How many guitars do you take to a gig?

All this year I've been taking 2 guitars to our gigs... two telecasters, one in standard tuning and one in open E for slide (and as a backup).

I just bought a wonderful strat with SCN noiseless pickups and I'm thinking I'm gona bring it from now on too.. those pickups are so quiet, will be nice to use at places that have a lot of electrical noise. And some songs just sound good on a strat.

But then again, I like keeping things simple, and I hate changing guitars during a set. Will have to experiment.

So how many guitars do you bring and use at your gigs?

I usually bring two Teles. A light weight and great sounding 52RI Tele that I use for most of the songs and a HotRod Nashville B-bender that I use for a couple of tunes. This is a 3-pickup model so I can get som Stratish tones out of it if it´s needed.

I use my Peavey (Tele Copy) and Electra LP Copy from '70's. I have a Strat I've used every now and then (1972 model) but in all honesty I don't like taking the Strat to a bar - afraid something will happen to it (knocked over, stolen, etc).

Has been only my Strat, the reissue or the '61, depending on how nutty the venue. Lately though I have sort of rediscovered the Telecaster, and I think it's going to have to come along for the ride. About 1/3 of the stuff we play will just sound better with it.

If I can get the band to buy into 'Hot Rod Lincoln' the Tele will have a permanent place in the van. :wink:

I only take one....one of my Teles.

I've never taken more than two, and the second one has always been strictly a back-up.

Except for a period where I played slide on one song, then the second one was tuned to open G and was used on that one song only. But even then I only brought the two.

Most of my guitar work is in a big band. I try to keep it to one guitar, but there are times when I bring multiple axes if we're playing varied styles.

My first choice for these gigs is a Godin Kingpin CW II. If we're doing a lot of earlier swing music, but still have some more modern things on the program, I'll bring my Godin 5th Avenue (played acoustically!) and a tele with a mini-bucker.

Were still in the getting to know each other/rehearsal/what are we going to play phase of a '70's/'80's cover band. So I take my Tele, a LP, and an acoustic.

Tom

I usually take my tele. If I'm playing on a larger stage I might bring two or if I know we are doing something where I can use a different tuning I'll bring two.

Depends on what we are playing.

I took 2 guitars and at least 2 amps..The 2nd guitar was strictly back-up...Sometimes I used all 3 amps but not often..

Usually just one

In the bluegrass band I play in, I recently added banjo to a few tunes so as of right now I take a flattop guitar, resophonic guitar, & a banjo. Also play mandolin on the gig sometimes when we play fiddle tunes but just use the mando players F5 for that one. One of the guys in the band jokes that my side of the stage looks like a music store....

Four

one tele

One

2 guitars for me. One is strickly for an emergency..so it never gets played that nite unless the other goes down. I spray the neck and strings down after each set for a fresh start with no stickyness.

Also, I bring the best that I have for premium sound..however, none of my guitars are expensive. But I have hot rodded all of them with pickups/pots of my choice with bone nuts and better tuners if needed. I'm not concerned about being knocked over or stollen..I put that in the hands of the Lord :wink:

http://bobbyandthejammers.wordpress.com/

Usually two. We do some acoustic based tunes so I have one electric & one acoustic.

2.

Usually 2. A six and a twelve.

three -- tele, strat (tuned down) and acoustic.

Mostly just one,but the odd time if the drink's in me I'd drag along the one I keep tuned to open G.

Two Teles and a Godin A6 for the acoustic stuff,
Two Fender Mustang IIIs, the A6 goes direct.

2 main and backup..

It's all you need, unless you just like lugging around extra stuff. I don't

Depends on the gig;
anywhere from 2 to 5: Tele-Strat-LP-Acoustic-Ric 12 depending on staging and set lists.
Minimum would be 2...a Tele and Acoustic.

I've found, over the years, that a Telecaster can do it all. (So can a Strat or Les Paul). However I prefer the Tele.

