Changing guitars on stage

[Nicko]

I've always been a bit confused about people changing guitars every couple of songs on stage.

I saw the Stokes at Hyde park, and they took it to the other extreme. 4 guitar amps, one big ampeg for Nik. One Fender Jazz, one Strat and one Gibson semi (es335?). Same instruments the whole way through. Never saw a stage that bare for a big gig before and it was quite refreshing.

[CamdenRob]

I coordinate my stage outfits for each song and certain basses clash with certain outfits... I have to change guitars often or I'd just look silly.

[bartelby]

Most bands that I've seen that change instruments do it due to alternative tunings.

[fretmeister]

Far easier to swap guitars for a different tuning than the re-tune on stage.

Big tonal difference between a strat and a les paul too.

[Oopsdabassist]

Aye our rhythm guitarist has a tele tuned open G for Stones songs, still uses all 6 strings though, he hasn't removed to low E like wot Keef did!

[leschirons]

The wife is in an Irish folk band (Irish as in the music, not the musicians) and at last night's gig, the main guy in the band changed between 4 string banjo, 5 string banjo and mandolin 11 times. Did my brain in just to watch. I change once in my group (to a fretless) and I insist on it being the last number in the first set so there's no need to change back again immediately.

[RockfordStone]

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1434976922' post='2804297']
Far easier to swap guitars for a different tuning than the re-tune on stage.

Big tonal difference between a strat and a les paul too.
[/quote]

this is why we do it, ive been in bands were we change between tunings, my last band the guitarist used a gibson 335 and a fender strat for different songs as they are tonally different.

we did try to organise the set so the guitar swaps were minimised

[Leonard Smalls]

I occasionally have a spare just in case I break a string...

[4-string-thing]

Our guitarist uses a 12 string for a couple of songs, so we play them 3rd and 4th in the set so his guitar gets changed just twice. I use the opportunity to engage with the audience, and captivate them with my witty banter....

[EliasMooseblaster]

[quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1434978742' post='2804332']
Our guitarist uses a 12 string for a couple of songs, so we play them 3rd and 4th in the set so his guitar gets changed just twice. I use the opportunity to engage with the audience, and captivate them with my witty banter....
[/quote]

Likewise, I have my 8-string on stage with increasing frequency. When we're drawing up setlists I demand that the songs requiring the 8 are adjacent, just so I don't have to keep switching back and forth throughout the set!

[Nicko]

Yep, I get if for guitars, but most bass changes are not for major tonal differences or alternative tunings. I've seen may bands bass players swap P bass for P bass, where the tunings for the songs are the same.

[lojo]

I did a support slot for my local village fundraiser, it was to support a ticketed tribute act, so they got local musicians to support for free, the guitar player brought 4 guitars and set up first taking up half the stage.

We did about an hour



I will take 2 basses for a gig in a few weeks, a 5 string for a couple of songs, I dont need it for all and dont want to play the whole gig on it

Edited June 22, 2015 by lojo

[KevB]

I don't recall any of us changing an instrument at a gig in the 2 years I was with the last band. The main guitarist brought a 2nd gtr in case of string breakages but I don't recall him swapping over at any gigs. I took a 2nd bass once on a whim because i knew it was a big enough playing area to accommodate it but didn't expect to use it and didn't. New band's 1st gig last Friday the only change was when our singer/2nd gtr did an initial warm up set on acoustic solo then swapped to his electric for the full band's 2 sets. None of us changed instruments during either set. Thankfully no string breaks, not sure if gtrs had brought back up gtrs even thoigh they both own quite a few. I wince a bit when I see a band's set up before they go on and it looks like a music shop clearance sale.

[chris_b]

Many years ago I saw Ry Cooder and David Lindley at the Hammersmith Odeon. Great night of guitar picking, but they must have had 50 guitars on stands on stage, and then they only played a small number of them. I thought that was a tad excessive and just showing off really.

My thoughts on this as a player who not only uses 1 bass per night, but usually 1 bass per decade; if you find yourself playing 2 or more basses on a gig, you're playing the wrong songs and probably in the wrong band.

[leftybassman392]

The only reason I would change guitars onstage is for the sound. Tunings and costumes are both valid reasons, but good guitars have a characteristic and distinctive sound - even with lots of FX on them. In some bands I think the guitarists change just because they can (as in 'any nuances to the sound of one Les Paul as compared to another will be completely lost once they've gone through the wringer that is the player's stage rig'), but if the detail of your guitar sound is important to you and is noticeable to a discerning listener then it is what it is. Used to be pretty common in half-decent covers bands, where the material would often demand it.

[BigRedX]

During my time as a guitar player I was always breaking strings and would have never considered going on stage without at least one back up instrument and ideally 2 or a roadie/guitar tech who could replace any broken strings in the space of one song.

Even as a bass player I'm not immune to string breakages, and where ever possible I take a spare bass to gigs. I've broken strings twice at gigs in the last few years and I'm thankful that I had a spare bass tuned and ready on stage on pick up and keep the flow of the set going.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

What used to annoy me, is guitarists ( in your band) taking forever to sort out capos . Nothing worse than leavin huge gaps between songs.
If they had 2 guitars , it probably would've been easier.
Gave me a chance to play some tv themes while we were waiting . ( I know I shouldnt ...)

[Geddys nose]

Once saw the Counting Crows change guitars nearly every song and could not tell the difference between any of them, I think the big Concert PA's and the the volume kill any nuance.

[KevB]

I think if you are a name act and you have plenty of roadcrew and the replacements are offstage that's fair enough, it's not cluttering the performing area. Last time I saw Quo I think Parfitt changed his guitar for [i]every[/i] song, it's almost become a trademark. But the changes are quick and effortless because his gtr tech is on the ball. They still mostly sound the same though...

[wdejong]

I would always take two guitars, one as a back-up. I have recently had a machinehead snap on my Warwick, so better be safe than sorry.

[mrtcat]

I change bass during a set if we play something in drop tunings. Keys player prefers everything in standard tuning but vocalist can struggle on a couple of numbers if we don't knock it down a semitone. If the song has lots of open e string then i just use a different bass. Takes seconds to change with a A/B pedal as long as 2nd bass is tuned and ready with its own strap.

[Graham]

Our guitarist brings three guitars to each gig - a Les Paul (or similar, but usually a Les Paul), a Strat or Tele and something with a tremolo. Works for him and he has good tonal reasons for using all three.

I on the other hand use one bass, with a backup in it's case off-stage. I find I can get enough tonal variation by changing my hand position and playing style, and sometimes the volume controls on the bass that I don't need a second instrument, and I can go to drop D for the songs in Eb standard, negating the need for another bass.

[Lozz196]

Both our guitarist and myself take a backup with us to gigs, but don`t use them unless there are breakages. For me, I`d only want to use a different bass if due to different tunings, but do appreciate that for guitarists, different sounds might be wanted, such as the Strat/Les Paul comments above.

[wdejong]

I intend to swap guitars when we play that one song in drop D. No idea if/how it's going to work, as it will be the first gig I'm doing it. Is there anyone who down-tunes their guitars live on stage, mid-performance?

[anaxcrosswords]

A band I auditioned for did a cover of Somebody Told Me (Killers) and I fancied the idea of dropping the E to Eb for the mid section where the vocal is “Pace yourself for me”. Gave it a fair bit of practice at home and found that visualising the tuning peg position made the job pretty quick – I’d need no more than about 10 seconds before the start of the song, whereas it would take a good couple of minutes to switch basses.