Ways to beef up guitar when you're the only guitarist?

FarleyUK

Quick update - had a few more rehearsals with this band, and I think I've worked out the way to make it beefier, thanks to everyone's input

- Have a slight phaser effect on during rhythym, along with delay

- Solos are scooped mids

- Also have the bass player plugged into my Helix, and when I switch to solo, it engages an octave and distortion on his bass. Octave is set to play only an octave higher, and the distortion really fills the gaps!

Thanks all - first gig is this Friday (supporting my 'main' band), so that'll be the real test....

Voxman

Sounds like a plan - best of luck for your first gig & keep us posted!   

Are you going through the PA or pure 'back line' through your own amp?  Just a simple thought but if you're using an amp, raising it off the floor will help you to get a fuller sound and better projection out to the audience.  

ToneControl

Origin Effects Cali 76

paul_c2

I read through the previous replies and I am going to agree, that a large percentage of the solution is for the bass player to step up and fill the rhythm/bass role more. Of course, having a good tone (sound) from the guitar setup, including appropriate use of an octave divider effect, is also part of the solution.

This is an extreme example but certainly Geddy Lee is able to "fill in" and produce a big sound all on his own, in Working Man. Note the adaption of a different bass line during the first guitar solo (1:50-2:20 approx) which is the same underlying structure as a verse. The main guitar solo (2:30-4:30) is a much more extreme and freeform example.

paul_c2

PS forgot to mention, sometimes a bassist going bonkers isn't the appropriate thing to do, simply playing the original bass riff with nothing more than a little boost or crunch is perfectly adequate. Probably the worst thing to happen is to be upstaged by the bassist in your guitar solo!

stratosonic

In our old trio I got a larger band sound with 3 amps, one with clean guitar, 2nd with od/dist guitar and the 3rd (or PA) with the FX only signal from my EHX Mel9 (strings), EHX C9 (organ), Boss RC3 looper (stored samples), but not all on at the same time! 

FarleyUK

Here's a vid from the first gig we did:



That's one of the vids from the 12 or so songs we did - think it sounds OK, all things considered! Playing a festival with the guys this weekend as well, so more chance to try and get the bass player's sound right (although TBF he was using my other band's bass player's rig....!).

pintspiller

As a bassist who played in a few trios, I found I had a tendency to "dig in" a bit more during instrumentals. Which worked wonders when using valve amps over SS.

koneguitarist

pintspiller said:

As a bassist who played in a few trios, I found I had a tendency to "dig in" a bit more during instrumentals. Which worked wonders when using valve amps over SS.



same here, as a bassist you can hold it all together or leave space for guitar to fill, but an old Precision through a valve head is a great sound! 

Cirrus

Further to my gig on Friday night, an open backed 1x12 combo is not a good way to have a beefy tone when you're the only guitarist.