So which combination of guitars do you think works best? Here's a list of one guitar bands:

Jimi Hendrix
Cream
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Black Sabbath
Pantera
Rage Against the Machine
Led Zeppelin
Nirvana
Van Halen
The Who

And here are some two guitar bands:

Judas Priest
Iron Maiden*
Guns N' Roses
Aerosmith
Rolling Stones
The Beatles
Metallica
Megadeth

*I'm aware of the fact that Iron Maiden is now a three guitar band, but historically they've functioned as a duo.


I've noticed it is real tricky pulling off a two guitar sound in a live situation, that being because there are two guitars occupying the same audio spectrum. I think its real tricky to write two guitar music that will sound good live. However, with that being said, when it is accomplished, it is simply amazing. The sound of harmonized guitars is hair raising.

The best live music I've probably ever seen and heard was a Black Sabbath tribute band called Embryo. In a live situation, the sound that Iommi came up with works beautifully. Each instrument is clear and articulate,and the gain structure on the guitar is distinguishable, instead of a pile of mush that happens so often with two guitar bands.

Of course I'm generalizing here, a big portion of live sound depends on the the sound guy, who is usually a knob. He can make any arrangement sound terrible, but I think a one guitar band is less susceptible to the buffoonery of the sound guy than a two guitar band would be.

So, what do you think are the pros and cons of each arrangement? And which do you choose?

Personally I like much more the line-up with just one guitar. Some styles require two guitar as the Iron Maiden example mentioned before.
Anyway, there are some interesting points on both solutions.
If you have one guitar, you have to write/play some interesting stuff to fill the mix.
If you have two, you have to write/play different things in some intelligent way to not copy each other.

I find the bands have one guitar are perfect for what they are doing and the ones with two would only work with what they are doing. Basically go for 1 if you have a pretty insane bassist with you who can fill out the sound and two guitars if you want to do a lot of harmony work or if you like having multiple guitar tracks in a lot of your songs. We used to have 3 in our band but now we have 2 guitarists and our singer plays guitar if needs be to make 3.

I prefer two guitarrists because when it comes to live playing the sound is much fuller, the songs don't crumble during a guitar solo, you can do stuff like harmonies and arrangements and if a part just needs one guitar, the other guitarist can just take a break for a while!

Grab a beer

I generally prefer full sound of two guitars as songs can sound pretty much the same live as on albums. Where 1 guitar bands are great too, but many times they just don't live up to the studio recording (where they overdubbed multiple guitars for obvious reasons like solos backing etc).

Though 1 guitar bands also sound great live (for setup reasons/mixing) and they very often give a big role to the bass player and drummer to do the job of filling up the space (when guitar goes into solo parts etc).

Overall both setups have advantages. Of course 1 guitar bands in pour stage conditions/sound guy sound much much better then 2 guitar bands.

On the side note, I would rather have 1 guitar and 1 keyboard player - seems much more versatile

You hit on an excellent point, I believe the bassist should do more than just play the root note in every song. When theres only one guitar player it gives the bassist more presence, and gives the music a different dimension. In fact many times the bassist acts as the second guitar player, playing guitar parts on bass.

that's not fair, you could only pick one,

Man, that's so relative,

I love Dream Theater,1 guitar, but I also love Angra, 2guitars,

I would also say that doesn't matter in the end,

But if you have a knife to my throat for the answer, I would say.....mmm...1

The more the merrier, all until infinite. Everyone doesn't have to do everything at the same time, writing music remains the same.
That said, who wants to sit still while the others play? But yeah, 2 guitars for me.

2 guitars, or then 1 guitar and keyboards.

I didn't vote because I love both the same. As long as the music is good, I don't care if there's one, two or more guitars

For rock music, 2 definitely, one has to keep the rhythm...
For other music, one rhythm guitar is a must...

2 for me, thanks, extra loud and crunchy with lots of harmonies

I like 2.Love Maiden type harmonies.