Would you play, or skip it?

[Austincowbell]

ok... given all of that I would do two things:

1. Tighten up your gig. You don't need 7 guitars under any circumstances whatsoever. If you need a Tele, a Strat and a double humbucker in order to get every sound you want I get it but that's really the limit and even that is a little excessive. My lead guitarist plays a 3 hour show ranging from black sabbath to katy perry and he does it on one guitar.
2. If you don't think you will be able to play an average or above average show don't play. If you think you can do a passable show with one guitar I would do that rather than flaking out. Believe it or not missing one show at a place where you play every week is a big deal.

[New Trail]

that and the fact that he aswered his own question without caring about anyone's input...I guess that's why he is not in a band...they all found out who the drama queen was!!! Rod

 

He probably didn't make the band the first time he took 7 guitars and programming to the {censored}ing audition and an hour or two to set it all up...:D:D Hey, I keed, I keed, it's all good, man. Do your thing!

[ckcondon]

Not piling on, but I do tent to agree with the masses that question the need for a 7-guitar karaoke setup. A few people may enjoy the novelty, but I'm sure most people don't really care.

Aside from that, only you know if you should do the show if the circumstances are outside your comfort zone.

I've been gigging for many years and there's almost ALWAYS something that goes sideways. You deal with it and play.

It's a free gig that you WANT to play. It's up to you to decide if it's worth it.

Once you start getting paid, it's a whole new ballgame and my 2 cents is to focus on the performance and leave all the extra gear at home. Just keep having fun!

[kmart]

This is exactly why I don't play in band - DRAMA! You guys crack me up. All I did was ask a simple question to a simple situation and except for Guido61, none of you "participants" bothered to answer the question! Now I know who the drama queens are your respective bands. WTF do any of you care if I bring 7 guitars to show? I'm the one who has to lug them around. Reliable transportation? Gee, I wish I was wealthy enough to live in your world where I could just throw away anything that wears out or breaks down; what do you do when the paint on your house cracks, peels and fades - sell it and buy a new house with more reliable paint? I should re-prioritize my life because I'm without a car for one weekend? After 27 years I should be able to play in the dark? Are you {censored}ing kidding me? I don't remember the part of the video where Steve Vai was talking about his audition for Frank Zappa and Frank said: "Ok, but can you play it exactly like that in complete darkness?" I can't remember the number of times I've seen CL postings stating: "Must be able to perform in utter darkness". Intimating that I'm irresponsible because I'm questioning whether or not I should go and play this weekend, acting like it's a paid gig when it's {censored}ing obvious from the OP that it ISN'T? Acting like I don't know how to take a {censored}ing bus? Do you really want me to post the bus and train schedules and highlight the stops where I board and depart, showing how long I would have to wait in between transfers, how far I would I would have to walk? You think I should pay upwards of $100+ to take a taxi to get my gear just to go and play for fun? Guido61, thank you for your input. As it happens, my car will be ready tomorrow afternoon and it's barely possible that I might be able to get to it before the shop closes at 5. I already emailed my friend and she'll be home so I can drive over and pick up my gear. If I can't make it, which is 50/50 since I work with mail that has state-specified deadlines and one of my co-workers is leaving early, I will do as you suggested and just go for it with the one guitar. As for the rest of you, seriously, you guys crack me up.

1) You got PLENTY of simple answers in addition to Guido's. Just because you don't LIKE those answers doesn't make them less appropriate, valid, relevant or in some way not exist.

2) There's actually very little obvious from your OP, never mind getting across that you're getting paid or not. It wasn't even clear what you were really asking from that post (As I indicated). Look at that post objectively.
hell, look at your post back recently in which you attempt to explain what your gig actually IS: you spend a whole hell of a lot of time telling extraneous parts of your story that don't really have any bearing on the information you're trying to get across (what the gig is) before you finally mention the pertinent information. For example, the detail about finding a bar that's physically close to you, or the guy who had just had throat surgery, or the fact that you can't sing, etc.: not one bit of it explains what the gig you're doing IS. Understand that when you take that much time to set-up non-critical background, your actual message gets lost.

