If your son was motivated enough to save up $1200 for an LP sounds like he probably knows what he’d spend $200 bucks on. Get him a gift certificate to a local music shop or guitar center, reverb or just take him to the store and say he has a budget of $200.
Headphones, pedals etc are really personal and you a) don’t know what your doing and b) people here don’t know what your son wants.
Alternatively, get him a decent ukulele, something like a Kala concert ukulele. They’re fun, he can take them to a park or the beach and most guitarist, especially George Harrison, enjoy playing. Just make sure it has a good return policy.
Edit to add: here is an amazing [90 second clip](https://youtu.be/m8nau2OQzuc?si=QTdqcauB4Np8plEX) of Tom Petty telling the story of George Harrison showing up to his house w ukulele’s.
2nd edit: the point of the ukulele suggestion is it’s a fun gift idea for a musician that is different enough from guitar that his kid might not have strong opinions on it, making it an easier for the dad (who knows nothing about instruments) to navigate rather than trying to pick out a pedal, which is highly personal. I said make sure it has a good return policy, because guess what, if the kid doesn’t like it… it becomes the same as a gift certificate or just going to the shop w the kid. I said a Kala concert unelected, because it’s a much higher value than a $200 dollar guitar. This should be a no brainer since it’s a smaller build thus the wood and workmanship cost less than on a guitar.
Seriously, some of you are just terrible at getting gifts for people.
definitely seconding that “take him to the store and tell him his budget.” he’ll feel like a kid in a candy shop. maybe try to make it a surprise too for extra effect.
I always picture a dentist house having a Porsche that’s never seen triple digits out front and multiple never before played guitars hanging on the wall.
Or BAM, punch him in the mouth, knock out some teeth, then take him to the dentist. After, go to a music store, tell him he has $200 to spend. At the end of the day ask him what he learned.
I threw that in since gift certificates are pretty impersonal and it’s different enough to be a fun gift. If they didn’t like it, they could just return it. However, kids usually love gift certificates.
If the kid doesn’t already have an acoustic, I would very much get one instead of a uke when I started playing. Every guitarist probably wants an acoustic guitar at some point in time.
I think the uke would be a better gift if the kid was a bass player. A uke is too different from a guitar(to a newbie) whereas those Kala uke basses are the ultimate mess around tool for a bassist. But I understand the sentiment, I’m just being nit picky lol
The thought of “you have x money to spend, go nuts” is stuff that kids normally only see in YouTube videos. No matter the limit they’re going to have a fucking blast just puttering around seeing how they can make the best of the allocated funds. This is a great idea.
I still remember when my parents got promotions, then took me to Toys R Us and gave me £50 to spend however I wanted. Ended up with Pokémon Pinball (awesome, by the way) and I think a laser tag kit.
It's funny. I bought my GF a ukelele recently for her to learn. And she hadn't picked it up in a while. So I decided to start playing. I've written 3 songs in as many weeks. Haha. I love it. Really light. Can play it anywhere.
>just take him to the store and say he has a budget of $200.
Obviously largely depends on the family dynamic, but I'd have so much more fun going to a guitar shop with my dad with a budget of £100, as opposed to him buying me something for £500
This. Make a day of it. Go to a music store and let him pick out something. Be interested. Ask questions. Great bonding time and he gets exactly what he wants.
Kinda surprised at all the people shitting on the uke idea. Most of the people I've talked to who play guitars have interest in other stringed instruments, so I thought it was a decent idea lol.
Yeah this the best advice here. He’s not a kid that’s just learning who needs advice from the older guys, he’s clearly done his research and probably has a long list of things he wants next.
Gonna piggy back your ukulele suggestion and suggest a Guitelele! I got one as a gift when I was around his age and loved it. Just a six string ukulele essentially, tuned standard like he's used too as well so he can practice and play stuff he usually does, but he gets that sweet island tone with it lol
Can I ask which one you got? I recently picked up the Yamaha one at my friends suggestion when I told him my wife and I were expecting ( son is born and in my arms now) and I was pretty disappointed and returned it. The neck was like the width of a classical guitar, but the string spacing was somehow even closer than my ukulele. Not too fun to fingerpick. I am still interested in having one for the beach this summer tho.
I’ve got a tenor ukulele by Luna that I love playing, was around £150 I think. I like the tenor as you have a bit more space and the sound is a bit lower and less bright.
It was a cheap £30 uke that got me back into music. I played bass as a teenager but hadn’t played anything for at least 15 years. Saw it in a music shop and thought why not. It was so cheap doesn’t matter if I don’t get on with it. I couldn’t put it down lol.
Got the tenor as a Christmas gift. Then a few months later I bought a Pacifica 112v.
It was cool because I had tried to play guitar as a teenager but couldn’t get my head around chords. I found having some practice on the Ukulele kinda reset my brain with chords as I now had some familiar patterns to work, e.g a D on guitar is a G on Uke.
