...
The gigging world can be cruel and unforgiving, so most savvy guitarists carry a screwdriver, wire cutters, and perhaps a wrench or two in their kit bags.
The gigging world can be cruel and unforgiving, so most savvy guitarists carry a screwdriver, wire cutters, and perhaps a wrench or two in their kit bags. But in decades of playing shows, the equipment fail that tends to bedevil me the most is a guitar’s output jack loosening up. I’m never prepared for it—shame on me—and I always end up risking the fleshy tips of my fingers by tightening the jack by hand. So I’d buy an Octopus ($12.99 street) simply for its handy jack-tightening hex wrench. Hooray! But I’m low-balling the Octopus’ capability here, as the screwdriver-sized device offers eight helpful tools: five hex wrenches (10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 1/2", 7/16"), two screwdriver heads on a reversible shaft (flat-head and Phillips #1), and a 1/2" narrow-profile hex wrench (for adjusting sunken pots and Telecaster cups). Basically, most everything you need to keep your control pots, tuning machines, pickups, jacks, and even some pedal and amp pots battened down and gig ready is available in one tool.
Manufactured from ballistic nylon (with no metal parts, except the screwdriver, to threaten your guitar’s finish), the Octopus is a resilient little bugger, as well. I tossed it off a stage onto a hardwood floor and it didn’t crack, dent, or otherwise suffer damage. In fact, the screwdriver remained seated. It loosened up a bit, but it stayed put. I kind of made a game of chucking the Octopus to and fro, and only once, after a skyward lob of 20 feet onto my pups’ concrete dog run, did the screwdriver jettison from its mooring. #neverleavingmygigbag.
KUDOS Multi-purpose. Compact. Tough as nails.
CONCERNS None.