Now that I’ve got the cheesy analogies out of the way – I usually change my strings right a day before a gig. I’m a hard strummer and I’ve grown attached to the warm tone delivered from the D’Addario Acoustic Strings Set, Phosphor Bronze, Bluegrass. They use genuine phosphor bronze alloy that keeps its flexibility an maintains its brilliance for many hours of hard play. There is nothing worse than popping a string in the middle of a set. After experiencing that once I concluded that the expense and time in restringing is a hell-of-a lot better.

Besides that, I can definitely tell when they are loosing their brightness, starting to dull up a bit. So its nice to put on new strings anyway for a new audience anyway.

Tip – Be sure to play the strings for at least an hour before going in front of an audience with strings that will easily go out of tune.

Ideally, I would like to walk in to a gig with everything I need in one trip. Set up in less than 15-minutes so I can get my mind on the performance. There is one product I’ve been checking out that seems to be perfect for solo shows, the Bose L1 Compact system.

According to the manufacture:

The new L1 Compact system combines conventional PA and monitors into one sleek unit. Positioned behind or to the side of a performer, DJ or presenter, it delivers wide, even sound coverage throughout the stage area and audience—even off to the extreme sides. It’s our smallest, lightest, easiest-to-set-up L1 system, weighing just 29 pounds.

Big sound. Small package.

Now you can have quality Bose sound for almost any gig, event or occasion. The L1 Compact system is small enough to fit in your trunk or back seat, and its innovative modular design makes setup easy and fast. You can arrange it in either a collapsed configuration for smaller spaces or a taller, extended configuration for larger ones. No extra gear to haul. No heavy speakers to hoist onto stands. No speaker cables.

Sounds like the perfect system.  The system is priced five pennies shy of a grand.