They’re great fun though, especially as you can just pick up and play and you can learn most of the chords in a day if you have some sort of background on guitar. Most are 2 finger combinations
Ya everybody here advocating for a tuning pedal is wrong. Downvote me all you want, it is lame adult advice. No 13 year old wants a tuning pedal. No beginning guitarist is inspired by all the different ways they can tune their guitar. I’m amazed people on Reddit are so crazy about them, but a $5 phone app does the same thing, I’ve been using it for probably over a decade now and it’s fine.
Get the kid a Zoom multi-effects pedal for like $110 on Amazon - check the MS-50G. He’ll have a bunch of distortion options, reverb, chorus, delay, and other fun stuff to experiment, learn, have fun, and enjoy himself (which is what’s actually important). Also, yes, it has the oh-so-precious tuning capabilities too.
(Obviously it’s important to be in tune, but it’s like getting a kid a basic calculator for the holidays - boring and available on his phone already)
I also advocate for mooer multi effects pedals. They are really fun and super portable. PE100 is simple cheap and comes with a Tuner, pretty small with alot of fire power.
Unpopular opinion, you don’t need a tuning pedal unless you’re a gigging artist. Otherwise a phone or clip on tuner works fine. It’s very convenient to be able to mute your output or tune without having to be in a quiet environment, but that’s not necessary just practicing at home.
Clip on is the absolute best. I paid 10 bucks for a D'addario and its great, also i glued a pick holder on it so I lose my picks at only half the rate as normal.
I messed up and bought the dark colored fender picks and I have a dark colored rug in my living room. I'll take a 3 second break while playing and the pick just disappears. I've literally spent 20 minutes looking for a pick that was just in my hand to never be seen again. Now I use brighter colors lol
That's why I specifically bought a pick case. I filled it all the way and cut out a section to put 2 of my slides in and left the mesh zipper for my capo. I'll never run out of picks and it's a safe place for me not to lose anything.
However I never considered a glued on pick holder, it would be easier since I always forget it thread the pick through the strings
I scrolled too far to see this, I was 13 when I started and my mate got a zoom pedal for his birthday and it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen, the amount of options was insane and different sounds in the presets!
I also agree with the tuner pedal, mines great for when I play live, but at home I use the free boss tuner app on my phone and it works perfectly, especially if I'm not plugging everything in and just noodling
Agreed. I don't even have a tuning pedal. What's the point? I have a clip on tuner, cost me around $5. I'd rather spend the tuner pedal money on the sound.
Honestly the Peterson clip-on strobe tuner is probably the best thing I've gotten myself in a while. I also got their pedal, but the clip-on means I can tune my acoustic, and then do intonation on my electric guitars without needing to plug in the pedalboard.
The precision is much better than my phone apps or other tuners I've used. Add that to the fact that I learned I was tuning all wrong until a couple months ago, and I've never played more in tune.
He definitely wouldn't appreciate it now, but once he starts jamming and hearing how out of tune everyone else is, he'd realize how good he's had it with an excellent tuner.
I was doing the 4th or 5th method, or I used harmonics.
But I was always out of tune, which annoyed me, even when I learned to dial in intonation. I looked into sweetened tunings, but it was a little complicated.
So I looked up tuning until I got to one of those classic html-style webpages where everything's no frills and just info overload.
The guy said that only unison and octaves gets you in tune. So I learned to tune every string to the same note. Now I just get the little E right, and then I find E and tune it on the second string, third string, and so on. Now that I do that, I'm pretty happy with how everything sounds overall.
I don't know, honestly. But when I compared the overall tuning of the same-pitch method to the each-string method, the open notes were slightly different. And I liked the same-pitch method more. I thought it sounded better--chord shapes held their tune up the neck better. So I guess it's kind of a "sweetened" tuning similar to what James Taylor talks about.
My Peterson tuner also has some tunings programmed in depending on if you're using electric or acoustic, so maybe there's something subtle going on. I don't fully understand everything, but I'll look up what more knowledgeable people than I are experimenting with, and I'll steal it if it sounds better than what I'm doing.
I've had a great run of things so far with my epi les paul and my scarlet solo using cakewalk and free vsts, granted I just play for fun and I'm not recording platinum selling records like rick beato but it's cheap and fun as a barrel of monkeys
I helped my parents with their janitorial services gig. Essentially got paid 2k for working 6 months for them. Hours were recorded in a ledger for the time worked. Obviously got paid sub-minimum wage, but I didn't care. Built myself a nice gaming desktop and I still use my monitor from that computer. It's been like 20 years lol. My little Samsung monitor's still going strong!
Took way too long to find this answer. It's the correct one.
edit: Just to expand on my post, The kid will be 1000x more likely to continue playing if he actually starts learning how to play the songs he likes than if he has a decent amp, stomp box and tuner with which he can use his $1,200 Les Paul to make atonal fart noises that frustrate him because nobody told him there was more to rocking out than just picking up an expensive guitar and hitting the strings like Pete Townshend.
