Guitar accessories are essential to playing the guitar and this list will give you 10 of the must have ones.
I have 10 years of acoustic guitar experience and have pretty much tried every accessory for the acoustic guitar. I have purchased an abundance of different accessories and naturally some have worked better than others.
With this in mind, I thought I would create a list giving the best acoustic guitar accessories to help fellow guitar players like yourself.
*Note* links in this review are affiliate links to amazon, which means I get a small commission if you choose to purchase any of the items.
If you decide you want to purchase any of the items listed, most (if not all) of these items should be Amazon Prime eligible which means you could get the item sent to you with free 2-day delivery. Amazon offers a free 30-day Amazon Prime trial if you want to try it out. You can cancel at any time!
Now, into the review!
1. CAPO
A guitar capo is an essential accessory for the acoustic guitar.
It is especially important for the beginner guitar player who may only know a few chords such as C, Am, Em and G. A capo allows a guitarist to play these (open) chords up and down the neck whilst playing in different keys.
This means you can play thousands of chords and songs, and not limited to those in standard tuning and open position.
Granted, you could use barre chords, but this may not be an option for the beginner guitar player as they may not have learnt how to play them.
So which capo do I recommend?
There are many different styles of capo and they all essentially do the same job.
However, there are some features that make a good capo.
In my experience a capo should be easy to take on and off the guitar, have a strong grip, be small enough as not to get in the way of your fretting hand, have a good build quality and lastly, be good value for money.
With this in mind, the best capo which meets these qualities, in my opinion, is the Schubb GC-30 acoustic guitar capo (See below).
WHAT I USE & RECOMMEND:
Shubb Deluxe Series GC-30 (S1) Acoustic Guitar Capo – Stainless Steel
2. GUITAR TUNER
Tuning your guitar by ear can take time to master. When starting out with guitar the more time you can spend doing the important things like practising chords and playing songs the better.
The simple solution is to grab yourself a guitar tuner!
There are a few different types of guitar tuners out there, from an old school pitch pipe, to a more modern clip on tuner.
A clip on tuner is the most effective and time saving way to tune your guitar I have found.
A clip on tuner can have a permanent home on your head stock as they are small, or alternatively it can be thrown on at a moments notice when you need to tune your guitar. When you play a string, the display on the front of the tuner will show the note and also how flat or sharp you are of a particular note.
WHAT I USE & RECOMMEND:
Korg PITCHCLIP Low-Profile Clip-On Tuner
Snark SN5X Clip-On Tuner for Guitar, Bass & Violin
3. PICKS
A guitar pick is an essential accessory for the acoustic guitar and can really help advance your playing if your a beginner. You may be using a pick currently, but it may be the wrong pick for you as different thicknesses of picks can help with your particular style and playing technique.
For example, If you plan on doing a lot of strumming a more flexible, thinner pick will be what you want (.38mm, .46mm). If you plan on doing some individual string picking (such as soloing) a more firm, thicker pick is recommended (0…)
If your playing style includes both strumming and picking a pick size in between may be want you want, either a (.60mm which is what I use or .72mm). This will allow the flexibility to strum as well as the firmness to pick out individual strings.
With this being said, some guitarists are more than adept at using a thicker pick for strumming and a thinner pick for soloing. A good option is to purchase a pack which includes a multitude of different thicknesses so you can try out each and decide which is right for you.
In terms of brands,
Throughout the years I have tried many different ones, but I always kept coming back to Dunlop. The dunlop picks have a nice amount of grip on either side without feeling to grippey and are great quality to.
Unfortunately it wont prevent you ‘misplacing’ them all the time.
WHAT I USE & RECOMMEND:
Dunlop 44P.60 Nylon Standard, Light Gray, .60mm, 12/Player’s Pack
https://amzn.to/2LroPkX
4. STRINGS
After getting your hands on a guitar for the first time, the strings may be the last thing on your mind. However, they are an integral part of the guitar.
For a beginner guitarist the strings can help when learning. Thicker strings can help reduce the pain in your fingers – as they wont dig in as much as thinner strings. This will potentially increase the amount of time you are able to practice and ultimately make you a better guitarist, quicker.
In the long run, strings can influence the tone you get with your guitar, with certain strings tailoring to different playing styles.
Like many accessories on this list strings can sometimes come down to personal preference. I used to use thick strings as I tuned my guitar down. The thicker strings where more tailored to the lower tuning’s. Recently I have used slightly thinner strings as I have remained in standard tuning and I wanted the brighter sound they provide.
WHAT I USE & RECOMMEND:
5. GUITAR STAND
A guitar stand in my opinion is a must!
You may well have a guitar case or bag that you put your guitar in currently or just balance it against a wall or table. The later is highly inadvisable, I have seen so many guitars fall and crack or break.
