Christmas ideas for the guitarist you know

Okay.. I’ve now had three emails over the last two days asking me gift ideas for a guitarist they know. As a guitarist, and understanding the difficulties for even me to understand *what* I want, it’s a difficult task for someone not familiar with the gear, or even understand what the guitarist is talking about. But, I do think there are some safe options that will be a winner at Christmas time.

Gift Certificate – The easiest route is to buy a gift certificate for Musician’s Friend or other music store to let the guitarist just buy what they want to buy. No hassles, and no worries about getting the wrong thing. Gift certificates are nice, but sometimes a gift is the way to go though…

Lave Cable Kit – If the guitarist has a pedalboard or a series of pedals, the Lava Cable Cable Kit might be a great present. It’ll upgrade their cables, and they can cut it to fit their needs. To me, as a guitarist, cabling is one of the things I have a hard time budgeting for.. since I can ‘make do’ in the meantime. So this is a great upgrade opportunity for them.

It Might Get Loud – I’ve stated multiple times on this blog, this DVD/Movie is fantastic. I think EVERY guitarist should watch this movie. It’s very inspirational.. and motivational, and really describes the passion that guitarist have. Their love of music.

Pedaltrain Pedalboard – If the guitarist you know has their pedals laying on the floor or duct taped to a piece of plywood, a pedaltrain pedalboard might be a great gift. You might have to see how many pedals they have and get the right size. If they’re a touring/traveling musician, I would recommend getting with the ATA flight case, since that will protect the pedals nicely.

TC Electronics Polytune Tuner – There are so many of my guitarist friends out there that have the older Boss TU-2 tuner (view here for examples of what they look like)…. and they all have or want to upgrade to the new TC Electronics Polytune Tuner.. which is quite slick. Similar to the cable situation, this gets pushed on the backburner, since the TU-2 works fine.. it’s just not as ‘cool’ as the TC Electronics. I think any guitarist would appreciate this tuner.

MXR Carbon Copy Delay – I’m just throwing this out there. This is one of the more popular delay units out there. I see this on many boards, and if the guitarist is into delays.. or might be interested this could be a good unit for them. Likewise, if they already have a different delay, this could be a great second delay addition to the board. Again, I only mention this due to it’s popularity.

Picks – You’ll need to find the guitarist’s pick stash.  Lots of guitarists out there use Dunlop Tortext picks. Easily identifiable by their colors. Colors dictate thickness. If it’s not Dunlop, you should still be able to see the thickness. Buy them a few dozen picks… that’ll make someone happy. Fresh picks.. are nice to have, you always need them. Could be a great stocking stuffer! This is important… make sure you get the right gauge and brand!!!! Picks are very personal for a lot of guitarists out there.

I personally would stay away from books or instructional DVDs. This to me is like getting a pair of wool socks or something. It’s great, but unless the guitarist is really seeking the knowledge.. this will be shelved.