Gifts for Guitar Players – 2020 Edition
No Cheesy Gimmicks, Just Awesome Gift Ideas
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Last Updated: November 22, 2020
Buying gifts for guitar players is tough–especially if you aren’t a guitarist yourself. Worse, there are a lot of really cheesy, gimmick-y gift guides out there (some were even created by non-guitarists).
So, I’ve compiled this list of guitar gifts for 2020 that I myself (an avid guitar player) would love to receive as gifts for Christmas, Hanukkah, Birthdays, Father’s Day, or any other occasion.
These items are all things that I currently own, have owned in the past, or have at least tried. So, I know it’s all great stuff that’s actually useful and would be truly appreciated by the guitarist in your life.
Gifts for Guitar Players Under $10
String Fuel Cleaner & Lubricant
Guitar strings get dirty. That’s a fact. String Fuel removes the gunky buildup, leaving them feeling slick and sounding like new again. This means you don’t have to change strings as often!
F-ONE Fretboard Oil Cleaner and Conditioner
A light treatment with F-ONE about 1-2 times per year will keep a guitar’s fretboard clean and looking fantastic. F-ONE has emerged as my favorite fretboard cleaner and conditioner, and is what I’ve been using exclusively for several years now.
Drill Bit Peg Winder
Attach this string winder to a cordless screwdriver or drill and your string changes become lightning fast. I use this myself for every string change.
Guitar Savers Premium Strap Locks
Many guitars have been severely damaged because one end of a strap slipped off the guitar. These ingenious little “locks” dramatically reduce the chance of this ever happening.
Guitar ONE All-in-One Cleaner, Polish, and Wax
I’ve used many guitar polishes over the years, and this one has risen to the top as my favorite. It’s all I use now for routine polishing. Great stuff!
NS Pro Guitar Capo
If the guitarist in your life doesn’t already have a capo, this little workhorse is small, unobtrusive, ultra-lightweight and super easy to use. It’s one of several capos I own, and I love it.
Folding Guitar Stand for Acoustic and Electric Guitar
The best of both worlds, this compact little guitar stand will hold either an electric or acoustic guitar. Got multiple guitars? Go ahead and buy 2 or 3 of them!
NS Micro Sound Hole Tuner for Acoustic Guitar
This tiny guitar tuner fits inside the guitar’s sound hole. Easily accessible and visible by the guitar player , but virtually invisible to the audience. Read my in-depth review of this tuner here.
Cradle Cube Neck Support
If you’ve ever seen their guitar flat on its back on the floor or kitchen table, then they need the Cradle Cube. It gives the guitar proper support and holds it securely during cleaning, maintenance, and string changes.
How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great
This is THE book I recommend to guitarists who want to learn how to properly set-up and maintain their electric guitars. Packed with practical advice that every electric guitar owner should know.
Guitar: The World’s Most Seductive Instrument
Guitar aficionados will love this book–I know I certainly do. It’s a feast for the eyes with photos and descriptions of 200 of history’s most iconic electric and acoustic guitars. Comes in a nice slipcase that is textured like a guitar amp. A great gift for any occasion.
The Spider Capo
If you’re not a guitarist, it’s hard to describe what this cool little gadget does. Suffice to say that this gift will bring a lot of enjoyment if they don’t already own one. Best for intermediate – advanced guitar players (not beginners).
Guitar Case Backpack System
Need to transport your guitar by bike, motorcycle, or scooter? Keep your hands free with this backpack-style adapter, which allows you to strap your acoustic or electric guitar case securely to your back.
VOX amPlug 2 Guitar Headphone Amp
I recently tried one of these (read my review here) and really liked it! All you need is this unit and some headphones and you’ve got all the tones and special effects you need to play guitar on-the-go without bothering anyone around you. You’re not limited to headphones though. The amPlug can be connected to a guitar amp or other speakers. Great stocking stuffer!
Power Peg Pro, Battery Powered String Winder
If the guitar player in your life can’t use the drill bit peg winder listed in the “Under $10” section above, this is also a great way to dramatically speed up string changes.
5-pc Premium String Changing Kit
I love (and use) Music Nomad’s products, and here’s a kit containing everything a guitarist needs to change strings: a neck rest, string cutters, string winder, nut lubricant, and Music Nomad’s awesome “Octopus” 8-in-1 guitar tech tool. This neatly boxed set makes a great gift for any guitar player.
