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Guitar Accessories, Tools and Resources

Oct 8, 201600:00 by

Stefan Karlsson

Beat MachineCablesGuitar AccessoriesGuitar CaseGuitar CleanerGuitar Gear ResourcesGuitar Gear RetailGuitar MaintenanceGuitar OilGuitar StandsGuitar StrapGuitar ToolsInstrument InsurancePicks and PlectrumsPower SuppliesStrap LocksStringsTunersUtilityWireless+-

Beyond the Guitar there are a variety of other accessories you need to have in order to play, protect and maintain your guitar and playing. I’ve listed essentials at the top, and then additions for Maintenance. depending on how much of that you wish to do. Most guitars come with a basic set of tools - necessary allen keys and truss-rod wrench, but not much else. Most Ibanez owners get the benefit of a freely included amazing guitar multi-tool which is also available to buy and recommended for all. Then it really depends on what you are comfortable with, how much you want to put into it, and how much you are intending to get out of it.

I list various accessories first, before going into maintenance and then resources - written, web, apps and otherwise. This will be the third and final of the main guitar-buying guides, following on from the Guitar and Amp buying guides recently published, I will next do a few shorter pieces much more specific to my own situation, and overall less generic / with less options.

I own a large chunk of what’s listed on this page, but far from everything - many of these are options and alternatives - and there is usually a range of prices listed. I have spent a serious amount of time trawling for the very best in smart solutions for guitar players - hopefully to the benefit of anyone who reads this piece.

Pretty much everything on this page was sourced from just a few web resources - for retail, all printed materials and much else is from Amazon, some from Ebay, then Andertons and UK PRS Accessories.

Essentials

These are things everyone must have get the most out of their guitar short, medium and longer-term. I try to work on the premise of best quality and value, some of the really good quality stuff is expensive though - there are often cheaper alternatives available:

Gig Bag / Case / Flight Case - Protection!

PRS Gig Bag - Included with CE - £80
PRS Hard Case - £200
Waterproof Flight Case - SKB 3i-4214-PRS PRS Flight Case - £240

Instrument Cable

Planet Waves American Stage Kill Switch Instrument Cable 20ft - £40
PRS Silent Instrument Cable 25ft - £92
Various Patch Cables of different lengths - Fender and Planet Waves - for plugging in pedals etc. - from £5
Line 6 G10 Wireless Relay - £140

Insurance

If you take your Guitar to gigs or travel with it, you need separate insurance, I got mine from Allianz - £50-£100+ p.a.

Picks

Whatever works for you - I have a variety of mostly medium gauge - Dunlop, Fender, PRS, Snark et al., as well as Heavy Gravity Razer Picks, and am currently looking into a variety of Jazz style precision picks - picks range from circa £0.5 - $5.00 per pick

Strap

PRS Signature Padded Leather Strap - £64
Eso Ergonomic Contoured Strap - £40 + £20 postage (eBay from USA)

Strap Locks

Schaller Strap Locks £15 - there are various alternatives available (Ernie Ball, Jim Dunlop, Grover), but after much research selected these, and they are fantastic - most seem to highly rate Schaller - very easy to fit on PRS too

Guitar Stand

Hercules GS402B Mini Guitar Stand - £20

Tuner

Elagon (GPP) Guitar Pitch Pipe Tuner - £5
Elagon TFM101 Tuner - £6 (free with maintenance kit)
Korg PC-1 Pitchclip Tuner - £12
Snark Chromatic Tuner - £12
TC Electronic PolyTune Clip - £30
Peterson Stroboclip / StroboPlus - for Intonation testing - £60 / £120
Roadie RD100 Automatic Guitar Tuner - £80

Maintenance

Every guitar player needs to be able to change and tune-up new strings. Some won’t be confident to do intonation / bridge adjustments or adjusting the flex of the neck (truss-rod). In my list below I kind of stop at fret dressing - I don’t recommend solutions for files, hammers etc. or anything that involved real artisan skills or the use of power tools. Crimson Guitars in the UK is a great source of guitar building and maintenance tools, but the mac daddy of them all is StewMac of the USA - who provide the most comprehensive range of these kinds of tools. Much of it can be found on Amazon and eBay, but by no means all. Most player will find a local Guitar Tech who can carry out the more difficult tasks and do annual reviews, refreshes and setups.

