Top 12 Must-Have Guitar Accessories For Every Guitarist

Guitar is one of the best instruments to express yourself through music. But in order to give, you need to buy some accessories. If you pay close attention to veteran guitarists playing live, you will see each of them have their own set of guitar accessories accompanying them. 

For example, U2’s legendary guitarist, the Edge, uses tons of equipment and accessories to produce the iconic sound for the band. Some of the accessories from his vault are “Herdim .88 mm Nylon Guitar Pick,” “Fat 50’s Stratocaster Pickups,” “Shubb S1 Deluxe Guitar Capo,” and “The Edge X Love Welcomes Guitar Strap.” Apart from this, David Gilmour who is co-lead vocalist and guitarist of the legendary band Pink Floyd uses guitar accessories such as “Dunlop Herco Flex 75 Nylon 1.01mm Guitar Picks,” ”Ernie Ball Earthwood Phosphor Bronze Acoustic Guitar String,” and ”Hiwatt DR103 Custom Head.”

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All of the above-mentioned accessories used by the Edge are essential, and if you are serious about your art, you, too, will be investing in them over time. But right now, let’s focus on essential guitar accessories to keep you going; with time and proper training from Torrins Instructors, you will get an understanding of which ones are important for your style of playing. 

This blog is going to be a reference point that introduces you to some of the important guitar accessories that you need to have to be more than just a hobbyist and become a true musician. So, let’s begin.

i. Guitar Tuner – Tune your guitar with ease

In the world of guitar playing, it is important to achieve and maintain accurate tuning, as it gives a polished sound to the musician. We know mobile app tuners are a thing now, but we would like you to go with handheld or pedal guitar tuners as they are more accurate and have distinct advantages that will make them a great addition to your rig. 

With the use of a guitar tuner, you are not only practising tuning a guitar, but you are also training your ears to get familiar with tuned pitch and improve your intonation. 

• Handheld Tuners

With handheld tuners, you can quickly tune your guitar without having to connect the tuner to an external source of power. It’s a compact device that can fit inside your pocket if your backpack is full. The handheld tuner takes out the guesswork of manual tuning and gives guitarists a fast, reliable route to make their guitar harmonically sound better. 

• Pedal Tuners

Professional guitarists who are part of the band use pedal guitars. You will find pedal tuners in live concerts to make it easier for the guitarist to tune the guitar precisely in mid-performance by using their feet. Pedal tuners come with a number of features, such as bright LED panels, strobe tech, and high bandwidth of pitch resolution to provide better tune customization to guitarists. 

• App Based Tuners

App-based tuners can come quite handy in those cases when you forget to bring a tuner with you, and most of the app-based tuners are available for free. One of the biggest advantages this type of tuner has over others is its convenience and effectiveness. Both beginners and professionals have seen using these tuners so definitely it is something you need to try out on your own. Some of the common app-based tuners are Boss Tuner, Fender Guitar Tuner, GuitarTuna, Cleartune, Autotune 

Suggest App-based guitar tuners too. E.g. Tuna etc. 

ii. Quality Guitar Picks – Ensure optimal playability with the right picks.

A great guitar pick will work as a bridge between you and the instrument. It is counted as one of the most important guitar accessories of all time. If you know how to use a pick in a proper way, you can become a guitar legend in no time, as it could be the loudest amplifier right in your hands. 

Selecting a guitar pick depends on a number of factors. In truth, there’s no perfect guitar pick for everyone. Out there, each pick serves the purpose of making it easier for the guitarist to play their style and give them more control over the instrument. Things you need to consider when buying this guitar accessory are its size, shape of the tip, material used, and thickness. 

Here’s the thickness comparison between different types of guitar picks:- 

• Thin guitar pick:- 0 to 0.55 mm
• Medium guitar pick:- 0.55 mm to 1 mm
• Thick guitar pick:- more than 1 mm

• For strumming it is best to go with nylon picks as they are light and flexible, also, nylon picks come in different gauges as well as in colors. Besides this, you can also use strumming picks for playing acoustic guitar. Some of the picks you can buy are Dunlop Nylon Jazz III, Dunlop Tortex, Delrin Picks, Dunlop Nylon Standard. 

• For electric guitar you can go with Dunlop Flow Glass, Dunlop Tortex, Fender Wavelength 351, and Fender 551 shape classic. 