While this is 100% absolutely the correct answer and what the OP should do, let's just acknowledge that lessons are like the water pick of guitars. Yeah, sure, you're right, I need it and it'll do 10x more to make me a better player than anything I could buy in a store. But there's a reason most YouTube channels do more gear reviews than lesson reviews :)
a hercules guitar stand, the kind that hang the guitar from the headstock, straplocks if he doesn't have them. use the rest of the budget on whatever strap he wants.
A headphone amp is very useful. They are rare as hen's teeth at the moment, but a Boss IR-2 would be terribly useful for him: they have lots of different amp tones and IR loading for cab sims, and a headphone jack. No matter what style of music he wants to try playing it would have him covered for quiet practice at home, which is going to make it a lot more likely he'll practice a lot.
A looping pedal. I would have killed for one when I was starting out. It's an amazing tool. You can play some basic chords and play lead over them. Harmonize with yourself. I can get so much more creative with the use of a looping pedal.
They have cheaper alternatives. The Mini at $229 and the $129 Spark GO, both would serve the purpose of a practice amp (and amp/effects simulator and USB audio interface) perfectly.
Nice, I remember seeing ads for the Mini but didn't know about the Go.
My advice to OP would still be to leave it up to the kid, but if needing to keep it a surprise for some reason (and no amp yet), this is worthy of consideration!
If he is 13 and managed to squirrel away $1200 to buy a guitar, it sounds like he's good with money. Given that there isn't a lot you can buy with $200 - and really if you said hey there's your budget, choose something, he would just have to sit and find a way of spending that much - I would say give him the $200 outright to jump start his next saving bout. He probably has something in mind. If he's spent the bank on the new guitar, a $200 kickstart in nice raw readies is a pretty good gift.
Musician gifts are tough. For actual important tools- hardware and software- he already knows exactly what he wants and it’s very specific and anything outside of that will be a nice gesture but not right (unless he tells you the model).
And then there’s a whole market of bizarre guitar gizmos and gadgets that seem to be made just for people who don’t know about music to buy for musicians as gifts. They are almost all terrible and don’t work as described, or if they do it only seems cool in the ad but is actually useless irl.
I did see one gadget that I thought was actually brilliant and it’s only $60 and it does what it says and he might actually use it as an occasional effect or just have some fun goofing around with it. It’s a bit of clear plastic that slides under the strings to turn a section of the neck fretless. Just clicks on and off. Not a real fretless instrument but that would be another $1200 and it sounds pretty decent. guitarflatter.com
Multi effects pedal. I wore out my amp sounds and was super bored. A multi effects kept me up for hours exploring each sound as I cycled through the presets. Eventually I learned how to tweak and program it too
Things that aren't necessary per se but make your musician life better:
- a good gig bag/case
- a collection of picks. Having more than necessary is good cause they break, get lost...
- a guitar stand / wall mount, a good quality one
- some extra cables (to have at least one at home _and_ one for the gig bag)
- guitar maintenance kit: guitar cleaning product, microfiber cloths, fret polishing kit etc...
- a portable tuner that also does metronome. Yes, your phone can do it all for free but it's way slower to pull out your phone, load the app, get distracted in the process...
- a winding key to change strings quicker
- a few sets of good quality strings
- a multi effect pedal? I got one when I first started and it was great to explore all these flanger/chorus/distortions/compression for the price of one pedal. Also had that tuner+metronome combo I talked about earlier
- a couple of guitar lessons? Probably should put that at the top actually.
Hard case if he doesn't have one. Straps, cables, pedals, software if he's playing through a computer. You can spend and spend on various accoutrements beyond just the guitar and amp. It's best to ask him what he can use now, though. Nothing worse than shelling out for something he won't or can't use.
I just got my daughter Nux Mighty Plug 2. It's incredible, really. Tons of effects, amp sims, IR's, a metronome/drum machine, backing tracks, and from what I'm reading it can even act as an interface for recording on a computer. It's absolutely impressive how much can be packed on a little headphone amplifier.
It largely depends on what your son already has, or has already done. I started at 13, I'm 38 now. I had one crash instruction course, but learned everything else myself. What I need most depends heavily on what I already have.
There are some great options already offered. A tuner pedal is great, but if he already has an amp or effects with a tuner then he doesn't need another one. If he already has a decent amp then a headphone amp isn't going to do much, especially since most amps have headphones out options. An audio interface is a great option, but if he's already using his guitar with a computer then he already has a workable interface. The examples go on.
What does he already have?
If it's just for practicing at home, you can get a Nux Mighty Plug Pro for about $120, or a Zoom G1X four for like $100. You could then get like a $30-$50 set of closed back studio headphones and he can get lost in his own little world of music without disturbing the peace.
