1. Gig bag
While some guitars come with a free case, not all do. So if yours doesn’t, make sure to buy one ASAP. There are a lot of options out there ranging from cheap ones that offer very little protection to really expensive ones that feel close to indestructible. The one you should get depends on how you’re going to use your guitar. A soft case should suffice if the guitar stays at home most of the time with only the occasional trips to a friend’s house. If you’re planning on bringing it out a lot or if your guitar is an expensive one, then you should definitely go for a hard case to protect your investment.
Price: From P700.00 for a soft, unpadded gig bag to P10,000.00+ for a hard case
2. Pick
Every guitarist should have a pick on him/her at all times. They’re inexpensive yet are very handy for playing a lot of different styles of music. Guitar picks come in different shapes and thicknesses and while you should consider the type of guitar you have and the genre of music you play, it will still boil down to what you’re comfortable using. Some people get away with using other items as picks such cut up credit cards or coins (like Queen guitarist, Brian May) but for most guitarists, nothing beats a good ‘ol plastic pick.
Price: Around P25.00 for decent ones (or Ph1 if you’re the guitarist of Queen)
3. Capo
We’ve seen all the workarounds guitarists have done to imitate a capo like this ballpen+rubberband contraption:
While we applaud the ingenuity, this solution doesn’t work all the time and, frankly, doesn’t look good. You could ask someone to hold the fret for you which works fine until that person gets tired or you had no friends to begin with. So please, heed our advice and just get a capo immediately.
Price: From P350.00 to P900.00
4. Extra strings
You’re going to break a string sooner or later so why not stock up on a few to save you another trip to the music store? Most string packs have some form of rust-resistant feature to them so having a few on hand should be no problem. Choosing between nylon and steel strings is easy because your guitar works best with only one or the other. The string gauge on the other hand is a bit tricky. Strings with smaller gauge numbers are thinner and, supposedly, are easier to play with the trade-off of not being as heavy- or full-sounding as thicker, higher gauged strings. There’s no hard rule for this and it’s up to you to experiment which one suits your playing style.
Price: From P200.00 to P900.00
5. Electronic Tuner
If there’s one thing a guitarist should avoid, it’s playing with a guitar that’s out of tune. Unfortunately, not all guitarists are gifted with a perfect sense of pitch so an electronic tuner is an absolute necessity. The most convenient one is the type that clips on to the headstock of your guitar. This type of tuner senses the vibrations your guitar gives out when a string is played and tells you if it is flat, sharp, or in tune.
Price: From P300.00 to over P1000.00
Special mention: String Winder
While not exactly a must-have, it’s one of those things that makes the life of a guitarist a lot easier. Having one of these will cut your re-stringing time in half, especially if you have a nylon string guitar. Just pop a tuner peg into the winder and tighten or loosen a string quickly and efficiently. You’re welcome.
Price: P100.00 - P150.00