If you’re looking to improve your picking technique, consider taking guitar picking lessons. These lessons can help you master the use of different picks and enhance your overall guitar-playing skills.

iii. Guitar Stand and Wall Hanger – Keep your guitar safe and displayed beautifully.

For someone who is a beginner and taking step-by-step guitar lessons will often think that putting a guitar inside a cover or a case is all they need to do to keep it safe. A guitar stand and wall hanger are two guitar accessories that can elevate your guitar to match the overall decor of your room or studio. 

These two guarantee that your musical instrument stays safe and secure. Moreover, with these stands your guitar stays in front of your eyes, waiting patiently for you to pick it up once again. Likewise, your guitar is going to be in tune when you rest it on the stand because when you place it on the stand the tuners don’t move which is something not possible when you put it in your gig bag. 

Guitar stands and wall hangers also make your guitar easily accessible and appealing to those who come to visit you. 

With the guitar stand or a wall hanger, you can display your precious guitar as a prized collection. Wall hangers are especially useful if you have more than one guitar to store. A wall hanger is a perfect guitar accessory as it balances the protection and accessibility sides of an individual’s storage needs. Not just storage or display but usefulness needs to be highlighted. 

iv. Guitar Case – Protect your instrument during storage and travel.

A guitar case truly comes in handy when you are hitting the road. There are a few must-haves for guitar players, and having a guitar case is one of them. A guitar case keeps your instrument protected from fall damage, scratches, dirt, and debris. In all seriousness, you don’t want to play a guitar that has a layer of dust all over it. 

The two types of guitar cases are hard shell cases and soft shell cases. You can choose any one of these two types depending on your budget and your needs. Hard shell cases are more expensive as they have higher levels of protection, and they are lightweight, making them easy to carry around as well. You can choose from a variety of options based on the shape of your guitar. 

Keep in mind that it is better to go for a perfect fit when choosing the guitar case; if you choose a bigger case in comparison to the guitar, your guitar keeps on budging into the walls of the case, causing it to damage during transportation. If you are someone who regularly takes flight to reach the location for the next gig then it becomes quintessential for you to purchase flight cases for air travel. Some of the well-known flight cases for guitar are MONO M80 Vertigo Electric Guitar Case, Road Runner RR1EG Avenue Series Electric Guitar Gig Bag, BAM France Stage Series Classical Guitar Case and SKB iSeries Waterproof Acoustic Guitar Case. 

v. String Cleaners – Maintain the crispness and longevity of your strings.

Cleaning your guitar strings after a heavy jamming session is a logical and practical routine that every guitarist should practice. Using string cleaners will increase the lifespan of your strings and keep them in good shape so when you play on them they are able to produce optimal sound each time. 

This is one of those guitar accessories that most people neglect as they think it’s not needed, and they can take care of the strings on their own. But in reality, cleaning strings with a cloth or some other material will only make strings weak, and these unprecedented cleaning methods can result in the breaking of a string if not careful. With a guitar string cleaner, you will be able to keep your strings clean and not have to worry about changing them in quick succession. 

vi. Guitar Straps – Comfortable and essential for playing in any position

You can’t always find a comfortable sitting arrangement to play your guitar, so in those cases, you need to have a guitar strap to make the instrument secure and comfortable to play. The strap is an essential guitar accessory when guitarists want to play the guitar and use the whole stage during their performance.  

There are different types of materials and styles used in making guitar straps. The difference leads to a variety of comfort and durability. Likewise, the guitar strap varies in length, so depending on your stature and how high or low you want to keep your guitar while standing decides the final length of the strap. 

One thing to note is that you need to keep your guitar’s strap width to be as wide as possible. This is because width plays a significant role in giving comfort to the guitarist. The wider the strap, the better the weight distribution of your guitar will be. One more important aspect is padding it allows you to keep playing guitar for long durations both standing or in sitting position while protecting your shoulder from any type of stress and pain. 

To practice holding and balancing a guitar and other basics of playing guitar, you can check out the free guitar lessons on Torrins.com.

vii. Guitar Strap Lock – Ensure your guitar stays securely strapped.

A strap lock is one of those guitar accessories that gives you a sense of confidence that your strap is locked to the guitar, and your guitar won’t fall on the ground during your performance. Furthermore, strap locks are one of the guitar players’ must-haves as an accessory because they make the job of putting and removing your strap from the guitar much simpler. 

