Technique in a trio

Check out Pino Palladino's playing with the John Mayer trio. Lots of great ideas there.

 

Muse is the only trio I can think of and Chris uses some effects and plays the guitar thing/his own stuff

 

Kind of a strange question since all you have to do is listen to some live Cream to hear how he did it. He played furiously busy with a nasty distorted sound. He also played counterpoint to the lead guitar's melodies, and even sometimes played contrapuntally with himself.

 

Nobody has mentioned Rush in this thread, yet. Geddy's ostinato lines during guitar solos are essentially the main riff, but with extra flourishes. I think the finest example that readily comes to mind is Red Barchetta, but it is also important to note that the solo section is in 7/4 time, while the verses (same chord sequence) are in 4/4. Fly By Night is another good example, and features no difference in time signatures.

 

Come on man, you must be very young!
ELP, The Police, King Crimson (in some lineups such as Wetton, Bruford and Fripp), Rush, UK,

 

Double up the guitar line. Try it.

 

Try listening to ZZ Top. Just laying down a solid rhythm is all you need to do sometimes. No need over do it if the music doesn't call for it.

 

Yes, ZZ top are a good example. Love Rough Boy!

 

"Trio" is misleading. There are all sorts of trios. What worked for Geddy wouldn't work for Sting, for example.

Queen, Rage against the Machine... Lot's of good examples out there.

KO

 

The Who...

 

I cut my bass-baby teeth in trios, starting in 1967, and it's still my favorite format. Even though Jack Bruce was my biggest influence, I've found that in many cases the busier everyone plays, the smaller it sounds. Holes and space are a beautiful thing, but that's often difficult to get from a guitarist playing three piece - they seem to think that they need to make up for two guitarists, or a guitarist and keyboard, by overplaying everything.
The two critical things for three piece in my experience is #1 a rock solid drummer and #2 a great bass tone. It's not the number of notes the bass plays, it's the tone of the bass and the authority with which it is played that will make it sound big.
A good example of this would be Free. So much beautiful space. But you damn well better be a good player if the band is going to give you that much room.

 

Jimi Hendrix Experience, Band of Gypsys, Gypsy, Sun and Rainbow

 

Check out "With Love and Squalor" by We are Scientists for some cool 3 piece style bass written in the last decade.