Nigel Hendroff: Hillsong

[SKYHIGH]

Perhaps just me but he doesn't get mentioned much here. So what about him? Let's talk bit about this guitarist, tone, gear, etc.

I really like the tone he gets. I liked it bit more when he was playing his Gretsch but perhaps it was more than simple guitar change.

Does he get paid to play certain gears such as Jackson, Dusenberg, etc? Does he even use Jackson amp or was he just doing the demo for them?

Anyone else enjoy his style and tone?

 

[ldizzle]

He's certainly been brought up a few times here.

I'm sure he gets free gear from .. Uh... Everyone as he's one of the premier guitarists in the ccm market.

Usually bright guitar(gretsch, tele, duesy) with delay(was ddseries, tf, now timeline) into a semi clean chimey(el84) amps. He has a lot of pedals... But besides the last two albums thatre insanely post produced, his tone is pretty easily attainable.

 

[dbun]

He had a signature amp with Jackson called the Scarlett 30:

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/archive/index.php/t-1155954.html
http://www.jacksonampworks.com/product/amplifiers/scarlett30/

However, something happened and he ceased putting his name on the amp. Jackson still make the amp (it's an awesome amp!!) but for whatever reason the partnership with Hendroff ended.

I won't comment on how or why as I've only read comments on the internet, but at the time it was announced there was some pretty wild accusations flying around the forums.

 

[Jaredz28]

I certainly dig what he does. He doesn't get talked about very much because he isn't overly popular with mainstream artists I suppose but he is heavily influential in the p&w world. He's probably the biggest reason the dotted 8th and swells are so widely used in praise music. I don't know that he's associated with jackson anymore. He had a sig amp with them called the scarlet 30. I heard rumors it had trouble but don't know that for sure. I'm not sure if he gets kick backs from those companies or not but he does make a living playeing guitar so I don't know why not. He seems like a pretty cool dude, and he does some really cool stuff with the guitar.

 

[Delayed Delay]

I certainly dig what he does. He doesn't get talked about very much because he isn't overly popular with mainstream artists I suppose but he is heavily influential in the p&w world. He's probably the biggest reason the dotted 8th and swells are so widely used in praise music. I don't know that he's associated with jackson anymore. He had a sig amp with them called the scarlet 30. I heard rumors it had trouble but don't know that for sure. I'm not sure if he gets kick backs from those companies or not but he does make a living playeing guitar so I don't know why not. He seems like a pretty cool dude, and he does some really cool stuff with the guitar.

That's ridiculous - The Edge is the biggest reason.

Nigel's awesome but I'd hardly call him the most creative guitarist in Christian music. So much of Hillsong's guitar licks sound so stinking similar from song to song. Jmo.

 

[Jaredz28]

That's ridiculous - The Edge is the biggest reason.

Nigel's awesome but I'd hardly call him the most creative guitarist in Christian music. So much of Hillsong's guitar licks sound so stinking similar from song to song. Jmo.

I certainly agree that the dotted 8th was heavily influenced by the edge but origins are probably even David Gilmour if we want to get technical. I just meant, that as far as praise music is concerned, Hendroff seems to be the reason people use them in praise. I also agree that he's not the most creative but to deny the influence he's had on the genre is pretty hard. All of his licks are pretty similar, but they've permeated the rest of praise music as well.

 

[Jaredz28]

Delayed delay; I posted soon after waking up. My post wasn't meant to be terse, just a little deepening of my previous thoughts. Haha I vividly remember playing praise before hillsong became huge and I could cop Crowder, Redman, and Tomlin without needing a delay per se. Post hillsong, it's nearly impossible to play p&w without delay and the like. That's all I meant by my post. Best wishes.

 

[SKYHIGH]

Is Nigel getting endorsements from Vox and Matchless? Paid to play their amps?

 

[Delayed Delay]

Oh you weren't terse in the slightest.

Just my opinion. Like I said, Nigel is awesome... But personally, I've been influenced by other Christian guitarists more so than him:
James Duke
Taylor Johnson

And after those 2, a bunch of secular guitarists... Then probably Nigel. He's just not what I would call influential... At least to me. I never find myself trying to cop or mimic his licks. Tones? Sure, they're awesome... I just prefer others more.

 

[Jaredz28]

Oh you weren't terse in the slightest.

Just my opinion. Like I said, Nigel is awesome... But personally, I've been influenced by other Christian guitarists more so than him:
James Duke
Taylor Johnson

And after those 2, a bunch of secular guitarists... Then probably Nigel. He's just not what I would call influential... At least to me. I never find myself trying to cop or mimic his licks. Tones? Sure, they're awesome... I just prefer others more.

Funny enough, I feel like I'm defending him and his influence but as a whole pull much of my influence from secular players as well. I also mostly play secular music though so I guess that's why. The only time I really try to play like him is when I'm covering a hillsong track for a church. Otherwise, I'm much more of a blues/rock/country/alternative type player and influenced by the likes of David Grissom, Nicky Moroch, Carl Verheyen, and then enter all general influences here type folks. Haha

 

[Delayed Delay]

Funny enough, I feel like I'm defending him and his influence but as a whole pull much of my influence from secular players as well. I also mostly play secular music though so I guess that's why. The only time I really try to play like him is when I'm covering a hillsong track for a church. Otherwise, I'm much more of a blues/rock/country/alternative type player and influenced by the likes of David Grissom, Nicky Moroch, Carl Verheyen, and then enter all general influences here type folks. Haha

Exactly. I draw a lot from Dave Keuning (the Killers) for modern worship music. My main influences are definitely Taylor Johnson and James Duke though... So much of lead playing in worship music is about filling the space, and IMO, no one does it better than those 2 (see Robbie Seay, Phil Wickham, and John Mark McMillan's music for reference)... But yeah, the only time I draw from Nigel is for Hillsong stuff.