There are a number of guitar strap locks available in the market. You can find a simple rubber washer and spring-loaded metal clasps that have the potential to withstand more than a hundred pounds of force. All of these different types of strap locks are there to keep your instrument safe from plunging to the floor. Ensure that the strap lock you buy is made from thick material, comes with a dual design, and has a quick-release button.

viii. Guitar Cleaning Kit – Keep your guitar in pristine condition with proper care

A great cleaning kit comes with the essential guitar cleaning accessories, which allow you to polish all the components of the guitar and clean the strings. Guitars require maintenance, and if you are not vigilant with their cleaning, you can start seeing detrimental effects like rust on strings, diminishing sound quality, cracking sound while playing. 

You must have a proper cleaning kit in your guitar accessories as it makes your job of removing dust and grime from the instrument pretty easy. Likewise, most guitar cleaning kits come with a special tool that can reach difficult spots like under the strings and around the pickups. As a result, you can clean the guitar without having to dismantle its components in the first place. On the other hand, if we talk about acoustic guitar you need to have a blower which is more of a can filled with compressed air. You can use this can to clean dust from the body of your guitar as well as from the fretboard. 

ix. Amplifier and Cables – Enhance your sound with quality amplification

Both acoustic and electric guitars can take some assistance from amplifiers to make the sound louder and much clearer. On the other hand, if you want to spend less money on buying a full-fledged amplifier, then it is better to start by using a practice amp as they are more affordable and produce less sound, which can be easily constrained in your room.

There are a number of features that you can find in guitar amps, and the most common ones are the built-in digital reverb, delay, metronome, and even drum track support. Practice amps are lightweight, meaning you can easily carry them around. Besides this, in order to use an amplifier, you will need cables to connect the amp to your guitar. It is important to find a cable that is of high quality and provides a good signal. 

Besides this, if you are using an amp, it is necessary to have a second cable with you at all times. This is because, at any given moment, your preferred cable will start making static noises, and in that case, you have to use the second cable. A pro-quality cable is going to keep your mind at ease for many years to come, so take your time and invest in it properly.

x. Guitar Slide – Explore unique tones with a versatile slide

With this guitar accessory, you will be adding a smooth vocal quality to your instrument. This is one of the top guitar accessories for people who are into the blues music genre. Besides blues, we have seen its usage in other guitar styles/genres as well by many renowned guitarists such as Eric Clapton, George Harrison from The Beatles, and Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd. 

With Guitar slide, it becomes much easier to connect multiple notes seamlessly even if they are far away from one another on the fretboard. With the help of slides, you make a normal acoustic and electric guitar fretless. This allows guitarists to achieve a whole new dimension of playing, where they have to use only one finger. 

xi. Spare Guitar Strings – Be prepared for unexpected string breaks.

There are a number of reasons why you need to keep a spare guitar string with you all the time. For one, a bright new set of strings produces a much better sound than the one that is worn out. In terms of physical level, strings develop corrosion over time due to oxidation and humidity and once your strings have reached that point, there’s nothing much you can do about them. 

At last, strings have to be replaced for long-lasting playability; new strings are more durable than the old ones and add a brighter sound to your music. A lot of artists prefer to restring their guitar before going for a studio session or live concert, or once they start to feel that the strings aren’t producing the right sound. You can purchase spare guitar strings online and keep them in your guitar case so that whenever you are in the middle of a string breakdown, you can quickly perform the replacement and go on to playing the guitar once again in no time. 

xii. Guitar Capo – Easily change the key and add variety to your playing.

Capo in Italian means head; it is similar to the nuts placed at the headstock of your guitar. Capo works as a movable nut; it clamps strings to make them short, which results in a change of pitch and key. Capo is one of those guitar accessories that may be confusing for beginners. A lot of guitarists at the start of their journey completely ignore using a capo for playing guitar, as many guitar songs don’t require it. When capo is placed on your, each chord is going to be played differently, but the chord progressions that you have learned are going to sound much better.

On the other hand, capo also serves the purpose of a finger, which is used for playing barre chords. But you cannot replace capo with your fingers. In some cases to play barre chords you need to clamp capo on the fretboard otherwise, your guitar won’t be producing the required tone.