Why I carry a spare guitar to gig.

Ossyrocks

Talking of spares on gigs.

My most important "spare" is another amp, even if it's left in the boot of the car outside. But these days I tend to run a two amp setup, so scaling back to just one working amp is less of a problem.

TeleMaster

Exactly why I change to aftermarket locking tuners. Takes 10 seconds to change strings and they’re of much higher quality.

Johnnyseven

simonhpieman said:

Not to derail the thread, but for those who never break a string, how often do you change them and how "exuberant" would you say you playing and performance style is?

I play 11s on Telecasters. I change them whenever they feel/sound like they need changing, which is when I think they don't sound properly in tune which is generally when fifth chords using the bottom E string don't sound quite right.

Danny1969

simonhpieman said:

Not to derail the thread, but for those who never break a string, how often do you change them and how "exuberant" would you say you playing and performance style is?

I get about 20 gigs out of a set of Rotel 10's .... my style is a lot of bends, country rock ish 

If you wipe the strings down after a gig they last a lot longer

Lestratcaster

simonhpieman said:

Not to derail the thread, but for those who never break a string, how often do you change them and how "exuberant" would you say you playing and performance style is?

For the live guitars I always have a new set on before every show (unless doing tours or back-to-back shows where I can get 2-3 gigs out of a new set). I play pretty hard live as well.

For home use guitars usually each month, despite playing them more? I guess I don't have that live adrenaline when I play at home and don't sweat as much.

simonhpieman

See, this is all good advice and reasons why too many guitars is increasingly becoming a thing for me.

I THINK I tend to get about 4 or 5 solid 2 hour gigs out of strings. But I don't always take the same guitar(s) and use different brands on different guitars. I have to keep a list on my phone of what guitars have what brand and guage on them!

If I used the same guitar each week I'd know when it was time for a change but NO, I've just got to be difficult! And if I have a particularly sweaty one (sorry, hope you're not eating your lunch!) and the sweat extends to my arms as it does occasionally then there's a chance the sweaty strings could be sat in the case corroding for a number of weeks before I play them again. Pi-toing!

impmann

I change mine for every gig... but then, I have corrosive sweat. But I don't break strings...

Twinfan

I always take a spare guitar, two spare sets of strings, a spare strap/capo/mic/amp head and spare cables to every gig.  I change #1 amp valves every 12 months.  I play D'Addario 10s with a very heavy playing style and change strings before every gig, which is once a month.  I get one gig and a couple of rehearsals out of each set.  I start each gig with a brand new plectrum.  The only thing I don't have a spare for at a gig is a cabinet.

|'ve never had to use a spare anything at any gig and I've never broken a string, however I wouldn't be without backups.  We're the paid entertainment and you need to be prepared in case something goes wrong.  Letting a pub down on the night would be unprofessional and it'd soon ruin your hard earned reputation!

midlifecrisis

It has happened that i regularly gig taking two guitars, 2 amps, 2 multi effects, 2 mics, 2 sets of spare strings, 2 capos, numerous leads, to wireless transmitter sets, many sets of spare batteries but seem to only manage to find one half worn out plectrum

ICBM

Yes, it’s different if you’re being paid to do a job and there are no other bands there who might have spare gear - backups are essential, and you need to know how to get around major failures... it’s amazing how many bands will have spare guitars on the offchance they might break a string, which is fixable in a couple of minutes - but no spare PA amp if that goes down, which definitely isn’t.

It doesn’t always have to be a complete duplicate of your main rig if you have other things that can be pressed into service, but you need to have thought how to do it before you’re faced with it in front of an audience. The 90s/early 2000s trend for all-in-one boxes like the Spirit Power Station was great for convenience but a real risk for putting all your eggs in one basket. Modern powered cabs are safer - especially with separate subs - since with only a spare mixer you can just keep going with 3/4 of the full rig if any one unit fails. And powered monitors can be used as PA cabs if you really have to...

