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Today, I’m going to talk about something, that I feel needs to be talked about. 10 practical gifts for guitarists. I’m hoping this posts gets spread to the masses, because people should know what to buy for the guitarists in their lives. But, I would like to say this is my opinion, obviously other opinions differ.

It sort of drives me nuts seeing “stocking stuffer” and “holiday gifts” for guitarists… because, as a guitarists, these gifts are generally in the same vain as getting socks. You smile.. and say thanks for the tie that has guitars on it, but really, is that a great gift for that guitarist? Clip on tuner for $5? That’ll come in handy. Basically, it might, but it will most likely get stored in the junk box. I understand the challenge to buy for a guitarist. Items cost hundreds to thousands (for the good stuff), not to mention, you have no idea what that person really wants, etc. To me, the best gifts for guitarists are gifts that they need, but hate to buy. What I’m talking about is utility and supplies and tools. If I got a box of picks in my stocking, I would be stoked (trust me…. way more stoked the guitar tie or clip-on tuner). So I’m compiling a little list of *practical* gifts for the guitarist you know. Some of these items do require a little research to find out what they use, but I’m sure you can think of something clever to get the details.

I would also like to mention, that these are not ordered in anyway. #1 is not the best, just the first one that came to mind.

#1 TC Electronic Polytune Tuner. First make sure this person does not have this tuner. It’s under $100 and is a great tuner. Many guitarists are switching to this tuner in masses. Basically, you can strum all 6 (or 4) strings and see what strings are out of tune (flat or sharp).

#2 Strings. Man, I would love to get strings. I go through them. They’re a necessity and would be a nice gift. Two points required to know before purchasing. Get the correct brand. Guitarists like their brand. Get the correct gauge. Again, guitarist like their gauge. If you have access to practice space, you usually can see the box and wrapper laying around. I would recommend 10 packs. D’Addario sell 10packs, but you might need to buy individual packs or sets of 3. If you can’t determine brand and gauge with 100% certainty, move on. Don’t guess.

#3 Picks. Again, picks are great. I would get a dozen, or a few dozen. This is similar to strings. Brand and gauge is very important. Many guitarists use Dunlop Tortex picks, and you can tell the gauge by the color. If they guitarist is using green, yellow, purple picks, etc… it’s a good chance it’s a Tortex. The labeling on the pick itself usually gets warn off pretty quickly. If you can’t determine brand and gauge with 100% certainty, move on. Don’t guess.

#4 Lava Cable Kit. If the guitarist uses pedals, they might be using a bunch of patch cables to connect them. If the pedals are on a board (pedal board or some type of containment for the pedals), a lava cable kit is a great gift. Basically, the guitarist can custom cut their lava cables to size and really *tighten* up the board with some low capacitance cables. If the guitarist has the pedals on the floor (loose), then I would probably pass on this and/or move to #10

#5 Quality instrument cables. This is another thing people don’t *want* to spend money on and often skimp. When someone skimps, this could be a great opportunity to upgrade. I would look at a 20′ instrument cable… and get one that is good. Spend a little more and that person will thank you for it. What if the musician already is set with good instrument cables? Cables are always a good thing to have spares of. I always pack two extra footers, just in case. Someone is going to forget theirs or you have a failure with yours. Always a good thing to have. ($50-$100 range or $25-$50 range)

#6 Quality Patch Cables. Similar to above. I mentioned Lava Cable Kit, but a few quality patch cables is again a good thing to have as backup. These would be ready-to-go cables. No set up and already sized and ready to go.

#7 Visual Sound One Spot Combo Pack. You might want to do research here as well. If it’s possible to find out how they’re powering their pedals. If they’re powering their pedals solely on batteries, this might be a great pick-up.  Again, something like this is great to have around as well. I’ve been jamming with others and their batteries died, and it’s a good feeling to be able to grab a backup power supply for that dead pedal, and we’re back to the jam.

#8 Custom Tools! Guitarist Tool Kit. I’ve pieced my own together over the years, but this kit is awesome. I was in one band and they would make fun of me that I always had a screwdriver, wire cutters, wrenches, etc…. until when they needed it at a gig. The jokes stopped. This compact kit basically has everything a guitarist would need to repair/tighten on site. Only thing missing.. soldering iron.  Toggle Switch Wrench. This is sorta goofy, but if you own a Les Paul you wish you had it. Basically, this tool allows you to tighten the nut on the toggle switch. Jack Tightener is a tool that allows you to tighten the jack on the guitar.

#9 String Cleaner. A friend of mine actually owns this particular one, and I was thoroughly amazed on how his strings felt. He would apply this after every session, and it really did help them keep their life. Basically, all the gunk/sweat gets on the strings coats them. This tool allows you to easily remove that film. This is great for practices. I would still change strings for recording, live, etc., but jamming by yourself, this is absolutely great!

