ShortScale.org

list your brands and why you went for that particular item.
even if it's your lucky tiki god pic that gilly bibbons gave you at your first tt zop gig

I'm a bit confused, Rob. "five things you don't gig/play without" or "five things in your gear/accessories you always keep to hand. this can be picks/strings/capo etc or your pedals/amp/cab etc. "? The first could have been quite interesting, as per the "lucky pick" example. Once you let in pedals, amps & cabs it becomes more of a gear list.

Obviously, I don't gig without
1. Amp - Marshall JTM60 - why? very portable, good sound, 2 channels, cheap (got it for a donation).
2. Tuner - Boss TU-2 - why? good visibility, buffered, acts as kill switch
3. Dirt/boost - Si Fuzz-face clone - why? Dirt/boost, particularly useful with a standard single-coil pickup.
4. Picks - little Jazz IIIs - why? Just suit me, I guess.
5. Rucksack containing mains leads, signal leads, Hercules folding guitar stand, Marshall footswitch, power adapters, guitar strap, spare strings.... why? bleedin' obvious.

edited. going for the first one.

OK... leaving out the obvious stuff, then...
1. Picks - small Jazz IIIs, I like small picks and used to use stubbies, then tiny black Gibsons. Couldn't find either of those if you dropped them. Jazz IIIs are just slightly yielding and bright enough to find when you drop them.
2. Tuner's essential, as above, the TU2 also buffers the input into the fuzz-face clone
3. As it gets warmer, talcum powder becomes useful just to very lightly dust my sticky hands. Currently using some old Boots stuff we stopped using at home.
4. As above, rucksack of leads including extension lead & 4-way plug strip. It's surprising how many pubs only turn out to hav a double mains socket the far side of the area you're supposed to be playing.
5. Spare packs of Rotosound pinks and yellows (.009 and .010)

And of course, a lucky teddy
and to enhance my listening pleasure, some dynamic acoustic panelling


OK I lied about those.

Edit: pubs!

Tuner
It still amazes me how many people show up without a tuner.
I use the Fender tuner pedal cause it was cheap and it's a pedal. I set it to mute, so i can tune while promoting the band/venue between songs.

Setlist
I have honestly forgotten more songs than I know, this helps me remember what songs this particular band is familiar with.

Extra power strip & extension cord
Most venues don't understand that musicians need electricity near the stage.

Extra amp/amp sim
My Bugera has only had one preamp tube failure that I saw coming, but I neglected to bring a backup. I ended up playing through my hartke bass di with amp emulation. it was a hard gig, but worked. In this case a POD would have been a small nice alternative to carrying an extra amp around

Your own mics
If your using a sound guy, bring all the mics you need anyway. You never know if the dude will do something dumb like give you a beta52 for vocals 'cause it looks cool'. Get used to what mic you like where and go ahead and lightly suggest your mics if you notice his selection is crap or he doesn't wrap cables right.

NickS wrote:OK... leaving out the obvious stuff, then...
1. Picks - small Jazz IIIs, I like small picks and used to use stubbies, then tiny black Gibsons. Couldn't find either of those if you dropped them. Jazz IIIs are just slightly yielding and bright enough to find when you drop them.
2. Tuner's essential, as above, the TU2 also buffers the input into the fuzz-face clone

They're exactly my first two. I also tried the Ultex Jazz IIIs but they sound dull and turn invisible when you drop them on any surface from a brightly coloured carpet to a table one foot from your face. The red ones are great.

Green tortex pics
TC Electronics Harmony G (Not only does it have solid effects, do harmonies or voice doubles, but it is also a guitar tuner)
set list and master list of covers.
TIP JAR
my Audix om5 mic


Everything else depends on the gig...acousitc/electric/PA/NoPA/whatever..

Back in the day when I actually did gigs, the main ingredient that helped me the most was being very, very pissed off. Somehow I play better and more focused when I'm in a shitty mood. Plus the catharsis I get from playing takes the anger away when I'm done.

One time I had to make my drummer beat me with his sticks 'cos I was way too mellow. Helped. No hippie shit when I'm on the stage.

