I've been listening to a lot of Allman Brothers and Iron Maiden lately. It got me thinking about guitar duos. When 2 (or more) guys play similar roles in the same band, what style characteristics do you hear that distinguish one from the other? I'm not interested in who's better than who, unless it's in context as a matter of taste. And please, no Hammett vs Hetfield discussion. More like, how can you tell if it's Duane or Dickey, or if it's Smith or Murray? What are the similarities and differences in their style and sound? Signature licks? Etc. A few others off the top of my head:

Downing / Tipton
Rossington / Collins / King / Gaines
Robertson / Gorham / Others (I don't know who else was in the band together)
Young / Stills
Walsh / Felder
Perry / Whitford

Some other teams would be Wishbone Ash, Santana-McLaughlin, Atkins-Knopfler.. I know the last two aren't career partners, but I would say their collaborative works are notable.

presti/lagoya, parkening/brandon, atkins/breau, the hellecasters, atkins/emmanuel

Peter Green/Danny Kirwan
Ted Turner/Andy Powell
Mustaine/Friedman

So what distinguishes one from the other? In Maiden, Murray has a more scooped tone and plays a lot of trills. Smith has more of a classic rock approach, including some of the standard cliche licks. I never used to think much about it. Now I'm pretty sure I can tell who's who most of the time. How about Duane and Dickey?

guess Betts has a cleaner tone, a bit subtler and gentler, while Duane's is a lot sharper, more biting. Thats how I distinguish mostly.

Ya, I use tone to tell those two apart.

Wishbone Ash...
Powell has his own unique style, ridiculous fluidity and phrasing (Sometime World).
Turner is more akin to Jimmy Page, in that he's not quite as technically proficient, but makes up for it with sheer intensity (Phoenix).

Also, tipton and downing, tipton's a heck lot more melodically inclined, while downing seemed more of a true metal guitarist.

Yeah Tipton has much better phrasing, Downing just uses every song as an excuse to go nuts on the whammy bar (still LOVE his solo in Victim Of Changes though, very reminiscent of Jimi).

Personally, I've never really been able to tell the difference with Maiden. Murray and Smith are both fairly similar in their styles.

Flight of Icarus is a good example for Maiden. Murray takes the first solo. From 2:05 to 2:08 is very much a signature lick. The ending of Smith's short solo is very "classic rock".


Is there a Downing / Tipton example that's just as clear?

Oh yes.
First solo, Glenn. Second, K.K.

Notice any difference in styles?

Srsly though, the first one is often regarded as one of the finest solos in metal. And rightfully so.