The one thing you must not buy a guitar player is a guitar. Neck profile, scale length, string gauge and the exact weight of the body are all personal in a way that cannot be guessed, and a guitar chosen by somebody else becomes the one that lives in the corner unplayed while its owner works out how to say so politely. This is the single most expensive mistake in the category and it is made every December.
What they will use is everything the guitar needs in order to be played. Strings, because the set on there is probably eight months old and has gone dull and grey. Picks, because a guitarist loses them at a rate that defies physics. A tuner, a capo, a cable that does not crackle. The 37 gifts for guitar players below start with the consumables and the tools, move through amps and cases and learning material, and finish with the posters, the socks and the bottle opener. Buying for a teenager who has just started? Our gifts for 14 year old boys guide overlaps usefully.
One question worth asking before you order, because it changes about a third of this list: acoustic or electric. Strings, cables, amps and humidifiers all split along that line, and it is a question you can ask without giving away what you are buying.
Ernie Ball Regular Slinky Strings, 3 Pack
Why it’s hereThe most widely used electric string set in the world, three sets in a box for twenty dollars. Whatever is currently on their guitar has been there too long and gone dull, because changing strings is a chore that gets postponed indefinitely. Handing somebody three sets removes the excuse for most of a year.
Skip it ifThese are electric strings and useless on an acoustic, so confirm which they play first. Gauge is personal too, and a player who uses heavier or lighter sets will notice immediately.
The most-used string set on earth, three times over.
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D’Addario 80/20 Bronze Acoustic Strings, 3 Pack
Why it’s hereThe acoustic counterpart, in light gauge, which is what most players use and what almost every acoustic ships with. Bronze strings lose their brightness faster than electric ones do, so an acoustic player who plays daily should be changing them monthly and is realistically changing them twice a year.
Skip it ifLight gauge suits most players but a fingerstyle or bluegrass player may want a different set entirely. Wrong instrument again if they play electric.
Twenty dollars and their acoustic sounds new three times.
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Dunlop Tortex Picks Variety Pack
Why it’s hereTwo of each gauge, which lets a player work out what they actually like rather than defaulting to whatever came free with something. Picks disappear into couch cushions, cases and the soundhole of the guitar itself, so a supply is never wasted. Seven dollars makes it the cheapest useful thing on this page.
Skip it ifPick preference is deeply personal and a player who settled on one gauge years ago has no use for a variety pack. It is also a filler gift rather than a present in its own right.
Seven dollars of the thing they lose constantly.
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D’Addario Pro-Winder String Winder and Cutter
Why it’s hereWinder, wire cutter and bridge pin puller in one tool, which turns a string change from a twenty minute wrestling match into about six minutes. This is the single item most responsible for people changing their strings more often, and almost nobody buys it for themselves because it looks like something they can do without.
Skip it ifNothing here is impossible by hand, so a player who enjoys the ritual will shrug. The bridge pin puller is only relevant to acoustics.
Turns a twenty minute chore into a six minute one.
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DIY Guitar Pick Punch
Why it’s hereA punch that cuts guitar picks out of old credit cards, loyalty cards and hotel keys, which is both a very funny object and an oddly satisfying way to solve the picks problem permanently. Every player who owns one has made picks out of something they should not have.
Skip it ifHomemade picks from card plastic wear out faster than proper ones and the tone is inconsistent, so this is a novelty rather than a replacement. It takes real hand pressure, which is awkward for smaller hands.
Turns expired credit cards into an endless pick supply.
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Dunlop System 65 Cleaning Kit
Why it’s hereBody polish, fingerboard conditioner and cloths, which handles the grime that builds up on a neck and the fine haze on a finish. Guitars are the one instrument people handle with bare hands for hours and then never clean. It also gives them something to do during a string change, when the fretboard is exposed.
Skip it ifSome finishes, particularly older nitrocellulose ones, need specific care, so a vintage instrument owner should check first. Fretboard oil should be used sparingly and a heavy hand does more harm than good.
For the neck that has never once been cleaned.
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Snark SN5X Clip-On Tuner
Why it’s hereClips to the headstock, reads the vibration through the wood so it works in a noisy room, and costs about twenty dollars. If the person you are buying for does not own one, this will be the most used object they receive this year. If they do own one, they have lost it, because everyone loses these.
Skip it ifThey break eventually, usually at the ball joint, which is fine at this price and irritating if you expected permanence. A pro with a pedal tuner in their rig will use this only at home.
The one gift here they will touch every single day.
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Kyser Quick-Change Capo
Why it’s hereOne-handed operation, which sounds like a small thing until you watch somebody change key between verses. The Kyser is the one most working players own, it clamps to the headstock when not in use so it does not get lost, and it will outlast the guitar. Twenty-five dollars.
