Buying for a guitarist is difficult for one specific reason: most guitar purchases depend on facts about their instrument that you do not have. String gauge depends on their guitar and their fingers. A case depends on the body shape. A strap depends on how they play.
Everything on this page avoids that. It either fits every guitar ever made, or it is a consumable they will use up regardless of what they own.
What makes a gift safe to buy
Safe and unsafe gift categories| Gift | Needs to fit their guitar? | Safe to buy blind? |
|---|
| Clip-on tuner | No — fits any headstock | Yes |
| Picks | No | Yes |
| Wall hanger | No — the yoke pivots | Yes, if they own the wall |
| Care kit | Only if the finish is satin | Mostly — check the finish |
| String winder | No | Yes |
| Strap | No — adjustment covers everyone | Yes |
| Strings | Yes — gauge and type | No |
| Case or gig bag | Yes — body shape | No |
| Capo | Mostly — classical guitars differ | Usually |
The four that are almost never wrong
A clip-on tuner. Works on acoustic, electric, classical, bass, ukulele and violin. If they already have one, the second lives in the other case — nobody has ever been annoyed by a spare tuner. Korg publishes ±1 cent accuracy and about 24 hours of battery for the Pitchclip 2, which is more than most brands in the category will state.
A pick variety pack. Twelve picks in six published thicknesses. Guitarists lose picks continuously and are perpetually curious about gauges they have not tried. There is no wrong guitar for a pick.
A wall hanger. The gift that changes behavior — an instrument within arm's reach gets played daily. String Swing publishes a 15 lb rating, a padded pivoting steel yoke and a lifetime structural warranty, so this outlasts most gifts by a wide margin. The one requirement is a wall with a stud.
A care kit. Nobody buys this for themselves in the first year and everybody needs it. Choose one whose maker publishes which finishes it is safe on — MusicNomad states its polish is safe on all gloss finishes including nitrocellulose and not recommended for satin or matte, which is the one thing you need to check.
0
Facts about their guitar you need to know to buy anything on this page
No model, no body shape, no string gauge. That is the whole selection criterion.
What to avoid unless you know the instrument
- Strings. Gauge is personal, and acoustic, electric and nylon sets are not interchangeable. The wrong set is unusable, not merely disappointing.
- A case or gig bag. Depends entirely on body shape. A dreadnought case does not fit a concert-body acoustic.
- Anything with a brand logo as the main feature. Guitarists have opinions about brands and you are unlikely to know theirs.
- Novelty items. Pick punches, guitar-shaped everything, wall art. They end up in a drawer.
If they have just started
A brand-new player is missing almost everything on the first-guitar checklist, so almost anything from it lands well. The tuner is the highest-value single item, and the pick variety pack is the one they will use most in the first month.
A stand or hanger is the sleeper choice: it is the accessory most likely to change how much they actually play, which is a better gift than anything with a nicer box.
A note on prices
Every price on this site comes from a live feed and is stamped with the date we checked it. Where we hold no verified price, the page says "check price" rather than showing a number we remembered. That matters more than usual when you are working to a budget — an out-of-date figure in a gift guide is how people end up over their limit at the checkout.
What we did not doWe have not played any of this gear. Every guide in this category says it tested twenty tuners; we would rather say plainly that we tested none. What we did instead is on this page in full: published specifications with their sources, the makers' own manuals read rather than paraphrased, and a note wherever a company publishes nothing at all.
