When it comes to giving gifts during the holiday season, it’s the thought that counts. As guitarists, we treasure the novelty gifts our loved ones have given us, like the guitar-shaped spatulas and LEGO sets.

Still, we all want the person we’re buying for to love their gift for what it is, as much as for who it’s from. With that in mind, here are our picks for some can’t-go-wrong gifts for guitarists.

Fresh Guitar Strings

Believe us when we tell you that your guitarist can never have enough strings stashed away. You might need to be a little sneaky to find out their preferred brand and type, or you can get them something new to try out, like our Antiquity Vintage Modern Strings.

We know, it’s always intimidating to get someone something they haven’t tried before, but new guitar strings are a low-risk, high-reward gift. And, they make the perfect stocking stuffer.

Guitar Picks

Most guitarists have a penchant for losing guitar picks (check your dryer), which makes guitar picks a perfect gift for the guitarist in your life.

We offer high-quality celluloid guitar picks in packs of 12, so it’s easy to stock up for your favorite guitarist. These picks come in a range of thicknesses—thin, medium, heavy, and extra heavy—so we’re sure to have a match for your guitarists’ playing style.

Merch From Their Favorite Brand

Most guitar and gear brands have a healthy selection of lifestyle merchandise—from zip-up hoodies to hats and beyond. A simple logo shirt from a brand your guitarist loves is a foolproof way to say, “See, I do pay attention!”

Here are a few of our favorite merch items from our shop:

Camo Trucker Hat

Camo trucker caps never go out of style, and we think ours, which feature a breathable mesh back and adjustable snap closure, are a great gift for any guitarist. We offer our camo trucker hats in three colors: dark, light, and orange for when you need some extra visibility.

Black Winter Shirt and Hoodie

Metal guitarists love two things—sick band logos and our Black Winter humbuckers. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that our Black Winter t-shirt and Black Winter hoodie are two of our most popular merch items among metal players.

Pocket Screwdriver

Guitarists never know when they’re going to need to make a quick adjustment to their instrument, which is why it’s always good to have an extra screwdriver (or three) around. Priced at just $4.99, our Seymour Duncan-branded pocket screwdrivers feature flat and Phillips heads to allow your favorite guitarist to take on most pickup height adjustment screws.

Bobbin Necklace

Maricela “MJ” Juarez, the heart of our custom shop, originally made these bobbin necklaces herself to hand out to artists paying a visit to our Santa Barbara Custom Shop. If necklaces aren’t your thing, these are easy to convert into a keychain, and they come in dozens of colors and two pole piece options—Invader screw heads or bling rhinestones.

Seymour Duncan Pickups

You may have heard the guitarist in your life talk about “tone,” which is the overall sound of their guitar. There are a lot of tools available to shape a guitar’s tone including pedals, amplifiers, and guitar pickups.

A guitar’s pickups are the first thing in its electronic signal chain, and it’s impossible to overstate their importance to tone. If your guitarist isn’t getting the sound they want out of their guitar—or if they’re interested in building their own guitar from parts—guitar pickups would make a great gift.

At Seymour Duncan, we have a ton of options for guitarists looking to upgrade their guitar pickups, and we understand that getting the right set can be a daunting decision. Whether or not your guitarist is already a fan of Seymour Duncan (we’re guessing they are, because they probably sent you this link), you have a few options. Let’s walk you through them!

New Takes on Established Favorites

If your guitarist already has Seymour Duncan pickups in one or more of their guitars, now is the time to find out what they’re already using. If their Duncan-equipped guitar is a favorite, chances are high that they’d love a second set to load into another one of their instruments.

But you don’t have to get them the exact same thing. We offer our most popular sound signatures in different looks, different sizes, and more.

New Cover Options

Many of our sets come with different visual options while retaining the same tone. For example, one of our most popular offerings is our Hot Rodded Humbucker Set, which your loved one might already have.

Traditionally, humbuckers offer a few options, including uncovered black bobbins, chrome covers, and things like that. But we’ve recently released a litany of exciting colors that can help a guitarist showcase their personal style, including Stargazer, Toxic Yellow, and Crimson Red.

These new covers are currently available with our Hot Rodded Humbucker Set, our Nazgûl & Sentient Set, and our Invader Humbucker Set with more to come!

New Rails Series

Colorful covers aren’t for everyone, but that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with getting them a second, completely identical set of pickups. If your guitarist enjoys one of our most popular offerings, like the Hot Rodded Humbucker Set, JB Model, Jazz Model, Nazgûl humbucker, or Sentient humbucker (separately or as a set), they’ll love our new Rails Series.

Our Rails Series pickups retain the essence of the beloved tone of those timeless models, while adding the modern articulation, feel, and look of rails. The guitarist on your gift list will still get the iconic sound of the pickups they love while enjoying especially even string-to-string balance with increased clarity and sustain. The result is perfect for modern high-gain applications, and these look as hot as they sound.

