ON BASS
STEVE COOK
The Best $20 Ever Spent
What is the best $20 you have ever spent? spend the couple extra dollars, and you’ll
Go ahead and think about it, I’ll wait. A leave the duct tape for, well, duct work.
few months back I talked about spending
money on your gear, and not going cheap
for pro gear and great tone. Now let’s slide
down to the other end of the economic
spectrum. I have put together a list, in no
particular order, of things you can buy for
under $20 that will come in handy, probably
save the day, and make you say, “That was
the best $20 I ever spent.” Grab Andrew
Jackson, and let’s go shopping.
I have put together
a list, in no particu-
lar order, of things
you can buy for
under $20 that will
come in handy, prob-
ably save the day,
and make you say,
“That was the best
$20 I ever spent.”
idea for a song, and lost the idea before
you got home? I have, and of course, I
thought they were all hits and would have
made me a fortune. So I went and bought
a pocket tape recorder. These are a little
more than $20 new, but any pawnshop has
them for about $20, and used is not a bad
way to go for these. I keep it with me all
the time, and any idea, whether a melody
or just a title, goes on tape. It’s also the
perfect tool for songwriting sessions, the
obligatory “note to self,” and for getting
creative while recording.
A Tuner I can’t tell you how priceless this
really is, especially since someone in the
band will forget theirs. You can get one for
way under twenty bucks almost anywhere
(even Target and Best Buy now), and they
are so small you can have one on your
keychain. For you iPhone users, there are
several apps for under $5.
Spares Rather than bullet these individually,
I’ll just put them all together, because you
really should have extras. If money is tight,
then don’t get top-of-the-line spares, but
enough to get you through the gig. You
should have a spare strap, cable, and set of
strings. The one time you don’t pack any of
these, you’ll need them. Thanks, Murphy,
and your cursed (and sagacious) laws.
A Guitar Stand Back to the stage now. This
really goes without saying. If you have a
guitar (or several) you are going to need
a place to rest them. I am not a fan of
“Catch the Slowly Falling Tele” as it slides
off the front edge of the amp because
someone thought the angle would hold.
Next thing you know, you are replacing a
tuning peg when a simple $12 stand would
have saved the day.
Batteries If you have an active bass, then
you’ll need a 9V. If you are running a tuning
pedal, well, you get the point. Make sure
you have back-up batteries for whatever
you need batteries for. Even if you changed
them before you left the house. Are you
going to let a $5 9V battery ruin your $1000
paying gig? I’m no economist, but my Magic
8-ball says no. Make the small investment
today, and get the return call later.
And now the coolest way to spend $20:
Craigslist! Today, right now, in your town,
there is someone cleaning out his music
room, and you can get just about anything
you need to round out your rig. I have seen
everything from gig bags to microphones
to anvil briefcases (great for cables!) for
under twenty dollars. Make a list of what
you need, and get to craigslist.com for your
next cool used-gear purchase.
So, there’s your economic help for the
months ahead. Hopefully, you’ll get to the
point where you have techs to worry about
all these things, but for the rest of us, keep
these items in mind when you’re out bargain hunting. It could be the best $20 you
ever spent.
Gaffers Tape OK, duct tape users, listen up.
There’s a new kid in town, and his name is
Gaffers Tape. It’s actually not new; it’s been
the choice of pros for years. It’s strong,
comes in many colors, and doesn’t leave a
sticky residue behind. You can secure cables
on the floor and there’s no mess when you
tear down. And it’s about $9 a roll. You may
have to dig a little deeper than your local
music store for this one, but I promise you,
A Flash Drive In this wonderful age of technology, you can select a flash drive in the
checkout lane of a grocery store. For those
of you that don’t know what it is, a flash
drive is a small, USB storage device that’s
about the size of a stick of gum. I use it
when I transfer files from my Mac to my PC,
and save a ton on burning discs. No more
making tapes of songs for the band to learn.
Throw them on a flash drive and get them to
everyone that way. The flash can hold lots of
songs, set lists, back issues of Premier Guitar,
etc, and can be had for about 8–15 bucks,
depending on the memory size.
A Pocket Tape Recorder I can’t leave out
my songwriting friends. How many times
have you been driving along and had an
Steve Cook
Steve has performed and recorded with a diverse range
of artists, from Edwin McCain to Randy Brecker to Course
of Nature. Steve is also an alumnus of Woodstock ‘ 99,
performing with his band King Konga. His current projects
include extensive touring and video production with Bucky
Covington (Lyric Street) and writing a popular weekly tour
journal on his website: shinybass.com.
