The snow falls, we put the decorations and we get ready for the dinners of the coldest but also the most beautiful period of the year, the one where every poor guitarist writes to a bearded gentleman in a red suit asking for a Fender Custom Shop, like myself. . . .
Parents or poor boyfriends who, with the Christmas holidays approaching and giving due weight to the musical passion of their son or partner, decide to have a little thought about it under the tree, but what to give?
Too many are the articles and accessories where these poor gift seekers often go to stumble hopefully and very often they make a hole in the water, so let's see a bit how to please a self-styled guitarist of any level under the tree.
Range up to 50 euros
Accessories - Strap Lock: How to save our guitar with minimal expense, this little tool costs little and saves the life of our instrument by anchoring it to the shoulder strap and eliminating any possibility of it coming off, after seeing my first fall off my back Epiphone the decision was made without hitting and all my guitars currently have this system.
Price: between 15 and 25 euros (It depends on the brand)
Accessories - Picks set Devil Picks : Already previously reviewed in our column, a set of particular picks can be a nice idea for the guitarist looking for new sounds, based on the different materials the yields can be many and moreover they are also very beautiful to look at.
Price: 30 €
Accessories - Crossbody strap: a good padded shoulder strap even if not in leather can be a gift that is not only beautiful to look at (there are now many with graphics bordering on crazy, I have a Dunlop in a limited series with the drawings of a Japanese painting) but also useful for the musician who does many lives and is looking for a nice comfortable one so as not to end up exhausted under the weight of the instrument.
Price: from 15 to 50 euro
Accessories - Cleaning set: Too obvious nowadays but many cleaning products improve the durability of the instrument at any level, for example thelemon oil Dunlop or the fast fret of the GHS allowed me to clean all my guitars for a very long time and with at least a decent expense, there are some sets with different disposable products that make you come out the instrument neat and pinto.
Price: between 15 and 30 euros (if you buy several separately or more disposable)
Bags - Pedal bag: The bag Electroharmonix it was my first ever pedal bag, it can also hold a hd 500 pods and an auxiliary pedal for the volume, paltry price, discreetly padded and fairly well structured, the top to start with.
Price: 30 €
pedals - Pedaling varies: Although I am reluctant to pedal too cheap not so much for the quality but as for the durability of the product, we break a lance in favor of Tc Electronic which has recently released a brand new series of pedals, the Smorgasbord of tones, very cheap that promise a good yield, at least from the videos offered by the house, for about 50 euros I would say that an investment is possible even in the dark for those who want to give themselves a gift, but also a good choice for those who want to give a pedal by spending little.
Price: 50 €
Range up to 100 euros
Accessories - Crossbody strap: Unlike the previous ones we can aspire to shoulder straps of a very different level, we are talking about the non plus ultra in leather finished with metal inserts, high-level straps and padding worthy of the name, the best among these, but also with a decidedly important cost is that by Gibson which, even if it costs a lot of money, is a top-level product that perfectly compensates for the different pinches in the belly that you will give yourself when you spend almost a hundred euros.
Price: from 60 (Buffalo) to 100 euros (Gibson)
pedals - Preamp Pedal: in this price range you can already start buying something more decent, the series of naked men from Dolphin's Sound for example, but also the very famous SD1 o DS1 of Boss they can be an economical and always useful choice, an extra overdrive can only do you good.
pedals - multi-effect: a very welcome gift, which costs little and has many functions is the Line 6 M5, many effects of the well-known Los Angeles house, usable via MIDI, tuner and TrueByPass mode, a bomb at a truly ridiculous price currently for what it offers, the only flaw is the power supply, it tends to buzz if not well powered.
Price: 100 €
Accessories - Cable LinfAudio 4 meters: A professional cable can be very useful in the guitarist's equipment, the guitar cable of the LinfAudio It is a great studio cable especially bright and accurate in transmission, it could be a great gift to find under the tree.
Price: 76/80 euros
Microphones - Microphone for amplifier: Always useful, in an evening or for a recording on the fly, a microphone to be placed near the amplifier remains a great choice that will almost always be appreciated, Shure Sm57 o Sm 58, or even the Sennheiser e609 they are the most used both in studios and live for guitar miking.
Price: 100 €
Price: from 50 (Boss) to 100 euros (Dolphin's)
Pedalboard - Small pedal set: On this price range we can already start talking about the use of a small pedalboard, on this price you can opt for Rockbag or even better the Gator with wooden structure and a respectable bag, like the Pedal tote for example.
Price: from 80 to 100 euros
Range up to 200 euros
Sound cards - Audio card an entry level : For those who want to start in the beautiful world of home recording, a small sound card with a maximum of two or four inputs can be taken home with a fairly decent amount, the first choices are certainly the entry level ranges of Presonus, Roland and Focusrite, which in addition to being of good quality offer bundled software for recording, a good start for anyone.
Price: from 120 to 200 euro
pedals - Modulation or delay pedal : on this band it is possible to range on many pedals and above all of different types, since we have already given some examples for the preamp pedals, this time we pass to the modulations, Dolphin's however it comes to meet us with the modulations of the series Da Vinci built entirely by hand, or even some pedals of Master valve such as millibar, very large mold compressor Universal Audio, otherwise you can move on to something more classic such as ressiue del CE2 and Boss has recently hunted or the beautiful Tc Electronics Chorus crown, regarding i delay you can opt for the instead Tera Echo or the DD7, you are spoiled for choice.
Pedalboard - Large pedal set: In this case it is possible to take home a much more generous size pedal suitcase, which allows you to carry pedals even of a certain size and management systems suitable for the purpose, among the best in addition to the aforementioned Gator and Rockbag we can also add the pedaltrain which are currently the best possible product nowadays.
Price: from 150 to 200 euro
Instruments - For this amount you can already start buying instruments of a discreet invoice, the Cort and Yamaha price list abound with good instruments at a truly ridiculous price for their performance, if you want to give a backup guitar as a gift or you need a tool to try new solutions Lutherie, the Pacifica series models are excellent in this sense.
As you can see, the options abound, and we are still giving some very general guidelines, you can take a cue and leave for an idea.
Antonio Cangiano
