Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.
I have seen this quote many times today. The day when Billy Graham indeed passed away. And I have seen well-wishers say, “Rest In Peace.”
I have often wondered why believers make such a statement!
Billy Graham is in the presence of the King. He is NOT resting. He is basking in the glory of the God he served so well in this life. And while he now knows a peace that is impossible to achieve in our sinful world, he needs no rest.
Not anymore.
Back in the day, I had a monster guitar rig.
Well, I thought it was monstrous.
When I started playing electric guitar, I had three main influences…
Much of my philosophy on tone and style of play came from these guys. But Petrucci playing was, hands down, the reason I wanted to play guitar.
My first real amp was a Marshall Valvestate 2X12 combo. I needed versatility in tone, but couldn’t afford a Triaxis/Simul 2:90 rig like Johnny P. Plus, I think all players go through some trial and error in the beginning before their style and ability reveals the kind of gear they should use.
I traded the Marshall in for an ADA MP-2 with a MicroTube 100 power amp. Later, I added an Alesis MidiVerb for reverbs and delays. Other units swapped in and out, but that was my core sound for about twenty years.
A few months ago, I sold it all for one pedal, and I’m very glad I did.
There are a lot of haters against Line 6 in the guitarist community. And I get it. Does my HD500X sound exactly like a Marshall stack? No, not exactly. Does it have the features and options of an AxeFX or a Kemper? No.
Does it come darn close for $500? All day every day.
Still, I firmly believe that I could plug into that old Valvestate today and still sound like me. Amps and pedals are just tools.
I primarily play while leading worship, so I really only use two sounds – clean and dirty. I use a sparkly Metallica “Unforgiven” clean sound, and my dirty sound is EVH’s pedals running into a Line 6 Epic amp (which doesn’t actually exist, and I LOVE that. It’s like my signature model.)
Bottom line: I sound great, and I can carry my rig, guitar, and cable bag in one hand. Can’t beat that.
Do I miss tha Monster? Yeah, occasionally. But the pros outweigh the cons.
Here’s a video of me leading at my church from earlier this year. Judge for yourself.
Not a Camouflaged Soul 