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Sometimes we go out as a 3 piece and adjust the set list accordingly.
Obviously from a money-grabbing point of view going out as a 3 piece is great, but that's not the only, or even main, reason we do it.
My favorite set up is Lead Singer/Guitarist, Guitarist, Bassist, Keys and Drummer. There's enough room for the instruments to mix without clashing and offer backing for each other without it sounding empty, plus you also have to look at the personnel numbers and the pay roll and for each person getting a fair whack for what usually amounts to a full day's work with functions.
I also think it's essential if you're a 4-6 piece to ensure band members are at least able to sing backing vocals and it's an added bonus when you have a couple who can take lead vocals, or can play another instrument.
For rock stuff, 2 guitars probably works best and a keyboard player. I was once in a band that had 3 guitarists, but we were playing stuff by The Eagles, The Doobies, Steely Dan etc and it worked very well as the different parts were more or less already mapped out. I also think, with more than one guitarist, it helps to have different tones and be using different guitars, say one on LP and another on a Tele.
Quite often he'll switch to bass if the usual bassist can't make it and I prefer it if I'm honest.
The alternative lineup is electro-acoustic, percussion and two girl singers and we play almost the same set as the main band. Funnily enough that one usually plays bigger venues and gets people on the dancefloor quicker, possibly because with only two instruments it's much tighter.
My ideal would be keyboards instead of rhythm guitar but there are no decent players where I live.
My experience generally with people who play "school" instruments on a semi-pro or amateur basis is that they have no idea how a band works and zero initiative.
The point is you can use any lineup if you have a strong singer and one or more instruments which generate a tight rhythm.
I'd say for functions - keys is best as it gives you options for dancier songs and especially 80's or piano stuff (plus it easier as a guitarist with keys as it can cover a lot of ground and fill sound!)
As noted, keys can be better if you want to do pop/disco/soul but don't discount 2x guitars - that works very well as long as both players are flexible/versatile and don't do the whole "I want all the solos" ego trip thing
I guess I'm coming more from a rock angle so it'd be natural to have 2 guitarists, but as mentioned before funk and disco stuff has less guitar emphasis.
I mainly play rhythm guitar. I agree that simply knocking out the same chords in a couple of keys for most of the time is boring, so I do my best to inject some variety into how I play, and what variants of the chords I can play.
The band, that I'm in, has the potential for up to 3 guitarists. One guy plays most of the lead stuff, and, up and until now, I've done the rhythm. Our main bass guitarist also plays a bit of guitar, and we've recently acquired another member, who plays bass guitar and saxophone, so, in future I can do a bit more than laying down the chordal stuff.
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I suppose that many bands evolve evolve and there isn’t necessarily a blueprint of we need X+Y+Z+Q. There are also ( at least it seems) a lot more guitarists out there than any other instrument so if you want to flesh out your sound that’s the easiest default.
The general problem with two guitar bands is ego. The last two covers bands advertised for a guitarist. One meant rhythm bitch. The other meant I'll do all solos except sax keyboards harmonica and anything in Eb.
My current band is a start up and it's very much my band. I chose the players, sing lead vocals, choose the songs, own the free to them rehearsal studio and provide lots of brewdog.
The others ger to choose genres and bands but I choose the song. The other guitarist wanted Tom petty so I chose running down a dream and told him I was Tom he was Mike.
He generally does most of the rock or improvised solos. I'll take lead on instrumentals and slide. We do handle with care and he just assumed I'd take the lead breaks.
I've been in many bands without a clear leader or a knobhead lead vocalist. I'm both in my band but I look after the band. If a song choice doest click we drop it. Sometimes I'll drop in a song in rehearsal without warning and it works.
So short version if two guitarists work together it can be fun.