With my last band (60's only band) between the other guitar player and I, 7 was the norm - but now, ONE ~ a TELE!

Two for me - one I play the entire night and one for backup. The backup I bring can also be used by our singer/part time guitarist in a pinch. I've broken my share of strings and it's easier to just grab the second guitar than change a string mid set.

-DJ.

I take the two I built. One has Gibson Burstbuckers (the one you see in my profile avatar to the left), the other has traditional Tele pickups and a Bigsby. I use the Gibson-loaded one for most of the night, because it sounds really nice through tube distortion. Then I switch to the other one when we hit our first clean-tone number and stick with that for the rest of the set. I generally don't like making the audience wait through multiple guitar changes.

If a string breaks on either of them, I finish the show on the other.

One electric. My acoustic-electric too if we are playing our lighter material.

If I only brought one guitar - that would certainly change how I played...
I need at least one to play and one back-up
I use heavy picks and play fairly hard - thus - I break strings

Usually just my one tele -- it's a pine partscaster with a Nashville-type three-pup set up. It's versitile, it never "breaks down" (not sure how it could short of a bar fight breaking out and it's needed as a defensive weapon) and I haven't broken a string in the last ten years.

I do bring two small and simialr 1-12" combo amps, because they are somewhat more likely to break down. I use one as an extension cabinet, and if I have a problem and I can quickly switch to the other amp's power section.

Depends on the gig. If I'm playing a 2-3 hour solo gig I bring no backup. I'm less likely to break strings at this type of gig because I play fingerstyle and if I do break one, the gig is so long that it's no big deal to take 10 minutes, change a string and go on.

If I'm playing a 45 minute set of original material with my rock band, I must have a backup in case of string breakage. You have to keep things moving, and stopping to change a string in the middle of a short set because you didn't bring a backup is plain dumb. That's why I always bring a spare amp as well. If a tube goes, I don't have time in the middle of the set to figure out where the bad one is. I just fire up the other amp.

Two--my Nashville
west and a parts tele I use as a back up...altho weve ended up doing some tunes in "un-guitar friendly" keys like F#, C# and Ab so I am thinging about tuning the spare to Eb for those tunes. I do dislike changing guitars in mid set tho...so...

In general I try to keep the amount of machinery I have onstage to a minimum. Just one guitar does it for me.

Two for me, my tele and my custom made job for slide, will be from now on with lap steel added to set. :cool:

Usually 2. strat and tele for blues and rock gigs.

Selmer style and archtop for jazz

At least two.
I always bring my Gretsch, and depending on the "bag", my Les Paul,
Yamaha SA 2000S, ol' bender Tele, or Strat.
The Strat sees the least work.
The Gretsch sounds the best, but it's an unwieldy, big thing.

I take my full collection of electrics.
One tele.

I bring two - my #1 Tele tuned standard and my partscaster Tele tuned to open G and to serve as emergency backup. I've been thinking about schlepping along my Dot lately 'cause there's a few tunes in the set that those twin buckers would sound good in, but I haven't yet convinced myself.

101006
I used to just bring one guitar to the gig. But my A string broke at a few gigs (luckily there was someone elses guitar I could borrow). So since I've brought an extra in case of emergency, but never really had to use it. :\ go fig.

52 Tele Reissue and Schecter Ultracure (because it has humbuckers)

Don't really care if the song needs more of a Strat Tone, or Les Paul tone, or whatever because everyone's to busy paying attention to our hot chick singer to really care.

Just one.
http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/zz111/chippertheripper/7dfdb4ce.jpg

Lately 4 for full on gigs:

Baja and CS 63 Strat as appropriate,
CS 50's Tele for 2nd guitarist and as my back-up
Martin 16GTE

...........and an armoured truck for my guitars. :sad:

.....but they're meant for playing! :cool:

Unfortunately, 3 since I built the Tele. Strat is my main guitar, Les Paul for a handful of humbucker songs and now the Tele is sprinkled in. I have to leave it home if the stage is going to be especially small, although I usually just take space from someone else.

