If you want a big fat full sound there's really only one thing you can do...

Play like men. Two p bands should be tight as fuck. Start there. Get some dynamic shit down. Play on top of each other

I played with a drummer for years and years (2 p). He's prolly one of the best in the states, which helped more then you can imagine. We were kind of modular in NY for a while, kinda like a micro Work Dogs. Anyway...

I guess I'm saying - you better have/be one hell of a drummer...

I was/am in a guitar & drummer two piece for a year or two now. All the advice given here is good.

I haven't decided on a setup yet, the preferred changes per song. The most complicated involved running:

Bridge pickup > Boss 20xl > Fender Showman > JBL 2x15 for the deeper/warmer stuff

Neck pickup > Boss Looper > Crate head > B'52 4x12 for the scratchies.

And has been as scaled back as guitar jack into an amp, and everything in-between. The two amp route is a good way to go. If you do this, set them up on opposite side of the stage, and at some point in your performance you must have one cabinet hitting the downbeat while the the one on the other side of the stage hits the up. That has got to be one of the coolest things ever.

You can also just leave a bass on a stand and just pick it up to lay down your lines, leaving your guitar strapped on. Get a small mixer in front of your looper, for more options.

Two Pittsburgh bands to check out:
Zombi (guitar/synth & drummer)
early Modey Lemon (guitar/moog & drummer.... They would later get a third member... who still played guitar! He has since shifted to bass.)

Thanks for all your help I appreciate it. I do really like the idea of making it simple and tight. I might use a loop pedal but as little as possible. I also like the idea of using stereo amps with each pickup having its own amp, how is this done?Thanks.

vialka

b-vapor wrote:Thanks for all your help I appreciate it. I do really like the idea of making it simple and tight. I might use a loop pedal but as little as possible. I also like the idea of using stereo amps with each pickup having its own amp, how is this done?Thanks.

Paging scott to the thread...

He'll give you a complete and perfect answer, scott.


It's pretty easy actually. You'll mod a jack out for each, remove the tone pots completely, and a vol for each pu.

neck pu -> vol -> jack -> amp
bridge pu -> vol -> jack -> amp

Scott is going to suggest a polarity switch for each pu. I would personally add an on/off for each pu, and a master on/off switch. Thinking about it now, I would probably have the two pu on/offs in reverse order so I can ping pong strobe the guitar between the two amps - something I'll add to my new 4-string project.

Check out The Aquarium. Whurli and cute blond drums.

skatingbasser wrote:Two Pittsburgh bands to check out:
Zombi (guitar/synth & drummer)
early Modey Lemon (guitar/moog & drummer.... They would later get a third member... who still played guitar! He has since shifted to bass.)

Modey Lemon=Awesome


Just a note on why just getting a bass player isn't an answer: The logistics of just two members in a band is so awesome. It's so much easier to plan shows, practice, and anything else. It also is so much different if you're into improvising, and it's just drummer and a guitar(or bass). different dynamic. There are so many angles to it.

Also make sure you play music that lends itself to your instrumentation, like if you're just playing simple power chord punk rock it'll sound like it's missing the bass player. I guess it goes without saying, but play something interesting.

A V. B! Where've you been bud?

I have to say being in a two person band is wonderful, here's our thing:

me- samplers, fender bass VI, fx, vocals
other guy- drums, guitar, samplers, vocals

we both do other stuff but that's the general idea. loopers have helped immensely where we can loop a part and then play a higher or lower part on top of it, he'll play drums and guitar at the same time and i'll loop a bass line and play sampled "drums" on an mpc while he sings and plays guitar. it has made us completely rethink the way we write music, it's liberating and refreshing. If you want to do a simple rock thing you've got: Om, Lightning Bolt, Pink & Brown, Duotron, Mates of State, Vaz, USA Is A Monster, and a bunch of others to compare yourself to. Most of these bands stick to two instruments and to be honest it gets a little monotonous, but then again so do most normal(three or more person) rock bands. Oh yeah if you want to see a 2 person band make interesting and great (ie. not novelty) music look no further than the Skeleton Crew album "learn to talk" they nailed it.

skatingbasser wrote:A V. B! Where've you been bud?

I don't even know. On sabbatical I guess, ha.