You may think a case or a bag will do the trick, but this is just another obstacle in the way of your guitar and you may be tempted to store it under a bed or again against a wall when putting it away.
To prevent this, I recommend purchasing a guitar stand. Guitar stands are cheap and If you are a beginner it may even encourage you to pick it up more (as it is staring you in the face).
A guitar stand will store your guitar safely and force you to create a space dedicated to your guitar.
There are hundreds of guitar stands which look and function the same but I highly recommend getting one with a clip at the top of the stand, adding another security measure for your guitar.
WHAT I USE & RECOMMEND:
On Stage XCG4 Black Tripod Guitar Stand
6. GUITAR STRAP
A guitar strap is a useful accessory for the acoustic guitar if you ever want to play standing up.
Guitar straps come in a multitude of colours and designs but they all essentially do the same thing.
If your looking for a good black guitar strap the Ernie Ball Polypro Guitar Strap will do the job. If you are looking for a more colourful and higher quality strap then I recommend the brand levy’s.
They make high quality straps and have an abundance of designs which look fantastic.
They are a little more expensive but if you are planning on playing live and standing up then investing in a good quality guitar strap is a must.
Levy’s also do high quality leather straps which many touring musicians use as they tend to be more durable and stronger.
WHAT I USE:
Levy’s M8HTV-XL-16 2″ Hootenanny Jacquard Weave Guitar Strap – Blue/Red/Green
Ernie Ball Polypro Guitar Strap
7. GUITAR BAG/ CASE
Keeping with live performance, a guitar bag is extremely useful for carrying around your guitar safely and easily to a show or to jam with friends.
A guitar can easily get knocked when being transported or in the venue itself. A good guitar bag should have padding on the inside to keep your guitar snug. It should also have a harder shell on the outside protecting against knocks and bumps. Some pockets on the outside/inside also come in handy to keep capo’s, spare strings, tuner and other accessories.
If you are doing more intense touring or travelling I highly suggest investing in a hard case, over a bag, as a hard case will give your guitar the greatest protection possible.
WHAT I USE & RECOMMEND:
ChromaCast CC-APB-BAG Acoustic Guitar Padded Gig Bag
Hard Case:
8. GUITAR STRING WINDER & STRING CUTTER
Many beginner guitar players put off changing their strings for a while (me included!).
At some point however, you will have to change the strings yourself or ask someone else to do it for you at your local guitar shop. For this service you will generally have to pay, so to save a bit of money it is good to know how to do it yourself.
Changing strings is relatively easy if you have the right equipment, but fairly monotonous if you don’t.
The trickiest parts are firstly, taking the pins out of the bridge, which seems impossible by hand.
Secondly, turning the tuning pegs is very monotonous and always seems to take an age. A simple string-winder (see below) will solve both these issues and also, prevent scratching the bridge when taking the pins out.
Bottom line, it will save you a lot of time and effort.
Another frustrating part of re stringing your guitar is the left over new strings that aren’t being used. They hang off your head stock ready to take someones eye out, and don’t look that great either.
The solution to this is to get a simple string cutter (see below) which will easily cut the strings down to size.
WHAT I USE:
Dunlop 100SI Dunlop Stringwinder, Black
CruzTools String Cutter
If you want an all in one style kit which has both a stringwinder, a string cutter and many more accessories for guitar maintenance I highly recommend the Ernie Ball Musician’s Tool Kit
9. ACOUSTIC GUITAR PICKUP (Redo)
At some stage you may want to start playing on stage through an amplifier. If your guitar doesn’t have an in built pick up system you wont be able to play – unless they stick a microphone in front of your guitar which is a bit of a hassle. The cheapest way to solve this (and to not buy a new electro-acoustic guitar) is to buy an acoustic guitar pickup. These pickups can be plugged into an amp or a house pa system via a cable which runs off the pickup.
The easiest style of pickup to use is a sound hole pickup which can be slotted into your sound hole, underneath the strings. Some soundhole pickups require the strings to be taken off before you can attach the pickup, however some can be attached with the strings on.
Such a pickup is the Fishman Rare Earth Humbucking Soundhole Pickup. This pickup is a humbucker (which reduces unwanted hum), has a volume control on the pickup and like I said before can be attached to the soundhole even with the strings on. It sound extremely natural and best of all is great value for money.
In addition to live performance on stage, pickups can also be used for recording purposes in the studio. If you a singer-songwriter and want to capture a guitar and vocal performance this is the easiest way to do it.
WHAT I USE & RECOMMEND:
Fishman Rare Earth Humbucking Soundhole Pickup
10. GUITAR CABLES (DO)
Guitar cables are not the most glamorous of guitar accessories but perhaps they can be the most important accessory for an electric guitarist who use amps.
Investing in a slightly more expensive cable is in my opinion is worthwhile.
WHAT I USE:
