My band rejected my request to move from acoustic to electric guitar

DanWessonValor

DanWessonValor

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I play in a church band so the talent level requirement isn't huge. It's still a mega-church so we have Berklee majors and music majors running the band. Besides the outgoing electric guitarist (who is phenomenal and plays everything by ear), I might be the only other non-music major. I majored in finance so I may not be as good as them. At any rate, I do my part as an acoustic guitarist but asked if I can switch to electric when the current guitarist leaves since the sound engineer usually mutes or lowers my volume. His main reasoning is that he wants to sound like Elevation or Bethel and he claims those bands do not use acoustic, which is wrong. At any rate, they turn me down and will just leave the position vacant even though we have a hard time attracting talent. They have never seen me play electric either.

Been playing acoustic guitar for about 20 years now. Mostly rythymic and fingerstyle. I have a tele, prs cu24, prs mccarty 594 hb ii, and a good pedal board. Been taking lessons for a year to transition to electric.

What would you do? Quit this band and join a band that would allow me to play?
 
Buddy Shagmore said:
They're muting/lowering your volume? The leaders have little confidence in you, to say the least. If you don't mind that, stay. If that bothers you, express your disappointment with the leaders. If things don't go your way...be on your way.
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It is a result of the sound engineer having his way. He said he's the chef and will pick and choose from the best to produce what he considers to be his preferred sound. He has reiterated that the acoustic guitar has no place just like all the modern bands. Mind boggling.
 
Seems kind of odd that your soundman is the one who's calling the shots. Is he the musical director at your church?

How about making a bold move and show up at the next rehearsal with an electric guitar? I say that as long as you know you can handle the electric guitar parts, what harm would it do?

It's all about faith, isn't it? If you have faith in yourself why won't they show some faith in you and give you a chance?

I know what it's like to deal with ego's at church.
 
Mike J. said:
Seems kind of odd that your soundman is the one who's calling the shots. Is he the musical director at your church?

How about making a bold move and show up at the next rehearsal with an electric guitar? I say that as long as you know you can handle the electric guitar parts, what harm would it do?

It's all about faith, isn't it? If you have faith in yourself why won't they show some faith in you and give you a chance?

I know what it's like to deal with ego's at church.
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The sound engineer is not the leader but the worship pastor and leader has given him the freedom to mix as he wish, even if that means turning someone off. The first time I confronted him, he said he helped an artist win a Grammy award. I asked how that is any relevant. I cannot even find his name on the internet. I see a huge ego issue here.
 
DanWessonValor said:
The sound engineer is not the leader but the worship pastor and leader has given him the freedom to mix as he wish, even if that means turning someone off. The first time I confronted him, he said he helped an artist win a Grammy award. I asked how that is any relevant. I cannot even find his name on the internet. I see a huge ego issue here.
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Without question there's an ego issue there. Totally uncalled for in a church.

I know every situation is a bit different, but in my case I found it best that I forged ahead. I had a bit of an issue with our new worship leader which at the time I didn't understand, but I could see that it was ego on his part. He's a great guitar player and can improvise very good on the spot. Turned out, he was a bit jealous of me. I know that because once after a service I was standing outside of the church talking with the bass player who is long time friend of "James" as we'll call him. Some folks from the congregation came up to me saying how much they enjoyed my guitar playing. I thanked them and as they left, the bass player said "be careful. James doesn't like anyone stealing his thunder." I laughed it off because i thought it was a total joke but in time I found out it wasn't due to a few things James did.

Long story short, there now seems to be a good understanding between us. James and I had a talk and in his own way I think he realized how wrong it was that he gave me a hard time. I never said "you did this to me" but I went about it in a roundabout way without mentioning his name and I think he got it.

Funny, you'd think that of all places a church would be the one place where ego's would be left out in the parking lot. But as I said, sometimes you just have to forge ahead if you have faith in yourself.
 
Mike J. said:
Without question there's an ego issue there. Totally uncalled for in a church.

I know every situation is a bit different, but in my case I found it best that I forged ahead. I had a bit of an issue with our new worship leader which at the time I didn't understand, but I could see that it was ego on his part. He's a great guitar player and can improvise very good on the spot. Turned out, he was a bit jealous of me. I know that because once after a service I was standing outside of the church talking with the bass player who is long time friend of "James" as we'll call him. Some folks from the congregation came up to me saying how much they enjoyed my guitar playing. I thanked them and as they left, the bass player said "be careful. James doesn't like anyone stealing his thunder." I laughed it off because i thought it was a total joke but in time I found out it wasn't due to a few things James did.

Long story short, there now seems to be a good understanding between us. James and I had a talk and in his own way I think he realized how wrong it was that he gave me a hard time. I never said "you did this to me" but I went about it in a roundabout way without mentioning his name and I think he got it.

