I am a guitarist. And when you are a guitarist, many of your friends believe that they need to give a guitar related gift on your birthday or holiday – and my friends have always bought me the wrong gift.
You see, buying a gift for a guitar lover, or any musician is a not an easy task. Buying a good music gift is not as easy as taking your friends out to his favorite restaurant. His likings are not quantitative. Many of my friends buy me plectrums that they think are ‘cool’ – with good intentions though. However, I have been using the same plectrum for the past year and giving me a plectrum is just useless.
Gift Ideas For Guitarists Under $10
The beauty of gifts is that price never really matters. If you have done your research right, then you can even get the perfect gift under $10. You don’t have to worry about the research though, as I have already compiled the best guitar themed gifts under $10.
Guitar Cufflinks:
I was amazed when I saw these cufflinks for the first time. And I thought to myself, why do I have a sudden urge to buy this? This is such a silly gift for a guitarist or anyone for that matter. that the person receiving it would love it. And I can defiantly see that person using cufflinks at a party.
Guitar Foot Rest:
Who doesn’t like footrests? When you are playing the guitar for long hours, your legs often get tired and numb due to lack of movement. This also effects that playability of the guitar as you are stressed. That is why these feet rest exists – to support long sessions with your musical instrument. That is why this is an awesome gift, as it is a gift that takes care of your friend. You can get this item from here.
Guitar Lighter:
Now this is another cool gift item. If someone pulled up a guitar shaped lighter at a party, I would be pretty amazed, and would want to buy one for myself! Even if your friend doesn’t smoke, I think it’s a very cool looking object to have. I mean, who doesn’t like a mini guitar shaped flame thrower? You can check this item from here.
6 Unique Guitar Gifts Under $15
Under the $15 price point, you get another array of novelty gifts – for music lovers. These gifts are usually bigger in size and have more usability in everyday life. Such as a guitar spatula, hanger, ice-trays . Stuff that the person can use in his everyday life.
Guitar Spatula:
Now, this is a gift you would defiantly want to give if your friend is also into cooking. This isn’t just your everyday spatula, it’s a guitar shaped spatula, and everyone knows that if the musician is given a guitar-shaped spatula to cook with, then we would defiantly bring music to his food as well. However, if your friend is not the best guitar player…then you might have to consider twice.
Guitar Spoon:
Now, this is a great gift for kids. If you happen to know a kid guitarist and gift him a guitar-shaped spoon, then he would love it. Almost every kid hates eating, mainly because it isn’t fun, but with these spoons, you would bring something that he loves to something that he hates.
Guitar Ice Tray:
And the list of the dumbest yet exiting gifts go on. For under $15 you can get a cool guitar ice-tray and stirrers. The guitar ice cubes might not really fit inside the glass properly, but one thing for sure, it would look awesome floating inside a glass. And usually, floating cool objects make people happy.
This is a perfect party gift, so you would want to gift this to someone who regularly has parties or likes to go an extra mile with guests. This can be the perfect gift for young kid guitarists as well. You can get this item from here.
Guitar Mug:
However, If the person you are giving to is not a kid, or simply an adult who is not into spoons, then you might want to consider gifting a guitar-shaped mug. It’s a great gift if you are unsure of what to give to that person, and a mug is something that everyone uses.
Guitar Hanger:
Guitar Hanger is a pretty neat gift. This could be the perfect present for someone who has just started playing the guitar. As the name suggests, it is a guitar hanger. You mount it on a wall, and then hang a guitar over it. Honestly, it not just for new players, but anyone, as a guitarist, can have enough guitars and he would always require a place for them.
Smartphone Holder for Guitars:
Now, these come really hand especially for a beginner. With this device, you are able to mount your smartphone onto the guitar. I personally used it to read the notes while I was learning the guitar. Some may even use it as a stand to record their tunes. But I would not recommend this if your friend plays the guitar aggressively. These things tend to fall off and that could damage the phone.
8 Gifts Guitar Players Need Under $25
At this price point, we move forward from novelty gifts to more useful gifts – music related gifts. At this price point, we find gadgets that can enhance the sound of the guitar, gadgets that can allow you to connect the guitar to your phone, or simply stuff that can help your friend to become better with the guitar.
Hand Exerciser:
Playing music takes muscles, and if you are not built up for it, guitar sessions can be very tiring. If you are looking for gifts for a beginner to intermediate guitar player, then this can be a very nice gift for him to her. It is something that he would need, and something that would look as if you out thought in it before gifting. You can check this out from here.