#10 Pedaltrain. If the guitarist you know has a few loose pedals on the floor, this could be a great gift for them. This allows them to mount their pedals to a platform and makes it quick and easy to transport. Pedaltrain design is fantastic. You’ll need some research here. Make sure they don’t already have one. If that’s not a problem, the next step is to determine what kind to get. You want something that will easily allow for all of their pedals, but have room for a few more down the road. The Pedaltrain PT-2 is a good mid size board. You’ll also need to determine gig bag or ATA hardshell case. If the guitarist tours with the band or travels with gear.. then hardshell is a must.

A few items I excluded. Guitar straps is an example. Straps are often seen on lists, but as for me, straps are very personal. Straps are like buying shoes for someone – style, comfort, etc all come into play. Getting a god awful strap for someone… is awkward.

Help spread the word about this post. This information is a must for wives, girlfriends, in-laws or anyone that is looking for a gift for the guitarist in their lives. We have to do what we can do to stop guitar tie purchases. Stop the madness now!

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Okay.. I’ve now had three emails over the last two days asking me gift ideas for a guitarist they know. As a guitarist, and understanding the difficulties for even me to understand *what* I want, it’s a difficult task for someone not familiar with the gear, or even understand what the guitarist is talking about. But, I do think there are some safe options that will be a winner at Christmas time.

Gift Certificate – The easiest route is to buy a gift certificate for Musician’s Friend or other music store to let the guitarist just buy what they want to buy. No hassles, and no worries about getting the wrong thing. Gift certificates are nice, but sometimes a gift is the way to go though…

Lave Cable Kit – If the guitarist has a pedalboard or a series of pedals, the Lava Cable Cable Kit might be a great present. It’ll upgrade their cables, and they can cut it to fit their needs. To me, as a guitarist, cabling is one of the things I have a hard time budgeting for.. since I can ‘make do’ in the meantime. So this is a great upgrade opportunity for them.

It Might Get Loud – I’ve stated multiple times on this blog, this DVD/Movie is fantastic. I think EVERY guitarist should watch this movie. It’s very inspirational.. and motivational, and really describes the passion that guitarist have. Their love of music.

Pedaltrain Pedalboard – If the guitarist you know has their pedals laying on the floor or duct taped to a piece of plywood, a pedaltrain pedalboard might be a great gift. You might have to see how many pedals they have and get the right size. If they’re a touring/traveling musician, I would recommend getting with the ATA flight case, since that will protect the pedals nicely.

TC Electronics Polytune Tuner – There are so many of my guitarist friends out there that have the older Boss TU-2 tuner (view here for examples of what they look like)…. and they all have or want to upgrade to the new TC Electronics Polytune Tuner.. which is quite slick. Similar to the cable situation, this gets pushed on the backburner, since the TU-2 works fine.. it’s just not as ‘cool’ as the TC Electronics. I think any guitarist would appreciate this tuner.

MXR Carbon Copy Delay – I’m just throwing this out there. This is one of the more popular delay units out there. I see this on many boards, and if the guitarist is into delays.. or might be interested this could be a good unit for them. Likewise, if they already have a different delay, this could be a great second delay addition to the board. Again, I only mention this due to it’s popularity.

Picks – You’ll need to find the guitarist’s pick stash.  Lots of guitarists out there use Dunlop Tortext picks. Easily identifiable by their colors. Colors dictate thickness. If it’s not Dunlop, you should still be able to see the thickness. Buy them a few dozen picks… that’ll make someone happy. Fresh picks.. are nice to have, you always need them. Could be a great stocking stuffer! This is important… make sure you get the right gauge and brand!!!! Picks are very personal for a lot of guitarists out there.

I personally would stay away from books or instructional DVDs. This to me is like getting a pair of wool socks or something. It’s great, but unless the guitarist is really seeking the knowledge.. this will be shelved.

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The following is a guest post by Kevin Ian Common. If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me!

Greetings! In this second installment, I’ll talk about drones and interesting ways to use them in constructing guitar parts. I will also include some tips, tricks, and quick fixes when it comes to improving your tone.

The concept of using drones–also known as pedal tones–involves using one note and building chords around it. This is a common method of composition, particularly in Art Music (what is generally referred to as Classical Music) and songwriters who use pianos. The possibility of ten fingers on a keyboard offer a great amount of lush chords with complex harmonies. Guitarists who exercise a little savvy can achieve the same thing.

The easiest way to build a pedal tone would involve an open string.

We’ll take the lowest string, E. I’ll give you some basic chord charts, then I’ll examine further to show you how the chords work off each other.