Also a big influence is Lincoln Brewster, but he mostly just puts me to shame... The guy is sickeningly good. Lol

 

[crambone]

He gets a LOT of mentions/love/hate in the Effects forum, specifically in the "P&W Boards/Rigs" threads.

I myself am a bigger fan of Jeffrey Kunde (Jesus Culture) and Lincoln Brewsters's sound/setup.

 

[dbun]

Is Nigel getting endorsements from Vox and Matchless? Paid to play their amps?

I don't think so.

His Vox AC15 is pretty beat up and used. Certainly not an endorsement setup.

 

[Fishyfishfish]

That's ridiculous - The Edge is the biggest reason.

Nigel's awesome but I'd hardly call him the most creative guitarist in Christian music. So much of Hillsong's guitar licks sound so stinking similar from song to song. Jmo.

True dat. Don't forget The Smiths, The Alarm, REM, Echo and the Bunnymen, Psy. Furs, The Cure, Tears for Fears, Police, Roxy Music, and some old dude named Pink Floyd, or am I thinking of Robert Fripp?
He seems like a decent chap though.

 

[MKB]

For guitarists in the Christian genre, you have Phil Keaggy and Lincoln Brewster, and then everybody else.

IMHO the greatest thing about playing P+W in a church is you can do basically whatever you please, as the main reason for the guitar parts is to be interesting and contribute to the point of the song lyrics and intent of the audience participation, yet not be too jarring or command too much attention. You generally do not have to copy the arrangements or guitar parts exactly, but do have to fit in with the intent of the song.

I'm not that knowledgeable about Nigel Hendroff, but have played a ton of Hillsong material. It is obvious he has had a tremendous influence on modern P+W, but that is probably because of how incredibly popular Hillsong is. Nigel and Hillsong came up with a terrific tonal formula, and lots of other artists were influenced by it.

It doesn't hurt that Nigel seems to understand the intent and place for electric guitar in modern P+W, and used his influences and personal style to good effect. The Edge guitar style covers a lot of sonic ground yet is not too intrusive or jarring, and creates a good background for the other instruments and vocals. Maybe that's the reason many of his riffs are so similar, they work so well.

 

[K.E.P.]

For guitarists in the Christian genre, you have Phil Keaggy and Lincoln Brewster, and then everybody else.

IMHO the greatest thing about playing P+W in a church is you can do basically whatever you please, as the main reason for the guitar parts is to be interesting and contribute to the point of the song lyrics and intent of the audience participation, yet not be too jarring or command too much attention. You generally do not have to copy the arrangements or guitar parts exactly, but do have to fit in with the intent of the song.

I'm not that knowledgeable about Nigel Hendroff, but have played a ton of Hillsong material. It is obvious he has had a tremendous influence on modern P+W, but that is probably because of how incredibly popular Hillsong is. Nigel and Hillsong came up with a terrific tonal formula, and lots of other artists were influenced by it.

It doesn't hurt that Nigel seems to understand the intent and place for electric guitar in modern P+W, and used his influences and personal style to good effect. The Edge guitar style covers a lot of sonic ground yet is not too intrusive or jarring, and creates a good background for the other instruments and vocals. Maybe that's the reason many of his riffs are so similar, they work so well.

Very well put.

 

[UncleLarry]

For guitarists in the Christian genre, you have Phil Keaggy and Lincoln Brewster, and then everybody else.

IMHO the greatest thing about playing P+W in a church is you can do basically whatever you please, as the main reason for the guitar parts is to be interesting and contribute to the point of the song lyrics and intent of the audience participation, yet not be too jarring or command too much attention. You generally do not have to copy the arrangements or guitar parts exactly, but do have to fit in with the intent of the song.

I'm not that knowledgeable about Nigel Hendroff, but have played a ton of Hillsong material. It is obvious he has had a tremendous influence on modern P+W, but that is probably because of how incredibly popular Hillsong is. Nigel and Hillsong came up with a terrific tonal formula, and lots of other artists were influenced by it.

It doesn't hurt that Nigel seems to understand the intent and place for electric guitar in modern P+W, and used his influences and personal style to good effect. The Edge guitar style covers a lot of sonic ground yet is not too intrusive or jarring, and creates a good background for the other instruments and vocals. Maybe that's the reason many of his riffs are so similar, they work so well.

This. Exactly.

 

[Sheherezadeh]

He's really the quintessential TGPer, without being on TGP, as far as I know. Constantly changing his rig around, yet getting pretty similar results no matter what guitar, amp, or pedals he has at the moment.

The Edge didn't invent the style of using delay so heavily, but you can't argue that he's done more than just about anyone else to spread that sound to the masses, and certainly in the Christian guitar community, he's had tremendous influence. I don't know just how much Nigel himself is influenced by him, but to a lot of people he's the modern equivalent. Stuart Garrard of Delirious is an earlier direct link, but his influence seems to have fallen off in the new millennium.

That style is enjoyable in smaller doses, but I can't listen to a whole Hillsong album because they're filled to the brim with that sort of playing from him or his "disciples"/peers like Chislett or Klein, or their contemporaries in other worship groups. I'm much more fond of Keaggy, Brewster, Tommy Walker, or even guys like Dann Huff, Bob Hartman, Brian Wooten, Gordon Kennedy, Tony Palacios.