Guitar to iPhone Adaptor:
I am pretty sure you must have seen many apps on app store related to guitars, guitar tuning, guitar amplification. Those apps are all neat, very useful in fact, however, to access them via your guitar, you need a special kind of adaptor. And irig performs the perfect job for it.
Sound Enhancer for Acoustic Guitars:
Another great gift is a sound enhancer. You insert this in your guitar, and it makes the sound richer, sharper, and louder. It may not look much, and you might think gifting this round circular object does not give a very nice present vibe, but I assure you these things are very handy and useful.
Guitar Capo:
This is another amazing gift you can give to your friend. Basically, it is a device that claps on the neck of the guitar to make the guitar sound better. It is a very useful device and I am pretty sure beginner guitar players do not even know this thing exists. I personally recommend this capo as its design, portability, and function is the best.
Guitar Tuner:
If you have no idea on what to give, or what the person you are gifting to have or not, then this might be the get-go gift for you. These are used to calibrate the sound of the guitar. Although, it is not something special and you might want to gift this only when you have no other choice, but this isn’t a bad gift. No tuner is 100% accurate, so it’s always best to have an extra. Then again, do not gift this to that person every year, or on every holiday. In my opinion, this tuner is the best tuner for its price in the market right now.
Guitar Maintenance Kit:
I know this sounds weird, but this is most probably the safest gift you can give. A guitar maintenance kit has all that you need to clean the guitar. Honestly, it is such a pain when I need to clean my guitar and I am out of cleaners, and I always forget to buy them when I am out. So even if a person already has all of the cleaners, he is bound to finish them up and use yours. I recommend this kit, as it has everything you need to clean the guitar.
Guitar Apparel:
If you’re not into techie gifts, then this might be the way for you. Who just doesn’t love a fender cap or shirt. Plus, this gift is an everyday item. There is no way that this can go wrong – apart from buying the wrong size. Click here to check out music-related apparel.
Guitar Learning Book:
Now, this can be a very exciting gift. Obviously, you don’t want to gift this to an experienced guitarist, but if you happen to have a friend and he is bad at the guitar, and you jokingly make fun of him a lot – like my friends. Then this would be an extremely funny gift.
8 Best Guitar Gifts Under $50
At this price point, we get the freedom to choose almost everything as a gift. And honestly, this jump is pretty huge as the quality of the gift increases tremendously.At this price point, you are opened to the realm of high tech gadgets. Gadgets that improve the playability of the guitar greatly, or stuff that is simply a must for any serious guitar player.
DIY Guitar Pick Punch
This is the best guitar gift related gift – I am not even kidding. I wouldn’t mind receiving this on Christmas, on my birthday, heck even on my graduation. A guitarist is emotionally attached to his pick, and gifting him another pick is just blasphemous. So, what can you do is to gift him this, so that he could customize his favorite pick has he likes. This gift falls in the perfect price range as you can get it for just over $25, and it is something that any guitarist would love. Pick– a Palooza has a great DIY punch kit. You can one get one from here.
Guitar Stand:
Guitar stands are like a formal, bigger brother of a guitar hanger. They look professional, makes your guitar look professional, and most of all make your gift professional. All jokes aside, this is a good gift. If your friend has multiple guitars, or just likes to keep stuff neat and tidy, then this would be a great gift for him. You can get one from here.
iPad Music Stand:
This is another unconventional gift. Musicians need such sort of things, and music itself is a very expensive hobby if you are really into it. There are so many uses of having a good, proper tablet stand. It might seem like a small gift but actually has a big impact. You can get one from here.
Musician’s Toolkit:
A musician’s toolkit is a very thoughtful gift. Guitars need to be maintained, and sometimes even a minor problem can cause a huge disturbance in the sound. Even if there isn’t a problem with the guitar, a toolkit is needed to set up strings properly. It is one of the must-have items for a guitarist and is a pretty neat gift as well. Here you can find a complete toolkit which has everything you could need.
Sound Proof Board:
As a guitarist, it always annoys me when I hear outside noise in my practice sessions. I just cannot concentrate on it. Removing walls and windows as a gift is a pretty bizarre gift, even for this list’s standard. Therefore, I suggest you buy a soundproof board. This would cancel noise, and give a smooth instrument playing experience. You do not need to go very technical yourself on this matter. Even a string strip would be enough for him to realize how great of a thing this is. You can get a set of these boards from here.
