13 Useful & Unique Gifts for Guitar Players

We scoured the web with a fine-toothed comb and found gifts that anyone passionate about guitar would absolutely love!

Being a guitar player myself, I've either used (or can see myself using) these gifts on a daily basis. 

Let’s get started!

If you’ve never heard of an​ EBow (Electronic/Energy Bow), you have to check out the video below from Phil Keaggy.

It’s an older (grainy) video recorded around ~1987, but I didn’t find a better demo at that skill level.

The EBow is one of the most unique gifts I can think of to give to someone who loves guitar, especially if they’ve never seen one before. And they’ll love it!

It’s an essentially a “bow” (just like violins have bows you draw back and forth), but the main difference is that it's electric and vibrates the strings in place of a guitar pick.

With an EBow, they’ll be able to play sounds like horns and woodwinds with basically an infinite sustain (just like you hear Phil playing in that video above).

If you’re looking for a cool, unique gift they’ll actually use, I’d recommend grabbing an EBow.

Another thing with EBows is, it takes a little bit to get used to and master. They’ll have to practice with it a few times until they get the hang of it, and they might watch a video lesson or two online about how to use one.

In short: It’s something they’ll have to work on mastering, not just a gift that sits around and does nothing. It’ll help them immerse themselves even more into their beloved instrument.

If you feel like this is a great fit for your gift, you can check the current price of the EBow on Amazon. 

An unbelievably useful gift. It’ll let them manufacture picks out of any household items they’ve got laying around.

What exactly is a “pick punch”? Well, imagine a hole punch, but instead of punching a hole it makes a guitar pick shape.

This means that they’ll be able to take literally anything laying around (thin wood sheets, sheet metal, milk jugs, thick plastic, etc.) and punch a pick out of it!

The fun with this gift is, they can always be experimenting with different materials. How does a pick made of “milk jug” compare to the stainless steel sheet metal pick? How are their sounds different?

Another huge benefit is that, if for some reason, they run out of picks or lose their current guitar pick, all they have to do is find something laying around sturdy enough to be a pick, put it through the pick punch, and bam - they’ve just created a brand new guitar pick for themselves.

If you give a pick punch as a gift and explain all of these possibilities to them, it’ll make it that much more special. Especially if they’re the curious type who loves to experiment with things and discover something new. The pick punch is going to encourage them to meld that personality with their favorite instrument.

I also want to mention that even though they can punch anything with the pick punch, you can also buy thick plastic sheets (with a marbled texture) that are designed for punching guitar picks.

This means that whenever they’ll need a regular, actual guitar pick (or if they aren’t up for experimenting with materials that day), they need to take that thick plastic sheet, punch it, and they’ll have a real genuine guitar pick right there.

If this sounds like a deal to you, go ahead and check out the current Pick Punch price on Amazon. 

And if you wanted to buy those plastic sheets, you can check their Amazon price here:

Plastic Sheet Type #1

Plastic Sheet Type #2

You can never underestimate a good guitar strap. As a guitar player, I know that if I get a nice comfortable strap as a gift, I’ll use it at one point or another.

Even though this isn’t some “novel” gift like the EBow or Pick Punch we just talked about, it’s a useful one.

This is the type of gift you might consider combining with a lower-ticket item (we have some more recommendations below that could combine with a strap).

So, if you’re thinking of getting them a good guitar strap, I would check out the KLIQ AirCell Neoprene Strap on Amazon.

It comes in three lengths: Extra Short, Regular, and Long. It’s built to wick away moisture and keep your shoulder comfortable with the Neoprene Padding inside (when you hear Neoprene, think as soft as memory foam).

It’s a gift they’ll use and hopefully love for years to come!

More Guitar Strap Ideas: https://www.mightyexpert.com/best-guitar-straps/

Ask anyone who's been playing guitar for a bit and nearly all of them will tell you the same thing: You can never have enough quality guitar strings!

Let me warn you, though. This can be a tricky purchase.

You have to start by finding out if they have a favorite brand they typically use, and if there’s a certain string gauge thickness they prefer.