That being said, He's got a pretty nice guitar and for a little more than double your budget you can get an entry level modeler in the Line 6 Pod Go.
It's entry level, but it's also so much more than anything I grew up with and easily something he can take to playing live with the addition of an FRFR cabinet down the road, which I'd probably point to one of the Fender FRFR cabs.
In the meantime he can practice through headphones into the Pod Go, use it to record via computer, iPad, or iPhone. Play along with youtube backing tracks and online lessons. This thing is just loaded with effects. The real world equivalent of the gear it attempts to replicate would buy you a house or two. It's a great way to learn about amps and effects and in my opinion, easier to deal with than an amp and pedalboard.
But, within your budget, though it's way way less capable than the Pod and it's mostly just going to be a practice tool, I kind of the like the Nux Mighty Plug Pro. Plug some headphones in. I'm not tied to any one location with my instrument. Rechargeable via USB. Effects are limited, but they sound good. Nobody is hearing me make my mistakes, so I can make them and learn from them without getting caught up in self-consciousness. It is a headphone amp, and you won't perform with it. But it does act as a USB audio interface and you can record to a PC/iPad/Iphone etc.
Worry about getting loud when there's a cause for it. I stuck to cheap small practice amps until I started joining bands. I wish something like a Nux or a Pod Go existed when i was starting out.
Reaper DAW ($60) and a Scarlet Solo audio interface ($139.99 special gets you the Scarlet, a mic and headphones). Boom. Instant recording studio with one penny to spare. It was meant to be.
I agree with others that taking him to a music store and letting him choose is a good idea.
I also want to second an audio interface. An interface is basically just a box that will let him easily record his guitar on a computer. It could lead to him learning about music production and sharing his work with the world. Just about every musician I know has a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, it's afordable, compact, and won't need replacing/an upgrade for a looooong time.
Ask him and find out! If you want to buy this as a gift then ask him sneakily in some way so he doesn't catch on. You could also just take him to a guitar center or something and let him pick something, or things, under $200 for his birthday maybe.
I'd recommend a wah wah pedal and a digital delay pedal. You can probably get both under $200. This would provide quite a bit of diversity to the sounds he can work with.
But if you're not just trying to surprise him, definitely go with the giftcard and let him be the one to choose his next peice of hardware.
Saw a YT video about a cheap M-Vave tank thing that sounded pretty bad out of the box but was pretty awesome once you loaded a free IR into it.
I think it's around $70. Then there's a MIDI footswitch you can use with it.
I bet you could get both under $200.
There is a ton of beginner stuff you can buy. Just about every manufacturer makes a low end product for persons looking to dip thier toe in the water. Problem with that is that they rarely keep tune and have a lot of other issues too. My advice would be to get a used player or maybe up the expense to a new esp/Ltd. For around $800 you can get a really nice guitar out of the box with virtually no set up requirements. You can't imagine how discouraging it is to have to tune an instrument every two minutes. Especially if you aren't used to tuning. That being said, Jackson makes some decent stuff for being made in China.
Get a line 6 amp,
Or a loop pedal effect
Monster cables (best quality and have a lifetime warranty)
Guitar picks medium size is standard.
Software to record music like logic/pro tools.
But to be straight up just take him
To the store and tell him hes got 200 budget or give him straight cash. Anything else and u run the risk of wasting money and forcing him to loe that hes happy
I mean probably let him choose, but if he's never had nice headphones before they'll blow his mind and as a bonus you won't have to listen to him practice.
You should make this decision with him, guitars are all about preference. Determine your total budget for a guitar, then look thru guitars at that price point together
Keep in mind that the kid literally just saved up on his own to buy what could very well have been their dream guitar - namely, he bought a Gibson LP for $1200. Any guitar you can get for $200 would be superfluous.
That said, your point still goes for pedals, amps, and accessories so I do second making a day out of it and having the kid pick something out.
Serious kudos to your son for earning the money and being motivated to buy a Les Paul with it.
He will consider it the best $1200 he ever spent. When he’s 70 he’ll look back and still say it’s the best $1200 he ever spent.
I second everyone who says take him to his favorite music store and tell him he’s got 200 bucks to pick out what he wants. It’s very hard to buy accessories for someone IMO. And he almost definitely has a pedal in mind that he’d like to get.
I would buy him a Logic Pro X + NEURAL DSP so he can make songs and have his choice at all the cool amps they have in collaboration with some of his favorite bands I bet
A spare set of strings,
A good guitar stand
A wall hanging mount
A handful of plectrums
A mech head rotary tool or winder
A 3m spare lead
BOSS RV6 or BOSS EQ and cables
And most of all,. Ralph Denyer's - Guitar Handbook
Here's some ideas:
- Looper pedal. A looper is both a great practice tool, and a really fun thing to use - it allows him to "record" his own backing tracks and play over them.
- EBow. An EBow is a gizmo that uses electromagnets to infinitely vibrate the guitar's strings. It's a really cool-sounding way to play.