Maintenance Kit - Elagon +5 Pro Care Kit (String Action Gauge / Ruler, String cleaner/lubricant stick, String winder/bridge pin puller, String Cutting Pliers, 8 Allen / Hex Keys, Cleaner + Polish & Cloth, Clip on Tuner, Metal Capo, Steel Slide / Bottleneck) - £45
Work Mat - Neotech waterproof anti-static mat - £20
Neck Cradle - Jim Dunlop Formula 65 Neck Cradle - £30
Multi-tool - Ibanez MTZ11 Multi-Purpose Guitar Tool £12 / Farley’s JP Deluxe Guitar Tool £20 / Leatherman Rebar £60 (Leatherman should really do a dedicated Guitar one!)
Multi-function Wrench - Curved, flat double ended one-size-fits-all wrench for all manner of guitar adjustments - £10
Multi-function String Winder - Planet Waves Pro-Winder String Winder and Cutter - £10
Digital Calipers - Reelva 6" Stainless Steel Reelva Calipers - £12
Feeler Gauge - Facom 19 blade gauge - £11
Steel Rulers - Draper Metric + Imperial - ideally 6" and 12" - £4 / £4
Fret Rocker - Crimson Guitars 5 Edge Fret Rocker - £15
Notched Straight Edge Neck Ruler - Crimson Guitars Notched Straight Edge (for Fender, Gibson and PRS Necks) - £40
String Clippers - Cruztools Guitar String Cutter (straight edge vs transverse) - £10
Screwdrivers - Hex / Phillips / Flat - Various - £10 / £20
String and Fretboard Cleaner - StrungOut Dual Guitar String and Fretboard Cleaner - £10
Cleaning / Polishing Kit - Jim Dunlop Formula 65 Care Kit - £30
Fretboard Lemon Oil Conditioner / Cleaner - Planet Waves / PRS / Jim Dunlop - £4 / £10
Compressed Air Cans - 5 Star Air Duster 4 Pack - £14 (for dust removal)
Anti-static nylon brushes - eBoot Anti-Static Brushes - £8 (for more stubborn dust removal)

Spares

If you play via tube amp, you will need to keep spare tubes, as these are pretty much as fragile as light bulbs, and likely to blow at the most inconvenient moment. For solid state players, the likeliest breakage is strings. All players should keep a spare set or two of strings.

Strings

D’Addario EXL / NYXL | Elixir Nanoweb | Ernie Ball Slinky | PRS - £7 / £14 | £13 | £7 | £7

Accessories

This is for enhanced playback - particularly late at night when you don’t wish to annoy your neighbours. The Digitech Trio is a genius device for letting you jam at home - totally on your own:

Stool - Konig & Meyer Musician’s Stool with backrest - £145 + £57
Headphones - any of half decent quality will do - from circa £50+
Headphone Amp - Vox AP2-CR amPlug Headphone Amplifier - £35
Jam Box - Digitech Trio+ - Bass and Drum accompanist and Looper - £250
String Dampener - ChromaCast MAB String Dampener - £32 (Ebay via USA)
Cable Caddy - Stage Ninja Retractable 26ft Instrument Cable Reel - c£50 (Ebay via USA)
Cable Organiser - Cable Sax Hoodie - £30 (Ebay via USA)

Books, Manuals and Printed Resources

I’ve developed quite an interest in guitars of late, and everything related to guitars - I am a modernist - which means I lean towards PRS and Ibanez, I also like the look of certain Chapman, Dean and Music Man guitars, Line 6 JT Variax too. I consider most Fenders and Gibsons rather old-fashioned instruments, although I do admire how many of them sound.

Guitar Chords Wall Chart - GBEye
Guitar Scale Wall Chart - Mel Bay
Blues Guitar Wall Chart - Mel Bay
Jazz Guitar Wall Chart - Mel Bay

Chord Wheel - Hal Leonard
Guitar Wheel - Music Master Publishing

200 Stomp Box Reviews - Hal Leonard
501 Guitar Chords - Apple
2000 Guitars, The Ultimate Collection - Chartwell Books
Blues Guitar Scale Deck - Hal Leonard
Electric Guitar Manual - Haynes
Guitar Player Repair Guide - Backbeat Books
Guitar Playing Manual - Haynes
Guitar Scales - Music Exchange
How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great - Backbeat Books
Ibanez Electric Guitar Book - Backbeat Books
Pick Up & Play Guitar Chords - Flame Press
PRS Electric Guitar Book - Backbeat Books
Rock Guitar for Dummies - Chappell
Stomp On This! The Guitar Pedal Effects Guidebook - Cengage Learning
Tone Manual: Discovering Your Ultimate Electric Guitar Sound - Backbeat Books
Totally Guitar, The Definitive Guide - Thunder Bay Press

Playing Resources - Apps + Web

Here are the 10 Apps and Web Resources I use most often. I am mostly on Guitar Tricks and Ultimate Guitar Tabs, usually chasing up a riff or particular song, when these are not available for copyright or other reasons on the main resources - you can usually find a video on YouTube of someone showing you how to play that particular riff or song:

AmpliTube / JamUp + iRig HD 2 - Apps + Mini Interface (Amp + Effects Modelling and Jamming)
Drum Beats + - App (Drum backing tracks)
FunkBox Drum Machine - App (Drum backing tracks - programmable)
Guitar Toolkit - App (Various essential Guitar Utilities)
Guitar Tricks - App and Online (Best Guitar Learning Course Online)
Guitar Tuna - App (Most Popular Tuner App)
Guitar Jam Tracks - App (Backing tracks App)
iReal Pro - App (Music Book and Play Along App)
Riffstation - App (Video based chords and tabs directory)
Ultimate Guitar Tabs HD - App and Online (The largest chords and tabs directory with very useful animated play-along guides)

YouTube

This was very influential in helping me choose both my guitar and amp, as well as other things - YouTube is limitless for guitar-related material - learn about Build and Maintenance with Ben Crowe, how to tweak your Fender Mustang with Shane Diiorio, know your gear with Phillip McKnight, or simply have fun with Chappers and the Andertons gang and related affiliates. Then get into learning songs and riffs, as taught by hundred of differing quality - some of the best are below under Resources:

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