Take Me to Church
Hozier · Take Me to Church EP (also on Hozier, 2014) · 2013
The rhythm guitar on the record is Rob Kirwan's Eastwood Airline running into an Electro-Harmonix Memory Man with the gain pushed, a ProCo Rat for dirt, a hand-wired Vox AC15, and a Knas Ekdahl Moisturizer spring reverb — a chain Kirwan described directly to Sound On Sound. Keep the amp near breakup and let the Rat handle the chorus lift, because the verses live on quiet, muted strums with a lot of spring reverb around them. Standard tuning, no capo, and the whole feel comes from dynamics rather than gain.
Where these numbers come from: worked out from the documented rig and the sound of the record
Tuning
Standard tuning, no capo
Record sits in Em at concert pitch in standard tuning; some later live versions are tuned lower, so check the video you play along to.
Guitar
- Eastwood Airline · bridge pickup (not documented)
Amp
Vox AC15 (hand-wired)
Producer/engineer Rob Kirwan names a hand-wired Vox AC15 as the amp for the guitar chain on the EP sessions; Top Boost channel volume set to edge-of-breakup with tone cut around 3, since the dirt came from the Rat. Hozier's touring rig of that era used a Fender '59 Bassman LTD with OCD and TS808, which is a live rig, not this session.
Amp
Mid-gain tube combo (substitute)
If you don't have an AC15, any EL84 or blackface-style combo set just short of breakup gets there; keep the amp mostly clean for the verse rhythm and let a distortion pedal carry the choruses.
Pedals
- ProCo Rat · distortion · Kirwan credits the Rat for the distorted guitar sound; kick it in for the choruses, roughly distortion 9-10 o'clock, filter 11-12 o'clock, level unity
- Electro-Harmonix Memory Man · analog delay · Kirwan: gain turned up loudly; short slapback with one or two repeats and a low blend
- Knas Ekdahl Moisturizer · spring reverb · Studio unit on both guitar and vocals; a moderate spring or plate setting is the practical stand-in
Tone character
gritty midrange crunch · spring reverb wash · short slapback delay · percussive muted strums · raw lo-fi bite
Open Em-Am-G shapes at a slow tempo, so the work is all in the syncopated, palm-muted strum and holding the verse quiet enough that the chorus lands.
Want this on your own amp?
These are the record's settings. Tell us what you play through and we'll translate every knob to the amp you actually own — free.
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