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9/9/2018

The tools of the trade.  The actual tools.

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Like a lot of guitar players, I have enough wood and steel to fill a closet.  So it can get pretty expensive to carry them in to a real live luthier every time one needs a setup or repair.  So I try to do a lot of the work myself.   Over the years I've accumulated a bag full of tools to use when working on a guitar.  However, I've never had anything gig bag sized that I could drop into a pocket and have that cover any setting up I want to do on the fly.

So lately I've been seeing some of the guitar multi tools, and figured I'd give them a test drive.  I noticed that there seem to be 4 main ones:  Gibson, Ibanez, CruzTools, and D'Addario.  They were all priced between $15 and $20.  The Gibson, the D'Addario, and the old CruzTools options all looked like they were made by the same company and were mostly the same.  I read somewhere that the Ibanez version was included with their premium guitars, so I figured that one may be specific to Ibanez gutiars (which I don't have any).  Looking at pics, whether it is or not, it also looks bigger and bulkier than the others.  The old CruzTools and the D'Addario tool neither had a 5/16" socket on it.   So I discounted those and didn't get them.  The new CruzTools version and the Gibson did.  So those were the two that I picked up to try out.  Here are my thoughts on them.
Gibson Multi ToolThe Gibson Multi Tool
I recently heard one of the YouTube personalities I follow mention that they have the Gibson version and think that it's the best guitar tool out there.  It's got the 5/16" socket, a slotted screwdriver, a #1 and #2 Phillips screwdriver, 7 allen/hex wrenches (which I suspect are a mix of standard and metric), and something described as a lever that is laser engraved with marks at 3/64" and 5/64" for measuring string height.  

CruzTools MultiToolThe CruzTools Multi Tool
The first "guitar tools" that I ever bought was a set by CruzTools, that I use all the time.  I noticed that the new version of the CruzTools option had the 5/16" socket, so I got it as well.  It has the same 2 Phillips screwdrivers, a slotted screwdriver (just a touch smaller than on the Gibson tool), 9 allen/hex wrenches (that are engraved with their size), and a standard/metric ruler for setting string height.  It also has the tools, particularly the sizes of the allen/hex wrenches on the side of the tool.

As far as using them, they work about the same.  They're both multitools that seem to do the trick.  Both have, pretty much, the same tools on them.  However, I think I prefer the one made by CruzTools for 2 reasons in particular.  First, it has the sizes of the allen/hex wrenches on the wrenches so you know which one you're grabbing (no guess work).  In case you forget, it's also written on the side of the tool, and the 4 standard sizes are grouped together on one side and the 5 metric on the other.  Second, it has the standard/metric ruler that actually shows more than 2 lines like on the GIbson.  The CruzTools tool is slightly larger than the one from Gibson.
CruzTools Guitar Tool
CruzTools Guitar Tool
Gibson Guitar Tool
The CruzTools multitool seems to me to be a little more user friendly (it's labeled).  It also has a real ruler on it instead of the just the two tick marks, so it's a little more versatile.  It will be the one that gets to ride in my gig bag.

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    Snarf is a wannabe musician who currently resides in the great state of Texas.  His wife is his favorite.  He believes chocolate milk made from milk that is anything less than whole milk is basically water and deserves to be dumped down the sink so nobody has to suffer through it.  He hates having to shop for clothes. But he has a thing for really cool bags, and, consequently, has more gig bags than guitars and a closet full of messenger bags and backpacks.  He still misses his dog who was taken by cancer 5 years ago.  Check out his Reverb shop and see if he has any gear he's trying to get rid of.  

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