my first guitar was a crown classical my dad bought me for my 13th birthday 13 years ago (this may) from a pawn shop for $65, since then i have owned every thing from ibanez jackson fender gibson epiphone washburn and coral (loook it up wish i could get it copied).
my kit is kinda of complex.
first is my 'guitar bag' is just a sacthel type bag a got from kmart for $10 bucks or so but i can keep most of my lesson/tab books and my most used gear in.
then i have a screw driver its a husky i think i got from home depot it has a red cap on it with three different sized bits under it ( 4 bits total) both phillips and flat head. the bits are the perfect size for just about ever screw on a guitar execpt the neck screws.
i also got a great pair of wire cutters from home depot which you really need for changing strings, i also have a good multitool ducked taped to my bag which is invaluble in an emergence. for those many string changes i use a planet waves string winder, i play the blues so i bend a lot and through trial and error i find that the more string i can get around the post the less is goes out of tune.
for strings if your new to playing i say whenever you got $15 $20 bucks you can spend try a new gauge/maker and find the best for you. i have an old metal luch box full of different strings for my guitars. for my fender i use ernie ball 10s my epi lp i use ernie ball 11 for my other lp i use dradario (spelled it wrong) light top heavy bottom for my acoustics i use either phorspher bronze or martin lights. and so on. some strings work better with some guitars than others. i always carry a spare set for what ever guitar im using or carring around that day. when you buy strings dont buy one set unless your just want to try them out, buy atleast 2 sets so you have a back up i think right now i have 8 packs of erine ball 11s cause i havent been using my epi lp.
for polish i use ghs guitar gloss and that stuff is good as gold, but you will need a good cloth or two to use it for that i got some microfibre car polishing cloths from kmart and even with out polish they clean great just dont use oil with them. for those with unfinished rosewood/ebony fingerboards some lemon oil is the best just be very careful to not over oil or you can wreck you neck.
this sounds funny but i also use a fingernail brush i got at autozone to clean the fingerboard when i change strings. this thhings gets all the gunk off even right by the frets but again be careful cause it can raise the wood fibers up if you not careful.
i own two korg tuners i keep one with me all the time in my bag with a 1 foot cord, the other i keep in a safe place incase the other breaks, this is something i learned the hard way, i used to only have one tuner and when it broke i couldnt get a new one for a few days so everything was out tune. i also keep a korg metronome in my bag because you never know when youll need one and i have used it more than a few times when my teachers met broke ( he didnt buy korg :rolleyes: )
a recorder is something you should always carry. if you have an ipod touch v2 or iphone there is an app you can get that works great but if not an old style mini tape recorder is still a good option.
finally i always carry a 10 foot cord in my bag. normaly if you go to lessons/to jam some where they will have cords but knowing you have a cord that you know works saves a lot of time if you get that static sound when you jack in.
this is something that isnt really important but i carry them out of habit regardless, a pen a pencil and a notepad. i got one of those zippered half sized ones from office depot and have gone through three or four books since i started carrying it. i use it for writing notes , songs or even appointments, you know stuff you normally forget 5 minutes later.
with most of this stuff always loaded in a bag smaller than a back pack i can grab and go in just a few minutes with out have to worry if i have everything i need, and yes a lot of times most of this stuff doesnt get used but if i need it its there.
thats the most important parts of my kit how about yours why not keep this going and help out some of the new guys who might be looking for some of this stuff or even just ideas on what they need or dont need.
They say the END is near, but I'm Tired of waiting.
