Holiday Gifts & Stocking Stuffers for the Guitar (or Bass) Player in Your Life

Musicians are a special breed. Everything they drool over in the *insert generic large music store* catalog is pricey and sometimes out of your realm of understanding. What do you get for the guitar player on your Christmas list?

Sure, you can take the easy way out and default to a gift card, but that's kind of impersonal, if you really want my opinion. Because of this, I've put together a nice guide to buying something your rock star will use and appreciate, all without breaking your bank.

Picks, pick and more picks.

Those are the little plastic things they strum the guitar or bass with. They're cheap, come in tons of colors and sizes and they can never have enough because they lose them... All the time. Poke around and see the thickness your musician prefers and stick to something in that range, or buy a variety of picks.

Strings

They wear out and break and they never have a set when they need one. There are lots of types out there so hint around to see which brand/material your musically inclined loved one prefers. With about $15 spent you've got a great gift they'll use and dig on.

A new gigbag

If your guitar players current gigbag is looking a little... gigged out, you can score a new softshell (it's smooshy, not hard) case for under $30. Some gigbags also come branded (Fender, Gibson, Taylor, Squier and more), so matching the gigbag to the guitar adds a personal touch.

Guitar/Bass care kit

I personally think this one is really cool. There's a Fender branded guitar/bass care kit that comes in around $25 and includes a finish enhancer, haze remover and conditioning polish. It's neat, useful and hard to get wrong.

How about a nice strap?

A new strap for a guitar is another easy, useful and well-received gift. For a basic strap expect to pay as little as $10. For a bit more you can get them in leather, embroidered and even military grade cotton webbing. The styles are virtually endless which actually makes picking one out... kind of fun!

Don't rely on gravity, get a guitar stand

Here's another gift that will cost you as little as $15. If you see guitars leaned against walls, rested on chairs, etc., a guitar stand will be a nifty and practical addition to any place where a guitar or bass calls home. There are stands that will hold one guitar and also some that will hold multiple. Consider this the "one size fits all" gift for guitars.

A guitar tuner

Even the musicians I know that can tune by ear sometimes need a little help if something has really fallen out of tune. Less than $20 will get you a basic tuner with an LCD screen that makes tuning a bass or guitar quick, easy and painless.

Spending a little time and effort in the local guitar shop can really make you look like super girlfriend/boyfriend/fiancé/spouse and chances are they've needed at least 2 things on this list as it is. All these gifts will work with both electric and acoustic guitars as well as electric and acoustic bass guitars.

Go armed with the brand and a good description of the instrument you plan on buying for. You'll walk out of there pleased with yourself, sans gift card.