Gig Bag Essentials

I’ve gotten a lot of questions and feedback about my Gunslinger Pedal board post. Most questions were along the lines of: What do you take with you to a gig?

Here is a rundown of my gig bag essentials. Basically, I take all of this wherever I go, whether it is IN or OUT of town.

My Gunslinger Pedal Board is housed in a Standard “Gig Skinz” Carry On type bag.

Note: you can get this bag from Guitar Center. Its not some “high-brow-leather-silk-suede-combo-you-can-only-buy-from-some-random-place-online-that-costs-$1000+ because-it-uber-boutique” type bag. I have this bag because it is functional. This bag can be carried on to a plane, stored in an overhead bin, it can sit in a belly of a tour bus, all without anything happening to it!

You’ll notice, the bag has two front pouches. I use these to store all my gig bag essentials.

The Small Pouch:

Many years ago, I learned from a great friend and mentor, that the key to doing business of any kind is to network authentically. That’s why I carry this brass case everywhere I have a show.

Inside the case are several of my church business cards. I give these to ANYONE who said I played well at a show, or showed any interest in me or my album whatsoever. It just gives them a way to remember me even if the gig had nothing to do with my album or the church.

Next, is a trusty screwdriver that has both a Phillips and Flathead on it. Keep in mind, this is not just any size screwdriver. This is specifically sized to unscrew anything on a guitar or pedal.

This one is a gift from my good friends at Larson Lighting and Sound. Good guys in the So. Cal. area.

A guitar tuning wench for a broken string

for the end of the guitar string. despite popular belief, it is unwise to leave a newly-threaded guitar string excess un-clipped; it probably will get caught in your lead singers hair mid-song.

Next, the post from a very small mic stand for mic’ing the amp (base and clip stored in the big pouch.

I have a very small tupperware box in the small pouch to house various things.

In the box, is a Ring Finger glass slide, a spare EALX-84 tube for the Blues Junior Amp, extra picks, and a few cough drops to ease the vocal chords when singing BGV.

The Big Pouch

The first thing in the big pouch is the base to the small mic stand.

mic stand base and post

My Guitar cable. This, obviously goes from my guitar to the Gunslinger pedal board

This cable goes from the pedal board to the amp.

Again, nothing special about either of these cables. they are each 20′.

Of course you need an XLR Cable for you Microphone. Sound Engineers can’t be trusted to bring what you need, even if its one of your fundamental needs of a cable from your mic to the soundboard. it is always better to have everything you need to get your sound to the mixing board.