I did take a fourth to a gig we did an acoustic set on.

In the last band I was in, I brought 2: SG Standard with Phat Cats and either my stock '52 RI Tele or my strat with a TV Jones Classic bridge and strat mid & neck pups for back up. Played through a SFDR and always brought the Pro Jr. (left in the truck) as a back up for either myself or the other player if needed.

3.
2 to switch around as the mood strikes me and 1 for slide.
When I use different slide tunings, I put them in different sets.

I take two guitars. Usually a Les Paul and a Strat or a Tele.
I'd take more, but it gets to be more hassle than its worth.
I work a regular job. Set-up time is limited.

When I play Bass, I take my Dano Baritone as a back-up.

Usually an acoustic and an electric. Another electric if I play slide. Or maybe a lap steel in place of the other electric. Maybe a 12 string if the set calls for it. If space and set up wasn't an issue I'd bring 'em all!

All this year I've been taking 2 guitars to our gigs... two telecasters, one in standard tuning and one in open E for slide (and as a backup).

I just bought a wonderful strat with SCN noiseless pickups and I'm thinking I'm gona bring it from now on too.. those pickups are so quiet, will be nice to use at places that have a lot of electrical noise. And some songs just sound good on a strat.

But then again, I like keeping things simple, and I hate changing guitars during a set. Will have to experiment.

So how many guitars do you bring and use at your gigs?
I do the same except my Esquire is tuned to open G. I've recently added playing an acoustic guitar to a lot of our songs, so that's three total and I'm not adding any more. I would love to just play one, but I need the others for certain things.

Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using TDPRI

Often one, my strat or tele, but I like having two. First to have a backup, secondly it's just nice to have a choice and different sounds!

I usually take 3.
A Les Paul, either my tele or strat and an acoustic.
I swap and change between the strat and tele lately, but the Les Paul is always there.

Depends on who I'm working with.

For my regular duo jobs, lately I've been carrying standard and high-string acoustic-electric guitars, a mandolin, a banjo, and a six string lap steel in open D. An electric sitar, a twelve string acoustic-electric, and an eight string lap steel in C6 get rotated in as well.

Looks like I'll have some upcoming duo work with a new guy that wants a bunch of mandolin. He sticks very close to his vocal range comfort zone and does a ton of stuff in the key of E. I'm considering carrying two mandolins, one being dedicated to a second fret capo for playing out of the D shape, just to mix things up a bit on all the E stuff.

For full band work that just wants electric guitar, I usually carry a strat, and standard and B-bender teles. If I also a need to play mandolin, one of the teles usually stays home. I'll carry the B-bender if it's more of a twang thang.

A friend and I are tossing around the idea of forming a power pop band. If that happens, I'll likely dust off the SG with P90's and also carry a tele.

101006
...because everyone's to busy paying attention to our hot chick singer to really care.

This is my strategy to cover for my lousy playing

I took 7 to a gig once. It was a high profile event, big stage. But at the end of the night, when it was load out time, I realized the error of my ways.
This weekend I'm thinking of just taking two...
Tele and Acoustic.

tele and acoustic to band stuff. haven't looked for any gigs yet, but my daughter and i have started working on a duo. so far i'm playing songs on : mandolin,mandocello, banjo, tele,dreadnought tuned standard, and om size acoustic that stays tuned in dadgad. she plays violin.

looks like i'm gonna need a roadie.

Two but I don't change unless I break a string which I never do. Well...once.

i used to take 3 - Tele, Baritone Tele and Mandolin. last couple of shows it has just been my tele. only broken string at a show once in 4 years.

Depends. For the cover band I bring a Tele or Strat, an Ibanez Artcore semi-hollow, a mandolin, and sometimes a lapsteel or banjo. Once in a while there's another guitar if I'm having trouble making up my mind.