Different Sizes

What if your guitarist loves their Seymour Duncan humbuckers, and wants that sound in another guitar that’s built for single-coil pickups? In the past, adding humbuckers to a single-coil guitar meant performing major surgery on an instrument. Now, it means checking to see if we offer that pickup in a different size, which we often do!

Popular single-coil-sized humbuckers include the JB Jr. Strat, our Little ‘59 Strat, and our Hot Rails Strat. Don’t worry, we have plenty of popular humbuckers sized for Telecasters, too including our brand new Red Devil for Tele.

Choosing Something for Them—With Some Help

Gifting something new takes a little research, but we’re here to help! Even lifelong guitarists can have trouble choosing their next set of pickups, which is why we have tools to guide you on your search for that perfect gift.

First off, we have our Guitar Pickup Finder tool, which helps you choose a pickup set based on questions about the type of guitar, genre preferences, and more. You can also check out our 2022 gift guide, which walks you through the process of picking out pickups for a loved one.

Additionally, we have a wonderful support team that’s always happy to answer your questions. And, on top of all that, we offer a 21-day exchange program, so your guitarist can choose a different set if the first one isn’t quite what they wanted.

Or…you can ask your guitarist if they’ve been eyeing any pickups lately. We know, it’s more fun when it’s a surprise, but you’ll know you’re getting them the perfect set of new pickups if you ask.

Guitar Pedals

Now is a great time to be into guitar pedals. Whether the guitarist in your life prefers to play ripping high-gain tones or lush, delay-drenched soundscapes, we have pedals that can help them accomplish their sonic goals.

Most folks (understandably) know us for our pickups, but we have a lineup of popular pedals that can be found on many pro pedalboards. A few popular models include our Pickup Booster, which helps guitarists increase their guitar signal while offering a few clutch tone-shaping controls.

Our Vapor Trail Deluxe is another favorite. It’s an analog delay that takes advantage of digital controls to retain the warm, analog tone guitarists love while offering more control (and fun tricks) than a traditional analog delay pedal.

If your favorite guitarist loves a little (or a lot) of crunch, our 805 overdrive is a perfect gift. The 805 provides classic overdrive tones your giftee probably already loves, while adding a three-band EQ for unprecedented control. It’s also wildly versatile—the 805 is capable of delivering lyrical bluesy tone one minute, then crushing modern metal crunch the next. No wonder it’s one of our most popular pedals!

Those are just two highlights from our effect pedal collection. Check out our full lineup for more pedals, including our hard rock-inspired Diamondhead Multistage Distortion and Boost, the swirly, dreamy, and spacey Polaron Phase Shifter, our wildly versatile Shape Shifter Stereo Tremolo, and more.

Convenient and Versatile Pedalboard Power Amps

If your guitarist is stocked-up on pedals—or uses a modeler like the Neural DSP Quad Cortex or Fender Tone Master Pro— they might love a pedalboard-sized amp to let them travel light!

Our PowerStage series of amplifiers gives guitarists who use modelers flexibility when playing live.

With more guitarists moving towards modelers, lugging an amp from gig to gig is becoming less common. But there can be issues with not having an amp, as sometimes you need to have a physical sound source on the stage. A common sound source is a guitar cabinet, and cabinets need something called a power amp to push sound.

That’s where our PowerStage pedalboard power amps come into play. With our PowerStage series, performing guitarists have the flexibility to amplify physical cabinets—which they can’t do with just their pedalboard—while also sending a “direct” signal into a mixing board.

Every model in our PowerStage series delivers transparent sound, has an EQ section so you can tune your board or modeler to the room without messing up your settings, and offers a volume control. Check out our PowerStage pedal amps landing page to learn about the different models so you can find the best one for your guitarist.

Hyperswitch

Guitarists love hot-rodding their instruments. Since the electric guitar was invented, players have experimented with different wiring modifications that can help them get unique tones out of their guitars.

If your guitarist is a tinkerer and has a guitar with a five-way blade switch (e.g., a Fender Stratocaster), our HyperSwitch is the perfect gift. HyperSwitch can help them unlock tones previously not achievable without major wiring modifications, and they don’t even have to turn on a soldering iron!

Here’s how it works: the player removes their old five-way switch and installs the HyperSwitch using our solderless connections. Then, they connect the HyperSwitch to its companion mobile app via Bluetooth. It’s that easy. Now, they can design, store, and recall their custom pickup configurations with the easy-to-use app.

Click here to learn more about HyperSwitch, what it can do, and how to get the most out of it.

Happy shopping! Remember, the guitarist in your life will love whatever you end up gifting them, so don’t be afraid to get them something you think they’ll enjoy. After all, you know them best!