Gigging with a single Telecaster/Esquire.

[mistermullens]

And when I say single, I mean that's it. No other guitars on the stand. I've played a couple with my Esquire, and felt pretty confident that it would get me through without any trouble. Aside from breaking a string, how many of you have had a serious problem with your Tele/Esquire on a gig? Anyone take a soldering iron and extra pups with them? How about an extra control assembly? Just curious.

[ReddRanger]

Basically, I always bring a spare. That's just easier than carrying around a soldering or anything like that. Sometimes I'll put the spare on a stand behind my amp. If it's a small room I'll just keep it in the case 'off stage'.

But I've done plenty of bar gigs on only one Tele without incident. Even when I've swtiched to the backup, it's not due to major problems.

[therhodeo]

For a single gig? I always take 2 guitars. Breaking a string is the usual concern but beyond that normally any problem that comes up is more than I want to tackle at a gig.

[Telemarkman]

I've always gigged with one guitar, usually a Tele or a Les Paul, and never had a problem - hardly a broken string.

[Tim Armstrong]

Can't recall ever having a problem beyond a broken string, and not too many of those. Still, I usually had a spare guitar just in case.

As a bassist, I pretty much just go with one instrument!

Cheers, Tim

[Lerb21]

Nothing worse than a broken strings, normally bring another tele incase tho.

[mistermullens]

I agree, a spare is ideal. I think the only time I've ever broken a string was when I first started playing, and that was when I was tuning!!!!

[ScatMan]

I always bring a backup. If you have pup/switch/pot problems in the middle of a set with only one guitar, obviously you're in trouble..

..but even a broken string mid-set without a backup can be a real buzz kill for you as the player or the audience if your playing goes south, or G-d forbid, you stop to change a string.

[Kingsnakes]

Live life on the edge!. I play 100 dates a year, and rarely do I bring out a second guitar (Tele). If you break a string it's time for a bass solo or a joke while you replace your string

[Old Cane]

Yeah, I traveled for about 20 years, sometimes for months at a time with one guitar. Now that I've built a few I carry a bunch to let the others look at and play if they want to.

[Tim73]

I usually have a tele / esquire and a spare tele. I played in London at the start of the month which involved tube / cab travel so I was down to just the one. Until I get a road crew I'll always travel light.

[jazztele]

i do a lot of gigging with one guitar only...especially for jazz stuff. if i'm playing in town, driving/parking is impractical--so it's a small amp and one tele on my back in a gig bag. really no other choice.

when i do rock gigs/weddings/pub stuff, i always bring two guitars, even though i hardly ever touch the spare. better safe than sorry in that atmosphere.

[vanguard]

i finished a year long stint with a popular band playing large all the way to stadium sized venues and played the same esquire without backup the whole time! i play guitar like i'm sawing through a femur, and i never broke a string. that HW1 texas esquire is magical.

[ole AZ]

I only bring my Strat to our local gigs. I've never broken a string at a gig, let alone anything more serious. When we hit the road to go to Texas a couple times a year, I bring three guitars.

[graphs]

Yeah, I think it depends on the gig. Some are going to run a higher risk of string breakage than others so you would plan accordingly. I can't say I've ever heard of pickups or electronics failing mid-set on a guitar... so pack an extra guitar or extra strings. And extra tubes!

[spankdplank]

I'm fine with one guitar per gig but I have too many guitars and not enough gigs to only bring one. A month ago I did a gig with one tele and no spare, but usually I bring two and play one guitar almost the whole night and the other guitar for a few songs at the end. I usually switch just so the other guitar will get some face time, but not because of a problem with the main guitar. The other guitar player in our band has to bring three guitars to each gig and has to switch between a tele in open G, a strat for most songs and a 12 string Ricky. A total pain, but nothing sounds like a Ricky 12 and tuning a strat from standard to open tuning and back is a nighmare. If not for that, he would bring one strat to every gig and no spare, and would be fine. I'm more paranoid about amps and usually bring a 67 Ampeg Reverberocket II cut down to a head, as a spare.