For acoustic shows, whatever I need, 6, 12, baritone, nylon. For bass shows, a fretless Godin and an EBMM fretted, both five strings.

For the sake of convenience I try to limit my load.

2 Teles

Two. One is purely as a backup in case of a broken string or other mishap. I can't remember the last time I needed to use the backup but I know things will go wrong if I don't have it.

Two if I'm getting paid upfront, one if I'm playing for tips.

For rock gigs I usually bring a Tele, a 335, and a Strat in open tuning for slide (usually two songs).

For country gigs either two Teles or a Tele and a Gretsch.

Usually only one - a Tele or Strat depending upon my mood. Despite playing tons of gigs over all the years, I've broken fewer than 3 strings on stage in that entire time and just don't worry about it.

I worry more about a tube going bad than a string!

Sometimes I bring my old Fender 6-string lap steel (on legs) but lately not so much due to cramped quarters.

Two - - just in case. :wink:

I used to be a 2 guitar guy. Then I stared doubling on keys, so I scaled back to 1. Last spring I picked up a compact little Fender Malibu acoustic electric, and started dragging that along too. Its a neat little guitar, that I can use in a pinch for acoustic stuff that may pop up. I also figure that if either my amp or Tele were to fail me....I could run it throught the board, and save the day. Since its tiny, its not such a big deal to bring it along.

One.

I'm a one-trip guy. One trip from the car to the gig. I carry my guitar, by amp, and my gig bag. What more do you need?

3......two electrics and an acoustic ......

Two Telecasters and an acoustic ele. One Tele is an early Parson's-White B-bender.

I take two, one of them is usually a Tele.

But the spare one varies.

And sometimes the spare one gets played most of the gig too.

Variety is the spice of life!!

I only have one electric: an american tele. So, that's what I bring to a gig.
When I break a string (not that often with flatwound 10s), the upright bass/singer sings "King of the road" backed by just his bass and the drums as I change my string in a stage corner- usually dark :(

Gigged this weekend gone using this rig

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k7/andys_01/GigRig.jpg

Tele did the first set, then for the second I started out using the Gibby, intending to swap back to the Tele mid set, then Gibso for the final few.

I ended up using the Gibson MM for the whole set. Wow those controls on that guitar are versatile. Did it all from funky James Brown to full on rocier stuff too.

I reckon I'm crossing over to the dark side.....:wink::!::twisted:

I bring 5 usually.I play shows sometimes up to 4 hours non-stop...a lot of the venues I play in are located on strips where the street is full of bars and if you take a break the people will leave and go to another bar.Since I like to make money and make the bar money I like the keep the bar full...it's a lot funner to play for a full house than an empty one!So in my situation,I need 5 guitars to have as backups and also certain guitars are used for certain songs...the show needs to be dynamic in order to keep people's interest.I always bring 3 Strats,1 Telecaster and a Gibson Les Paul or SG.

Right now I'm bringing the Tele and a D18. I used a 335 for a while on three or four songs but in crowded bars with tiny "stages" I was afraid something was going to get knocked over.

I've got a '74 Custom and the Lover HB works fine on the 335 songs...not as good, but pretty good.

I usually bring 2: my SG standard and my tele Baja. They both get played. Sometimes we play in small places so I only play 1 guitar. In that case I play either my AVRI62 strat or my Baja, but bring both (one for backup, in case a string snaps).

I've whittled it down to three: Tele, Danelectro baritone, squareneck dobro.
Used to bring a back-up for the Tele - but I haven't broken a string in years; used to bring a lap steel - but the dobro tone works better with a lot of our songs, so I transcribed our songs from C6 lap steel to my G6 dobro tuning.
Oh, and I also bring my accordion, of course!

I always bring two. Depending on the gig I'll bring a different combination.

