At Making Music we think that gifts for musicians should be something special that you wouldn’t ordinarily buy for yourself. Here are a few music-related Holiday gift ideas that have a touch of something special.
SRH940 Headphones
Designed with professional audio engineers in mind, SRH940 Headphones from Shure deliver accurate response across the entire audio spectrum for smooth high-end extension with tight bass. The collapsible, lightweight design with premium padded headband offers superior comfort and portability. Two included detachable cables (straight and coiled) and a replacement set of velour ear pads ensure a long product life. They come with a hard zippered travel case and threaded quarter-inch gold-plated adapter.
MSRP: $299 www.shure.com
Artistic Picks
You probably wouldn’t ordinarily consider giving guitar pics, but these individually sculpted glass guitar pics are beautiful and unique both in terms of the how they look and the sound they produce.
MSRP: $20 www.rosemaryglass.com
Nano Bass Big Muff
The Nano Bass Big Muff adds distortion and sustain in a tiny pedalboard-friendly configuration. Its sound is rooted in the legendary Big Muff thickening low-end growl that can be seasoned to taste from a little grit to an over-the-top wall of bass fuzz. The Nano Bass Big Muff has a traditional control layout of volume, sustain, and tone. Volume sets the effect output, while sustain controls the amount of distortion. It comes equipped with a nine-volt battery and can be powered by an optional standard 9.6-volt/DC200mA AC adapter.
MSRP: $106 www.ehx.com
The Archon 50
Last year PRS Guitars introduced a 100-watt monster hig- gain amp head with bone-crushing crunch. This year’s Archon 50 continues that tradition in a tight package suitable for all genres and all spaces, no matter how big or small. With 50 watts, switchable to 25, via the amp’s back panel, the Archon 50 breaks up at a lower volume, resulting in a more classically driven tone than its predecessor. The option of 6L6 tubes (offering versatility and warm, more balanced tone across the full range of frequencies) or EL34 tubes (for focused, tight, punchy gain) allows players to personalize the tone and feel.
MSRP: $1,649 www.prsguitars.com
Casio CTK-2400
The Casio CTK-2400 61-key portable keyboard creates a true sound experience at an affordable price. It comes with 400 keyboard voices and 150 rhythms. Features like the built-in microphone and step-up learning system help to introduce beginners to the world of making music and sampling. USB MIDI connectivity means it is both Windows and Mac compatible, and can be used as an iPad controller. CTK-2400 comes with an AC Adapter, or it can be powered with six AA batteries.
MSRP: $169 www.casio.com
Treasure Book
Every musician is influenced by someone. Pick up a collectible book teeming with trivia about your favorite musical hero. The Bowie Treasures boxed book set, by Mike Evans, includes the David Bowie story, posters, memorabilia, amazing photographs, and other archive documents.
MSRP: $45 www.carltonbooks.co.uk
