Rig for covers set

stickyfiddle · October 2023

Putting this in Guitar but it could easily be in Amps and FX as well, but it's a wide topic, so here it will stay for now I think.

Long story short is we've had a couple of personnel changes so I'm moving from mostly-bass to 100% guitar, I think. It's a 25-ish minute set as part of a charity thing and I want to make sure my shit is in order gear-wise so I can get on with learning my own parts and coordinating everyone else.

Set is currently looking like being:

Proud Mary (Tina Turner style - me likely covering horn parts)
<TBC>
<TBC>
Mr Brightside
Beat It
Livin on a Prayer

The TBCs will probably a little bit lighter than the last couple so let's not worry about those. Ultimately it's a BOTB so we're going all-out for crowd-pleasers.

I have plenty of guitars & FX, and a couple of amps (TMDR and BadCat Cub III 15R), so trying to think through options. I don't usually play anything as gain-tastic as EVH or Bon Jovi, so these are a little bit of a challenge tone-wise. I don't want to swap giutars unless absolutely necessary.

Lots of questions right now:

What guitar do you pick for the others, bearing in mind we want to play both of those in D (downtuned via machineheads or a pedal). I have Gibsons (CS-336, SG, ES-330, Strats, Teles, Jazzmaster/Blaster, Jaguar). The ES-330 has been my #1 for this band from the start but won't work for the widdly stuff as you can't play that high up. Strat would be fun for Beat It but SSS pickups don't quite feel right.
Do I tune to D standard and capo up for the earlier part of the set? I don't want to switch guitars
What FX are going to work nicely for the heavier ones? They don't sound right through the Deluxe, so I'm assuming I'll try the Badcat and will report on that after our next rehearsal. I've got versions/clones of all the usual suspects - am hoping the Origin Revival and Animals Major Overdrive will cover the Marshally stuff well enough.
Do I buy a talkbox for shits & giggles or is that just going to be a hilarious nightmare on a night where the soundman is probably going to be next to useless?

What would you do!?

roberty · October 2023

The Boss VO-1 does a good Talkbox impression. Might be a bit overkill for one song though :-)

ICBM · October 2023

Strat, midboost, wah, distortion, Bad Cat. Digitech Drop or capo for the tuning change. A talkbox is a hilarious nightmare unless you're well prepared and practiced with it.

PAL · October 2023

I wouldn't over think it. I wouldn't get into the capo thing I would just use regular tuning and my guitar of choice would be the Telecaster amp wise for me valve amp with a good drive or distortion pedal. Good luck.

CountryDave · October 2023

Keep it simple.
No one will give a damn if you aren’t using the correct, true bypass, hand wired by nymphs using unobtainium type pedals.
Have a decent base tone that can cover the cleaner end. Get a drive or two that can be stacked to create different levels of gain. But if modulation if you need it, delay and a boost for solos.
As for the talk box, sack it. If you feel the need, use a wah.
Pick a guitar you feel comfortable with and can cover most bases. Take a backup for string breaks.
Unless of course the BOTB is a very high level, tribute band, correct gear required type thing. Then you need at least 5 different amps, a pedalboard the size of most pub stages and a different guitar for each song.

As Gibson say ‘Play authentic’.

stickyfiddle · October 2023

CountryDave said:

No one will give a damn if you aren’t using the correct, true bypass, hand wired by nymphs using unobtainium type pedals.

Now this I agree with 100%. If I use anything particularly fancy it'll be because it genuinely sounds right, not because the internet tells me it does!

But all you folks saying "don't overthink it" - yeah lol not happening! I do agree on the general premise of not wanting unnecessary complexity though.

Not changing tuning isn't an option though - we gotta hit the vocalists' range otherwise it's irrelevant as they won't hit the high bits.

My instinct is Gibson 336 or SG into wah, Ricochet, TS or Klon, Origin/Animals, Kingsley Page (because *everything sounds better with that switched on) into the Badcat. Will try that or something like it this weekend and see how I feel. Strat into that lot might actually also work a treat with the midboost. We'll see...

* Or there's a wildcard of taking my old green strat and putting a humbucker in it...

fretmeister · October 2023

Do it all in D standard.

stickyfiddle · October 2023

fretmeister said:

Do it all in D standard.

But the other 2 sound better in E standard! :P

I don't mind capoing those if that's the easiest option, either way I do have a Ricochet pedal that can go up/down by 2 semitones easily so happy to chuck that on the board

slacker · October 2023

I would try playing the set with the 336 and the bad cat with a capo. Then look at what isn't working and add stuff. Run the bc at edge of gain. If that's not enough gain add a pedal to do that. Try wah for the ooh wahs.

I love pedals multiple amps etc but in that application less is less ie less to move less to switch and less to go wrong.

Bad cat and klon gets me 90 per cent of what I need for covers.

Dan_Halen · October 2023

It's 25 minutes so will be over in a flash so use stuff you've used before and know best rather that over-think it. What sounds great at home might not work so well at gig volume with a full band, and what sounds a bit pants might be great in the mix. Trouble is you probably won't know until the set is over so keep it simple as will probably need to tweak as you go.

fretmeister · October 2023

stickyfiddle said:

fretmeister said:

Do it all in D standard.

But the other 2 sound better in E standard! :P

I don't mind capoing those if that's the easiest option, either way I do have a Ricochet pedal that can go up/down by 2 semitones easily so happy to chuck that on the board

Do you need the capo? Barre chords are a thing!

Jonathangus · October 2023

stickyfiddle said:

fretmeister said:

Do it all in D standard.

