Tips & Ideas For Two Guitarists Playing Together

Published on Apr 26, 2019

In this episode we take a gentle stroll through some of the issues you might face with two guitars in the band. This is an almost endless topic so we’re starting with the basic stuff.
We’ve all been there with volume struggles, tones not working together, poor definition of parts… and worse than all of that: not knowing what to do about it. So Dan and I talk through some ideas that may help, before indulging in some petit jammagé. Where the gremlins begin…

SORRY ABOUT THE DEAD CAMERAS
We had a whoopsie-daisy with cameras, losing media from two cards. Arrrrggggg!!!!
Before the cameras die, Mick’s guitar is panned slightly left; Dan’s slightly right.
During the jams Mick goes right and Dan left because that makes sense when you’re looking at our pedalboards. We didn't edit the jams so they are a bit meandering. Only one take, obviously. We left it all in as the sounds are interesting.

WHAT ABOUT THE BACKING TRACKS?
I used the Drummer in Logic to create grooves. Then called up the loop library in and dragged in bass parts. During the filming it was playing from my laptop over our PA, enabling Dan and I to jam over. I then simply put the tracks underneath the show audio, lined it up, and did a basic mix.

Enjoy the episode, we hope it helps spark some ideas and inspiration.

Pedals & stuff in this episode…

Dan’s board:
• Schmidt Array SA525 Board


• Sonic Research ST-300 Turbo Tuner Mini
USA:
Australia:

• JAM Pedals Rattler


• Analog Man Mini Bad Bob Booster


• Fredric Effects Dresden Synth Fuzz


• Boss VB-2w Waza Craft Vibrato
UK & Europe:
Australia:

• Hartman Analog Flanger
No longer made

• Keeley D&M Drive
UK & Europe:
USA:
Australia:

• Analog Man King Of Tone


• Analog Man ARDX 20 Dual Analog Delay & Amazeo


• Red Panda Tensor
Australia:

• TC Electronic Sub’N’Up
UK & Europe:
USA:
Australia:

• TheGigRig G2



Mick’s board

• Schmidt Array SA525 Board


• Boss TU-3S Tuner
UK & Europe:
USA:
Australia:

• Analog Man Sun Face BC183 Fuzz


• Mythos Pedals Argo Octave Fuzz
UK & Europe:
Australia:

• The Massive Secret
No info yet

• Kingtone The Duellist


• Klon Centaur
No longer made

• Boss DC-2w Dimension C
UK & Europe:
USA:
Australia:

• Dawner Prince Boonar
UK & Europe:

• Analog Man ARDX 20 Dual Analog Delay & Amazeo


• Neo Instruments Mini Vent II


• TheGigRig G2


Why do we have preferred retailer links? Find out here:


Interesting bits and go-to sections…
- Intro playing - now that’s a lot of modulation! 00:00
- What are doing today? 3:35
- Our pedalboards and amps: 6:56
- A funky choppy example: 8:25
- Unison guitar? 12:30
- Different chord voicing… and then a capo: 16:30
- Inversions and voicing without a capo: 22:40
- Back to unison for gain structure chat: 25:44
- EQ & frequency, fat and thin…: 33:28
- …and thin and fat: 38:00
- Introducing effects to rhythm tones: 41:00
- Movement with modulation in rhythm parts: 44:57
- Volume problems: 49:25
- Jamming over backing tracks: 53:19

Guitars in this episode:
• Fender American Vintage ’62 Stratocaster – Mick’s video at
• Fender Custom Shop ’63 Telecaster – Dan’s video at

Amps:
• Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III with standard speaker
• Sovtek MIG-50 with Custom Bob Burt 1x12/Celestion Alnico Cream speaker