My experience with most of the bands I’ve been in and worked for is that those who are most prepared need to use the backups the least, too - probably because that sort of thinking is built in, so they use good gear and look after it properly in the first place.

midlifecrisis

^^^
echo this about the PA, we usually take three powered speakers and a mixer, one of the powered speakers is used as a monitor but can be used as a front of house speaker. So if one goes down we still have two and can easily get by without a monitor. If the mixer goes down, we can plug the mics (2 of them at least into one of the speakers and take a line out into the other one...it works.   I have a couple of multi effects that can go straight to PA if my amp breaks, but i also have (stays in the car) an old carlsbro 100w PA head that can be connected to my amp combo speaker if the amp fails or the bass players speaker if his amp fails.   never had to resort to it but its like insurance,  ok none of that stuff will sound the same as our normal rigs but no one cares and itl get us through the gig rather than looking too stupid. 

crunchman

simonhpieman said:

Not to derail the thread, but for those who never break a string, how often do you change them and how "exuberant" would you say you playing and performance style is?

I don't think it's how exuberant you are, it's about where on your pick you hit the string.  I used to break a lot of strings, then I switched to using a heavy pick.  The heavy pick forces you to pick with the tip of it, and improves your technique.  If I do play with a lighter pick now, I don't break strings because I'm used to hitting with just the tip rather than half way up the pick.

The last string I did break was on a very big bend, but that was years ago.  If you are doing lots of big bends (tone and a half) then you might want to change strings more often.  As it is, I can leave strings on for a long time as I don't have acid sweat.

I must admit I don't bother with coated strings.  Even if the tone wasn't nasty, and the plastic coating didn't fray when you bend, I'd be a bit worried about fatigue in the strings if I left them on for years at a time.

ICBM

midlifecrisis said:

i also have (stays in the car) an old carlsbro 100w PA head that can be connected to my amp combo speaker if the amp fails or the bass players speaker if his amp fails.

I've said this probably dozens of times, but amps like this are so cheap they're almost free (especially if they're old enough not to have XLR mic inputs) and can be a complete get out of jail card. Any basic PA amp that will put 100W into 4 ohms will work as a guitar head, bass head, monitor power amp or even PA power amp if you really have to... OK the last is getting redundant now with powered cabs.

ESBlonde

I've pretty much taken two guitars to all gigs since 1982 and occasionally more. I'm not a string breaker so it's more a comfort thing and swapping for tone.

Danny1969

I've got a small Behringer mixer in the van should our normal digital desk go down. There's some redundancy in the PA in as much as 2 of the 4 bins are powered so if one powered one fails the other powered one the other side can drive a passive bin so there's still bass both sides. If one of the tops goes down then there's not a lot you can do ..... passive PA used to offer more options in this regard. 
Of course the van it's self is the biggest point of failure because if that fails it's game over. The kind of equipment we use, all pro flight cased is too big to fit in cars 

stratman3142

simonhpieman said:

Not to derail the thread, but for those who never break a string, how often do you change them and how "exuberant" would you say you playing and performance style is?

I use 9s on my main guitar (a Strat) and change them before every gig. That's largely down to the sound and feel as I don't break strings between gigs and I have a fairly hard hitting style and use Jazz III picks.

I can't remember the last time I changed the strings on my spare ( a PRS which has 10s) or my other guitars. Probably about 2 or 3 times a year, but I only use them for occasional home recording.

failed_astronaut

simonhpieman said:

Not to derail the thread, but for those who never break a string, how often do you change them and how "exuberant" would you say you playing and performance style is?

For a wedding band, we're pretty lively so I can get a bit carried away with my strumming hand. I'll change strings every month or so and I always clean my guitars after every gig to keep the strings going. I play 11s on everything and have only broken one string in 6 months of gigs, which was the A string on my Tele that started to unwind at the bridge.

One unexpected upside of having a spare guitar, in my case a Strat, was that one night when my Tele wasn't cutting through the mix in a big hall, I swapped to the Strat and suddenly my guitar was clear and ringing out.

Sassafras

I think most people used to pray for my guitar or amp to pack up.
Unfortunately for them their prayers were never answered.

Nitefly

Danny1969 said:

simonhpieman said:

Not to derail the thread, but for those who never break a string, how often do you change them and how "exuberant" would you say you playing and performance style is?

I get about 20 gigs out of a set of Rotel 10's .... my style is a lot of bends, country rock ish 

If you wipe the strings down after a gig they last a lot longer

This, and don't forget to wipe underneath them, too.  I used to have a cotton cloth which I slipped under the strings by the pickups and pulled up and down the neck - astounding amounts of muck seem to collect there, as evidenced by the black tracks on the cloth!