5 things every beginner guitarist should own.

Posted on by wrguitar Posted in Uncategorized

A tuner

The day you pick up your first guitar, don’t leave without your tuner! This thing is going to help you stay in tune and keep your guitar sounding beautiful.

Now there are three different types of these life savers:

The clip on

These are hardy little gadgets. You can clip them on to the headstock and tune away. My only problem with these is… they break! The Korg Pitchflip2 is a nicely designed tuner and does what you want from a tuner.

The Portable Tuner

Now these are my go to tuner when I’m teaching. The have a little mic to pick up acoustics and a jack socket for your electric. They are great for down tuning in drop D and drop C, something the clip-ons do struggle with. Long term it’s a more sturdy piece of kit.

The tuner ap

From a portability point of view, the ultimate guitar ap is fantastic. Along with its tuner functions it also boasts songs and a metronome! I use this often when I’ve forgotten my portable tuner BUT it doesn’t handle drop tuning very well. Still, this app is fantastic for a player at any level.

The Capo

One thing to look out for with capos is, DO THEY CLAMP. If they don’t, ling it in the bin (or don’t buy it). Here’s my list of capo styles that I recommend.

My go to is the G7th capo. These things are fantastic.
They are a little bit pricey for some but I swear by them! They hold the strings really well and can be taken off and put on with speed.
The second choice of capo is my second go to. Having the little screw nut concept helps with gripping down on the strings. They are super sturdy, providing you don’t unscrew the wrong way and loose the spring!
This is my final suggestion. These are fantastic for taking on and off the guitar quickly, making it ideal for changing guitars and tuning up. You can clamp them on the end of the head, again helping with swift application. The only downside with these is the spring can loosen over time, this causes a little string buzz!

Plectrums

This ones a no brainer but don’t be foolish! You’ll need LOADs of these little things. You’ll drop them, loose them, wash them and strum them down to a numb. A good plectrum is important for a good sound. By a selection to figure out what thickness works best for you.

My go to is a jazz 3. I moved to these because there isn’t a lot of surface area, this allows you to move quicker through the strings. Secondly, the nib is so acute that you can pick quickly and with little plectrum sound.

Jack Lead

A good jack lead is an essential. If you aren’t playing live then I suggest a cheeky 4ft job. A cheap jack lead is false economy. The quality will be rubbish and within no time at all you’ll be enjoying a good old lead crackle, no one loves the girl/guy with a crackly lead…

My choice of lead is anything planet waves. I love the build quality, they don’t loose shape over time and they are incredibly durable, so much so they offer a life time guarantee!

A 5ft planet waves starts off at £15

AMAZON LINK

A spare set of strings

That’s right people, you are going to break a string eventually. There is nothing worse than being mid jam and snapping your high E with no way of replacing it!

If you are looking for a good quality string and a reasonable price then for me it’s the Super slinky pinks by Ernie ball. Super slinky’s (AKA 9’s) are very light gauge strings, making them easy to bend and easy on your fingertips, perfect for any beginner. These start at around £4.50 and you get get them on amazon or any music shop.

AMAZON LINK

There we have it

I hope this has all been useful for you. If you have any questions then be sure to hit me up on here, on wrguitarist@outlook.com or on insta at wrguitar.

Leave a comment