My band is now a 3 piece, and I'm the guitar player... tips?

[Everlone]

The other guitar player in my band (who is also my best friend of 22 years) is moving away, so my band has decided to become a 3 piece. I LOATHE looking for musicians, especially guitar players. Plus, everyone in the band is really good friends so it will be hard to replace such a close friend, not to mention a very talented and unique guitar player. So until we stumble across someone who fits our mold we are going to be a trio.

Who here is either in a trio or a one guitar player band? Any rig tips I should know? Should I consider going stereo? I'm just trying to get my ducks in a row rig-wise so this loss of a bandmate doesn't hamper the band's progress. Cheers!

 

[timbo]

Stereo is not really that necessary although it's cool. Depending on the venue size I do it either with (2) 2X12 cabs or (1) 2X12 using the stereo mode. As the single guitar player you might have to alter your style somewhat to fill some voids and keep whatever song it is sounding full. Use your ears and experiement. We get told on a regular basis that we sound huge like a four or five piece so it can be done. But then again I use alot of different equipment to get me there too....(Roland VG-99, Roland Fantom Synth Module, AxeFx Ultra, midi pickups on my guitars) and switch it all with a Roland FC-300. And I'm sure it can all be done just as well with less. It's hard for me to describe exactly what the magic is but experiement with different song parts and make it flow. You'll know it when you hit it.

 

[Everlone]

If I was a EVH or a Dimebag it would be a non-issue, but I'm the lead singer as well so this is putting a lot more pressure on me. I'm thinking the new material will have less "solos" and more rhythmic breakdown type sections just because that is more my forte. I'm excited, but a little terrified as well.

 

[xSPARKYx]

Just play louder...it's always the answer, lol!!!

 

[blackba]

Another trick is to use a good looper when you want to solo. I tried this with the akai headrush, but it has hard to sink up. You could just hit record while you are playing the rhythm part and them click that on when you want to solo.

The other thing is resist the urge to overplay. I have played guitar and bass in a 3 piece and I tend to want to do too much, particularly on Bass....

 

[dstroud]

I think in a 3 peice band, it's cool to have solos jump out a little louder. You can sound pretty full when the singer is singing and then if the solo comes up and your'e a bit louder, it kinda takes over where the singer was and makes people not notice something is missing.

 

[Everlone]

I've played in a true 3-piece band and also several others where we had 3 instruments and a singer that didn't play anything. It is indeed alot of responsibility, but I liked it. In songs where there are clearly two guitars going, pick out the most obvious parts from each part and combine them into a single guitar part. I know, that's common sense, but I wanted to mention it anyway.

I would also use delay for leads to help fill in the sound that's missing from no rhythm guitar player. I found that very useful. In 2 guitar bands, I don't use delay much though. You almost can't even hear it half the time.

I've never been THE lead singer and THE guitar player, though. Yikes! That's a little nerve wrecking, but obviously not impossible. Good luck and it sounds like a good challenge to me!

Chris

Since we are an original band we have the luxury of writing our own songs and can make them sounds however we like. Doing covers would be a bit of a problem. I actually thought about a delay pedal and/or my amp's reverb to fatten up solos.

I can't even begin to imagine using a looper. Singing lead, playing rhythm, recording a loop, turning the loop on for the solo as well as a boost and any other effects, playing the solo, turning everything off and going back to the lead vocals... my head is about to explode just typing it out. Thanks for the advice.

 

[airoz]

i'm the only guitar player in my band, at first I had a ton of concerns but we sorted it all out, so my advice wold be not to be afraid, and to practice a lot, if you ever find the need to fill more volume , you could allways experiment with bass distortion and making someone do backup singing, like I sayd before, just practice a lot


oh and reverb

 

[Everlone]

i'm the only guitar player in my band, at first I had a ton of concerns but we sorted it all out, so my advice wold be not to be afraid, and to practice a lot, if you ever find the need to fill more volume , you could allways experiment with bass distortion and making someone do backup singing, like I sayd before, just practice a lot


oh and reverb

My bass player actually started using an OD pedal just before we decided to make this transition. We all LOVE the sound and it will help us now with our new format. My bass player has always done back up vocals so we're all set in that department. Thanks!

