Rotating guitars at gigs

M Sarad · #1 06-19-2022, 08:51 AM

I always take two in case a string breaks.
Last gig I did first set with my Les Paul TV Special. Second set I switched to my Brondel Sonic Blue Honeycaster, Laurent's take on a Strat. It was a sonic improvement.
Other gigs I used my Tele and PRS McCarty gold top double cut with P90s. The SG with Throbaks has seen a few gigs as well.
Amp wise I have used a Tweed Deluxe,Deluxe Reverb with a Zendrive, and most recently a PRS 50 watt H head onto a Dan Armstrong open back Pine cabinet with a 15" Celestion Fullback.

DanR · #2 06-19-2022, 10:29 AM

When I was gigging, I used to take two electrics.. One Fender and one Gibson. I had a Gibson ES335 and Les Paul Special as well as a Fender Telecaster and Strat to choose from. We used to play 4 sets so I would play each guitar for two sets. It was pretty much random for me and I rarely switched guitars in the middle of a set unless I had a string break.

Steve DeRosa · #3 06-19-2022, 10:37 AM

My 3-PU Gretsch 5622 covers just about any tone I'm likely to need outside of a straight-ahead rock gig (got a P-90 LP goldtop for that), but I take an '82 MIJ Yamaha SSC-500 (my first 3-PU guitar and main squeeze for over 25 years) to every gig as backup...

Dru Edwards · #4 06-19-2022, 12:39 PM

When I gigged I always had a backup but I used just one guitar for the gig. It was a metal band so I didn't need the diversity of a Les Paul vs Strat. I would use one guitar for 6-8 months and then switch to something newer for another 6-8 months or so.

Matt, you've got great gigging gear! What kind of music?

M Sarad · #5 06-19-2022, 02:10 PM

I'm currently in a blues band with my brother the keyboard
Guy.
At the end of last year I dissolved 3 bands due to a bassist who was not cooperative. I had a surf band, a country band with pedal steel, and a Grateful Dead Uncover band. He was in all three.

The mistake was giving him a chorus pedal to try. It was not a good fit at all and he wouldn't turn it off after he bought one.

Dru Edwards · #6 06-20-2022, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by M Sarad

I'm currently in a blues band with my brother the keyboard
Guy.
At the end of last year I dissolved 3 bands due to a bassist who was not cooperative. I had a surf band, a country band with pedal steel, and a Grateful Dead Uncover band. He was in all three.

The mistake was giving him a chorus pedal to try. It was not a good fit at all and he wouldn't turn it off after he bought one.

That sucks, sounds like he was just trying to be a jerk.

Bushleague · #7 06-21-2022, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

When I gigged I always had a backup but I used just one guitar for the gig. It was a metal band so I didn't need the diversity of a Les Paul vs Strat. I would use one guitar for 6-8 months and then switch to something newer for another 6-8 months or so.

Matt, you've got great gigging gear! What kind of music?

I used to gig with a Tele and a LP, playing everything from reggae to hardcore. When I broke a string however, I would have to mess with my amp quite a bit to get the other guitar to sound right... Sometimes somebody would be nice enough to change the string while I was playing and then I'd generally go dial it back in again for whatever guitar I was favoring... Eventually I just started taking two Les Paul's to simplify things.

IMO its generally best to keep things as simple as possible for the sound guy.

ghostnote · #8 06-24-2022, 08:35 AM

I always bring a spare guitar, but I never use it. I usually play an Am Std Tele or a Lone Star Strat with a Duncan Pearly Gates humbucker in the bridge with our band. They are pretty much interchangeable for me, and I can get any tone I want from either guitar using my pedalboard. I use a loud, clean SS amp and I never change the settings on it mid-set, just volume if needed. Lately I’ve been using the Tele exclusively, but today I’m going to put new strings on the Strat and bring that tonight.

EZYPIKINS · #9 06-30-2022, 05:09 AM

Have always taken more than one.

At one point I was taking 7 electrics, for different tunings, different tones, string break, ect.

After years of this, I finally settled on 2.

#1 Les Paul Standard for most part of the gig.

#2 light weight Les Paul Classic or SG for final set.

4 hours of a Les Paul Standard hanging on my shoulder got to be enough.

Dru Edwards · #10 06-30-2022, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EZYPIKINS

Have always taken more than one.

At one point I was taking 7 electrics, for different tunings, different tones, string break, ect.

After years of this, I finally settled on 2.

#1 Les Paul Standard for most part of the gig.

#2 light weight Les Paul Classic or SG for final set.

4 hours of a Les Paul Standard hanging on my shoulder got to be enough.

Best choice of guitars! Les Paul and SG.

maxtheaxe · #11 07-03-2022, 01:57 PM

I always use three (two strats and a tele); one primary, one backup and one hardtail in Open G for slide tunes, Stones covers, etc.

Gutch · #12 07-06-2022, 01:05 PM

My main player is a "partscaster" Clapton Strat (Clapton body & electronics, Buddy Guy Neck). What a versatile instrument - Crystal clean to extreme overdrive with the 25dB mid boost control into the front end of Deluxe Reverb. Love it!

My backup is a basic 50's Blonde Lacquer Tele with Fishman/Greg Koch GristleTone Tele pickups. Again the pickups give lots of options on gain with full tone control.

Either guitar can play the whole show with no problem, but I do like the Strat neck feel a bit better than the Tele. S'all good!

6L6 · #13 07-06-2022, 01:54 PM

I played for 27 years in a 50/60/70's Oldies cover band and never took more than one guitar to a gig. And I never needed more than one in all of those years.

That said, I always made sure my strings were in good shape (always used Ernie Ball 10's) before every gig.

I always played through any of several vintage Fender Blackface amps I owned over those years. While none of them ever let me down (Dan Torres was my amp tech and he was incredible), I did carry a spare solid state amp head in my car trunk just in case. Never had to use it even once.

The one pedal I wished I had in those years with the band (1985 thru 2012) is a MOSAIC. The pedal isn't very effective with an acoustic guitar, but with an electric guitar it gives you a very credible 12 string sound.

In the band we covered Byrds tunes including "Eight Miles High", "TURN! TURN! TURN!", "Tambourine Man", and "Feel a Whole Lot Better". I found a setting on my BOSS CH-1 Super Chorus that, coupled with some Delay, gave a "sorta" 12 string sound. But the MOSAIC pedal would have been perfect!

I do love using this pedal when practicing electric guitar at home.

pieterh · #14 07-06-2022, 05:07 PM

I always have at least two electrics at our shows, usually 4! Partly because I can but mainly because it gives the variation needed for different songs.

For example, when doing our Eagles show I had the G&L for high power stuff (One Of These Nights, Get Over It, Hotel California Don Felder parts - with the Mosaic for the 12-string), the Strat for Life In The Fast Lane and the Telecaster for Take It Easy; and so on.

For our recent Beatles shows I used my PRS S2 almost exclusively but had my son’s PRS SE for Nowhere Man (it does a better Strat-like sound than my PRS) and my 335 for Something and All You Need Is Love.

Even for a show where I don’t feel I need the flexibility I would still have my PRS plus at least one back up, just in case. Which one is the backup depends on what takes my fancy at the time!

gfirob · #15 07-06-2022, 07:52 PM

If I am going to perform for more than an hour, I bring and electric, a 1967 Gretsch Nashville 6120. For an acoustic I take my Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe reissue. I like to switch off for the sake of variety, because the two guitars present a fairly dramatic contrast. It does mean bringing a lot more stuff though, which is a drag.