The Business Of Being in A Band - Part 2 - Basic Investments  

So you got your band and you got your common goals

You got the basic talents and the hunger to go out and perform (or practice)

So now we'll talk about basic investments

Your instrument

Most beginners fall into the worst trap of not investing in quality instruments, they go for price instead of quality which usually leads to a horrible sounding instrument.

I made this mistake a couple of times.

If you want cheap instruments there are always pawn shops or cheap instrument places to go and buy em. You can also go online and buy it second hand from a previous owner.

Go out of your way to save enough money for a good guitar or intrument

Since I'm a guitarist I'm gonna be more prone to talking about guitars a lot

If you want a cheap guitar go for Ibanez guitars they're cheap and sound really good

I have an Ibanez GAX which sounds extremely well even when it's played alongside a Fender (which I also have, a Squier) or a Les Paul (I got the Ace Frehley model). SO you see I invested quite a lot in my instruments.

A nice sounding instrument will also make your audience appreciate you more. A horrible sounding one will just send them packing.

Next, a good amplifier. If it's just for practice you can go for the basic 10 Watts or 20 Watts amplifier since you won't be cranking it out too loud anyway. Especially if you've got neighbors. So you might also wanna invest in headphones to really keep the sound down and only to yourself.

Third, stomp boxes. As a guitarist, there are 3 essential gadgets. First would be an overdrive/distortion. I prefer the overdrive since it's more warm to the ears and not as noisy as a distortion pedal (this only applies if you're more into blues, distortion's the way to go for heavy metal! I have both too hehehe). Next would be a chorus pedal and last would be a delay unit. These are just suggestions though and you are free to go look at other stompboxes and choose which one to get. The best stompboxes are those from Zoom, Digitech and Ibanez.

Cables, what use is it to hav all these toys and not be able to connect them eh? Invest in Cables from Planet wave or Surelock. They last a long time even if you abuse them a lot. But of course I wouldn't advise you to do so. Always coil them after you use them.

Metronome, investing in a metronome will make your rhythm much more precise. Music is all about rhythm, melody and tone.

Tuner - A very important gadget for your gig bag. It can be digital or wind blown. or a tuning fork wll also do. Can't play musi if you're not in tune.

So for guitarists... there you go. This is what you need.

1. Basic instrument - Guitar/Bass/Drums
2. Amplifier
3. Stompbox
4. Cables
5. Metronome
6. Tuner

Start saving.

That's all for today

Til next time