Guitar Tech Screwdriver & Wrench Set
This awesome screwdriver and wrench set is designed specifically for guitar work. If the guitar player in your life likes to tinker with their guitars, they’ll love this all-in-one set as a gift.
Mogami Gold Guitar Cable (18 ft)
A Mogami cable is one of the best guitar cables money can buy. Mogami uses the finest connectors, materials, and assembly techniques, and is backed by their “no excuses” lifetime warranty.
DIY Solderless Pedalboard Cable Kit
If the guitarist in your life has a pedalboard (a bunch of guitar pedals mounted on some type of board that sits on the floor), there’s a good chance that the wiring isn’t as neat as they’d like it to be. This handy little kit allows them to create cables that are the exact lengths needed to tidy-up their pedalboard’s wiring. Also available in a 40ft version too.
Thalia Guitar Capo
Even if the guitar player in your life already has a capo, they don’t have one like this (read my in-depth Thalia review). Thalia is the “luxury car” of capos. There are a number of styles available and every Thalia capo comes with 14 interchangeable fret pads to ensure a perfect fit on any guitar, including 12-string guitars.
Folding Hardwood Guitar Case Rack
By itself, it doesn’t look like much, but this classy ash hardwood stand keeps guitar cases neatly organized, upright and side-by-side. Holds 5+ guitar cases, depending on case thickness.
iRig HD 2 Digital Guitar Interface (iPhone, iPad, & Mac)
This awesome little gadget allows you to connect your guitar to an iPhone, iPad, or Mac computer–so you can access a vast world of digital effects and recording. Includes a headphone jack for privacy, as well as 1/4″ output jack so you can run your effects out to a guitar amp or mixing console.
Three Instrument Guitar Rack
The Hercules 3-instrument guitar rack is the one I use. It keeps 3 guitars (including bass guitars) safe and neatly organized, and looks cool in the room. There is also a bigger 5-guitar version too.
E-Bow for Guitar
Look at any other list that suggests gifts for guitar players and the E-bow is always there.The E-Bow is a hand-held device that uses electro-magnetism to create amazing, harp-like sound effects on electric guitar.
Ultimate At-Home Guitar and Bass Work Station
This is pretty much as good as it gets for the guitar or bass player who likes to care for and maintain their own instruments. It’s quite literally everything they’ll need for proper maintenance of their instrument… from a company that makes some of the best guitar care products in the industry.
Xvive U2 Wireless Guitar System
Say goodbye to guitar cables with this sweet little wireless system (read my Xvive review here). Plug the transmitter into your guitar and the receiver into your amp, then enjoy the freedom and mobility of no longer being attached by a guitar cable. Walk around your house, or up to 100 feet away. Not suitable for active guitar pickups.
Peterson StroboPlus HD Strobe Tuner
This is the strobe tuner I use and I love it. Strobe tuners are far more accurate than the cheaper, non-strobe guitar tuners that are predominantly available. In fact, to accurately set intonation, you need a strobe tuner. The StroboPLUS HD is an incredible value for the price. Also check out Peterson’s smaller clip-on version of this tuner.
Portable Guitar Workstation
If you’ve seen the guitarist in your life struggling to set up a proper workspace to do guitar work, this awesome (and portable) system allows you to transform a guitar case or any other suitable surface into a bona-fide guitar workstation that holds the guitar safely and securely for everything from simple string changes to more serious guitar maintenance.
Roland Micro Cube GX Guitar Amp
If the guitar player in your life needs a compact practice amp, they’ll love this one. It runs on batteries or AC power, but this isn’t just one of those cute, gimmick-y little toy amps. This is actually a serious practice amp with some really great built-in effects and amp modeling. It sounds really good for its tiny size.
Zither Wooden Guitar Stand
What do you get the guitarist who seems to have everything? You get them one of the classiest guitar stands available. The USA-made Zither guitar stand suspends an acoustic or electric guitar (safely) above the ground. It’s not just a guitar stand, it’s an attractive furniture piece that’s available in a variety of solid hardwoods. They’ll love it, trust me.
Why No Guitar Pedals? Or Strings? Or Picks? Or…??
I’ve chosen not to list guitar pedals, strings, and picks because these items are very much a matter of personal taste. We guitar players can be really picky about these things, so it’s best to avoid them as gifts… unless they’ve told you exactly what they want. Otherwise, if you try to guess, you run a very high risk of buying your guitarist a pedal, strings, or picks that they won’t like or use.
Have a Gift Question or Idea? Just Ask!
