#1
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Rotating guitars at gigs
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.
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rubber Chicken Plastic lobster Jiminy Cricket. |
#2
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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.
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=================================== '07 Gibson J-45 '68 Reissue (Fuller's) '18 Martin 00-18 '18 Martin GP-28E '65 Epiphone Zenith archtop |
#3
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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...
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#4
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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? |
#5
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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.
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rubber Chicken Plastic lobster Jiminy Cricket. |
#6
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Quote:
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#7
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Quote:
IMO its generally best to keep things as simple as possible for the sound guy. |
#8
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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.
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#9
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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. |
#10
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#11
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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.
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Larrivee L-10 Custom Larrivee DV-10K Larrivee L-03 Taylor 412K ('96) Yamaha LL16-12 (SOLD) PRS 'Studio' (SOLD) Rickenbacker 660-12 (SOLD) Fender USA Deluxe Strat Fender USA Roadhouse Strat Fender MIM/USA Partscaster Fender MIM Nashville Tele Kelsey Custom Hardtail Strat Fender MIM P-Bass |
#12
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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!
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"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything." - Plato | '02 814c Custom (Coco/Sitka) | '03 912ce Custom (Coco/Engelmann)| '06 K65ce | '17 J45 Std. | '10 Breedlove Revival OM DLX (EIR/Adi) | Lots of electrics... |
#13
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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. Last edited by 6L6; 07-06-2022 at 02:20 PM. |
#14
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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!
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Gibson ES-335 Studio 2016; Furch OM34sr 2015; Fender MiJ Geddy Lee Jazz bass, 2009; Taylor 414CE 2005; Guild D35 NT 1976; Fender MIM Classic 60s Tele 2008; Fender US Standard Strat 1992; G&L ASAT classic hollowbody 2005; Ibanez RG350MDX 2010(?); Ibanez Musician fretless, 1980s; Seymour Duncan Tube 84-40; Vox AC4TV; Ex-pat Brit in Sweden
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#15
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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.
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2003 Martin OM-42, K&K's 1932 National Style O, K&K's 1930 National Style 1 tricone Square-neck 1951 Rickenbacker Panda lap steel 2014 Gibson Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe Ltd, Custom Shop, K&K's 1957 Kay K-27 X-braced jumbo, K&K's 1967 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins Nashville 2014 Gold Tone WL-250, Whyte Lade banjo 2024 Mahogany Weissenborn, Jack Stepick Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina Tonedexter |