The 10 Best Gifts for Guitar Players

Gifts for guitar players can be hard to find, but with this list of the 10 best gifts for guitarists for 2018, you’ll be able to find the perfect present! If you’re stumped on what birthday present, Christmas gift, or other holiday gifts for guitar players to get this year, no worries — we’ve got you covered!

Be sure to also check out our 2018 Ultimate Guitar Gift Guide for an even bigger and better list of great guitar gifts!

1. Guitar Smartphone Holder

Now this is genius. It saves the guitar player from having to hunch over a laptop to read sheet music or chords. Just clip this on to the guitar, pull up your favorite chord site, and get playing. Or, use it as a tuner by pulling up a tuning app! The best thing about this holder is it works with many different smartphone sizes. Gifts for guitar players don’t get much cooler.

Grab it on Amazon.

2. Slide Ring

The great thing about a slide ring is, unlike a traditional slide that covers your entire finger, you can use the ring when it’s time to slide, and use your fingers when it’s time to play a chord. It keeps the options open! This would be a great gift for the blues guitarist, but any guitarist would appreciate this gift.

Grab it at Guitar Center.

3. DiMarzio Cliplock Guitar Strap

Every guitarist can use a fresh strap, and this is the one any guitarist will be happy to receive. With the ClipLock® Quick Release Guitar Straps, it makes it super easy to switch from one guitar to another. And the automotive seatbelt material makes it incredibly comfortable as well as long lasting. This strap truly stands the test of time!

Grab it at Musican’s Friend.

4. Personalized Guitar Picks

Here’s an awesome gift idea. Who wouldn’t want his or her own personalized guitar picks adorned with an image or quote? We recommend “Pluck You, Fred“, “This job plucks,” or just an image of the guitarists smiling back up at him or her. This is a relatively inexpensive gift idea and will definitely get laughs.

Get them made here.

5. Music Lessons (aka One Shameless Promotion)

Giving the gift of music lessons is truly the gift that keeps on giving. After all, the gig bag, the tuner, the amps, and the pics are useless unless the guitarist can play! Check out TrueFire gift certificates ranging from $25 to $100 dollars. The great thing about these is they’re instant. So, if you’re in need of a last minute gift, just hop online, purchase a certificate, print it out, and you’re good to go!

Grab a TrueFire Gift Certificate.

6. Crybaby Wah Pedal

Possibly the coolest gift you could ever get anyone, the Crybaby Wah Pedal will help you reign supreme in the gift giving this year. From Hendrix to Clapton, all the greats have wah’d out with the Crybaby Wah. And it’s super fun to play. There’s a bit of a learning curve, but it’s totally worth it when a guitarist finally figures out how to crank out some sick Wahs!

Grab it at Sweetwater.

7. Gig Bag

Every guitarist needs a good gig bag. It protects the guitar, make transportation a breeze, and holds accessories such as picks, cables, and sheet music. Our recommendation is the Gator Commander. This case has lots of storage, backpack straps, cable management, and a compartment for a laptop. Now if you want to get super creative, you could buy a gig bag and load it up with guitar accessories! That, my friends, is a solid gift idea.

Grab it at Musican’s Friend

8. Kava Capo

A capo allows the guitarist to quickly change the pitch of a piece of music. There’s a bunch of capos on the market and it’s important you don’t grab the super cheap one as a gift. While it’s a pretty simple device, quality matters. That’s why we’re recommending the Kava Capo for acoustic guitars and the Kyser for the electric guitar player.

Grab it on Amazon.

9. String Fuel Cleaner

You might be thinking a cleaner is a boring gift. Wrong! It’s actually a very integral part of producing quality sound. Keeping strings cleaned and lubricated helps preserve the integrity of the strings, reduces string noise, and makes it easier to slide up and down the strings. Plus, this thing makes the whole process super easy. Just swipe it across the strings and you’re good to rock on.

Grab it on Amazon.

10. Bose L1 Compact System

Want to win at giving? Want to seriously just win? This is the gift. Now, we realize this is roughly the cost of a mortgage payment, but hey, if you’re looking to impress, sometimes you’ve got to shell out the serious dough. This sound system is amazing. With an integrated bass speaker and Bose Spatial Dispersion loudspeaker technology, this system produces incredible sound while also remaining completely portable. Not to mention it looks really, really cool.

Sell some stock, have a garage sale, and break into your kid’s college fund so you can grab this on Amazon.

BONUS: A Good Recording Microphone

The way we see it, you have two choices when it comes to a guitar microphone. You can grab a mic like the Shure SM57, which is an excellent choice for recording electric guitar through an amp. With a mic like this you’ll also need to grab a cable and an XLR-to-USB Signal adapter. The other option is to get a mic like the Blue Yeti. This guy has the interface built in and runs directly into a computer via USB. Either way, you’ll be sure to impress with a gift of this caliber!

Grab one on Amazon.

If you end up taking our advice on any of gifts for guitar players, let us know how it works out!

by John Lombard