Music is one of the greatest forms of entertainment. All of us get introduced to it early on in our lives. For the majority of us, listening remains the only hobby. But for some, it itches deeper. Many kids want to be musicians. They start insisting early to get an instrument from their parents.
As it’s usually the case, most of us fell in love with the guitar. There’s just something powerful to be seen in people such as James Hatfield, Kirk Hammett, Dave Mustaine, and many others.
Playing as a hobby in your basement can take you to the top of the music industry. Many stars started their careers with their friends in one of their family basements. If playing the guitar doesn’t remain only a hobby for you, with time you’ll get better at it, and one of the next logical steps is to for a band.
Once you get to a point to have gigs, some money will start pouring in, and music will soon be your line of work. What this means is you’ll be traveling a little bit, and your guitar will be your companion.
When this happens, you will have to get a bag and some other equipment for your guitar. It doesn’t matter if you’re not Metallica or Red Hot Chili Peppers as a band, you’ll be professional. As such, you mustn’t disappoint your fans or your band members. The best way to do this is to take good care of your instrument, hone your skill, and be prepared for all surprises.
The best way to avoid anything out of the ordinary to happen is to pack your guitar bag with all the necessities one guitar player needs to have. If you’re still a young lad on the road let us help you. In this article, we are going to talk about seven things every guitarist needs to have in his gig bag. Let’s see what it is.
1. Rechargeable Batteries
Source: electroschematics.com
While not directly tied to your instrument, you always need to carry rechargeable batteries with you. This is a piece of equipment everyone needs these days. You might need them for your phone, or a piece of other equipment that uses electric power. You never know when they can come in handy. When you are on the road, an additional power supply on your side is never a bad idea. If you haven’t gotten yourself supplies yet, you can visit eblofficial.com right now and handle this issue quickly.
2. Spare Strings
Source: reverb.com
Once you have spare power on your side, let’s move to something even more essential for a guitar player. Spare strings are a must. Playing guitar means you’ll be spending your wires as time goes on. The worst thing that can happen is to have one of your string breaks before a gig. That’s why it’s important to have a spare package nearby. You never know when a wire is going to break down. You can always carry an additional pack, but having two or even three would be wiser. Better be safe than sorry. Find more about string thickness here.
3. Picks
We’re in the same department as with strings. They can break, but what’s even worse they can easily get lost. Misplacing your favorite pick before a gig is a stroke of bad luck. But, thinking about what can happen, having spare ones in our bag is a must. Strings and picks are like spare tires, you never know when you’re going to need them, but you always need to have them in your trunk.
4. Guitar Strap
Source: linnykenney.com
While a little bigger piece of guitar equipment than say picks, it can easily be lost or forgotten, it’s more than needed. A guitar strap will often go on and off during rehearsals and gigs, and you can easily forget it in one place. Even a fan can steal it, as it happened to many guitarists. Also, some straps can be your favorite and comfortable, but they could lack quality and break at connecting points. Without one, you can’t play. Yes, you could sit the whole gig, and do it like an acoustic concert. But, if you’re a power metal guitarist you need a spare guitar strap if the worst happens.
5. Cables
You can never have enough cables when it comes to your guitar equipment. Connecting a guitar with a power supply, microphones, sound system or a sound amplifier is a must during a gig. These cables will lose their quality with time, especially those that get moved around a lot. You know this. Every guitar player walks miles on stage having some of the cables running behind him. They can fold, and move seamlessly, but one bad move can create a breaking point. With time, the cable will laws fold in the same place. Soon it will stop working properly
6. Cleaning Equipment
Source: guitarworld.com
While the guitar will play great even when dirty, you need to take good care of your instrument. Clean it up after every gig. Yes, this is a bit of a chore, but it’s vital to do it. You’ll be sweating a lot, and with all of the dust and debris floating around you need to take good care of your guitar hygiene. Having a polish cloth and a little bit of cleaning liquid in your bag shouldn’t pose an issue, right? It shouldn’t. A guitar is like a woman. It needs to be catered.
7. Pen And Paper
This is quite an important piece of equipment you need to have in your bag. While pen and paper are not directly tied to guitar please hear us out. When you are a guitar player and have a band, shooting for the stars is a must. That’s the only way to reach success. The more famous you become, the more fans you’re going to have.
That’s why having pen and paper close is important. Signing autographs and merchandise is going to be a part of your work. You’ll love that part, too. Also, when it comes to music, the more you learn it the more you’ll be closer to creating it. With time you’ll need to write down the music and lyrics that come your way. If you keep everything from above near you, it’s only a matter of time before you’re going to be creating original works.
