How many guitarists is too many

[deaver]

Saw a 70's cover band last night that consisted of a drum machine, a bass player and four guitar players. Surely that's not right

[Sarah5string]

Any more than one is too many...

[Machines]

4 ?! They can't have all been playing at the same time ! Iron Maiden have 3 and to be honest 2 would be enough. One rhythm and one lead is just right. 3's company and all that .

[deaver]

They were all playing at the same time and oddly it sounded like there was only one of them. I like it when there's more than one on the band because they despise one another so much it saves everyone else the trouble.

[Dubs]

[quote]How many guitarists is too many[/quote]

more than 1, 2 is acceptable, any more than 2 and you're taking the piss...

[teen t-shirt]

only my self the drummer and lead guitarist in my band and we cope fine...

thats just excessive... can you imagine the sound mans face when they show up with 4 guitarist and a bassist... how does the bassist cut through all that...

[pockethammer]

Any more than 1 is too much for me, the more guitars fighting for airtime = less freedom for bass players.2 has to be the max, as Machines says 3 is a crowd!

[Tait]

someones gonna say it... one's to many for me.

[Guest MoJo]

Depends on the band. I have a friend who plays in a very good Eagles tribute. They have three guitarists, keyboards, bass and drums. All of them sing bar the lead guitarist and they produce a full clear sound, each guitarist playing a different part in each song.

Most metal bands can cover all the bases with two guitarists, many with only one. Four is a bit of a pi$$ take. Probably a case of "My mate plays guitar too, can he be in the band?"

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

[quote name='deaver' post='269078' date='Aug 24 2008, 08:15 PM']Saw a 70's cover band last night that consisted of a drum machine, a bass player and four guitar players. Surely that's not right[/quote]
i think I can guess what was going on - one knows "E" & "A", one Knows "C" & "F", one knows "D" & "G" and the other one has a chord book to do the difficult ones.

Or maybe I'm underestimating them and for any chord one plays the root, one plays the third, one plays the fifth and the other plays an octave/6th/7th as required

I was in a band with a drum machine in the 80s. Never again - they don't know how to jam.

[gary mac]

Played a garden party yesterday. EIGHT of our six string friends! Just the one bassist, me.

There was always one or more of the guitarists playing the wrong chord and all trying to out volume each other.

Feeling very frazzled today

[NeonMig]

One is ok in most cases, 2 for the rest.

Iron Maiden pull it off well because they're Iron Maiden.

[Jase]

One is bad enough! 2 I hate, any more and it's just nonsense! And what the hell is a "rhythm guitarist" anyway?????? Pain in the arse!

[skankdelvar]

One guitarist is a good guitarist. Two guitarists are swine.

[pete.young]

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='269108' date='Aug 24 2008, 08:49 PM']I was in a band with a drum machine in the 80s. Never again - they don't know how to jam.[/quote]

Look on the bright side - at least you only have to punch information into a machine once ;-)

[dangerboy]

One is pushing it. I only let a guitarist into me and Jim's band on the grounds that he would play a Baritone.

[dabootsy]

depends on if they bring their egos with them

[chris_b]

[quote name='deaver' post='269078' date='Aug 24 2008, 08:15 PM']....Saw a 70's cover band last night that consisted of a drum machine, a bass player and four guitar players. Surely that's not right....[/quote]
In my opinion it depends on how good the guitarists are? One bad player is one too many!
I play in an occasional Rock and Roll band and we have 3 very good guitarists. Another 3 good players wouldn't be a problem at all.

[mrhectic]

its all depends on the music you play. I have no issues if there's 3 guitarists in a band, but it all depends on the music they playing, and whether its totally nessassary.

But yeah...having a drummer instead of a drum machine is a big plus, as i find, the band works so much better when the drummer is getting into it. everyone seems to feed off the drummers enjoyment. but when he plays halfarsed, it ruins the whole vibe.

[SJA]

anyone remember that band World of Leather which had 15 or something guitarists?

a blatant gimmick to get them press attention, which worked, for a while. can't remember any music they made.
I think the singer became a tv presenter.

[Protium]

I prefer just 1 guitarist, but 2 is OK so long as they don't sound the same. ZERO guitarists if they're playing a Gibson LP through a Marshall stack

[chris_b]

Motown had 3 guitarists on everything. That worked for me!!

[MananaMan]

three guitar swingers that know their stuff (or four, or five etc.) = great

one guitar swinger that is rubbish = intolerable pain

the old tune springs to mind :

10 git-arrrists, hanging on the wall
10 git-arrrists, hanging on the wall

and if one git-arrist should accidently fall

I'd be bloody ecstatic.

[Stan_da_man]

[quote name='Sarah5string' post='269088' date='Aug 24 2008, 08:28 PM']Any more than one is too many... [/quote]
QFT. You don't need a rythm guitarist - otherwise there would be no point in having bass.

[OutToPlayJazz]

One is ample, as many of yiu have said. Yes, there's a gap, but that's supposed to be filled by a good bass player & drummer! Any more guitarists just sounds messy!