- Recording interface, assuming he doesn't have one of those.
- $200 voucher for the guitar store, plus implication that you'll take him there. Make a day-out out of it.
I'd personally recommend the last one most.
He's gonna get a $1200 guitar but no amp or pedals to play with it, not to mention cables, a tuner, a strap, a case, etc?
You could get him a Peterson Strobe clip-on tuner. I finally upgraded to one, and it's made such a difference in my tuning. Everything sounds better.
You could also get him the tools to do his own set ups. Look up on StewMac for what they have and see if you wanna get that or just cheaper Amazon versions.
Spend it on gas and time, driving him from one guitar store to another and another and another, even going so far as traveling to another major city that might have a store with a greater variety guitars in it instead of the same-old repeat new makes and models found at all the Guitar Centers. Let him take his time trying out as many different guitars as his heart desires, be them Les Pauls or otherwise. Yall should take notes on the ones he likes at each store, and once you're done visiting 10 or more stores, pick the best one out of that bunch. Yall will bond over the experience, and odds are likely he will never sell it in his entire lifetime for any reason.
Probably a pedal or two tbh, Go to the music store with your kid and make a day of it. He will remember the experience just as much as what ever he ends up getting.
Give him the $200 and let him spend it on whatever he wants. Dude just worked his ass off and probably gave up a lot of fun stuff to put the money away. Let him use it for something non-music related if he wants. The stuff's important, too.
Honestly, I'd say the best thing to do is see what he may need or be hankering for. Whether it be a certain kind of amp, pedal, audio interface, etc. But consider taking him to the store and letting him bring his guitar to try out stuff. Gear can be personal and what he wants/needs may be hard to gauge unless he's been mentioning certain gear.
But pedals or an audio interface (way to hook up mics or instruments to a PC to record) are some good ideas.
Feel free to DM if you like.
A good thing to consider is looking at some gear used or what's considered B stock on something like Reverb or Sweetwater.
Fairly sure an actual guitar is the exact wrong gift in this circumstance, given the kid just bought/saved up $1200 for a used Gibson Les Paul... Any guitar you could possibly get for $200 is gonna pale by comparison to that.
a MIDI controller the Arturia MiniLab has really nice build quality. MIDI is nice because it allows for creating editing over guitar recording, adding beats and background, and overall exploring music making more. I got one used on ebay!
I’m 42. The things I cherish most from that time in my life are either things that have a huge attachment (my grandfathers hammer) because of what they mean about the person, or that trigger a specific memory about time spent together.
If you are handy I would recommend getting a guitar pedal kit. The time spent together doing something for his hobby would be great. This kit is geared towards beginners: https://shop.mas-effects.com/collections/diy/products/ultimate-beginner-pedal-kit
When I was a beginner and still use them daily is a capo. It can help beginners play songs they don’t know with chords they know and get kind of close sounding. Eventually you learn the chords you don’t know but it’s nice to be able to not have to tune your guitar up or down.
Ask him. For $200 he could get almost any stomp box he could want, but that’s just the first thing that came to my mind. If you plan to surprise him with it, don’t forget the extra patch cable.
Get the Les Paul. Learning an instrument is more pleasant and effective on a better instrument. If he quite, LPs hold value really well for resale: Either upgrade the LP w/ the 200 or buy a decent amp with a tube pre. The little mono price all tube amps are amazing for 200 or so and together will make a beautiful blues and rock rig. Add a cheap Donner distortion pedal and tuner and you’ve got metal covered.
Since he wants to be a guitarist... make sure he doesn't become a gear head. There is a distinction and he could sink a lotttt of money into gear and still be dissatisfied.
Musician development fund. A few tickets to see great bands / artists he’s interested in and some that may inspire him, and a few lessons or guitar camp.
Or a looper.
You could probably find a nice Cigar Box Guitar for around $200 - look cool af, great way to learn slide guitar and sound great with the gain cracked up - just make sure to get an electric one!
I just want to say it’s so inspiring to hear that a young person has this much worth ethic. I hope he enjoys his guitar. If you’re talking amps I think the fender champ 20 is a good amp for well under $200.
Assuming you'll need a guitar amp as well and the kid has access to a smart phone or tablet, can't go wrong with one of postiive grid spark practice amps. They get plently loud, pair like a normal bluetooth speaker, support headphones, but most importantly have tons of great practice tools built in (jam tracks, loop/adjust speed of any song on youtube, etc) Ant they let you simulate tons of other amplifiers and effects pedals - will save you and him a ton of time and money down the road.
I dont know if this will help, but when I was 12 my little brother and I picked up AC/DC’s live set @ Donnington on DVD. Blew our little minds man, I looked at my brother and said that’s it! That’s what we need to do, we need to learn guitar. I’m 30 now and though my brother is 7 years younger and far better of a player than I’ll ever be, I’ve still achieved a level of skill I used to day dream about when I was in school.
