Though it would seem a no-brainer to have tools with you wherever you bring your guitar, you would be surprised how many times I have needed to make a quick repair or string change, only to find that I didn’t have the tool I needed to get the job done properly. I have chipped paint off of a headstock for using scissors to cut excess string. I even managed to lose an input jack inside the body of my guitar during a recording session because I had to hand-tighten the nut. Good times…

Especially for new guitarists, I thought it would be a good idea to list five essential tools we, as guitarists, need to have at our disposal.

Allen wrenches — in general I think you can get by with only one 1.5mm Allen wrench for tightening bridge saddles, but nowadays (at least here in the U.S.) they don’t really sell individual wrenches anymore; most of the time they are sold as a set. Regardless of what you buy, I suggest you get a set of metric wrenches.

You could also have a large Allen wrench on hand to do truss rod adjustments, but if you don’t know what you’re doing I strongly recommend you let a professional do this for you.

Wire Cutters — You’re going to have to change strings at some point, especially if you break one on a gig. A simple set of small wire cutters is more and adequate to get the job done.

Hex wrench — As you read with my recording session debacle, there are times when things need to be tightened. The three parts of a guitar that will need a hex wrench are the input jack, volume and tone pots, and tuning keys. Depending on the guitar you might be able to get away with one hex wrench to handle all three nuts.

Pliers — Not used quite as much as the others, a set of small pliers is always good to have for pulling acoustic string pins, holding a jack that needs tightening, etc.

Screwdrivers – You’re really going to need three: a medium-sized Phillips head, a small-sized Phillips head, and a medium-sized Regular head. Adjusting bridge saddles, tightening strap pegs, screwing in loose tuners, tightening a loose volume knob… you would be surprised at how helpful a screwdriver is for quick fixes.

You should not have to spend more than $25 for all of these tools, and they can all easily fit in one of the pockets of your gig bag or case. If any of you can think of other essential tools, please comment and let us know!