Here are the most common combos, in order:
1. my 1969 Tele (heavy mods) + my 1982 Fender Stratocaster '57 ri
2. my 1969 Tele (heavy mods) + 1968 Epiphone EA-255 Casino + my 1982 Fender Stratocaster '57 ri
3. my 1982 Fender Stratocaster '57 ri + one of my Gibson LP's
2. my 1969 Tele (heavy mods) + my Ibanez acoustic

The Tele usually comes with me because it is so versatile with all of the mods. Though, the Strat see's the most stage time.

I bring 5 usually.I play shows sometimes up to 4 hours non-stop...a lot of the venues I play in are located on strips where the street is full of bars and if you take a break the people will leave and go to another bar.Since I like to make money and make the bar money I like the keep the bar full...it's a lot funner to play for a full house than an empty one!So in my situation,I need 5 guitars to have as backups and also certain guitars are used for certain songs...the show needs to be dynamic in order to keep people's interest.I always bring 3 Strats,1 Telecaster and a Gibson Les Paul or SG.

I've seen your arsenal and it is indeed impressive. Just as an aside. At work today I must be wearing the same pants from my last Austin visit. I have a Sonny Wolf (and mojo boogie) Card in my pocket.

Enjoy.

I bring three:
- my main Telecaster that I use probably 70% of the time.
- a Tele in 5 string, open G tuning for the Stones and Black Crowes songs.
- guitar with HBs, either my Les Paul or DeArmond Starfire for extra girth on a few songs.
This combo has been working great for me the past couple of years...

2... strat and a 335..whenever I get my tele back from the luthier with its new neck it will replace the 335 probably.. ..jesus its been too long since I have had it.. a year. :sad::sad: he is making a new neck and taking forever..

Last gig was 3: Gretsch hollowbody, Strat, and Tele (Squier, with Bigsby).

The Strat only got used on a couple songs. Almost all of the first set was Gretsch. Almost all of the second set was Tele.

How many did Scotty Moore bring? How many strings did he break?

When I was first in a band, I bought my Squier '51 as a backup for my SG (Don't ask me why when I also had my Les Paul). Well, none of the bands I have been in have gotten a chance to play live, but I have as a solo artist. I have taken ONE guitar each time I have played in front of an audience. The reason being is that if I am unable to get all the sounds I need from one guitar, I take a different one.

Always at least 2. If the stage will accommodate it, 3. Even though the additional one(s) are only brought as backups in case of string breakage or other playability issues, I have had to go to a third in the course of one set. Particularly in my punk rock band, I hit a guitar pretty hard live.

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/296609_10150370253418879_512618878_8306116_1994080 410_n.jpg

I like to bring a couple of guitars to gigs, but I have risked it with only one, cuz I don't break strings much. I tell everybody, if I won the lottery I'd still be playing the same sh!tty gigs, but I'd have my own roadie to hand me freshly tuned and set up guitars from a rack of 'em.

1 tele, 1 strat... the strats a back up... ****** happens ...

...

I always take 2 Les Pauls. A Junior and a Gary Moore. Jr in standard tuning and the Gary Moore half step down. At one gig I took 3 but that was because I got a new guitar and just wanted to try it out:lol:

Just my Nocaster. Handles both traditional Tele, Strat and LP sounds just fine. And I always ensure that the strap buttons are tightened and restring it at least 3 days prior to a performance.

Uno. Going on 15 years and she's never let me down. Not once. Not even a broken string.

2 electrics and 1 kadoostick...

Depends;
- For my main gigging band; Barden loaded Roadworn Tele,Dano 6string Bass, Breedlove Mandolin, sometimes my Strat,spare Warmoth Tele.
-Other sideman gigs;Yamaha NTX 900 FM, Larrivee L-05,Gitane DG-300,Lap steel, Tenor Banjo. I've also got a neat little Bass rig for pickup gigs. A Gold Epiphone Jack Cassidy Bass with a small GK amp. Strung it with Flatwounds.