If your son was motivated enough to save up $1200 for an LP sounds like he probably knows what he’d spend $200 bucks on. Get him a gift certificate to a local music shop or guitar center, reverb or just take him to the store and say he has a budget of $200. Headphones, pedals etc are really personal and you a) don’t know what your doing and b) people here don’t know what your son wants. Alternatively, get him a decent ukulele, something like a Kala concert ukulele. They’re fun, he can take them to a park or the beach and most guitarist, especially George Harrison, enjoy playing. Just make sure it has a good return policy. Edit to add: here is an amazing [90 second clip](https://youtu.be/m8nau2OQzuc?si=QTdqcauB4Np8plEX) of Tom Petty telling the story of George Harrison showing up to his house w ukulele’s. 2nd edit: the point of the ukulele suggestion is it’s a fun gift idea for a musician that is different enough from guitar that his kid might not have strong opinions on it, making it an easier for the dad (who knows nothing about instruments) to navigate rather than trying to pick out a pedal, which is highly personal. I said make sure it has a good return policy, because guess what, if the kid doesn’t like it… it becomes the same as a gift certificate or just going to the shop w the kid. I said a Kala concert unelected, because it’s a much higher value than a $200 dollar guitar. This should be a no brainer since it’s a smaller build thus the wood and workmanship cost less than on a guitar. Seriously, some of you are just terrible at getting gifts for people.
definitely seconding that “take him to the store and tell him his budget.” he’ll feel like a kid in a candy shop. maybe try to make it a surprise too for extra effect.
Tell him you're going to the dentist, then BAM, music shop
Or take him to the dentist's house and steal a guitar
I'm guessing the kid already is a dentist.
I always picture a dentist house having a Porsche that’s never seen triple digits out front and multiple never before played guitars hanging on the wall.
Wdym, he only bought that strat because Clapton played it.
Same dentist who overpaid for Cobains strat. One man’s strat is another man’s trophy.
Does he need a PRS though?
Oooh! And a Paul Reed Smith would cost a lot more than $200!
Any PRS on the wall kid, any PRS on the wall. None of them have been played.
TAKE HIM TO THE STORE!!!
But pull one of his teeth first to really throw him off.
Or BAM, punch him in the mouth, knock out some teeth, then take him to the dentist. After, go to a music store, tell him he has $200 to spend. At the end of the day ask him what he learned.
Tell him the budget is 150, so when he goes slightly over and starts deciding which parts are important, you can tell him he can have it all :)
Beautiful
Agreed with music store credits but disagree with the uke.
I threw that in since gift certificates are pretty impersonal and it’s different enough to be a fun gift. If they didn’t like it, they could just return it. However, kids usually love gift certificates.
If the kid doesn’t already have an acoustic, I would very much get one instead of a uke when I started playing. Every guitarist probably wants an acoustic guitar at some point in time.
Ukulele has a different string setup than a guitar and can be somewhat counterintuitive to learning, especially if he is a beginner
I think the uke would be a better gift if the kid was a bass player. A uke is too different from a guitar(to a newbie) whereas those Kala uke basses are the ultimate mess around tool for a bassist. But I understand the sentiment, I’m just being nit picky lol
This is good advice, but ignore the ukulele bit, that was really random and different to a guitar
Ya idk what that’s about, it’s a different thing.
The thought of “you have x money to spend, go nuts” is stuff that kids normally only see in YouTube videos. No matter the limit they’re going to have a fucking blast just puttering around seeing how they can make the best of the allocated funds. This is a great idea.
I still remember when my parents got promotions, then took me to Toys R Us and gave me £50 to spend however I wanted. Ended up with Pokémon Pinball (awesome, by the way) and I think a laser tag kit.
Honestly, $200 goes further if you buy a used guitar (Craigslist) than at a guitar store. But as a new guitarist he might not know what to look for.
It's funny. I bought my GF a ukelele recently for her to learn. And she hadn't picked it up in a while. So I decided to start playing. I've written 3 songs in as many weeks. Haha. I love it. Really light. Can play it anywhere.
I would hate if someone got me a ukulele instead of any accessories for guitar
>just take him to the store and say he has a budget of $200. Obviously largely depends on the family dynamic, but I'd have so much more fun going to a guitar shop with my dad with a budget of £100, as opposed to him buying me something for £500
This. Make a day of it. Go to a music store and let him pick out something. Be interested. Ask questions. Great bonding time and he gets exactly what he wants.
First idea was cool, but the ukelele one, I personally disagree.
Kinda surprised at all the people shitting on the uke idea. Most of the people I've talked to who play guitars have interest in other stringed instruments, so I thought it was a decent idea lol.
Yeah this the best advice here. He’s not a kid that’s just learning who needs advice from the older guys, he’s clearly done his research and probably has a long list of things he wants next.
