The Beginner Gear Checklist
Guitar stores are full of things to buy. New players need surprisingly few of them. Here is the honest list, in order of importance.
Actually essential
| Item | Cost | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Tuner | $0 to $20 | A phone app works perfectly; the tuner in the Ultimate Guitar app is free. A $15 clip-on is nice on loud days. |
| Picks, assorted | $5 | Buy a variety pack from thin to about 0.88mm. You will lose them all. This is normal. |
| Guitar stand | $15 to $25 | The most underrated item in guitar. Visible guitars get played daily; cased guitars get played monthly. |
| Strap | $10 to $20 | Even seated players benefit; it keeps posture consistent. |
| Spare strings | $6 to $12 | One set in the drawer. Strings break at inconvenient times only. |
Essential for electric players
| Item | Cost | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Amp | $60 to $130 | A small practice amp with headphone out. Do not overspend here yet. |
| Cable | $10 to $20 | One decent cable outlasts three cheap ones. |
Genuinely useful, not urgent
- Capo, $10 to $25. Worth having by month two; it moves hard keys into easy shapes, and our capo calculator shows exactly how.
- String winder with cutter, $10. Turns restringing from a chore into eight minutes.
- Gig bag, $25 to $50, when the guitar starts leaving the house.
- Metronome, free. Use ours; buying a hardware metronome in 2026 is a style choice.
Skip for now
- Pedals. Every beginner wants one. No beginner needs one. Month six at the earliest.
- A backup guitar. The industry calls this "guitar acquisition syndrome" and it is incurable once contracted. Delay onset.
- Premium cables, boutique picks, brass hardware upgrades. Audible to someone, someday, not now.
- A hard case, unless flying. Gig bags are fine for cars and closets.
Total damage for an acoustic starter: about $50 beyond the guitar. Electric: about $150 with a practice amp. Everything else can be earned as a reward for still playing in three months, which, with a set-up guitar and songs you love, you will be. If you are still choosing the instrument itself, start with the first guitar buying guide and a visit to a local shop.
App we recommend
Learn songs, not just exercises
The fastest way to stick with guitar is playing real songs early. Ultimate Guitar has chords and tabs for over a million of them, plus a built-in tuner and chord library.
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