Helpful Guitar Gear: 5 Accessories I Couldn’t Live Without
Don't leave the house without these...
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Helpful Guitar Gear: 5 Accessories I Couldn't Live Without · Source: Alamy Stock Photo / Giuseppe Lombardo
Helpful guitar gear can be the make-or-break of any guitarist’s setup. From capos to cloths, here’s what I’d recommend to every player.
5 Types of Helpful Guitar Gear:
All About Helpful Guitar Gear:
- When we think of guitar gear, we all think about massive amps, complicated pedalboards and vintage guitars. Sure, these are all cool, but it is the little things that go unnoticed that really help you out.
- Helpful guitar gear should make your life as a player easier, more convenient, and streamline your live or studio work.
- Instead of spending money on gear you want, why not invest in the essentials, such as picks, tuners and capos that you reaslistically couldn’t perform without.
Tuners
Before you start playing guitar, it’s vital that you tune your guitar! Therefore, for our first look at helpful guitar gear we’re going to be looking at tuners. Brace yourselves, because there are a lot!
Which guitar tuner is best? Well, it depends where and when you need it. For beginners, I’d recommend a cheap and cheerful *clip-on headstock tuner. This works by feeling the vibrations from your guitar, in order to advise on how to tune. Another option could be free mobile apps, but the reliability and accuracy of these is questionable.
Therefore, other options are avaliable. A great option would be a *pedal tuner. These go right at the start of your signal chain on your pedal baord. Because your guitar is going straight into the tuner, the accuracy is pretty much as good as it gets. Furthermore, other direct tuners should be worth considering.
Personally, I always like to go with a direct tuner. These are espcially useful when tuning up in a louder envronment such as at band practice or at the side of the stage. Nonethless, it’s always good to have a spare clip-on tuner in your gig bag.
Picks
Right then, once you’ve tuned up, you can start to play. But wait, where’s your pick gone? Don’t you just hate it when you put a pick down and it goes missing? Time to get some more…
As a beginner, I relied on my wealthty stock of one or two picks. It was so stressful keeping track of them. Ideally, you need to have a supply of picks ready at your disposal. Personally, I always have a pick edged between the strings on the headstock of all of my guitars. This way, I know I’ll always have a spare pick handy.
You could also favour a different size or thicknees depending on what guitar you’re usuing. For instance, you may wish to use a thicker pick for playing an acoiustic guitar on thicker strings. Either way, order more than you need, and you’ll always be covered.
Capos
Our next look at helpful guitar gear is capos. This is aimed more at gigging guitarists, but is just as useful for bedroom jammers.
Guitar capos help a guitarist change key in an instant. But what if you get to your gig, show, recital or practice session and you’ve left it at home? Disater! Don’t get me wrong, it is doable to play a song without a capo via trasnpositon. However this mental arithmetic isn’t ideal on stage.
To combat this, grab yourself a spare or two! This way, you can have one at home, and another in your gig bag. This is a really helpful guitar gear accessory because arriving at your band rehearsal without a capo can really ruin your day. Having a spare is only a good thing. Furthemore, cheaper options have a habit of breaking and snapping, another reason to get a spare.
Cables
Next up, we’re going back to electrical goods. How many times have you heard your amp crackle and pop, all because of a bad guitar cable? Cables are crimnially overlooked by players, so this could be one of the most helpful guitar gear essentials.
I am guilty of ordering that new pedal, when I know that my ancient 6.3mm guitar jack lead is on its last legs. All cables have a natural lifespan, be that patch, XLR or instrument.
If you use the same lead every day for home practice, chances are it’ll have a pretty good and long life. However, if you use another cable for every gig, it won’t last as long. Being folded up time after time, having beer spilt on it, being stood on, being stretched when you wonder around the stage. Do your future self another favour: buy some spares, and buy the best you can afford. You genuinely can hear the difference between a cheap and good cable.
Cloths
Concluding our look at helpful guitar gear, we’ve got kind of a rogue choice. Call me a clean freak, but I believe that every player should have a couple of microfibre cloths hanging around.
Guitar cloths are useful for many aplications on your guitar. From a therapeutic rub down during a string change to wiping down perspiration after a hefty practice session. We spend so much money on our guitars, so it’s only right to look after them. Our bodies leave so much rubbish on the finish, so why not clean up after it?
Plus, strings like to go rusty if you leave them without wiping them down. Essentially, look after your stuff, and keep it clean! You could have a very expensive guitar, but nobody cares if it is covered in blood, sweat and tears. Fingermarks are also a massive turn off. Don’t be gross.
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