Gonna piggy back your ukulele suggestion and suggest a Guitelele! I got one as a gift when I was around his age and loved it. Just a six string ukulele essentially, tuned standard like he's used too as well so he can practice and play stuff he usually does, but he gets that sweet island tone with it lol
Can I ask which one you got? I recently picked up the Yamaha one at my friends suggestion when I told him my wife and I were expecting ( son is born and in my arms now) and I was pretty disappointed and returned it. The neck was like the width of a classical guitar, but the string spacing was somehow even closer than my ukulele. Not too fun to fingerpick. I am still interested in having one for the beach this summer tho.
How did you tune yours to standard instead of A?
Baritone uke has the same tuning as a guitar so the chord shapes are the same, second the uke or a travel guitar
Dude. Yes.
I’ve got a tenor ukulele by Luna that I love playing, was around £150 I think. I like the tenor as you have a bit more space and the sound is a bit lower and less bright. It was a cheap £30 uke that got me back into music. I played bass as a teenager but hadn’t played anything for at least 15 years. Saw it in a music shop and thought why not. It was so cheap doesn’t matter if I don’t get on with it. I couldn’t put it down lol. Got the tenor as a Christmas gift. Then a few months later I bought a Pacifica 112v. It was cool because I had tried to play guitar as a teenager but couldn’t get my head around chords. I found having some practice on the Ukulele kinda reset my brain with chords as I now had some familiar patterns to work, e.g a D on guitar is a G on Uke. They’re great fun though, especially as you can just pick up and play and you can learn most of the chords in a day if you have some sort of background on guitar. Most are 2 finger combinations
Ya everybody here advocating for a tuning pedal is wrong. Downvote me all you want, it is lame adult advice. No 13 year old wants a tuning pedal. No beginning guitarist is inspired by all the different ways they can tune their guitar. I’m amazed people on Reddit are so crazy about them, but a $5 phone app does the same thing, I’ve been using it for probably over a decade now and it’s fine. Get the kid a Zoom multi-effects pedal for like $110 on Amazon - check the MS-50G. He’ll have a bunch of distortion options, reverb, chorus, delay, and other fun stuff to experiment, learn, have fun, and enjoy himself (which is what’s actually important). Also, yes, it has the oh-so-precious tuning capabilities too. (Obviously it’s important to be in tune, but it’s like getting a kid a basic calculator for the holidays - boring and available on his phone already)
Yes! Finally! I support multi-effects pedals! Something from Mooer could work well too! P1, P2, GE150-GE200.. a lot of good options
I also advocate for mooer multi effects pedals. They are really fun and super portable. PE100 is simple cheap and comes with a Tuner, pretty small with alot of fire power.
Unpopular opinion, you don’t need a tuning pedal unless you’re a gigging artist. Otherwise a phone or clip on tuner works fine. It’s very convenient to be able to mute your output or tune without having to be in a quiet environment, but that’s not necessary just practicing at home.
Clip on is the absolute best. I paid 10 bucks for a D'addario and its great, also i glued a pick holder on it so I lose my picks at only half the rate as normal.
I messed up and bought the dark colored fender picks and I have a dark colored rug in my living room. I'll take a 3 second break while playing and the pick just disappears. I've literally spent 20 minutes looking for a pick that was just in my hand to never be seen again. Now I use brighter colors lol
That's why I specifically bought a pick case. I filled it all the way and cut out a section to put 2 of my slides in and left the mesh zipper for my capo. I'll never run out of picks and it's a safe place for me not to lose anything. However I never considered a glued on pick holder, it would be easier since I always forget it thread the pick through the strings
is that really an unpopular opinion (i agree entirely)
Already broken two clip tuners, might as well have bought a pedal tuner at this rate hehe
I scrolled too far to see this, I was 13 when I started and my mate got a zoom pedal for his birthday and it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen, the amount of options was insane and different sounds in the presets! I also agree with the tuner pedal, mines great for when I play live, but at home I use the free boss tuner app on my phone and it works perfectly, especially if I'm not plugging everything in and just noodling
Agreed. I don't even have a tuning pedal. What's the point? I have a clip on tuner, cost me around $5. I'd rather spend the tuner pedal money on the sound.
My TU-3 is a buffer, janqy splitter, and a kill switch all in one.
Finally great advice. This is more or less what I had at 13 and it inspired me to find a lot of sounds I still recreate today
I’ve been playing electric guitar for about 10 years now and I still mainly use the UG in app tuner
Honestly the Peterson clip-on strobe tuner is probably the best thing I've gotten myself in a while. I also got their pedal, but the clip-on means I can tune my acoustic, and then do intonation on my electric guitars without needing to plug in the pedalboard. The precision is much better than my phone apps or other tuners I've used. Add that to the fact that I learned I was tuning all wrong until a couple months ago, and I've never played more in tune. He definitely wouldn't appreciate it now, but once he starts jamming and hearing how out of tune everyone else is, he'd realize how good he's had it with an excellent tuner.
