What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour?

[Wayniac]

Re: What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour

Truthfully bro - not sure how big the tour is.. but many smaller venues do not have shower facilities, nor are you guaranteed a room every night (if you are even on a bus).
For personal comfort: A GODSEND is baby wipes.. I have seen guys go "Euro style" and last 2-3days on those - and it isn't too bad to be around them. You can get them unscented as well. Don't forget pepto, Airbourne, etc. Plus deoderant,cheap flip flops (sharing shower stalls), MUST have Gold bond medicated powder or athletes foot spray.
As far as gear - I have a small tech bag I bring, as well as full bag. If you have no tech: Trem tools, needlenose, extra input jack(s) and/or tuning keys, screws for straplocks, solder iron, flashlight, leatherman or other multifunction tool, fuses for your amps, set of tubes. In 2 weeks, I'd be surprised if you needed trem parts, etc
Also - extension cords, extra cables, 9 volts, guitar stand(s)... that's it off the top of my head
Good luck on the gigs !

[Annah]

Re: What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour

Just make sure you take lots of extra strings and picks, because even if you are only on a THREE HOUR TOUR you might end up stranded on a desert island for god knows how long.

[Wayniac]

Re: What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour

Oh - after reading the other posts again... you can usually get a few bottles of water and/or beer from the venue (depending on your rider - and if it is an indie tour, you probably don't have a rider or tour manager, right) - SAVE some water for the ride....
If they give you a case and you just drink 10 - take the other 14 with you... you'll use them - trust me.

[sully]

Re: What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour

on little thing that i used to do for weekend gigs was to buy a pack of new and cushy tube socks; i tell ya, there's nothin like a new pair of cushy socks, and when you're hung over, or tired, etc, it's nice to get that little bit of "ahhhhh, cushy socks" for a couple of minutes before you move on with your day. i know, it's retarded, but when you don't have laundry abilities and wore the stuff i wore, it was nice to have.

oh yeah, +1 on the baby wipes.

[GodOfRhythm]

Re: What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour

Euro Style? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Showering every 2 or 3 days is normal and is healthy.

Showering every day or multiple times a day (unless it's an emergency, e.g. having fallen into some fishguts or something) is unhealthy and not good for you.

This concludes today's lecture on personal hygiëne! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Just some bottles of water and a washcloth and some soap helps a lot!

[Rupe]

Re: What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour

[ QUOTE ]
Euro Style?

Showering every 2 or 3 days is normal and is healthy.

Showering every day or multiple times a day (unless it's an emergency, e.g. having fallen into some fishguts or something) is unhealthy and not good for you.


[/ QUOTE ]

WTF??? How is showering unhealthy? Thank god I don't don't live in the land of stink [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/poke.gif[/img]

[GodOfRhythm]

Re: What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour

You are effectively destroying (both on immediate, short term and, far worse, long term) your body's natural defenses and immunity, starting with the top layer of skin: specialized bacteriae, acids, etc...


You bastards must really reak, because no one over here stinks after two days of not showering... [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[Rupe]

Re: What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour

My neihbors had an exchange student from the Netherlands when I was in highschool and he smelled like a dead fish.

I could never subject my wife to 2 days of nut sweat [img]/images/graemlins/sick.gif[/img]

[Wayniac]

Re: What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour

I didn't say "Euro style" was a bad thing... just stating that many of the European bands I have worked with do not take a full shower daily.
Plus, when some of my friends have been in europe, they cannot shower every day, so they call it going euro style ("When in Rome, do as the Romans do") [img]/images/graemlins/band.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/notworthy.gif[/img]
It's all good... no offense meant.

[FusionFarmer]

Re: What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour

Just ask someone who lives near a waste treatment plant or other nasty smelling facility "How can you stand that smell?" the usual response is "What smell?"

[charvelguy]

Re: What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour

Don't forget a small fan... anything like a 8-10" can be had at Menards for like 10.00-15.00 bucks. If you don't use it on you, use it on your amps at night. Credit card with a emergency slush fund amount of like 200-300.00 in case you run into trouble. A small penlight with extra batteries if you don't already have one in your setup, or a rackmount with a light. Pens, pencils, legalpaper, a fine or med sharpie (so you can read it from 6 feet away) and a portable recording device would be advisable as well, they'll be indespensible. Make sure you have at least one extra speaker cable and guitar cable at the ready ( a soldering pencil with some solder wouldn't be a bad idea either)

I recall one time I had a cable go bad during a set, at the end of the set I was so pissed I that against my better judgement I took my guitar off and threw it down on the stage in disgust. (this was a long long time ago)
Not a bad idea as well to have a double of anything outside of what is used in a night in the chain that goes from your hand to your speakers. Will you blow a speaker? likely not, but you'll go thru plenty of picks, strings and the stuff that gets misplaced. An extra change of clothes at the ready in a backback. The one thing I hated about socks, is if the elastic was going out and they started creeping down my ankles when I was onstage it drove me nuts. When you hit the stage, you want to be comfy and relaxed, ready to perform. Don't forget the personal roll of duct tape as well, I know I could not always count on the road crew or the bandleader to have it around when I needed it.

Lasty, something to read, be it a mag or a book. A portable media player with some tunes, earbuds/headphones & a pillow...road trips are boring sometimes.

Just think you're going on vacation with your band-pack reasonably and light, but be prepared.

[Wayniac]

Re: What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour

Also - hopefully you have one resourceful guy in the band - a MacGuyver type.
For instance... straplcok screw pulls out of the guitar body - you have no screws. What do you do?
Ans: Take your leatherman (or Swiss army knife) shred a few small slivers of wood from a broken drum stick. Put them in the stripped hole (add wood glue if you have it) - then screw the original back in. Use matchsticks if that is all you can find.
We did this for Angra during Progpower a few years ago.. when they played this year - the repair was STILL good.

[axeman81]

Re: What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour

a spare guitar jack? wtf? [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img] aren't we playing Jackson/Charvels here [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
I can't see that one being nothing a solder iron won't fix?
I'd have to say you guys seem to have this stuff pretty well covered [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

[stevieb91]

Re: What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour

I might also suggest some of that no rinse hand sanitizer..... you never know...

[Wayniac]

Re: What should a guitarist bring on a 2 week tour

Rune -
I have had some WEIRD requests thrown at me ... even at Progpower, they are flying in for one show - you'd think that all their gear was working. Well - it may have been before they flew over... never know what can happen when transporting instruments, and depending on the clubs, you can never tell if your guitar will have a bad experience with a drunken fan getting onstage ...

Oh - spare nuts/washers for pedals and input jacks... first thing I had to fix on one of the guitars on the Caffery tour (can't say which of the 3 bands though) ! [img]/images/graemlins/nono.gif[/img]