Do you use the 'right' guitars for covers?

ESBlonde · June 2021

Roland said:

Let’s add acoustic guitars to the discussion.

In our covers set 20% of the songs are driven by acoustic guitar. The last time I tried to play an acoustic guitar at a gig it was feedback mayhem. Nowadays I use an acoustic simulation.

Who takes an acoustic to a gig because it’s the “right” guitar?

I take an acoustic to country band gigs. The Atkin with a mic/PU combination into a mesa Rosetta preamp to tame any howling and give a full tone. Sometimes I need to back off the low end to give the bass some space and punch through.

Jalapeno · June 2021

Roland said:

Who takes an acoustic to a gig because it’s the “right” guitar?

Me, though only for Django gigs.

I put a bit of wobbly chorus on my electric to "emulate" a 12-string

Danny1969 · June 2021

I don't do this now but this was the guitars me and the other guitarist used for a couple of years before we slimmed it down to 2 guitars each.

This is what I used for what songs

Ibanez neck mahogany guitar with locking trem - used on all the heavy stuff like Van Halen

Gibson 1986 LP custom - used as main guitar

White Fender Strat - fitted with 12's and used only for U2 songs

Red Strat - used for Sultans of Swing

Gibson SG Double neck - used for Hotel California and Dead or Alive

Image: http://www.thesuperheroesonline.co.uk/guitars2.gif

Then the other guitarist used

Gretch Bono sig guitar

Unknown Tele with humbuckers

Gibson J200 acoustic

Taylour 12 string acoustic.

There is \ was never any feedback problems with the acoustics, despite having huge amounts of them sent to the floor wedges. And he plays at a quite frankly mental stage volume

I remember it used to take 3 trips just to get the guitars in the venue from the van, what were we thinking

koneguitarist · June 2021

No just right hands.

mark123 · July 2021

Doesn't matter 1 jot !
Can you see Julie and Sandra pissed last orders " eeeh i'm not dancing to dakota, he's playing a les paul with marshall stack and i know kelly plays a 82 sg standard with 9'sthrough a matchless valve amp .

steven70 · July 2021

How about playing slide?
Best I can come up with is arranging the set to have a 'slide/open tuning' section.

The Variax (mentioned above) is interesting...didn't know they could do that.

Any other ideas?

Grangousier · July 2021

Rowby1 said:

I rotate all my guitars

Image: https://media.tenor.com/images/62abd8731f2fc50390962ae231c2733c/tenor.gif

Musicwolf · July 2021

steven70 said:

The Variax (mentioned above) is interesting...didn't know they could do that.

I used a Variax for a while (JTV 69S). I had it paired with a Line6 POD HD500 which meant that I could select the guitar model directly from the pedal board.

It weighed a bloody ton and it didn't sound as good as my regular Strat (nor play as nicely).

slacker · July 2021

steven70 said:

How about playing slide?
Best I can come up with is arranging the set to have a 'slide/open tuning' section.

The Variax (mentioned above) is interesting...didn't know they could do that.

Any other ideas?

I've often taken a second guitar to a gig. If I need slide tuning the spare is open tuning. It can be returned to normal if needed. I don't use heavy gauge strings or a rained action for slide. Also I can play a lot of slide stuff in normal tuning.

pintspiller · July 2021

I have a mate who used a Les Paul into a TSL in a duo. The guy in our band uses a LP Deluxe into a JCM900.

For everything. Nobody appears to have complained yet.

rockmonster · July 2021

No 2 guitars. One PRS for tuning stability and which ever other one I fancy taking along (second PRS or tele/HSS strat)

Fez · July 2021

I usually take 2 guitars if we play 2 sets I often change at half time so strat first half L.P. or PRS second half. That way both get an airing and I have a spare if needed. If I need to play Sharp dressed man on a sss strat that is what my Fallout cloud is for.

Alex335 · July 2021

I think the right tone is more important than the right guitar, obviously the choice of guitar is an important factor in that but if you can get convincing tones to cover the whole set with one guitar i'd go for that. usually a Tele as they cover so much ground sonically

unfortunately there are plenty of bands out there using the right kit to create the wrong tone

rich75 · July 2021

Alex335 said:

I think the right tone is more important than the right guitar, obviously the choice of guitar is an important factor in that but if you can get convincing tones to cover the whole set with one guitar i'd go for that. usually a Tele as they cover so much ground sonically

unfortunately there are plenty of bands out there using the right kit to create the wrong tone

Definitely this^

I used to keep changing guitars through the course of a set and ended up realising that it's more important to keep the set flowing and minimise delays/interruptions for guitar changes.

I tend to take two guitars with me now, a Les Paul which is the "main" guitar, and an Ibanez AZ as a back up and to use if the song requires a trem.

I'm playing through a Helix so it's easy enough to modify the tones to suit different guitars if required, although I don't actually use different patches for different guitars. I'm also starting to belatedly realise I'm probably the only one who really notices (or cares about) the difference between the guitars anyway!

I've definitely come across people who seem to use their eyes more than their ears when it comes to gear choices. I remember someone I was in a band with once doing a quite ropey sounding version of sweet child o mine. The tone just sounded completely wrong but he was convinced it must be right solely because he was using a Les Paul through a Marshall.

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Do you use the 'right' guitars for covers?

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