Every year around this time, friends and family of musicians (or fledgling musicians!) are scrambling to find suitable gifts. Black Friday/Cyber Monday (the online version) is approaching, a great time to grab screamin’ deals on those gifts for upcoming December holidays. But what’s the best thing to get for them?
The Gear Gods are here to help! We’ve compiled all our suggestions for the best gifts of 2017 into this, the Gear Gods Holiday gift Guide – we’ve done all the legwork, so you don’t have to do! Any one of these gifts is sure to please, and none of them will break the bank.
We’re living in the age of YouTube. As a musician these days, most of your promotion is done online, and without good quality video, you’ll be left behind. Plus, what’s more fun than making music videos?
We tested out these Kodak Pixpro 4k 360° cameras and found them to be great fun, and a great solution for anyone who needs to shoot high-quality videos to go along with their music. It’s also great for recording the whole band at once for an extremely creative way to get your band online as a virtual reality experience! They shoot in full 4k and can be viewed on VR headsets for an immersive experience, OR you can shoot ultra-wide standard video in 4k for anytime you don’t need 360°.
The ORBIT360 4K is a complete, spherical 360° camera with 2 lenses – no stitching software needed. It can livestream to Facebook and YouTube, kicking your social media promotion game into overdrive. ORBIT360 4K Adventure Pack includes one 360° VR camera, a small tripod, camera carrying case, mini Bluetooth® remote control for even easier control of the camera and other smart parts that make 360° photography and video a snap. It retails for $499.99, and you can grab yours on Amazon to make sure it arrives in time for the holidays!
The SP360 4K VR is a single-lens 360° 4K camera that can be paired with a second one to create full spherical 360° video when stitched together using the free software from Kodak (it’s really easy to do, I tried!). It also shoots just regular flat 4K video extremely well, and the sound is crazy good for a camera this small (you can hear it in our short demo with TWO drumsets at once!). You can have one for $349 on Amazon, or for $599 the Dual Pro Pack like we used will double the fun!
Anyone who’s ever put on a show at any level knows that stage lighting is crucial – and very hard to do on a budget. A band or solo performer playing small venues is very limited when it comes to the lighting available, if there’s anything at all! Or maybe you’re a musician looking to shoot some videos and you want more interesting lighting for your backdrop (see cameras above!)
The StompLight is the first pedal stage lighting solution for performers who want a small, powerful lighting rig that they can control on the fly. It has a ton of different modes, from set-it-and-forget-it solid colors or revolving color wheel to crazy strobes and two modes that respond to the audio you create!
StompLight is available direct from their website for $299, or as a holiday special bundle of one StompLight, one StompLight Pal, 2 power packs, a carrying case, and a mic stand adapter for $599.99. Help your musician light up their performance with this killer gift!
If you’re shopping for a beginner or intermediate guitarist, picking out an entry-level axe can be a bit of a struggle. You want to get your budding rockstar to have an instrument that’s easy to play and looks cool so they’ll be inspired to play every day. The new ML1 from Chapman Guitars fits the bill, and I can personally vouch for their quality, having reviewed their guitars in the past. It’s a great guitar for any genre – it’ll do it all.
A perfect blend of maple and mahogany, the Chapman ML1 Modern is the answer to your every day, multi-genre requirements. Design features such as a lightweight mahogany body, an upper access spoon cut and specially-voiced Chapman Sonorous Zerø pickups really show an attention to detail worthy of even the most discerning of players.
Available in Lunar and Midnight Sky, the ML1 Modern comes complete with a Chapman Deluxe gig bag – apologies to your neighbours and our utmost respect.
If this looks like the perfect present for your guitarist, you can pick one up at the following links and make their holiday for just $399:
Order direct from a California retailer
Order direct from an Indiana retailer
Order direct from a Minnesota retailer
Find an international dealer here
They’re currently pre-orders, but they’re expected to be in very soon.
A volume pedal might seem like the least impressive effect on a pedal board, but really, it’s a gateway to a world of expression. Swells, dynamics, bowed instrument-like performances – all at your feet. Every pedalboard needs one, so you might as well get the best.
Ernie Ball’s 40th Anniversary Volume Pedal is the cream of the volume pedal crop. It’s equipped with a Kevlar (like the bullet-proof vests!) cord that keeps the action consistent and smooth, so it feels like the pedal is part of you. A dedicated tuner pedal output allows you to tune silently, and the black brushed aluminum will make you feel like you’re flying in a CIA helicopter to Expression Town.
Line 6 was the brand at the forefront of innovation for the digital guitar amp revolution, and they are considered the frontrunners of amplifier modeling. Today, they provide a plethora of options for every guitarist’s needs, in the practice room, in the studio, and on the stage.
The Line 6 Spider v 60 is a fully-featured combo amplifier equally at home in any playing scenario. With over 200 amps, cabs, and effects, it’s a one-stop-shop for every sound a guitarist could possibly need. It has a built-in wireless receiver for cable-free jamming, and a full-range speaker system to reproduce not just electric and acoustic guitar sounds, but also any music you want to pump through it to play along with.
You may have heard of Line 6’s flagship amp modeler/effects processor known as the Helix – but did you know there’s a less expensive version with all the same sounds and internal features – the Helix LT? For the guitarist who needs a professional performing and recording solution, the Helix LT does it all – hundreds of amp models and studio-quality effects, cabs, and problem-solving I/O and routing. Any genre, any guitar, any player – the Helix LT is an unmatched tool for music creation.
Pick one up from Sweetwater for $999 with free shipping!
Helix Native, on the other hand, lives inside your computer’s recording software as a plugin and boasts all the exact same sounds and effects as the Helix hardware. At $400, the ability to have the world-class tones of the Helix instantly at your command in a DAW is a steal, and is sure to be an incredible tool for any recording guitar player.
Helix Native can be purchased directly from the Line 6 website and downloaded immediately for $400.
No matter what level your guitarist is at, there’s an amplifier or processor from Line 6 for them.
Orange Amplifiers may be best known as, well, an amplifier company, but they’ve recently branched out into making a line of top-notch effects pedals in the Orange tradition that will knock your proverbial Christmas stockings off.
And if you need something to stuff into that same stocking, the Orange Fur Coat Octave Fuzz pedal is the best way to introduce your guitarist to some classic fuzz tones that can be used for everything from doom metal and classic rock (Hendrix and Gilmour, anyone?) to garage rock and punk. See my review video above for a demo of the wide range of tones available in this crazy cool pedal.
Order one from Amazon today for $155 with free shipping and stuff your favorite guitarist’s stocking!
The world of amplifier modeler/effects processors is dominated by big names with big footprints – and big price tags. But what if you could get comparable sounds and flexibility in a much smaller, cheaper package?
The Atomic Amplifiers Ampli-Firebox is an insane little piece of gear that I discovered at this year’s NAMM show and was SO excited for its release later that I think I was annoying those around me – what a cool little box! A miniature amp modeler/effects processor/cab loader that sounds on par with the big boys – shut up and take my money! It’s got a bunch of great sounding amp models, effects, cab sounds (including the ability to load third party cab IRs!) and options in the smallest package that even makes any sense. Any smaller and we’re just bordering on the absurd. For the size and the price, this is an absolute home run, and every guitarist should have one in their gig bag – so put one in your favorite guitarist’s stocking this year!
You can have the tone of the gods in the palm of your hand for just $299, direct from Atomic.
The post Don’t Know What To Buy Your Musician? The 2017 Gear Gods HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE Is Here For You! appeared first on GearGods.