Tuner - I use a TU-2 for the same reasons above, but it's always on my pedal board

Picks - I don't use picks with my bass, but I always have dunlop little stubbys on hand for emergencies. If I played guitar in a band I'd be using dunlop nylon 1mm picks 'cause they don't disintegrate in my hands.

Mic - I don't have a good one, but I always have an extra mic in my bag.

Extra strap/Extra inst cable

Setlist and a pen for notes/changes

you guys all forgot sluts.

if you don't got sluts at your show whats the point ?

As little as possible. I'm not getting paid so i'll get by with what i can.

1/ Guitar
Depends what band and i've swapped about a lot over the last five years. Jags, Strats, Toronado, Mustang: Because they look good and have their own tonal identity. Yamaha SG: because it sounds better than anything else i own, BC Rich Mock: because it copes well with drop tuning.

2/ Amp
I used a Marshall combo for a long time because it was loud and portable with good tonez, Crate Power Block occasionally, 70's Laney head and 4x12 cab for the drop tuning stuff. Although i resent this; i lift shit about all week at work and dont want it in my social time.

3/ Pedals
I've used mostly four on and off in the last five years; Ibanez Tubescreamer, Big Muff, DS-2 and more recently Fulltone Distortion Pro. They work well for me and i always end up going back to the first two especially. There's usually a Delay kicking around as well.

4/ Picks
Dunlop green for over ten years.

5/ Leads
Whatever. I'm a noisy player so i dont really care.

6/ Bits
I sometimes take spare strings, spare guitar, tuner and stuff but usually dont bother. I can remember breaking a string live perhaps three times in the space of 20 years and i usually tune up with the bass player/other guitarist as i've found different brand tuners can conflict with each other. Being in tune with each other is more important than being in tune with a tuner.

Leads
Mics (my own guitar and vocal mic)
amp fuse
Pre amp and power tube
Strings/winder/guitar tool
Picks

Amp fuses are a big thing for me. Its a simple fix andtheres no other way around it

- Pen & Paper/Set list
- Guitar - being a lefty can pretty much ensure that even if completely lazy there wouldn't be a guitar at a gig you could borrow.
- Pack of strings
- Picks - Dunlop Gels (mostly M-L, but could be H depending on the band)
- Old pair of navy converse hi-tops...just habit but imagine that I have played over 90% of gigs in the last 15 years in these or my previous pair.

Extra strings with extra As (I'm super hard on those for some reason...)
Fresh, sharp picks
Duct tape for making sure I don't yank my jank out.
Wire cutters (all my guitars have vintage slotted machine heads)
A drum key because house/other band's sets aren't always tuned nicely and nobody ever has a godamn drum key.

My tuner never leaves my pedalboard, so I'm counting that as part of the obvious stuff.

1. Fender solid body electric guitar
(Usually a telecaster, Jaguar a close second)

2. Volume Pedal

3. Eau Claire Thunder based fuzz
(ECT, Hair of the Dog, Baby Thundaa, Dogs) Also sub'd in a Blackout Musket for a recent practice as all my thunder based fuzzes were out of comission

4. Delay
(depends on the situation. Usually I have an analog and a fancy digital tap-tempo capable on the board.)

5. Appropriate amplification

maes pils. or cristal.


if it's only jupiler or stella i'm already in a bad mood before i start. it's been a while since i've played an actual gig though, even longer in a band setting, last one was with MCS (which is just me alone, or with a random friend to help out with beats or random noise), last one with a rock band i think was..2years ago ??? which makes me feel old and boring.
but as for gear, i don't know.. i always use the same plectrums though (dunlop glow in the dark 1.14mm nylons)

1. girls
2. beer
3. fender
4. boost
5. amp

ac88 wrote:1. girls
2. beer
3. fender
4. boost
5. amp

that about sums it up i think

1. Pitch pipes.
2. Capo.
3. Thumb-pick.
4. Acoustic guitar.
5. Slippers.

Only joking, I play real music.

ekwatts wrote:1. Pitch pipes.
2. Capo.
3. Thumb-pick.
4. Acoustic guitar.
5. Slippers.

Only joking, I play real music.

Hey, I resemble that remark...

Well, at least the acoustic and the capo