[degsycaster]

I always take 2, I have to - one song in our set calls for me to play a 'D' tuning with a capo on the fourth fret. I hate that part of the set! I always take my Baja and my '05 SG Standard. I let the acoustics of the room decide what guitar I use for the majority of the songs then de-tune the other one to suit.

[Telarkaster]

Originally Posted by ScatMan

I always bring a backup. If you have pup/switch/pot problems in the middle of a set with only one guitar, obviously you're in trouble..

..but even a broken string mid-set without a backup can be a real buzz kill for you as the player or the audience if your playing goes south, or G-d forbid, you stop to change a string.

I'll never forget going to see my buddy play a gig: soundcheck was fine, but the trouble started when he went to plug in his $3000 Gibson custom shop p-90 equipped Les Paul RI. The screw that attached the neck pickup to the body became detached sometime between the soundcheck and showtime and the pickup came loose and was lodged against the strings. No easy fix, the wood of the body had to be worked on. He had no choice but to use the back up Les Paul. He was extremely frustrated because the Les Paul wasn't his and it had heavy gauge strings that he wasn't used to. Plus the settings on the amp were all wrong for humbuckers.

Lesson learned: bring a back up, and one that you are comfortable with.

As for MM's question about playing with just an Esquire, it depends on the music you play and how comfortable you are with it.

[Lerb21]

I've played Hank Williams, Flat & Scruggs, Lynyrd Skynyrd, KISS, Ted Nugent, and everything in between on an Esquire.

In my humble opinion, a good guitar player only needs one pick, and the one's placed in the bridges of standard Teles/Esquires are the best for anything. He amount of ballz and country twang. Greatest thing clean. I crank up the distortion and mine sounds better than my Gibson. Zero buzz. IMO humbuckers were an unnecessary invention and I will never buy another humbucker guitar and if I do you can bet your butt that it'll come out. The greatest, most versatile Pups ever are the ones that go in the bridges of Esquires.

[mistermullens]

Originally Posted by Lerb21

The greatest, most versatile Pups ever are the ones that go in the bridges of Esquires.

Some may not agree, but I do! Well said!

[Mark N]

I have never had guitar trouble...amp problems a couple of times and that's about it. And it was not tube related but the speaker cable running out the back of my TRRI shorted out and needed a new end on it...I played acoustic for the most part of the night that time. It wouldn't hurt to have a spare guitar but you could get by with the one I am sure

[leonard d rock]

if its a small gig, i bring a spare but its there in the car trunk for those emergency moments. for big gigs, i bring the spare guitar on stage with me, and its behind or beside my amp. but before, when i had only one good guitar, i never had any problems too. of course, i checked the guitar, changed strings a day before the gig to prevent any problems and to let new strings and any adjustments "settle."

ldr

[Chris Browne]

Bring backup, always.

[soul-o]

Originally Posted by Kingsnakes

Live life on the edge!. I play 100 dates a year, and rarely do I bring out a second guitar (Tele). If you break a string it's time for a bass solo or a joke while you replace your string

That's the exact post I was about to type. I have a double gig bag with an SG and room for the tele, but I never seem to use it. I haven't broken a string onstage yet this year.

[IPLAYLOUD]

I'll bring 2 to mix things up, but I can live with my Esquire alone.

Break a string? Very quick fix if you have a winder/cutter and pack of strings close.
I always do.

Metallica, Floyd, Amy Winehouse, Pretenders, Aerosmith, Zappa, Beatles & Zep...all at the same gig with my trusty Esquire, Korg G3 and Peavey Transtube.

[jedi]

Many, many , many gigs with just an Esquire or Tele. Especially, some of the smaller venues where sometimes there is barely room for your amp. I cannot even remember the last time I broke a string at a gig. I always change them before every gig so I never really have a problem.

[Daddy Poet]

I gig with my Tele, but I do have my Squier Strat as a back up just in casee I pop a string and need to keep going fast.