It takes a little bit of detective work, but once you’ve found out their favorite strings, buying several packs makes a great gift.

If they’re newer at playing guitar or don’t have any preferred brands quite yet, you’ll be safe going with a reputable brand like Ernie Ball or Elixir Strings.

Here are Acoustic Guitar strings from Elixir Strings on Amazon.  

Here are Acoustic Guitar strings from Ernie Ball on Amazon.  

Here are Electric Guitar strings from Elixir Strings on Amazon.

Here are Electric Guitar strings from Ernie Ball on Amazon.  

A guitar slide is a small cylinder that goes on a guitar player’s fretting hand.

It’s used primarily to play blues, country blues, and similar genres of music.

So, if you know that they’re into the blues and like playing those types of genres (or if you know they’d like to learn!) then a guitar slide could be a good gift addition.

Again, this is a very small item, so I’d recommend pairing it with something else from this list for maximum “gift potential”.

Another thing to be aware of is finger size! I’m recommending the Dunlop 210 Tempered Glass Slide from Amazon, which fits a ring size 11.   

If they have larger fingers, this slide might not fit them. But if they’re hands are more average-sized, a slide can be a great gift addition.

Looper pedals are incredible gifts for any guitarist.

If they don’t currently have one I can say that there’s a very, very high chance they’ll love this as a gift.

If they do have a looper already though, then you can always get them an upgrade by buying an even better loop pedal.  

So what is a loop pedal? It’s a device that records bits of music that the guitar player plays and then loops/plays them on repeat back to you.

This lets the guitarist stack and layer multiple melodies or musical phrases on top of each other, creating an entire song with a single instrument.

It also helps with practicing rhythm, since they’ll practice playing over a recorded phrase until they get the rhythms to sync up.

I wrote a pretty detailed post earlier about the best looper pedals you can buy.

If you’re genuinely interested in gifting a looper, you can learn some more details here:

Top 7 Best Looper Pedals. https://www.mightyexpert.com/best-looper-pedal/ 

A guitar toolkit is going to have everything they need to keep their strings and guitar clean, fit, and all set up.

I recommend getting this Elagon Guitar Care Bundle Toolkit from Amazon.

It has 8 Allen keys, string lubricant, and cleaner stick, cutting pliers, bass and guitar string winder, polish + polish cloth, a nice pouch with a zipper, and finally a string action ruler that’ll help them set up their strings.  

This is an extremely versatile gift for any guitar player, no matter whether they play electric, guitar, or bass.

Everyone needs to maintain their instrument in order for it to last, and they’ll be much more motivated to do so if they have their hands on this toolkit.

So, to sum it up, if you want to give a gift with a lot of utility, this Guitar Care Bundle (Amazon) would be a great pick.

This is the ultimate convenience for anyone who plays and learns songs by reading notes/chords from their phone (which nowadays, is nearly everyone with all the guitar tabs websites and apps out there showing you how to play any song).  

Whoever you gift this to will have their posture changed for the better (if they’ve been doing a lot of neck-bending to see guitar tabs).

Instead of hunching over their phone, laptop, or computer while holding their guitar, they’ll realize how convenient it is to just clip their phone right in front of them on the guitar neck.

And as for the best guitar mount (great quality, reliable), I recommend going with this Stage Ninja Smart Phone Clamp I found on Amazon. 

Why this particular phone holder? Well, it’s because it fits any phone size and has a very sturdy industrial-style clamp (with protective coverings on the end to prevent scratches).

This isn’t the most unique gift, but definitely has a lot of utility. It’ll make their lives easier when it comes to reading tabs/notes/chords, that’s for sure.

Have you ever considered a guitar amp that can be taken with you practically anywhere you go? Take it to work, take it to the park, pack it up for travel to your next destination.

Well, I’ve included it as a great potential gift because a high-quality mini amp will let them jam out wherever they want (and they’ll get some decent sound out of it, too!)