3) You're 100% missing the point on taking public transportation or a cab. The point is, it's AVAILABLE to you. You asked "What should I do?", and the obvious answer, if the gig is important to you AND you absolutely need to have 7 guitars to do it, is to use another option that's available. The cost or frequency of that transportation is something only YOU can decide the value of. SHOULD you spend $100 for a taxi for a gig that's just for fun? that's entirely up to you to decide. But again, if you absolutely MUST do the gig and MUST HAVE your 7 guitars for it, short of you magic-ing them to the venue, yeah, consider a bus or taxi. Boo-hooing about how long you'd have to wait for a bus, or walk from point A to point B isn't going to change the mind of anybody here: you asked for advice on doing the gig and how to accomplish it, you got suggestions. SOME of those suggestions require some sacrifice and/or effort on your part. That's just the Cost of Doing Business with playing shows sometimes.

And again, if the cost of doing this or ANY gig (in $ or time) is more than you are willing to deal with...you should consider not playing out until you're capable of dealing with the eventual bumps in the road that come with commiting to play.


Bottom line, though, is if you're not prepared to hear answers/solutions/suggestions that you might not like...
Don't ask.

[P. Wallace]

I feel as though I've been disrespected. I recommended that the OP play the gig, I said to get a ride from someone else and OP responded by calling me a moron.

[StratGuy22]

I always bring 7 guitars to a gig.

My main one
A spare
A drop D one
A spare
An acoustic electric
An acoustic electric 12 string
A double neck

So I see where you are coming from.




















Actually, I just bring 2, my main one and a spare. Seriously, nobody cares about toan, I bring a spare so I don't have to change strings in the middle of a set.

[gspointer]

I don't see why you guys are ragging about the seven guitars. I bring 4 basses, and 4amps, +4cabs to a gig.

[jimiv]

 

My main one A spare A drop D one A spare An acoustic electric An acoustic electric 12 string A double neck

 

 

Well, technically that's 8 guitars.

[badhabit]

As a gigging guitar player, the most guitars I ever used for shows were three; two electrics and an acoustic. I did use all three throughout the show. I could have got by with two, and sometimes that's all I'd use. Today, I often use two. One in standard tuning and one set up for slide, where the action is way high. I could see bringing an acoustic as a third one when I play songs requiring an acoustic. But having to bring seven guitars that are relatively all the same is pretty lame. I'm sorry, I do not see where you have to have seven. And IMHO, smacks of " Gee, look at me. I have seven guitars !" BFD. And btw, get your ass to the gig you promised to be at. Either by taxi, bus, a friend driving you, rental car, pedicab, whatever. Taxis will actually wait for you while you load your things, and some drivers will help as well.

[modulusman]

 

I don't see why you guys are ragging about the seven guitars. I bring 4 basses, and 4amps, +4cabs to a gig.

 

 

Why would you need 4 amps and cabs for a gig? I always bring 2 basses and sometimes a spare amp head.

[New Trail]

 

... having to bring seven guitars that are relatively all the same is pretty lame. I'm sorry, I do not see where you have to have seven. And IMHO, smacks of " Gee, look at me. I have seven guitars !"....

 

 

While acknowledging that the OP has every right to take as many guitars as he wants to take to a gig, let me say this: (1) The crowd doesn't CARE if you have a different tone for one song that requires a different guitar. The crowd is there to have a good time and party. The time required to switch guitars a lot probably takes more away from 'the show' than any minute tonal differences might add (2) I saw Cheap Trick in concert several years ago and their guitar player Ricky Nelson switched guitars ON EVERY SONG and they were cool old guitars, Teles, Les Pauls, Strats, Hamers BUT THEY ALL SOUNDED THE SAME! Only visually could you even tell he had switched guitars. I'm serious! (3) I take two guitars to a gig, typically the main one that I am currently using and a backup in case of a string break or something. I usually play the #1 on sets 1,2 & 4 and the backup guitar on set 3.

[GCDEF]

 

While acknowledging that the OP has every right to take as many guitars as he wants to take to a gig, let me say this: (1) The crowd doesn't CARE if you have a different tone for one song that requires a different guitar. The crowd is there to have a good time and party. The time required to switch guitars a lot probably takes more away from 'the show' than any minute tonal differences might add (2) I saw Cheap Trick in concert several years ago and their guitar player Ricky Nelson switched guitars ON EVERY SONG and they were cool old guitars, Teles, Les Pauls, Strats, Hamers BUT THEY ALL SOUNDED THE SAME! Only visually could you even tell he had switched guitars. I'm serious! (3) I take two guitars to a gig, typically the main one that I am currently using and a backup in case of a string break or something. I usually play the #1 on sets 1,2 & 4 and the backup guitar on set 3.

