer’s overdrive stacking. You get a nice, bluesy overdrive this way that will sound just like your rhythm tone, but with a little more drive and grit.

My preferred method of playing, however, is to ride the volume knob on my guitar. I turn it up for solos, and down for rhythm playing. Sometimes I go all the way to 2 or 3 on the guitar’s volume knob to really clean up the tone.

In this sense, I think Timmy offers excellent range. I was able to dial in a gorgeous, silky lead tone. Then, pulling back the volume while leaving Timmy on offered a slightly cleaner edge-of-breakup sound that’s perfect for laying chords down with a band.

The EQ is intuitively easy to use if you’ve ever tweaked the knobs on an amplifier before. The Timmy does not offer enough gain to send your guitar into full-metal distortion, but that’s not its job.

With the gain knob cranked in front of an already overdriven amp, you can get into really searing, sustaining tones.

If anyone out there likes playing slide guitar for worship, I’d strongly recommend the Timmy as an always-on pedal just because of the tremendous sustain and touch sensitivity it offers.


5. Jackson Audio Golden Boy

I once heard an older guitar player who had moved over from the UK referred to boutique, amp-in-a-box drives as “posh overdrive.” The Jackson Audio Golden Boy absolutely falls into that category.

Based heavily on the Marshall Bluesbreaker amplifier (and, later, overdrive pedal) as made famous by John Mayall’s band and Eric Claton, it’s a classic old-school drive.

As the name implies, this is a pedal well suited to the transparent, touch sensitive overdrive that has characterized the electric blues for decades now.

I normally don’t love pedals with too many knobs and switches. My all-time favorite pedal is the Phase 90. One knob. One switch. I usually find pedals with too many knobs and switches confusing and unnecessary.

However, the Jackson Audio Golden Boy’s learning curve is anything but steep. There are four clipping stages, each triggered by a successive stomp of your foot.

The overdrive on offer sounds pretty good with the controls just about anywhere. Even extreme “angry face” setups don’t turn the pedal into brittle treble or mushy low end.

I will point out that the four gain stages are probably more versatile than you’d need from a transparent overdrive. I can’t see most worship players (unless you’re playing Creed covers) making much use of the later gain stages in this overdrive, which border on full-blown hard rock distortion.

This is especially true if you kick on the extra MOSFET boost. For a cover-all-bases drive and distortion, this is a great pedal. It might be too much power, however, for the typical worship player.

However, the easy switching between gain stages would be extremely useful in an on-the-fly gigging environment. I consider this pedal three or four overdrives in one, and easier to switch between than having several pedals taking up space on your board.

On this note, I found the most useful feature by far to be the MIDI footswitch. While jamming, I found a pair of drive tones that sounded great. One was a nice crunch for rhythm playing, and the other was a bit of extra dirt well suited for slide guitar.

I saved the presets, and with the MIDI switch, both were immediately available. I can see this being hugely useful in a worship setting, where you can just load up your painstakingly dialed in tones without having to twiddle knobs during soundcheck.


Choosing the Right Overdrive Pedal for Worship Music

Everyone’s wants and needs are going to differ, but I think there are some general guidelines when it comes to picking an overdrive pedal for worship music.

Getting the Right Tone

Most of your worship tone will come from your guitar and amplifier. You want your choice of overdrive not to overpower or dominate the mix, and simply highlight and improve your own playing. I prefer bluesy edge-of-breakup style tones for this.

John Mayer’s tonal choices, in my opinion, are great for worship playing. The warm, sparkling cleans and subtle, smooth drive tones are well suited to the uplifting worship environment.

The first thing I look for in an overdrive pedal for a worship music setting is one that favors a transparent, smooth tone. You want to avoid heavy, distorted drives.

Brighter is Better

I would recommend an overdrive without a dark or muddy tone. You don’t want to risk verging on grunge territory for worship.

Worship music is generally very uplifting, and a brighter tone helps to emphasize that positive sound. A darker tone will likely sound very out of place.

You’ll also get lost in the mix: the low end is covered well by the bass drum, bass player, and keys. That’s to say nothing about the male voices in the congregation!

A nice bright overdrive is best for worship.

Don’t Overdo Overdrive

From my experience, less grit is also usually better. You want your guitar to be audible without dominating the mix. I see the band as a pure accompaniment to the crowd, rather than the main focus. If your guitar sound too aggressive, it could be distracting and even lead to upsetting some folks.

Stay away from fuzzy drives or full-bore distortion. A nice, amp-like overdrive is all you really need to spruce up your worship tone.

Final Thoughts

Like I mentioned at the start of this guide, no pedal is made specifically for worship music and there are countless pedals out there that would be well-suited for playing this genre of music.

Regardless of what you end up going with, I think these are some of the best overdrive pedals for worship music that will make your next praise and worship sessions memorable.

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About Dedrich Schafer

Dedrich is a guitar player, songwriter and sound engineer with extensive music production and studio experience. He mostly listens to classic rock and punk bands, but sometimes also likes listening to rap and acoustic songs.

3 thoughts on “Best Overdrive Pedals for Worship – Transparent Church Guitar Tones!”

  1. Appreciate your synopsis, I’m mulling over the tumnus currently. I currently run four ODs on my church board : Moxie> MG v4 > BD2 [modded] > Zendrive.

    I realize the MG and BD2 are so similar I could replace BD2 and was thinking Tumnus for first in dirt chain (occupied by moxie which functions as lightly-colored boost for one of these other pedals…

    Reply
  2. You might try using a d’andrea pro plec 1.5 pic for strumming/playing electric. The reason is because that specific type is great for ” Dampening” harsh or rasp from the ringing of the metal strings.

    Reply

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