The thing with typical guitar amps is, they’re very bulky, heavy, require a bunch of power cables and cords, etc. In short, it’s a hassle taking them anywhere.

But what if there was a better, extremely portable amp that they could take anywhere?

Well, there is! I found the Blackstar FLY3 Battery Powered Amp (3 Watt) on Amazon, and it had all of the features I’d recommend in a good travel amp.  

It has an optional battery powered mode; you can switch between DC and Battery Power.

To buy a compatible DC power cable, check this DC cable out on Amazon (6.5V, 1.5A min per the mini amp’s specifications). 

To buy the batteries (you need 6 AA batteries for the amp), you can grab them by searching for a brand you like (Amazon).  

Running on battery power means no bulky cables to carry around. If you do want to plug it in though, you can. It just needs a standard DC power cable.

Another great feature is the LINE IN / MP3 jack. With it, they’ll be able to connect to any laptop, tablet, phone, MP3 player, etc., and play along with the music.

There’s also an emulated output & phones jack in the back that can be used with headphones.

Just remember, this guitar amp doesn’t come with any ¼ instrument cables. You’ll have to purchase those separately and add them to the gift package.

For cables, I recommend going with this 10 ft ¼” straight to straight instrument cable that I found on Amazon.  

If you know they’re just starting out with guitar and could use some lessons, why not give the gift of knowledge?

A subscription to a good online lesson platform (like Jamplay or GuitarTricks) could be a good step forward for them. 

Think about it a bit, and if you decide to go for it, there are plenty of lessons for them to dive into!  

If you really want to take your gift to the next level and get something extra special, then these next three suggestions are right in line with those higher-end, “luxury” gifts you can get them.

A Quality Guitar

I know, I know… they probably already have a guitar. But is it a good guitar? Or did they get it for cheap?

If they already have a good guitar and you know it, you should skip over this suggestion.

But if you know for a fact that their guitar could use an upgrading, then they’ll be in for a real treat if you get them one of these:

The Yamaha FG800 (I wrote about this model in detail here)

The Seagull S6 (I wrote about the Seagull S6 and similar acoustic guitars here)

An Electric Guitar (We made a list of excellent electric guitars over here)

If you’re really serious about getting them a guitar as a gift, then I urge you to click the appropriate category above and do some more research. That’s the key here.

Make sure you’re getting them a guitar that they’ll absolutely love!

For those who have been dabbling in studio recording or just trying to record some of their music at home, a quality mic can be a great addition.

The Blue Yeti USB Mic (I personally have one and use it a lot) has incredible sound. It’s great for recording speech and can record music as well with its multiple modes.

I won’t get into too many of the details here, but if you’re looking for a good microphone to give them as a gift, check out the Blue Yeti Mic on Amazon.  

Everyone can use a quality set of headphones.

If they’re someone who likes to practice at midnight with their amp and try not to make much noise or wake the neighbors, then they’ll need a good set of headphones.

For a reliable pair of headphones in the lower-middle end of the pricing spectrum, I would recommend getting the Audio Technica ATH-M50x Pro Studio Monitor Headphones from Amazon. 

They have exceptional sound quality and clarity, which will allows them to hear accurate (and deep) bass responses and a huge frequency range.

If a pair of headphones has been something they’ve been talking about lately (or if you know they’re trying to grab a pair), then this is a gift that won’t go unappreciated.

And that’s that! We’ve gone over all 13 of my best guitar gift recommendations. 

As you might’ve noticed, this isn’t your typical list with boring items like “guitar tuners”, or “guitar miniature figures”, or “guitar snow globes”... 

Yeah, I actually read an article the other day that had all of those listed as “great gifts”!

Let’s not kid ourselves, those aren’t great gifts. Those are the “dust collecting mop-like items” that we mentioned at the beginning of this article.

The ones I listed above are high-quality, and actually useful to someone who plays guitar.

We started with some interesting choices like the EBow and ended up on some “extra” higher-end items that aren’t specifically related to guitar, but still fall in the ballpark of what someone may need.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed the read. 

Good luck with your gift-choosing journey, and take care!