 

 

I see that when you watch a Bon Jovi concert. Sambora plays a different guitar on every song but his tone never changes. I guess if you're an A list rock star with a million dollar collection and roadies and techs maintaining them and handing them to you, it's okay, even if it's pointless. For a local entertainer, it's ridiculous.

[gspointer]

Why would you need 4 amps and cabs for a gig? I always bring 2 basses and sometimes a spare amp head.

 

 

All different. A Jazz-5, a fretless, a P-bass and a stingray. The amps are an SVT-4, a trace elliot v-6, a GK 800, and a GB shuttle. I could get by with one cab, but I would need a 4 head switcher.

[Austincowbell]

I see that when you watch a Bon Jovi concert. Sambora plays a different guitar on every song but his tone never changes. I guess if you're an A list rock star with a million dollar collection and roadies and techs maintaining them and handing them to you, it's okay, even if it's pointless. For a local entertainer, it's ridiculous.

 

I actually saw him a few months ago and he played a black and white ESP on nearly every song in the show. Maybe he made some sort of deal with them?

[Vito Corleone]

I saw Cheap Trick in concert several years ago and their guitar player Ricky Nelson switched guitars ON EVERY SONG and they were cool old guitars, Teles, Les Pauls, Strats, Hamers BUT THEY ALL SOUNDED THE SAME! Only visually could you even tell he had switched guitars. I'm serious!

 

 

All the different guitars (most custom made) are a gimmick Neilsen established years ago. It wouldn't be a Cheap Trick concert if he didn't change guitars for every song.

[rodclement]

 

if my lead guitarist was in your situation I would ignore his ridiculous penchant for bringing 7 guitars because he's in my band. I would also go to his friend's house and pick up the guitars because he's in my band. I would also send our bassist or drummer to his place to pick him up for our gig because he's in my band. We would then play a show and one of us would happily take him home because he's in our band. Bands are relationships. You have good ones and bad ones but its really nice to know that I have 3 guys who are in my corner.

 

 

Best post in the thread!

 

Rod

[Nijyo]

 

All the different guitars (most custom made) are a gimmick Neilsen established years ago. It wouldn't be a Cheap Trick concert if he didn't change guitars for every song.

 

 

Plus Carlos can do your taxes between songs, too.

[New Trail]

 

Plus Carlos can do your taxes between songs, too.

 

 

Santana?!?

[Nijyo]

Santana?!?

 

[modulusman]

 

All different. A Jazz-5, a fretless, a P-bass and a stingray. The amps are an SVT-4, a trace elliot v-6, a GK 800, and a GB shuttle. I could get by with one cab, but I would need a 4 head switcher.

 

 

You must play on some big-assed stages.

[MartinC]

I'd bring a lot more guitars to a gig if I didn't have to change the strings, carry them, or set them up. As it stands, I've never brought more than two. I saw the Stones and they had fifty guitars on stands ready to go. Most didn't get played.

I can play without fret markers, but having even a small dot on the side of the fingerboard at the 7th fret makes a difference on a guitar that has no markings.

there's dark and then theres DARK. I was playing a flamenco dance show, and during transitions in the theatre, it didn't go dark, it went black. During one transition I had to make a capo change then start the next tune solo. Not only could I not make the capo change with 100% certainty, I couldn't be sure of my position on the neck to begin playing. After getting hit with stage lights, then going totally black, if I dropped the capo, I'd never find it. If I put it on the wrong fret, disaster. If I started the piece in the wrong place while playing completely alone in a theatre, huge clam. Also, they expected to have these transitions happen fast. I had to ask the engineer to give me just a hair's light to pull it off. So, give me fret markers, and give me some light, and I'll feel much more secure. As far as Vai playing Zappa in blackness, hope he had glow in the dark fret markers. Can it be done? Sure, with practice. Is it necessary? In most cases, no.

[gspointer]

 

You must play on some big-assed stages.

 

 

Mostly small bars, some have stages some don't.

[ckcondon]

Hell, I can't even get my guys to bring ONE backup between the two of 'em!

[badhabit]

One of the reasons international touring acts like Cheap Trick, Clapton, The Stones and so on, bring along a lot of guitars is because they can't just go home that night and get another if one or two goes down on the road. Plus, they have the finances and resources to handle that many instruments. Rarely do they use all of them in a show. Clapton might use three: a strat, a 335 and a Gibson hollow body tuned for slide. And maybe an acoustic as well. I can understand the need to have different guitars for different styles of music. That's not the case in this situation.

[Vito Corleone]

Of course, no Cheap Trick concert is complete until Rick busts out his 5-neck