Approach each musical venture as an educational experience. Playing w/2 other rhythm/chordal players will force you too learn various ways of playing common chords. 3 guys all playing the same same chord voicings in the same register will sound like mud. In a big ensemble it is important to find your place and help the overall band achieve a good sound. With a smaller ensemble the emphasis is on filling space, so each player must overstep his boundaries to achieve a full sound.
I always enjoy having another lead instrument in the band, that way I feel I'm not overkilling myself or the audience w/my solo's. Plus having another lead instrument will give you someone to feed off of. My current band line-up is: 1)singer/ rhythm guitar (acoustic) 2) lead guitar (I've been playing some nylon str. guitar w/the band too for some added color) 3) Sax (nothing like a good killer tenor player to give you a run for your money, plus sax and guitar sound good overlapped) 4)bass 5) drums. When we have some good paying gigs we bring in a percussion player too.