Funny, you'd think that of all places a church would be the one place where ego's would be left out in the parking lot. But as I said, sometimes you just have to forge ahead if you have faith in yourself.
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Forging ahead may be an option since he keeps saying he's too good to be here and he wants to quit. I will say what I need to say but I will not let him ruin what I enjoy. It appears people are noticing and they're talking to me or him about the acoustic guitar not being heard. He might leave before I do since this is just a job for him.
 
Mike J. said:
How about making a bold move and show up at the next rehearsal with an electric guitar? I say that as long as you know you can handle the electric guitar parts, what harm would it do?
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Given that you have a McCarty Hollowbody, I would have to agree with this idea. Obviously (if your sound man is worth a pinch of coon snuff) he can run it through an acoustic channel and that axe will sing to the angels on High.
Grammy awards are a high honor, but it's not the first and only time someone has been given the credit by being associated with higher credentialed recipients on the accomplishment.
If he's adamant on you staying acoustic, but not with sufficient reason/justification, I'd walk with my head held high. There are better gigs waiting for you elsewhere.
 
This thread brought up some feelings from my years of participating in the church praise team as well as being the guy that ran the sound board for years as well and trained people to run it. There are so many egos that can pop up in a church setting. It is sad. I was deeply ingrained in our music program. We got a new worship pastor and they made every person go through auditions because they had a few people that were really not up to the skill level as the rest of the group. They told me I would have to audition for both the sound board and the praise team. I told them to just show up and watch and hear what I do because I was there every Tuesday and Sunday doing what needed to be done. I was someone that was in high demand both on the stage and at the mixer because I have many years experience at both and was regarded as the most advanced guitar player in the church as well as the most advanced at the FOH mixer. They pushed the issue and I told them I would not do it and they told me I would lose the positions if I didn't. I walked. We left that church. I blame some people getting involved in things that didn't know anything about them.

If I were in your position, I would walk from that too. What is the point of standing up there and playing and having them mute you. They won't even let you show them what you can do on electric guitar? That speaks to a low level of confidence in what you are doing. You have too many fingers in the situation. I don't see it getting to a comfortable place any time soon.
 
Daryl Jones said:
Given that you have a McCarty Hollowbody, I would have to agree with this idea. Obviously (if your sound man is worth a pinch of coon snuff) he can run it through an acoustic channel and that axe will sing to the angels on High.
Grammy awards are a high honor, but it's not the first and only time someone has been given the credit by being associated with higher credentialed recipients on the accomplishment.
If he's adamant on you staying acoustic, but not with sufficient reason/justification, I'd walk with my head held high. There are better gigs waiting for you elsewhere.
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The funny thing is he is NOT credited with the work. He just mentions that he was part of the album.
 
JasonE said:
This thread brought up some feelings from my years of participating in the church praise team as well as being the guy that ran the sound board for years as well and trained people to run it. There are so many egos that can pop up in a church setting. It is sad. I was deeply ingrained in our music program. We got a new worship pastor and they made every person go through auditions because they had a few people that were really not up to the skill level as the rest of the group. They told me I would have to audition for both the sound board and the praise team. I told them to just show up and watch and hear what I do because I was there every Tuesday and Sunday doing what needed to be done. I was someone that was in high demand both on the stage and at the mixer because I have many years experience at both and was regarded as the most advanced guitar player in the church as well as the most advanced at the FOH mixer. They pushed the issue and I told them I would not do it and they told me I would lose the positions if I didn't. I walked. We left that church. I blame some people getting involved in things that didn't know anything about them.

If I were in your position, I would walk from that too. What is the point of standing up there and playing and having them mute you. They won't even let you show them what you can do on electric guitar? That speaks to a low level of confidence in what you are doing. You have too many fingers in the situation. I don't see it getting to a comfortable place any time soon.
Click to expand...
He keeps on saying that the sound he strives for doesn't include an acoustic guitar. He's so weird.

Speaking of auditions, they made me go to someone's basement and do an audition. This is a mega church but they made me drive 4 hours just to play one song. Then they didn't even bother updating me about the result. When I did pressed them, the dude who heard me play called me annd said I played drums with this band and that band, and I saw guitarists way better you. Yikes. I should have run back then. Then the church told me not to talk about the audition to anyone.
 
DanWessonValor said:
He keeps on saying that the sound he strives for doesn't include an acoustic guitar. He's so weird.

Speaking of auditions, they made me go to someone's basement and do an audition. This is a mega church but they made me drive 4 hours just to play one song. Then they didn't even bother updating me about the result. When I did pressed them, the dude who heard me play called me annd said I played drums with this band and that band, and I saw guitarists way better you. Yikes. I should have run back then. Then the church told me not to talk about the audition to anyone.
Click to expand...
Hmm. The sound "he" strives for? My friend, it's obvious that you want to serve the Lord and this guy for whatever reason is getting in your way of doing so because of what he wants. It's flat out not right.

As DISTORT6 said, this guy turned you into a prop. I'm sure there's another church that will welcome you with open arms and with open ears. Pray and ask for guidance over this.
 
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