Skip it ifSpring capos apply fixed pressure, so a guitar with high action may go slightly sharp and need a tweak. There are separate versions for six and twelve string, and for classical necks.
The capo most working players already carry.
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Dunlop Straplok Strap Retainers
Why it’s hereThese lock the strap to the guitar so it cannot come off mid-song, which is the accident every player has either had or watched happen to somebody else. A guitar hitting a stage floor is a repair bill and occasionally a heartbreak. Twenty dollars of insurance against a very bad afternoon. It is one of those gifts for guitar players that only makes sense once you have seen the accident happen.
Skip it ifFitting them means removing the existing strap buttons, which is straightforward but is still modifying the instrument, and some vintage owners will not want that. Not needed by anyone who only ever plays sitting down.
Twenty dollars against the guitar hitting the floor.
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D’Addario Acoustic Guitar Humidifier
Why it’s hereSits in the soundhole and keeps the top from drying out, which matters enormously in a house with winter heating. A dried-out acoustic develops sharp fret ends, a sunken top and eventually a crack, and by the time the owner notices, the damage is done and expensive. Thirteen dollars.
Skip it ifOnly relevant to acoustic guitars, and only really necessary in a genuinely dry climate or a heated house in winter. It needs topping up, so it suits somebody who will remember.
Thirteen dollars against a crack in a wooden top.
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String Cleaner and Fretboard Cloth Tool
Why it’s hereRuns along the strings and gets the sweat and skin off the underside, which is the part that kills a set of strings and which nobody ever cleans. Wiping strings down after playing roughly doubles how long a set stays bright, and this makes it a two second habit rather than a chore.
Skip it ifIt slows the decline rather than stopping it, so strings still need changing. A player who already wipes down with a cloth has this covered for free.
Doubles the life of every set of strings.
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Hercules Auto-Grip Guitar Stand
Why it’s hereThe yoke closes automatically under the weight of the neck, so the guitar is held rather than balanced. This matters because the alternative is a guitar leaning against a wall, and a guitar leaning against a wall eventually falls over. Hercules is what music shops use for their own stock, which tells you enough.
Skip it ifIt is fifty dollars for a stand, which people balk at until they have replaced a headstock. Some finishes react badly to certain foams, so check the contact points on a vintage instrument.
Music shops use these on their own stock.
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Fender Frontman 10G Practice Amp
Why it’s hereTen watts, clean and overdrive channels, a headphone jack and an aux input for playing along. It is the amp that has started more electric guitarists than any other, and for a player currently making do with a headphone amp or nothing, hearing a real speaker move air is the whole point of an electric guitar.
Skip it ifTen watts is a bedroom amp and will be buried by a drummer, so a gigging player needs far more. It is also useless to an acoustic-only player.
The amp that has started more players than any other.
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Fender Professional Instrument Cable
Why it’s hereMost players are using the free cable that came with something, and it crackles when they move. A properly made cable with decent shielding removes a noise they have started to accept as normal. Anti-kink jacket means it coils flat instead of turning into a knot in the bottom of a case.
Skip it ifCables are invisible as a present and will underwhelm anyone expecting something exciting, so pair it with something. Length matters: a bedroom needs ten feet and a stage needs twenty.
Removes a crackle they stopped noticing years ago.
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BOSS Waza-Air Wireless Guitar Headphones
Why it’s hereHeadphones with amp modeling and spatial processing built in, plus wireless transmission from the guitar, so practice at midnight sounds like standing in a room with an amp rather than like plugging into a tin. For anyone in an apartment or a house with sleeping children, this is the difference between playing and not playing.
Skip it ifIt is the most expensive thing on this page by some distance. Purists will also point out that modeling through headphones is not the same as air moving from a speaker, and they are right.
Solves playing at midnight in a thin-walled apartment.
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USB Condenser Microphone Kit
Why it’s herePlugs straight into a laptop and records an acoustic guitar or a vocal at a quality that phone recordings cannot touch. Most players have dozens of half-finished ideas recorded badly on a phone, and this is the step that turns those into something they can send to somebody.
Skip it ifCondenser mics pick up the room, so a reverberant kitchen will end up on the recording. A player wanting to record electric guitar directly needs an audio interface instead.
Turns phone voice memos into actual recordings.
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High Fidelity Concert Ear Plugs
Why it’s hereFiltered plugs that lower the volume evenly rather than muffling everything, so music still sounds like music. Hearing damage from loud rehearsal rooms is permanent and cumulative, and every player over forty knows somebody with tinnitus who wishes they had bothered. Twenty dollars.
Skip it ifThey take getting used to, and a player convinced they need to hear everything at full volume will leave them in a case. Fit varies, so a very small or large ear canal may need a different style.
Protects the one thing a musician cannot replace.