But the other 2 sound better in E standard! :P

I don't mind capoing those if that's the easiest option, either way I do have a Ricochet pedal that can go up/down by 2 semitones easily so happy to chuck that on the board

Split the difference and tune to Eb? Then blast through them with minimal fuss and keep the momentum going.

stickyfiddle · October 2023

fretmeister said:

stickyfiddle said:

fretmeister said:

Do it all in D standard.

But the other 2 sound better in E standard! :P

I don't mind capoing those if that's the easiest option, either way I do have a Ricochet pedal that can go up/down by 2 semitones easily so happy to chuck that on the board

Do you need the capo? Barre chords are a thing!

Barre chords are horrible.

Snags · October 2023

Surely you're not playing them all with cowboy chords on an electric? So you're either using barres, partial barres, or triads and inversions, in which case there should be options to go capo-less without re-tuning/swapping guitars.

fastonebaz · October 2023

Can you play the D standard songs in Drop D? That way there's only 1 string to tune.

stickyfiddle · October 2023

I'm seeing a lot of folks who don't know how to play these specific songs in the audience this afternoon...

- Brightside - weird shapes that include open strings
- Living on a Prayer - needs low open E string (low D in this case)
- Beat It - needs open low E and bent high E equivalent to 24th fret...

The tuning question is actually relatively easy to sort out - either all in D with capo/Ricochet up, or all in standard with ricochet down to D for those last two. It's much more the guitar choice & pedals I'm worried about!

Snags · October 2023

On guitar choice, absolutely no-one is going to give a poop apart from you, and maybe one nerd in the audience. So play the one that makes your life easiest.

IME people are more interested in an engaging performance than an accurate one, unless you're a tribute band, and even then to some extent. Very few people really listen to a song and know it intimately.

stickyfiddle · October 2023

Snags said:

On guitar choice, absolutely no-one is going to give a poop apart from you, and maybe one nerd in the audience. So play the one that makes your life easiest.

IME people are more interested in an engaging performance than an accurate one, unless you're a tribute band, and even then to some extent. Very few people really listen to a song and know it intimately.

That's fair comment and a helpful reminder. I have already said the same to the new guys in the band. It's so much more about delivering a good show than it is about everything being perfect

As for punters not knowing songs intimately, i'm counting on it - I can do some widdly bits for Beat It but I'm not learning to tap in 6 weeks!

TTBZ · October 2023

I'd take the SG, I used mine in a cover band and always sounded good. No issues with upper fret access and it's a versatile enough sound for everything. Nice and light too, probably less of an issue for 25 minute sets though!

Beat It is actually not too hard to play as far as EVH solos go, I'm not much of a tapper but can fake my way through it to a "close enough" standard.

Brio · October 2023

Go to Reverb and buy my JTV59 Variax. Great for the different tunings thing as long as you remember to switch back to standard.
Like I didn't.

Danny1969 · October 2023

I play all 4 of those.

If the guitar is in concert pitch I will just quickly lover the top E string a semitone then play the song in Db for Brightside... that detuned E to Eb gives me the correct ringing added 9th on every inversion then.

The other 3 are fine in normal tuning unless I've missed something ?

My weapons of choice for covers bands are Telecaster into Hot Rod amp, Klon and Noble ODR for drive, delay pedal and some kind of boost .. normally one of my own Dr Watson variants.

ICBM · October 2023

Snags said:

IME people are more interested in an engaging performance than an accurate one, unless you're a tribute band, and even then to some extent. Very few people really listen to a song and know it intimately.

This. I've been banging on about it for years

.

stickyfiddle · October 2023

Danny1969 said:

I play all 4 of those.

If the guitar is in concert pitch I will just quickly lover the top E string a semitone then play the song in Db for Brightside... that detuned E to Eb gives me the correct ringing added 9th on every inversion then.

The other 3 are fine in normal tuning unless I've missed something ?

My weapons of choice for covers bands are Telecaster into Hot Rod amp, Klon and Noble ODR for drive, delay pedal and some kind of boost .. normally one of my own Dr Watson variants.

Yeah I've done Brightside plenty before and done the "drop high D/Db" tuning which works really well.

The issue with the other 2 is the singers want them down a tone. Depending on what other material we pick I'm actually leaning towards 2 guitars being the easiest option. Then I also have a spare on stage just in case anything goes really wrong. I have a few weeks so will try a couple of combinations of things in rehearsals and see what feels right.

TTBZ · October 2023

Easiest option would surely be using your Ricochet if it does the 2 semitones down well. Imagine it's the same tech as the Drop so should be more than up to it. Used to use my Drop for the full set in my original band to go down 2 semitones and it does a great job. Much better than carrying 2 guitars.

Sporky · October 2023

Variax (one with a trem), Helix, whatever amp.

gatheredinsong · October 2023

stickyfiddle said:

I want to make sure my shit is in order gear-wise so I can get on with learning my own parts

Picking up on this because it's absolutely what I would do, meticulously, before having a massive panic that I hadn't learnt the parts

lol

stickyfiddle · October 2023

Also I still want a talk box...

Roland · October 2023

I’m sure you’d like a Talkbox, but in the context of a six song BOTB the most I’d go for is a Wah.

hassleham · October 2023

An HSS strat is my go to for all of these. You’ve got the bridge pickup for Brightside, Beat it and Livin on a prayer, neck/middle for Proud Mary, and enough flexibility to handle whatever other songs you end up choosing.. It just does everything!

RocknRollDave · October 2023

Get new singers.

fretmeister · October 2023

ICBM said:

Snags said:

IME people are more interested in an engaging performance than an accurate one, unless you're a tribute band, and even then to some extent. Very few people really listen to a song and know it intimately.

This. I've been banging on about it for years .

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Rig for covers set

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