Gigging guitarists don't leave home without these 10 items!

I've been playing gigs in various cover bands around Boston for close to 20 years now. It can be a lot of fun and you can make decent money doing what you love. Here are my top 10 must-have items for any aspiring guitarist looking to get into the cover band gigging circuit. This is more focused on the equipment — here's what I consider the essential gear every gigging guitar player should own.

#1 A Small Combo Amp (1×12) That Doesn't Sound Like Rubbish

Time to put your half stacks or full stacks up for sale on Craigslist — those won't be needed anymore. When you are transporting your equipment to bars or weddings every week, you'll want something nice and small that's easy to transport.

I'm currently using a Rivera Pubster Head with a 1×12 cab. The Rivera has unbelievable tone and works great in small to large venues. Remember, you can always mic your amp, so there is no need to lug around a giant half stack anymore.

#2 A Good Pedalboard With a Case

Playing cover music means you'll need to replicate all sorts of different tones on your guitar. You'll need some pedals to do that, and a pedalboard is the best way to organise them. Something like a Donner aluminium pedalboard or a Pedaltrain works great. While I'm not going to list every pedal you should have, I would like to mention one in particular…

#3 A Clean Boost Pedal — The Keeley Katana

This pedal was the best investment I ever made in pedals. Seriously, the Keeley Katana Clean Boost will help you achieve amazing tones on your guitar. I thank John Mayer for showing me this one!

#4 A Good Vocal Microphone

Start bringing your own mic. Using the bar mic is just disgusting. The Shure SM-58 is the industry standard for a reason — it's reliable, sounds great, and can handle anything you throw at it.

#5 A Good Multi-Tool

I use the Leatherman Skeletool. Gerber also makes nice ones. I can't say enough how important it is to have one of these on you at your gigs. Stuff will break — be ready for it!

#6 A Good Pedal Tuner

Basic stuff, but I've seen a lot of guitarists leave this one out. You need a good tuner! The TC Electronic PolyTune is my favourite — you can even tune all strings at once in the middle of a song without the audience noticing.

#7 Musician's Ear Plugs

Custom-moulded ear plugs are always best, but if you're on somewhat of a budget I recommend the Alpine MusicSafe ear plugs. They even have different filters you can swap in. I've tried out so many different ear plugs — these are by far my favourite. Protect your hearing; it's the one thing you can't replace.

#8 A Pedalboard Power Supply

When running a pedalboard setup, you've got to have a dedicated power system. The Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 is the gold standard. Don't waste your time with batteries or risk a dead power supply in the middle of a set — these are well worth the money.

#9 A Wireless Guitar System

If you're going to be playing some decent-size gigs, you've got to cut the cord! The Shure GLXD16 is under $500 and works great. There is nothing like the freedom you get when going wireless for the first time!

#10 Know When to Shut Up — No Noodling!

OK, this isn't technically an "item", but you've got to know when to shut up. This means NO NOODLING — not before songs, not during sound check, not in between songs. Don't do it. This can be so hard to resist, I know, but it must be done! Noodle all you want during the guitar solos, but that's it.

Thanks for reading! This list is in no particular order. I hope you found some value in it — please leave a comment below. Happy gigging and good luck!