Got something else in mind? Run your gift ideas by me in the comments below and I’ll give you my input so you can buy the right gifts before the holidays sneak up on you.
Of course, there are plenty of other potential gifts for guitar players out there that didn’t make this list. If you have a question about a specific gift idea, or perhaps you feel that I left a great gift idea off this list, please let me know in the comments below.
Also, I’d love to hear how they reacted to your gift, so please share.
Happy holidays!
I have a few questions…for reference my husband plays acoustic and electric guitar recreationally. I am looking to get him some gifts for Christmas and plan on getting him the Spider capo and Xvive from your list above (thank you for the ideas!!), but was looking at some other things and wondering if you have any advice? I don’t want to ask him and give away the surprise!
1. Do you have any recommendations for a guitar cell phone holder? Something that clips or suctions onto a guitar to hold a cell phone?
2. The iRig – I know NOTHING about guitar playing – is this a good gift for someone who plays around the house and wants to record just for fun?
Anything else you’d recommend outside of guitars and amps for an intermediate, recreational player?
thank you!!
Lori
Hi Lori! I’m glad you found a couple gift ideas for your husband—those are great choices. Here are my thoughts on your other questions:
1. This one’s tricky, because I haven’t personally found any guitar phone mounts that I love. After much trial and error (I went through 4 different mounts), I finally found a big contraption that works for my guitar. But, it’s not convenient nor easy to use, so I can’t recommend it.
A lot depends on the type (shape) of guitar he has, the size of his phone, where he might want to mount the phone, and why he’d want to do so in the first place. Does he want to film his hands while he plays, or just watch instructional videos while he plays? In either case, a guitar mount isn’t really a great option, honestly. You might be better off getting a free-standing or clamp-on cell phone mount that he can set up in front of himself or clamp onto the edge of a table instead. In general, I’d recommend you pass on this idea. However, if you DO decide to buy some kind of guitar mount, I can only advise that you avoid the suction-cup style. Those can damage a guitar’s finish. The clamp-on guitar mounts can damage the finish too, so he’ll need to be careful if you get him one of those. For all these reasons, I’d say to just avoid this one as a gift.
2. The iRig is indeed intended for more casual usage, so if he’s not trying to do any “serious” recording, the iRig will be perfect. But, it’s no slouch either; it’s a great little interface for the price. It’ll allow him to record using something like Garage Band, or use phone or tablet-based guitar apps.
Finally… as far as other recommendations, don’t forget about gift cards! Guitar players can be hard to buy for, so why not just let him pick what he wants? A gift card for either Guitar Center or Sweetwater would make me a happy camper. Of the two, however, I’d recommend Sweetwater.
Hope that helps!
I wanted to let you know that I got the Guitar Tech Screwdriver Set (the version with wrenches) that you suggested here and my husband loves it. As soon as he saw the tape on the box he said, “Ooh, StewMac is a great brand!” and he’s very happy with his gift. Thanks for the excellent recommendation.
Jenna, that’s great to hear! I’m so glad I was able to help you find a cool gift for your husband. I’ll be keeping this list updated throughout 2019, so be sure to stop back by this page when his birthday rolls around… or when Christmas gets here next year.
I know this post is coming up on it’s first birthday, but thought you might like to look into this for this years’ gift giving list. So, I’m sure that a number of players have heard SOMETHING from Mumford & Sons. Now, there is a nifty device called ‘GuitarJo’ that you can attach to your flat body guitar and make it sound more like a Banjo. They are usually $45 but are on sale right now for $25. I personally haven’t used one, but have seen them used in YouTube videos. The website is guitarjo.com (I believe). Just to let you know, I am not affiliated in any way, shape or form with the creator or the product. Happy picking! Lol
K1SFD
Thanks for finally writing about Gifts for Guitar Players 2017 Edition. Liked it!
You’re welcome Julianne. I hope you were able to find something cool for the guitarist in your life (or yourself).
These are awesome. For a long time i was using the plastic twist cover ones and they either broke all the time or kept coming undone. I bought these to try out and wish I would have bought sooner. They work like a charm and have not popped off or broke! Thank Bobby!!
Awesome! I assume you’re referring to the Guitar Savers strap locks?
I’m glad to hear that these are working well for you. It’s such a simple idea, but sometimes the simplest solution is the best.
how about this?… for a giging guitarist or just going to a concert:
Dubs Acoustic Filters Advanced Tech Earplugs
Keeps the music sounding great and protects your ears