Three guitars are just right for rock band Built to Spill

“You get the car, I’ll get the night off. We’ll get the chance to take the world apart and figure out how it works.” – “Car,” Built to Spill

Doug Martsch treats the opening lines from his fan-favorite indie-rock anthem as a credo.

The Built to Spill mastermind has explored eternity, love, hate, celestial dinosaurs, mortality and history armed with child-like vocals and meaty guitar lines for 12 years.

And like many songwriters – including Neil Young, one of Martsch’s greatest influences – it’s taken him awhile to find the right people to share the ride.

Martsch was the only permanent fixture in a rotating lineup until the band recorded its third album, 1997’s “Perfect from Now On,” when bassist Brett Nelson (formerly of Butterfly Train) and drummer Scott Plouf (The Spinanes) joined.

Two years later, Jim Roth, guitarist for The Delusions, added his guitar on the “Keep it Like a Secret” tour, and recently became a full-fledged member, helping record and write guitar for the band’s next album, which is set to be released in the spring.

“He’d been playing live with us for years,” Martsch said from a tour stop in Louisville, Ky. “And yeah, he’s part of the band, so it wasn’t even a question, really.”

Until now, Martsch wrote nearly all the melodies and lyrics, save help from his longtime girlfriend Karena Youtz, guest musicians such as Quasi keyboardist Sam Coomes and periodical help from guitarist Brett Netson – not Nelson – founding member of fellow Boise band Caustic Resin.

“I call (Netson) whenever we’re in trouble,” Martsch said, referring to how, in the past, he often asked Netson to “save” the band anytime it hit a rough patch in the studio, which wasn’t infrequent.

Netson finally joined the band in May, adding a third guitar to the mix.

“He played on every other record at least,” Martsch said. “So he’s been on most of the records, and now he’s actually a member of the band.”

Three guitars may seem like one – or two – too many, but it makes sense in the scope of Built to Spill’s studio work. The new songs will show the change, Martsch said, since the band jammed out ideas rather than sticking mostly to scripts he had pre-written, as with previous albums.

And since Martsch used layered guitar lines on the old stuff, now the band may be better able to re-create the complexity of those albums.

It also gives Martsch the chance to ride shotgun and enjoy the view.

“I can do a lot of easier things and funner things, make little weird noises and let those guys play real parts,” Martsch said. “It’s fun to listen to those guys play, too. And it’s fun working out stuff, deciding how we want to work out what those three guitars are up to.”