Evenin' all,
Last saturday I had a last minute gig for which I had to improvise myself a pickholder (I'm a picker). I had nothing but my bassguitar, some ducttape and a youth spent watching the A-team and MacGyver. Anyhoo, I fashioned myself a nice double pickholder which worked surprisingly well (and got me, I am not ashamed to say, a little giddy with pride). So I was wondering, what are the little practical tricks 'n things you've all come up with? I imagine there have to be a lot them out there. Let's share, like your mother told you to. If you've got a little story about how your tip came about, by all means. Tell us. I'll go first.
Oh by the way, I have no idea if these things are all like common knowledge in bassistland. They weren't to me. If they are, I had no intention of insulting your intelligence. Please ignore.
1 - Pickholder out of ducttape
This one is of course only applicable if you're a picker (and aren't too paranoid about scratching your basses' finish), but here goes. You take yourself a piece of ducttape and fold it back lengthwise, so you're left with one totally smooth side, and one side that is half smooth and half sticky. Like a sort of post-it.
Thusly.
Stick it onto your axe. I put it on the inner side of the bottom horn, and another on on the outside of the bottom horn, but you can of course stick it wherever you like. Even where the sun don't shine.
Anyhoo, I've stuck it on my table for the next pic. Now, take two more pieces of ducttape and put them over the sides to keep your pick from falling out sideways, and you're done. Stick your picks in the pocket. Make sure it's tight, so the picks don't fall out during stage antics, daredevilry and/or tomfoolery.
Like so. 
This is where I have them on my bass. 2 - Achoring your cable
Yes. I am aware this next one may be a very
very bad idea due to risk of f*cking up your amp, but I thought I'd include it anyway.
Once at a gig I had this scorching basssolo, right after a tensionbuilding bridge. When the solo came around, I jumped from the monitor into the audience, ready to shine, only to hear *plnktbzzzzzzzzzzz*. Crapola. I'd pulled my cable out of my amp. Eversince that day, I anchor my cable at the ampside, the same way I anchor it on bassside. You know how you loop your cable through your strap to prevent your plug coming out of your bass when you step on the cable? I do the same ampside by looping my cable through the carryinghandle on the amp. As I said, this may be a really bad idea, depending on the cost or your rig, your jumpingaroundedness and your common sense, but hey. There it is.
3 - Rolling up your cable without them bunching together
I love this one. It's simple, easy, looks professional and preserves your cable: When you roll up your cable, give it a little twist forward with your left hand every time you make a new loop. This will keep your cables nice and tidy. You'll know when you're doing it right, 'cause the cables will be willing to go along with you. If you do it wrong you have to fight the cable so to speak. I'll try to get some pics online, that'll make things a lot clearer.
4 - Cheapass straplocks
I can't take credit for this one, I saw a few guitarists use this trick in bars. In the Netherlands we have a type of beerbottle which is closed with a sort of ceramic plug, held in place with a metal brace ("Grolsch beugelfles". Look it up). I don't know if you have these things in other countries, but you're bound to have something similar at least. Now, this ceramic plug is made watertight by a little orange rubber ring. This ring is a great straplock.
Take it off of the plug and simply stretch it over your strapbuttons (after your strap of course). It should settle quite tightly over your buttons and act as a sort of washer ring, preventing your strap from falling off. Be careful though, as not all orangy rubbery rings are created equal. Some bottles have really loose rings, others have really tight ones. Of course, you'll want to avoid the loose ones and take the tight ones home. Chuckle.
Here's one I made earlier. On my geetah.
Though I can't be held responsible for any damage to your bass, due to failure of said cheapass straplocks, I've never seen these fail or heard of them failing yet. Ever. In the history of man. Ever. So. Yeah.
That's it for now, now tell me yours. Aaaaaaaand go.
). I did have that dispenserthingy on a guitar of mine, but - besides the sticking-it-to-the-man argument - this selfmade monstrosity is actually a lot more practical. I found that when you lose your pick in the middle of a song, my ducttap pickholder is a lot easier to quickly grab a new pick out of than the dispenser. Though I guess this would also depend on the type of pick you're using of course.
