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5 MUST have Guitar Accessories EVERYONE Needs!
Introduction
Playing the guitar you tend to look at new guitars or pedal or amps, and we forget about the smaller things that will make, not only our playing easier, but also make maintenance quicker. Which in turn leaves you more time to practise and perform. It isn’t always about high end guitars and pedals, sometimes you have to invest in the little things! In this article, we will be going over 5 must-have guitar accessories that are under £20 (ish).
Some of these guitar accessories will help out in gigging scenarios. However, we have put together a update to this article going over accessories for gigging guitarist, Which you can read here.
Clip on Tuner
Now, most people will have a tuner pedal, either on their pedalboard or built into their effects unit, however, we still recommend that you carry one of these in your Guitar Toolbox. Great for when you are backstage and are not plugged in.
These tuners come into their own when you are restringing! Clip it on to the end of your headstock, string up and you can set it and forget it, as the string gets up to tension you can tune it up. Helpful and super convenient.
Now, most clip-on tuners are roughly the same, they all do the same job in the same format, however, the tuner I would personally recommend is the Long PitchClip 2. They retail from around £10-£13 and these things are bulletproof, they can take some abuse before breaking. You will struggle to break the Korg.
As you can see, these are cheap and are well worth keeping in your gig bag or toolbox. Grab yourself one now.
Capo
As a guitarist, one of the most useful and needed guitar accessories is the Capo. As a guitarist, you may get asked to transpose a song up a key (or down a key if a capo is already needed). Instead of standing there trying to work out all the mew chords, throw a capo on and you are away. Super easy!
Now capo’s come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and “Locking” techniques. What do we recommend? Well, as always we highly recommend the ones that will require to fiddle around less, the one that has the least amount of set up time. We recommend the “Trigger” kind.
Personally, I use the Jim Dunlop Trigger Capo, had it years, bulletproof and if it was to break I would buy the exact same one. The price point of capo’s range massively, from around £3-£20. The cheaper ones tend to be more
Metronome
Metronome’s, of all the guitar accessories, this is a must for practising! Now from personal experience, when practising use a metronome, they will help you build up speed and also find your mistakes, but more on that in another blog. If you haven’t got a Metronome, go get one. They are relatively cheap (Depending on what brand/type) you get.
There are two types of metronome’s, digital and Analog (Or Pyramid), both do the same job except the digital one will be a lot cheaper. I personally use a Korg MA-1 Digital metronome, loud enough and all the beat patterns that I need. I would also love to get hold of a Wooden Pyramid Metronome, purely because I think they are cool.
Now, you don’t have to buy a metronome, in the age of smartphones and the internet you can download an app or visit a website. There are hundreds of apps out there and the majority of them are completely free, same with websites. So if you don’t want to invest in a physical metronome, have a look for an app or a website but just make sure you add one to your bag of guitar accessories.
String Winder/Clippers
Changing strings, I don’t think I know one person that enjoys it. It is a task that we try to put off as long as possible. There are a few things that you can do, and one of them is next on the list of must-have guitar accessories. String Winder/Clippers.
Now, I would say by now everyone has seen string winders, but you can also get them with a pair of snips or clippers on the end for cutting strings and also a peg puller for acoustics guitars. Having these three tools in one is perfect for maintenance. Speeding up string changes, all you need is your strings, String winder and your clip-on tuner, you will be finished in no time.
I personally use the Planet Waves Guitar Pro-Winder With Built-In String Clipper (Copy that into google and it will appear), these retail for around £10, and as with the Capo, it can’t hurt to grab a spare, leave one at home and one in your gig bag. A must-have of all the guitar accessories. Use mine every string change!
Strap (High Quality and Wide)
This is mainly aimed at gigging guitarists, but can also apply to home practice, and that is a guitar strap. We do not mean just some cheap guitar strap. When gigging a high quality and comfy guitar strap will do worlds for your performance and stamina. Being comfy and relaxed is everything.
Personally, I love the Ernie Ball Straps, but what I am currently using is a Righton strap, it is made from Vegan Leather and is super soft and comfy, it is also wider than your standard guitar strap, which I find spreads the weight and makes it comfier to play for extended periods. It was also a little bit expensive at £40, but I personally think it is a small price to pay for comfort. A good and premium strap will not only make playing more of joy but also last longer and wear slower than cheaper straps. So spending that little bit extra will pay off.
We would love to hear your Strap choice. Make sure to let us know over on our Instagram on what you use! We would love to hear.
Conclusion
There we have it, 5 must-have guitar accessories. All of these can go inside your gig bag or toolbox and in turn, will always be on hand to help you out when needed. We are sure that most of you will have some of these, but if there is anything you have that we have missed off the list please let us know over on our Instagram and we might have to do a part 2.
Remember you can pick up most of what we mentioned above at Thomann. We are affiliated with Thomann so if you use our link and purchase something we get a small kick back! Great way to help out the site! All the links above are Affiliate links. You can check out all the gear we use here.
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