So how many guitars do you bring and use at your gigs?

Usually one, sometimes two depending on the kind of gig.

For my funk/R&B band, up to four:

- Strat's my Number One, and pretty much nails any tone I want. :cool:

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb349/stratburst70/IMG_0384.jpg

- Tele for if I break a string. That happened once, right before we were due to start our performance. Grabbed the Tele and kept going! :mrgreen:

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb349/stratburst70/IMG_0390.jpg

- Homemade baritone Strat for a couple of songs, like "Chain of Fools." It occasionally stays home if we're not doing those songs.

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb349/stratburst70/IMG_0388.jpg

- Hamer bass. There's a lot of instrument swapping going on in our band, and neither myself nor the second guitarist can handle my wife's 5-string Fender Jazz. Besides, she has flatwounds on her Jazz and I prefer roundwounds for slap-n'-pop.

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb349/stratburst70/IMG_0397.jpg

'Live' gig ... if it pays $149.00 and under, only one ... and it's a Tele.

Lately it's been one. If I bring another it's a spare. We only do maybe 2 songs that call for a slide, so I play slide in standard tuning.

Band gigs is usually 4, my foto-flame telly, lap steel, National Tricone and either my Strat (for club gigs) or my '83 telly (concert gigs). Club gigs I'll go back and forth between the foto-flame and the strat (mainly because of the wiggle stick), concerts the '83 telly is the main guitar, with the National and lap steel both seeing time...

Acoustic gigs is usually 3-the National, tuned open D, a Dobro tuned open G, and my Martin tuned standard. Makes it a lot easier to change tunings by just grabbing another guitar!!!

Franc Robert

2 teles..one with a maple neck one rosewood...one with thicker strings one with lighter ones...all I need.

TWO

Depends on the gig:

solo or duet I will bring an acoustic guitar,

if I am playing lead for someone else, I usually only bring one Telecaster unless they want acoustic also,

and if I am fronting, I will often bring an acoustic and an electric.

I bring 2 a tele and my paul. I stay with the tele most of the time but, sometimes during the last set if its a party crowd ill play my paul because the songs tend to be more rock.

http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/1650/40932510151273104315215.jpg

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/6184/photoaj.jpg

As few as four, but usually five: A Gibson (SG, LP Junior, LP Standard, Flying V), a Fender (Tele, or a Jazzmaster), the Rick 330-12, MIJ Strat 5-string open G, and a Teisco/Kingston for slide. Sometimes, I leave the Teisco home and bring another Gibson. On my last gig, I brought six, and it was overkill. Since I dumped my Peavey monitors and bought a Hot Spot, I have less to carry, thank God.

I usualy bring two, but on occasion 3. Most of the time I bring my tele with hot rails in the bridge (gives me more tone options), and a strat with CS69's. I occasionaly bring my acoustic. I only bring one guitar to church though, wich is usualy my tele. I've begin to love the strat a lot lately, it's almost my main axe now. I just can't get away from the tele though.

Some will hate this but in a local country band the guitar player takes at least ten instruments to every gig, even the smallest of pubs.

He has regular Teles, a baritone, a 12-string, a baritone 12-string, a 12-string mandolin/guitar type thing, an acoustic mandolins, a twin neck mandolin/guitar, a B-bender...maybe something I've forgotten about.

He plays them all, changes real fast between songs and even mid-song and doesn't act a jerk about it. Lots of people who come to see them really get a kick from it, it adds great variety to the set and works out really well. He is a great player too, certainly the best country player I ever get to see within 50 miles. He'd sound great with one Tele all night, but I guess he feels like he has some great instruments, can play them all, so what the heck.

The hard cases do look a sight all piled up in a corner!

I used to take just the one, but now I always take 2. I've never had a breakdown or broken string in all my experience (so far) so I'm not really concerned about that, but I do find that in some venues the acoustics will favour one guitar over another so it's good to have a choice. Recently there have been gigs where I'll start with a guitar like a Les Paul and after a few songs I'll change to something with single coils with a big sigh of relief.
In other places the exact opposite is the case. Start with a tele and struggle until I get out the humbuckers.

