Lead Guitarists, is 3 Guitars for 1 Gig Too Much

[SRHmusic]

Once in 100 is enough for me to always have two. And to feel less guilty about it, they swap roles (main/backup) for a set.

Yeah, I do exactly that: change strings on one, play it as the main for one show, then it's the backup for the next. That way I'm only dealing with one guitar restring between gigs. Two gigs (about 3 hours playing each) plus practice time in between is enough on a set of strings for me. The one that broke was after three gigs.

 

[CCK1]

I bring three, but not for tuning changes or any practical reason. I bring three because I like them, and I like to play them with the band.

 

[Durtdog]

"And he can't retune between songs?" Like retune every string? Sounds like a recipe for dead air stage time to me

Not to brag, but I can retune faster than I can change electric guitars on stage.

 

[joe_cpwe]

If you want the gig and don't have 3 guitars, get more guitars, get creative, or ask if they can drop the tunes while you're subbing that require one of those tunings.

I was in a variety rock cover band and brought 3. One in D for just two songs and two were tuned to Eflat, a primary and backup. I was happy on the nights the lead singer/band leader decided not to do the two songs he needed dropped down to D so I could leave it at home.

In my situation I liked the guys, the gigs they had, and got paid ok so it wasn't a big deal to bring 3. To load-in/out easier I bought a dual guitar gig bag so two guitars went on my back and freed up my hands.

 

[teletail]

You should be able to find a perfectly adequate Squier for $100 to use as a third guitar. Is it really such an arduous request to bring three guitars? If the money is good, why not?

You should be bringing two anyway; the “I can fix anything” attitude is none sense; I had a tuner break on a guitar, you’re not going to fix that on a gig.

 

[Buell]

I have only ever brought 2 and that is only if a string breaks.

 

[Ricky D.]

And he (edit: or you) can't retune between songs? Or they can't group the songs by key somewhat?

A pitch shift pedal like this mentioned above or in some Helix units would do this, too.

Or bring two guitars and have a friend retune the other for the next song?

The other guitarist in my band often brings three guitars: one set up and tuned for slide, a main guitar for most songs, and a backup.

I bring two, one as a backup for a quick swap if I break a string or something fails. (Which only happened once in 100 gigs, so, two might be overkill?)

I retune for open G and back between songs while the lead singer chats with the audience or we put them at the start of a set so just one retune in the middle of a set.

As a sub, the job is to replace the missing man as smoothly as possible. You can’t ask them to reorganize their show without getting a bad reputation for not being able to just jump right in.

 

[68tele]

Solution for the lazy:

Bring 2 and a capo:
1 in Eb. Capo it for E.
1 in D.

 

[TwoBear]

Not to brag, but I can retune faster than I can change electric guitars on stage.

Bob Mattingly the old original Owner of World Of Strings in Long Beach, Used to take bets-for 100 bucks he’d change a set of strings in under a minute.

If I’m remembering that rusty, or someone has details like whether it was a classical (I think) or ? I look forward to being stood correctly, and sent on my way. LT

 

[Esquire Jones]

Back in the day I would always bring 3 guitars and two amps. We did have roadies most of the time.

One in standard tuning.

One in D.

One in a non-conventional Open F or C.

I have a triple stand similar to this one that fits in tight places.

 

[Eddiebaby1]

90% of the time Tele and Strat as a backup. Other 10% is Tele and JTV59 Variax as backup as Ive taken the JTV for acoustic stuff. If that goes down I use an acoustic sim on the Kemper.
I ought to use the JTV for tunings but I'd really want a second JTV for backup then and we never do much other than the odd Drop D song.
Oh and I've taken the baritone to a couple of gigs but we don't do much that gives me an excuse to use it.

 

[SRHmusic]

As a sub, the job is to replace the missing man as smoothly as possible. You can’t ask them to reorganize their show without getting a bad reputation for not being able to just jump right in.

Yes, of course. But, it's for "a couple months," and we're just talking about asking a question or two about possible ways to make things easier- quicker between songs and less gear on stage. It's not as extreme as "not being able to fit in."

 

[Bob M]

For years I brought a spare guitar and amp with me. And never needed either one. The last couple of years I gigged I took one guitar and 1 amp. No issues.

 

[TwoBear]

You should be able to find a perfectly adequate Squier for $100 to use as a third guitar. Is it really such an arduous request to bring three guitars? If the money is good, why not?

You should be bringing two anyway; the “I can fix anything” attitude is none sense; I had a tuner break on a guitar, you’re not going to fix that on a gig.

Ha-I hear you! I don’t know why but it reminded me of Steve Morse, When he used to play his FrankenTele…I seem to remember he had Extra strings wound/coiled up behind his bridge in the hi B & E slots, to facilitate fast on stage changes.

 

[dannyh]

I’ve been dealing with singers that have to move songs to different keys, no matter what they expect of the guitar player. Tried to explain that some open string signature licks can’t be “moved”, but they don’t care lol. Use to bring an extra guitar tuned down for these occasions, then I got a drop pedal, and it works pretty good. That’s ok for standard tuning, but for open tuning tuning stuff you may have to bring an additional guitar or two.

At that point, you just gotta figure out how bad you want the gig. Or at least that’s how I’d be looking at it. Best of luck.

 

[NoTeleBob]

So we're really saying that instead of two-guitar gig bags, someone needs to start making three-guitar gig bags.

I can't imagine retuning down or up a half step or two during a show. I have enough to worry about without that. But that's me.

 

[nojazzhere]

This thread reminded me of situations I've seen a number of times over the years.....and IT DOES NOT APPLY TO ANYONE HERE.....but I've heard or shared the bill with quite a few mediocre, cruddy bands whose guitarists brought an impressive collection of expensive guitars to the gig, usually set up on stands in full view of the audience, to basically "show off" for the guitar geeks in the audience. Occasionally, they'd actually PLAY a different one, but (strangely) they all sounded the same. But, having several fancy guitars with you impresses "some" listeners.

 

[Durtdog]

This thread reminded me of situations I've seen a number of times over the years.....and IT DOES NOT APPLY TO ANYONE HERE.....but I've heard or shared the bill with quite a few mediocre, cruddy bands whose guitarists brought an impressive collection of expensive guitars to the gig, usually set up on stands in full view of the audience, to basically "show off" for the guitar geeks in the audience. Occasionally, they'd actually PLAY a different one, but (strangely) they all sounded the same. But, having several fancy guitars with you impresses "some" listeners.

Yes I've seen opening acts do a 30 minute set, and the guitarist has 6 guitars on stage.

 

[Nogoodnamesleft]

Admittedly nowhere near as seasoned as most people here. But I've only ever brought one guitar to a gig. I make sure it's in tip top form before packing for the gig. If I break a string, it's one song out while I change it. The rest of the band can handle it. The patrons don't care. If I needed a different key, a good capo. Open tuning? Not the end of the world with a hardtail when many are just a few strings pitched down.

When I've been in an audience and something like a broken string or retuning happens, I don't judge either. I can't imagine many people do.

Now, if they screw up inches and feet and Stonehenge is in danger of being crushed by a dwarf, well that's just poor planning.

 

[4 Cat Slim]

When I was playing with my church's praise/worship group, one guitar plus a back-up seemed
to be one guitar too many. Our choir loft was crowded, and there was the matter of loading/unloading and
carrying them around.
I remember seeing Steve Stills' Manassas in 1972 and being impressed by the number of guitars (and one banjo) onstage, or seeing photos of The Who or the Rolling Stones with multiple guitars onstage.
I don't see those sorts of guitar arsenals onstage as much anymore.
Good luck with it!