Good Headphones:
This is another great gift. Although, gift this if you know the person plays electric guitar. Cheap headphones do not always provide the best sound quality, and they break quite often. A good pair of headphones, however, assists the guitarist in his play. They provide good quality sounds and some even have noise cancellation feature. You can buy one from over here.
Guitar Toilet Flush:
Okay enough with real and useful gifts for now. Here is another great useless gift – a guitar-shaped toilet flush. Now, you obviously don’t want to gift this to someone who you aren’t very comfortable with, but if someone gifted me this on my birthday, I would have a weird kind of joy in me.
Guitar Amp Wall Mount Key holder:
And we find another novel gift. However, this one is actually useful. It is an amp shaped key holder which looks great. It isn’t something you would want to hide from your guests, and you can place it anywhere you feel like it. This is most probably the coolest key holder one can get. You can this from here.
5 Great Guitar Gifts Under $100
Under the $100 mark, you have a selection of quite of few quality gifts. Mostly, at this price range, you would want to gift something that enhances the playability, or the guitar itself. And I have compiled a list of items for you that performs the job.
DIY Electric Guitar Kits:
Honestly, this was love at first sight for me. It is a do it yourself guitar kit, in which you make your own electric guitar. Kits are generally cheaper as compared to buying a brand-new guitar. If your friend is someone who likes to build stuff, or is into lego – then he would love this kit as he would be able to customize his guitar as much as he wants to. You can get this one from here.
Guitar Amp:
If the person you are gifting to has an electric guitar, and you want to give a normal Christmas gift, then this might be the object for you. The one I recommend to gift is Donner’s 10-watt amp, and this tiny box is a beast. When I bought it, I mistook it as a beginner, practice amp but oh boy I was wrong. My cheap guitar sounded like a real guitar because of it. definitely get this as a gift if you want a normal gift around the $55 range. You can buy one from here.
Effect Pedal:
If you’re willing to out some extra bucks and care in the gift, then you might want to check this out. Effect pedals are incredibly cool. They are used with electric guitars to change the tones of it. Basically, it makes the guitar sound something completely else. The one I would recommend is Cry Baby Wah Guitar Effect Pedal. You can check it out from here.
Ebow For Guitar:
Now ebow or an electronic bow is a very interesting device. Basically, you use it as a pick for your electric guitar, and it mimics the sound of strings, horns – sounds that are usually unavailable for an electric guitar to produce. If you are interested in buying this, then you can check it from over here.
Quality Gig Bag:
Gig bags are like clothing. These things are fashion, and fashion never ends. If you want a high-end gift simple gift, then gifting a gig bag might be the way for you to go. I recommend gator cases of bags. You can get one from here.
Guitar Gifts Under $200
Now, if you are at this price point, then most probably you want the finest gift. Maybe because your guitar friend is a really good player, or you’re gifting to someone who is very close to you. Either way, I have listed the perfect items that you can gift.
Professional Dock Recorder for iPad:
This is a very useful item. Although it is a bit expensive, if you are willing to pay the buck for an excellent gift, then I would recommend this. A professional dock recorder is a perfect solution for recording tunes when you want portability or do not have a recording studio. This would be more than enough to record the tunes with high quality, and professionally. Although an entire recording set would cost you around $200, you can simply get the dock for around the $100 range. You can get one from here.
Wireless Guitar System:
Although a wireless guitar system can be quite expensive – around $150, but I think it is totally worth the cost. It removes all the cables and wires, and you can attach your guitar wirelessly to your amp. It makes a great gift, as it is such as user-friendly device. You can check them out from here.
Guitar Recommendation
Electric Guitar with Full Kit:
Now, you might have a friend who has been thinking about buying a guitar, or is just fascinated by guitars in general. Then in my opinion, and if you’re budget is around $300, then you should get Squier by Fender Affinity Startocaster Electric Guitar. This guitar is excellent for beginners. It comes with an entire kit which has everything a beginner could need to kick start his guitar journey You can check out this guitar from here.
Travel Guitar:
If you really want to buy a guitar as a present, but not your average classical guitar, but don’t really know what to buy, then buy a travel’s guitar. These are compact guitars, that can be easily carried around on trips, or even to the park! If this interests you, then I would recommend Martin Steel String Backpacker Travel Guitar with its bag, and you can get one from here.
Conclusion:
In the end, it is not that hard to gift someone. If you are gifting to someone you love or a close friend then you already know what he or she likes or dislikes. All you need to do is some proper research and find an item for it. You do not have to try and find the perfect gift for him, but with a little time and love, you can easily find a. gift that he would love.