In the past I've taken just one and I think some of those 'bad' gigs where I go home afterwards thinking how crap I am and wondering how much I can get for my gear on the secondhand market is due to this.

I'd take more if it were realistically practical...but for me 2 is the limit due to transport and onstage space limitations.

Two but I very rarely change to the second one. I use my tele and my Epi LP. Since my band likes mixing "older" song with newer punk/alternative the Pups on the 2011 MIM work great :)

I remember reading that when the Eagles did the HFO tour Walsh and Felder each toured with around 35 guitars. There's a list of all their equipment, with photos of their guitar racks, processing racks, and pedal boards, on the internet somewhere.

I used to take two with one being the backup for string break emergencies. We've recently added a song with non-standard tuning (DADAAE) so I bring three now. If I break a string in that song, well, I'm just screwed.

I used to bring all my guitars when I played a show. There were show I played where the guitars outnumbered the audience!

Two, tele and strat.

Always bring two after a fateful gig where I broke 3 strings during one set...I can make a quick guitar swap if that happens again, and deal with the strings during break. Both teles, because I take the time to take the back up, I try and use it on 2 or 3 songs during the course of the night.

Tele and taylor acoustic

Call me crazy, but I have a tele and I make it a point to be able to continue playing during a set no matter how many strings I break. (Of course I change them between sets. Since it's a tele it barely goes out of tune when a string breaks.) I've been down to only four strings; it forces me to look at the guitar differently, and all of a sudden "Smoke On The Water" becomes a challenging song. ;-) Trying to play a solo without the G and high E strings can be a bit of a tightrope walk.

1. the sg or the tele, depends on what material it is. always need strings though, but we dont have enough space to take more than 1 guitar.

I take five....

A Partscastor (Tele body and Strat neck)...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/430566_337482482955977_235388066498753_898517_8156 62927_n.jpg

A $50 Razor Strat clone with a plywood body and a Gotoh dual blade humbucker (single coil size) in the neck. This one is a slide MONSTER with tons of vibe...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/429036_337473969623495_235388066498753_898510_1639 809016_n.jpg

A Warrior Experience...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/420359_337467006290858_235388066498753_898503_4953 85009_n.jpg

A Gibson Wes Montgomery L-5...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426306_334243956613163_235388066498753_891376_2036 610472_n.jpg

And a hand made Dell'Arte acoustic...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/230453_10150303058669552_727464551_9833928_3499349 _n.jpg

TP, I didn't see any guitars in any of those photos, are you sure? There were a couple hot singers though.

I usually take 3 one main, a backup, and my gibson es 335 which is required for some of the songs we play.

Used to watch the Derailers play before they hit the big time.

Guess how many guitars they took to gigs?

1 each..

We is all spoiled brats...

Used to watch the Derailers play before they hit the big time.

Guess how many guitars they took to gigs?

1 each..

We is all spoiled brats...

Sorry but 1 apiece is actually kinda stupid.

Strings break.

Sorry but 1 apiece is actually kinda stupid.

Strings break.

I saw a local blues three-piece a while back. The guitarist broke a string seconds into the first song. He got a new one on there super quick while the drummer and bassist kept a competent groove going. Cool under pressure is pretty impressive.

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I saw a local blues three-piece a while back. The guitarist broke a string seconds into the first song. He got a new one on there super quick while the drummer and bassist kept a competent groove going. Cool under pressure is pretty impressive.


But why have to do it in the first place?

Just bring a backup, impress me with the material, not how you cope with an unnecessary situation you created.

My road worn player tele and one of my gretsches. Match made in heaven

1 each..

We is all spoiled brats...