[Big John]

I probably shouldn't say this but ............. i only EVER take the one to a gig, i look after it cable, pot and string wise so i don't expect any problems other than a string breakage.
Now, i definitely shouldn't say this :- 90% of folk don't believe it anyway and i don't want to incur some karmic revenge but i have never broken a string on stage !!, and "Yes", i have been a very busy player these last 40 years, some say it's just my meanness, i think it's just my touch, it sounds to me like i am hitting them hard but maybe i don't.
I didn't believe it when i saw a bassist break a string !
Anyway, find me at a gig and ask to look in the case you'll see how many spares i take to the gig ---- mmmmmmmmm, perhaps i should put a couple in there now

[Tele-writer]

Once upon a time I'd gig without a spare but that was when I was young, dumb, and full of "immortal thoughts." I always had confidence in my equipment.

It only took the once when a lighting truss wasn't properly secured when erected (new roadie) and its downfall became the downfall of my guitar just before our sets were to begin. The impact took out the nut. Fortunately, the guitarist in the previous band immediately offered the use of his guitar. He was a mountain of a man, about 6'6" or so. His strat was equipped with straplocks (mine wasn't) and a custom-made non-adjustable strap. Being hung to the knee is not an optimal situation! Spun that strap into a reasonable simulcrum of an extreme pasta configuration and got that strat up where I could handle it...

Yep, now I always take a spare.

[zoppotrump]

i play one tele the whole gig, and have another as a spare. but from time to time i change the "player" and the "spare" tele, for the have deserved to be played both. i change strings before every gig, so i´m not familiar with string break. the spare is for serious accidents and stays stored in the case aside.
i don´t have a nr. 1 guitar - i really can´t make up my mind, which one i prefer.....
but i never ever had a problem with the tele - but wait ! i once lost the switch hat due to heavy action on stage...if that counts..?

zoppotrump
:O)

[telechucker]

For me, if I knew I didn't have a spare guitar I'd probably be too scared to play with my usual abandon. Just knowing I've got a spare guitar nearby is mighty comforting. I always bring a spare guitar to a gig. Regards.

[stephent2]

I have a couple teles but one's on loan to Oliver Wood at the moment and I have no fear gigging with one guitar. Even when I have two around I often take just one to a gig, luckily I seldom break strings.

[Ricky D.]

Gigged for 10 years. BF Fender amp, one guitar. Don't remember breaking a string, and no breakdowns.

I change my strings when they lose their brightness because I like a crisp sound. But I can see how somebody who is into overwound pickups and a lot of distortion might not notice that the strings had been dead for a couple weeks.

[eddiewagner]

my worst horror is a broken string. i am a graphtech-stringsaver boy. besides that, a tele gets you through!

[eddiewagner]

Originally Posted by Big John

some karmic revenge but i have never broken a string on stage !!, and "Yes", i have been a very busy player these last 40 years,:

i can hardly believe taht. i broke strings on three guitars during one gig in the 80ies. that was before i got into the graphtech scene.

[A.B.Negative]

I've broken strings (on bass too), had screws fall out (strap buttons, pickup and bridge height adjusters) had pickups give up the ghost, had amps blow up...

I take a spare when I can.

[Old Cane]

Originally Posted by graphs

Yeah, I think it depends on the gig. Some are going to run a higher risk of string breakage than others

I think I need an explanation on this one. The only thing I cna think of is if zoo animals are involved or drunks are getting to sit in and use your stuff.

[Old Cane]

Originally Posted by spankdplank

I'm fine with one guitar per gig but I have too many guitars and not enough gigs to only bring one.

Ding ding ding. WINNER!

[Steve G]

One guitar (tele or esq.).
What more do you want!

[FredDairy]

I always bring a back up guitar even if it is for something like one song on the radio. It's not professional to just bring one guitar. Especially if there's a chance of you breaking a string and holding the rest of the band back.

I gig with one Telecaster usually but there's always a 2nd somewhere close by.

I'm very lazy and would never put myself in the situation where I need a completely different sound than the Telecaster. I don't want to mess around with changing guitars especially when I'm drunk.