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Padded Acoustic Guitar Gig Bag
Why it’s herePadding, backpack straps and pockets for cables and a capo, for a player currently carrying a guitar in the thin nylon sleeve it came in or in nothing at all. A gig bag is what makes taking a guitar somewhere feel like a decision rather than a risk, which means the guitar leaves the house more.
Skip it ifA gig bag is not a hard case and will not survive being checked on a flight or dropped down stairs. Sizes are specific, so a dreadnought bag will swim on a parlor guitar.
The reason the guitar starts leaving the house.
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Guitar Wall Hangers, 2 Pack
Why it’s hereA guitar on a wall gets picked up several times a day and a guitar in a case under a bed gets played once a month. That is the entire argument, and it is a strong one. Two hangers covers most households, since anyone who owns one guitar is generally in the process of owning two.
Skip it ifIt needs a stud or proper anchors, because a guitar on a bad wall fixing is a disaster waiting to happen. Wall hanging also exposes the instrument to sunlight and room humidity swings.
On a wall it gets played, in a case it does not.
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Vintage Guitar Shaped Wall Hooks
Why it’s hereCast hooks shaped like guitars, for straps, headphones, a bag and keys, in the corner of a room that has quietly become a music space. It is decoration that does a job, which is a much better ratio than a print, and it is the sort of thing that makes a practice corner feel deliberate.
Skip it ifThese hold straps and light items rather than an actual guitar, which the shape misleadingly implies. Three hooks means three sets of holes in a wall.
Decoration that holds the strap and the headphones.
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Guitar Aerobics
Why it’s hereOne exercise a day for a year, across alternate picking, legato, string skipping and bending, with audio. It solves the real problem of the intermediate player, which is not a lack of information but a lack of structure. Good milestone gift too, alongside our 18th birthday gifts. Almost everyone who works through this comes out measurably better, which very few books can claim.
Skip it ifIt assumes the basics are already there, so a complete beginner should start elsewhere. Daily practice programs also generate guilt in anybody who falls behind, and most people do.
The book that fixes the intermediate plateau.
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Fretboard Memorization Flash Cards
Why it’s hereFifty-four cards drilling note positions across the neck, which is the unglamorous knowledge that separates players who can improvise from players who know shapes. It is boring work and a card deck makes it something you can do for five minutes on the couch without the guitar in hand.
Skip it ifRote memorization suits some learners and bores others rigid. A player who reads music or has done theory formally will find it too basic.
The boring knowledge that unlocks everything else.
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Guitar Chords and Scales Chart Poster
Why it’s hereChords, scales and triads on a wall in the room where they practice, which means the information is there at the moment it is needed rather than behind three taps on a phone that then shows a notification. It also looks like the wall of somebody who plays, which matters more than it should.
Skip it ifA player past the beginner stage has this memorized and will find it wallpaper. Posters need framing or they curl at the corners within a month.
The right information, on the wall, at the right moment.
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Adjustable Finger Strengthener
Why it’s hereIndependent tension per finger, used away from the guitar on a commute or at a desk. It suits a player who wants to feel like they are doing something during the hours they cannot practice, and it does build finger independence for the weaker third and fourth fingers.
Skip it ifBe honest about this one: grip trainers do less for guitar technique than an equivalent amount of time spent on the actual instrument, and overdoing them risks tendon strain. Anyone with hand pain should leave it alone entirely.
Useful in the gaps, not a substitute for playing.
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Patterned Adjustable Guitar Strap
Why it’s hereStraps are one of the few visible personal choices on an instrument, and most players are using a plain black one that came in a box. A patterned strap is the guitar equivalent of a good watch strap, and it fits acoustic, electric and bass, which removes most of the guessing.
Skip it ifPattern is a taste and getting it wrong means it stays in a drawer, so this suits somebody whose style you actually know. Wide straps suit heavy guitars, thin ones do not.
The one visible personal choice on the instrument.
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Guitar Picks With Stick-On Holder
Why it’s hereTen picks and an adhesive holder that sticks to the guitar body, a desk or a mic stand, so there is always one within reach. This solves the specific moment of dropping a pick mid-song and having to stop, which happens to everybody and is annoying every time.
Skip it ifAdhesive on a guitar finish is a decision, and it should go on a scratchplate rather than directly on nitrocellulose. Ten picks is a small supply for anyone who loses them fast.
A pick within reach at the moment one is dropped.
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Mic Stand Pick Holder
Why it’s hereClamps to a mic stand and puts picks at eye level, which is where a singing guitarist needs them. It is a small piece of professional kit that solves a real problem in performance rather than practice, and it signals that whoever bought it knows the difference.
Skip it ifOnly useful to someone who plays standing at a mic, so it is wasted on a bedroom player. It needs a standard diameter mic stand.