I'd like to take one vs. five as I don't relish load in/load out and switching guitars mid-set. Here's why I take 5 (apologies to Paul Desmond and The Dave Brubeck Quartet)

Gibson L-5: We play jazz standards (Night & Day, Fly Me To The Moon, etc.) that this guitar really shines on. Also we do some Motown tunes (e.g. Let's Stay Together, Sittin' on the doc of the bay) that the tone of this guitar really compliments.

Razor Strat Clone: This one is tuned to open Ab and used for slide. I stuck a good pickup in the neck position of this $50 used piece of crap with a plywood body and horrid electronics and found the most incredible blues monster I've ever played.

PartsCaster: This one is tuned to open E and used for slide - its gets a great Eagles tone.

Warrior Experience: This one is used on everything else needing electric. Sometimes I'll take a G&L Legacy Special that's been tricked out instead of the Warrior.

Dell'Arte acoustic: this one is used for acoustic tunes (doh!) like Thank You by Dido, James Taylor tunes, etc....

Sometimes I'll take a fiddle too. You can see it on the left in the first pic below. At this gig I had five guitars, but it was a country gig so I had two Teles (one with a G bender and one tuned down to Eb), the Razor crap/blues monster tuned to open Ab, the G&L Legacy Special, a Taylor 810 - and the fiddle.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/31278_439918074551_727464551_5784262_5993889_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/31278_439918109551_727464551_5784265_6577070_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/31278_439918134551_727464551_5784269_6704686_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/31278_439918119551_727464551_5784267_1708578_n.jpg

In the last picture you can see our other guitarist brought 4 guitars. One tuned up to F, one tuned down to Eb, one tuned standard, and an acoustic.

The transitions between songs are as important as the songs at some gigs - they want to keep the momentum going at a place like the Wildhorse Saloon to keep the dancers out there on the floor. Thus all the different tuned guitars. We can't take time to retune between songs. And we had it worked out so that songs could start with the rest of the band WHILE guitars were being switched.

At times I'll bring along a lap steel and/or mandolin as well if needed.

BUT, sometimes I just take one if the gig fits it. I played a soul/rock gig at the Hard Rock in Nashville and just took one guitar - and loved load in/out.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/390600_10150574314484552_727464551_11928443_150096 1750_n.jpg

The ultimate is a straight ahead jazz gig. Just take the L-5, a 2x8 Roland amp, a tuner, and a cord.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/167052_10150172870769552_727464551_8761947_4857849 _n.jpg

Better yet, I was asked to sit in with the Nashville Symphony and play mando in a mandolin esemble. For that gig, just one mando & a tuner. Super nice. This is a pic of us rehearsing...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/230425_10150304689659552_727464551_9855246_3156599 _n.jpg

So I guess it really just depends on the gig....

I carry a Pedal Steel, Telecaster, Dobro and lately a Mandolin to some gigs, I play each at some point during the sets...

If we are taking multiple Instruments " FOR THE SHOW " that's one thing...

If we are taking multiple instruments "TO SHOW" that's quite another.

Several years back I worked with a band where the supposed leader took about 6 Instruments to each gig, he set them up behind him in a semi circle, it looked great, problem was , he never played any of them, ever, actually most of them he can't play !

He took up half the stage as well..

To everything but a straight ahead Jazz gig I now take two (generally as a spare).
I've been breaking strings more lately on my main Strat and I think it's a sharp spot at the back of my bridge where the string goes into the hole.

(spare is either an LP or a Tele or even a jazzmaster)

A Grosh ElectraJet with P-90s and an Epiphone Les Paul ukulele!

I keep a Peavey Raptor Strat Copy and a ZT Lunchbox in the trunk of the car just in case but I play with a light touch and rarely break strings.

A few years back I was in a cover band and used to bring along a rack for tone coverage:

64 Tele
Jerry Jones Baritone
National ResoRocket
RIC 660 12 string
Strat (Robt Cray)

Great sounds! :smile:

Ed