From low to high: E A D G B E

Em (ver 1): 0 7 5 X X X     (ver 2): 0 10 9 X X X

These are two versions of Em. Version 1 has The root (E) and 3rd (G). Version 2 has the full harmony with the 5th (B)

Em7: 0 14 12 X X X

The minor 7th (D) makes this chord a minor 7th. There is no 3rd, but you can leave the G string open if you wish. I think it sounds great as-is.

F#m7: 0 9 7 X X X

The minor 7th (E) makes this F#m7.

Am: 0 12 10 X X X

This is a full Am chord with the 5th (E) in the lowest register.

C: 0 15 14 X X X

This is a full C chord with the 3rd (E) in the lowest register.

Dsus2: 0 5 4 X X X

This is D major with the suspended 2nd (E) in the lowest register. You COULD make the argument that it is an Em7add9–root (E) minor 7th (D) 9th (F#), but for the sake of this installment, we’ll take the D name.

Now, take these shapes and perhaps play them in this order:

Em (ver 1) – Dsus2 – F#m7 – Em (ver 2) – C – Em7 – Am – Em (ver 2)

Notice how interesting that sounds? You get a low E droning the entire progression, but you still have a sense of movement in terms of harmony.

To build upon it (those of you with multiple guitars, a bassist, or multi-track capabilities), try this:

1) Take the original progression:

Em (ver 1) – Dsus2 – F#m7 – Em (ver 2) – C – Em7 – Am – Em (ver 2)

2) Now, have a bass play the following notes (changing in the same order as the above progression):

E – D – F# – G – C – B – A – G

The bass follows the progression of the notes you play on the A string. You’ll get interesting harmonies when the notes stray from the droning E.

3) Have a second guitar play these open position chords (once again in the same order as the original progression):

Em – D – F#m – G – C – C/B ( X 2 0 0 1 0) – Am – G

Or, to spice things up, you could do this instead

Emadd9 – Dsus4 – D – G – Cadd9 – Bm – Am – Am7

By keep certain chords static over other moving harmonies, you create a sense of independence between instruments, making it even more interesting.

Moving on, I wanted to talk a little bit about tone. The quest for tone is about as on-going as life itself and also a huge headache as it is totally subjective. Everyone has their own idea of what “ideal tone” is all about. This is merely a set of observations I’ve made in my time in live and local music scenes. Whether or not you decide to try or keep these tips is ultimately up to you. But, like I’ve said before, this column is meant to encourage experimentation. Have fun with it

Most of these tips are either free or inexpensive.

1) Use your neck pickup.

Obviously this one is impossible if you ONLY have a bridge pickup, but take a break and flip it to the neck pickup. Notice how full and well-rounded your tone sounds already? If anything, use combined pickups if you MUST use the bridge pickup (most strats have 5 way switching which offer great tonal possibilities, and even two-pickup models have a both-pickup position).

2) Scoop your mids if you just, but use restraint.

Ever been to a local show where a metal band is playing? How about listening to them do a sound check and remembering the wonderful crunch of their tone? What happens next? Generally what happens is… once the drums kick-in, you lose the guitars. Even Kirk Hammet has preached the glories of the mids Use just a little, and you will go a long way.

3) Roll off the gain.

Rolling off a little gain yields two very important things: 1) A distortion that reacts better to your picking technique, style, dynamics, etc and 2) Gives you way more definition. Great riffs are one thing… being able to hear each note clearly without a wall of gain behind it makes it far more enjoyable.

Granted, there are elements of shoegaze, hard rock, metal and noise that benefit from tons of gain. I kick on extra gain–sometimes I run ALL THREE of my distortions at once!–at times, but more often than not, I use little to mild distortion as my one-size-fits-all starter tone.

4) Use heavier strings.

Most guitarists I know use 9′s. Try 10′s, or even 9.5′s. You will notice a difference, especially in your clean tones. Heavier strings = heavier tone. I used to use 8′s until I tried out a guitar that was strung with 11′s. It sounded massive, and I never looked back. All of my guitars are set-up and strung with 11′s.

Thanks for taking the time to read!

I’m hoping to make this a regular column, so if anyone has suggestions for future columns, please feel free to comment me or contact me. I have some ideas, but who knows what ideas you may have for me!

- Kevin Ian Common

thecommonmenmusicgmailcom

Kevin Ian Common is a multi-instrumentalist who has been involved with live music for a little over a decade. He studied music theory and composition at a local university. He has played guitar, bass, and drums for various bands. He is currently the vocalist/guitarist for The Common Men, a post-punk band from Northern California. You can check them out on Myspace, Facebook, or Twitter. Their main page is on Myspace: www.myspace.com/thecommonmen

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