Picks at eye level for anyone who sings and plays.
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Guitar Pick Necklace
Why it’s hereHolds two picks around the neck, which is either practical or a statement depending on the wearer, and honestly it is usually both. It works well for a player who moves between instruments in a set, and it is a cheap, specific gift that reads as being for a guitarist rather than for anybody. Worship players get through picks especially fast, which our Christian gifts for men guide runs into as well.
Skip it ifIt is a visible piece of musician jewelry and plenty of players would not wear one. Silicone stretches over time and eventually stops gripping picks properly.
Practical, and a statement, and it knows it.
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Tree of Life Fretboard Inlay Stickers
Why it’s hereVinyl inlay stickers that give a plain fretboard the look of an expensive one, for about fifteen dollars instead of several hundred in luthier work. They peel off cleanly, so it is a reversible way to make a budget guitar feel like it was chosen rather than settled for.
Skip it ifApplying them straight takes patience and a steady hand, and a crooked one is worse than none. Some players can feel the edges under their fingers and find it distracting.
A four hundred dollar look for fifteen dollars, reversibly.
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Visual Compendium of Guitars Poster
Why it’s hereEvery significant guitar shape laid out as an illustrated chart, which is the rare music poster that rewards standing close to it. Pop Chart print these properly on heavy stock. It works in a practice room, an office or a hallway, and it starts a conversation with anyone else who plays.
Skip it ifIt arrives unframed and deserves framing, so budget for that. A player with strong brand loyalty may be irritated by what got included and what did not.
The one guitar poster worth standing close to.
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Guitar Jack Rack Key Holder
Why it’s hereA wall plate made to look like an amp input panel, with keychains shaped like guitar jacks that plug into it. It is the best executed version of this joke, officially licensed, and it lives by a front door getting used every day rather than being admired once and forgotten.
Skip it ifIt needs mounting by the door, which is a small job but still a job. The keychains are the fun part and there are only so many keys in a household.
Plugging your keys in on the way out.
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Guitar Shaped Bottle Opener
Why it’s hereCheap, specific, and the sort of thing that ends up in a kitchen drawer being used for years without anybody thinking about it. It is the correct gift when you need something small for a guitarist you do not know well, which describes a lot of December shopping. Sits happily with our funny gifts for men picks.
Skip it ifIt is a novelty item, so it will feel thin as a standalone present for anyone close to you. Wrong gift for a household that does not drink.
The safe small gift for a guitarist you barely know.
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Guitar Shaped Dessert Spoons
Why it’s hereStainless steel teaspoons with guitar handles, which is a properly made object rather than a printed gag. They come out with coffee when there are guests and reliably get commented on, which is the entire job of a themed kitchen item.
Skip it ifShaped handles are awkward to store in a cutlery drawer and are best hand washed. It is decorative first and functional second, which will annoy a practical recipient.
The gag gift that quietly turns out to be good cutlery.
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Guitar Shaped Barbecue Tool Set
Why it’s hereA spatula and fork with guitar-shaped handles, heavy stainless steel rather than the flimsy version, which makes it a real barbecue set that happens to be funny. It suits the guitarist who also does the grilling, and it gets brought out in front of an audience every summer.
Skip it ifTwo pieces is a starter set rather than a full one, so a serious griller will still want tongs. Long shaped handles do not hang neatly on a standard hook.
For the guitarist who also runs the grill.
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The Guitar Father T-Shirt
Why it’s hereThe film reference does the work, and it lands on a specific person: the dad who plays, who has been playing since before the kids arrived, and who gets about forty minutes a week to do it now. Adult sizing, and it gets worn to practice rather than folded away.
Skip it ifSlogan tees are not for everyone and the joke needs the recipient to be a parent for full effect. Novelty sizing runs generous.
For the dad who still plays, in the forty minutes he gets.
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Electric Guitar Crew Socks
Why it’s hereHot Sox make properly good socks that happen to have guitars on them, which is the right way round for this kind of gift. They work under a suit for somebody whose day job has nothing to do with music, which is the quiet pleasure of themed socks. Perfect basket filler alongside our Easter gifts for teens.
Skip it ifOne pair is a small gift and needs company. Patterned cotton socks fade faster than plain ones through repeated washing.
Guitars on your feet in a meeting nobody knows about.
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Music Throwback Party Quiz Game
Why it’s hereA music trivia game built around decades of pop rather than obscure deep cuts, which means the guitarist in the family does not automatically win and everyone stays interested. It is the game that comes out after dinner when everyone has had enough of talking about music theory. Good with our gifts for best friends crowd.
Skip it ifMusic trivia rewards a particular kind of memory and frustrates people who love music but do not retain names and years. It needs a group of four or more to work properly.
Music trivia the guitarist does not automatically win.
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