 

[Tnjpekar]

I am the singer and guitarist in the blues band I am in, and share the lead vocal responsibilities in the hard rock band I play in.
I use a stereo rig when ever possible, and pretty much have done so for 20 years. I now also have piezo equiped guitars for those tunes that need an acoustic, or would benifit from adding that sound to the mix.
Having two differently voiced amps has always been part of my sound, at one point running a marshall-fender rig, now its a jvm and a vm or jmp for the dry signal.
having the solo's jump out is one way to eliminate the void left by not having a second guitarist (said earlier) but also you need to be aware that Less is actually more in many instances, and the space in between is important as well. dont fall into the trap of trying to fill in all the space with sound. To you it may seem a bit empty, but to the listener it may be just the ticket.
also, having the bassist compress and add a bit of chorus goes a long way to fattening up the bottom end without overplaying

 

[Scott Ians Beard]

Try running a delay or chorus with a very short delay, that might help thicken up the sound a bit? Im not sure what style you play, but substitute power chords for open chords whenever you can, that helps the spread, but the key is to really lock in with your bass player and drummer. Good luck man!

 

[Everlone]

Sorry I didn't mention this before, but I play rock with a bit of heaviness and punk thrown in for good measure; sort of a heavy Social Distortion. I always try to use open chords whenever possible. That comes naturally to me from playing a lot of acoustic guitar.

 

[airoz]

i'm the only guitar player in my band, at first I had a ton of concerns but we sorted it all out, so my advice wold be not to be afraid, and to practice a lot, if you ever find the need to fill more volume , you could allways experiment with bass distortion and making someone do backup singing, like I sayd before, just practice a lot


oh and reverb

My bass player actually started using an OD pedal just before we decided to make this transition. We all LOVE the sound and it will help us now with our new format. My bass player has always done back up vocals so we're all set in that department. Thanks!

sounds to me like you are good to go, especially if you play your own music, and not covers

 

[SFW]

Welcome to my world! lol... well, my world for a few more days anyway. If you're gonna stay a 3 piece, lower the treble and presence on your amp a bit. You don't need such a bright sound when there aren't two guitars to worry about. A subtle delay (70ms) works well to thicken your sound as well.

 

[Everlone]

Welcome to my world! lol... well, my world for a few more days anyway. If you're gonna stay a 3 piece, lower the treble and presence on your amp a bit. You don't need such a bright sound when there aren't two guitars to worry about. A subtle delay (70ms) works well to thicken your sound as well.

That's funny you say that about the treble. I kept it a bit high when I would play with our other guitar player just because that's what sounded good. Its like you were looking at my amp settings.

Looks like I might have to check out one of them Carbon Copy's.

 

[vchizzle]

I've almost always used a wet/dry setup. Or at least partially wet/dry. In particular I just have my reverb and delay on one side. When playing shows, I was adamant about both sides being miced. You always get that sound guy that doesn't see the point or doesn't want to bother. Just lie and say some stuff comes from one amp and some from the other

I usually made sure my delay/reverb signal was panned to my side of the stage, that way its audible to those watching when you kick into a solo or whatever...like the sound is coming from you. If running stereo effects you can boost you volume a little more on the side of the stage you stand on to create a similar effect.

As far as playing, I like to use alot of 6 string chords even if they're not "open" chords. Suspended chords widen your sound out quite a bit too.

 

[robb]

If you write good songs it shouldn't really matter. Good song writing isn't good soloing or fancy rig setups.

 

[Everlone]

If you write good songs it shouldn't really matter. Good song writing isn't good soloing or fancy rig setups.

I agree 1,000,000%, but we can always use a little help every now and again.