Must-Have Guitar AccessoriesBuying Guide

Once you’ve got a guitar, and an amp if you’ve gone down the electric route, then you’re ready to go! However, there is a massive range of accessories available for guitarists that can help unlock different styles of playing, protect and refresh your instrument, renew your enthusiasm and generally, make life a little easier.

From tuners, to cases, to pedalboards and beyond, there are guitar accessories for players of all abilities, regardless of budget.

If you’re going to get just one accessory, it should be a tuner. Even if you’re blessed with perfect-pitch, a good guitar tuner will come in handy more than you might think. Clip-on tuners are great as they work off of the vibrations passing through the instrument. Simply attach it to your headstock and check the digital display.

Pedal tuners, on the other hand, are the way to go if you’re gearing up for live performance or rehearsals—they can also act as a killswitch for your guitar signal, which can be very handy.

Regardless of whether you know three chords, or 33 chords, a capo is a must-have accessory for any guitarist. It essentially moves where your nut, or zero-fret is. So in standard tuning, your strings are EADGBE. With a capo on second fret, they’ll ring out as F#BEAC#F#. You can play regular open-chords, and they’ll actually sound different with a capo on.

A capo is particularly useful if you’re a singer, or you’re accompanying a singer, as you can transpose the key of the song, without having to learn different chord shapes. You can also get some really interesting sounds by experimenting with open-string chords whilst using a capo—Johnny Marr is a great example of this.

Most guitar players tend to use a pick of some sort. Different shapes and sizes will all affect the tone somewhat, but more importantly it’s your point of contact between your picking hand and the guitar strings, so you should find one that you’re comfortable with. Getting the right pick can take some time, so it’s usually best to try a few different ones out and see what works for you.

If you’re transporting your guitar anywhere, whether that be to and from lessons, or to and from venues around the world, you’re going to need a guitar case. If you’re only travelling a short distance, infrequently, then a soft case, or gig bag will be fine—it will also work as a dust cover whilst you’re not using it.

A hard case is the better choice if you want more protection for when you’re on the go, or just to keep it safe at home. Some cases are designed for multiple guitar shapes, whereas others are model-specific and will fit your instrument more snugly. When choosing a guitar case, make sure you choose the right size.

Aside from the fact that strings are essential to make any noise at all on the guitar, choosing the right brand and gauge for you can make a difference to how comfortable you feel playing. The more you play, the more your strings will deaden—that is, they will begin to sound dull and lose top-end—so restringing your guitar fairly often is important if you want a bright and lively sound.

Choosing the right strings is often a matter of trial and error—try different brands and gauges to figure out what feels comfortable for you and which ones bring out the best of your ability. Generally speaking, you’ll get a little more tone and volume from thicker (higher gauge) strings, but your fingers will have to work a bit harder. The most popular gauges tend to be 9s and 10s for electric and 11s and 12s for acoustic.

It’s fairly obvious why you might want a guitar strap, but choosing the right one can make the difference between being able to make it through a long performance comfortably and having to tend to a sore back the following day. A thicker strap will mean that the weight of the instrument is distributed more evenly on your shoulder—ideal if you’ve got a heavy guitar like a Les Paul. A more padded strap will likely offer more comfort too. A strap can also be a statement, and there are many designs out there, so choose one that reflects your personality!

Cables are another essential guitar accessory, if you’re wanting to amplify your instrument. There aren’t too many factors to consider when buying a cable, but you’ll want to think about the length of it, and the quality. There’s a huge range in terms of pricing - really cheap cables, whilst doing the job, tend not to last as long and can give off quite a bit of unwanted background noise. Better quality cables are usually more expensive, but you’ll find that you don’t need to replace them as often, if at all, and they’re much quieter.

Slides create a totally unique sound; there’s no way of getting that sound without one. You wear a slide over your finger and you glide it over the string(s) to create a smooth, harmonically rich sound. They’ve been prominent in guitar music for the better part of a century, with players such as Elmore James, Keith Richards, Derek Trucks, Rory Gallagher, and loads more employing the use of one to get their signature sound.

They can be used on acoustic and electric guitars, in open, drop and standard tunings - it’s completely up to you. There are lots of different slides available. Size is one thing to consider - how long it is and the size of the finger it’s going on. There are also different materials available—glass (generally mellow sounding), brass/chrome (bright), and ceramic (somewhere between the two) being the three main ones.

Pedals are an incredible tool for guitarists. There’s a massive range of different ones out there—some enhance your sound, some keep your tuning in check, some let you create loops and overdub yourself, and much more. Whether you’re playing at home just for fun, or you’re playing on stages around the world, a pedalboard is the best way of keeping those handy little pedals neat, tidy, portable and protected.

Acoustic players might just want a tuner, a looper and maybe a reverb pedal, so they’ll only need a small board. Players who create ambient soundscapes, might need something a little bigger—whatever you need, there will be a pedalboard out there for you.

Keeping your pride and joy in tip-top condition will not only mean that it looks better, but it will perform better too. Restringing, cleaning and maintaining your guitar frequently will mean that you get more out of it in the long run, plus you’re less likely to have to send it off to a technician. There are all sorts of tools that can help you do this, from full service kits, to neat little pocket-sized devices.