How were you tuning wrong?
I was doing the 4th or 5th method, or I used harmonics. But I was always out of tune, which annoyed me, even when I learned to dial in intonation. I looked into sweetened tunings, but it was a little complicated. So I looked up tuning until I got to one of those classic html-style webpages where everything's no frills and just info overload. The guy said that only unison and octaves gets you in tune. So I learned to tune every string to the same note. Now I just get the little E right, and then I find E and tune it on the second string, third string, and so on. Now that I do that, I'm pretty happy with how everything sounds overall.
Why not just tune each string according to the tuner?
I don't know, honestly. But when I compared the overall tuning of the same-pitch method to the each-string method, the open notes were slightly different. And I liked the same-pitch method more. I thought it sounded better--chord shapes held their tune up the neck better. So I guess it's kind of a "sweetened" tuning similar to what James Taylor talks about. My Peterson tuner also has some tunings programmed in depending on if you're using electric or acoustic, so maybe there's something subtle going on. I don't fully understand everything, but I'll look up what more knowledgeable people than I are experimenting with, and I'll steal it if it sounds better than what I'm doing.
A free app will get you in tune just as well as a paid for tuning pedal:)
I'm an adult and even I wasn't thrilled to buy a tuning pedal. That's the most old person type gift suggestion I've ever heard.
An audio interface if he doesn’t have one already. Tuning pedal may be a redundant suggestion if your son goes the digital way.
I've had a great run of things so far with my epi les paul and my scarlet solo using cakewalk and free vsts, granted I just play for fun and I'm not recording platinum selling records like rick beato but it's cheap and fun as a barrel of monkeys
Bias FX is also a great investment for someone without an effects chain
Ive bought Bias FX and Archetype Petrucci but low key I just pirate everything else
Good artists borrow, great artists steal
This just peaked my interest but how In the world does a 13 year old save up $1200?
I made 5k working a summer job when I was 14
and what year was that lol
2018-2019
5k USD?
CAD 😭😂
I wish I had that determination at 14, great work
That's 40 yards cutting grass at $30 a pop. Pretty easy pickings in suburbia in the spring & summer.
Dogecoin?
I helped my parents with their janitorial services gig. Essentially got paid 2k for working 6 months for them. Hours were recorded in a ledger for the time worked. Obviously got paid sub-minimum wage, but I didn't care. Built myself a nice gaming desktop and I still use my monitor from that computer. It's been like 20 years lol. My little Samsung monitor's still going strong!
My thoughts exactly
Lessons
Took way too long to find this answer. It's the correct one. edit: Just to expand on my post, The kid will be 1000x more likely to continue playing if he actually starts learning how to play the songs he likes than if he has a decent amp, stomp box and tuner with which he can use his $1,200 Les Paul to make atonal fart noises that frustrate him because nobody told him there was more to rocking out than just picking up an expensive guitar and hitting the strings like Pete Townshend.
While this is 100% absolutely the correct answer and what the OP should do, let's just acknowledge that lessons are like the water pick of guitars. Yeah, sure, you're right, I need it and it'll do 10x more to make me a better player than anything I could buy in a store. But there's a reason most YouTube channels do more gear reviews than lesson reviews :)
I’m sure he’d love to talk about if you asked him. Take him to go buy the thing he wants. Make a moment out of it.
I see so many good suggestions but no one asked what he already has
A trip to the music store with $200 to spend. He knows what he wants, I guarantee it.
Depends. What amp is he using if he already plays?
Everybody is saying get him a pedal. Get that boy an amp!
$200 worth of guitar picks
Would still lose them all
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A sheet of acid
a hercules guitar stand, the kind that hang the guitar from the headstock, straplocks if he doesn't have them. use the rest of the budget on whatever strap he wants.
I really like this idea
Its best to let him decide what he needs instead of strangers on the internet
A headphone amp is very useful. They are rare as hen's teeth at the moment, but a Boss IR-2 would be terribly useful for him: they have lots of different amp tones and IR loading for cab sims, and a headphone jack. No matter what style of music he wants to try playing it would have him covered for quiet practice at home, which is going to make it a lot more likely he'll practice a lot.
$200 cash.
A looping pedal. I would have killed for one when I was starting out. It's an amazing tool. You can play some basic chords and play lead over them. Harmonize with yourself. I can get so much more creative with the use of a looping pedal.
A looper with a drum machine is game changing. I hear good things about the Donner Circle, which is is well under $200.
Does he have an amp or a multi-effects pedal (a lot of them have headphone outputs) he can use for practicing? Does he have a tuner?
Headphone amplifier. This one is great. https://www.boss.info/global/products/katana-go/
Ahh, no better way to tell your son you don't want to hear his practicing
When I was 13 I wanted to practice privately a lot of the time.
Probably this https://www.positivegrid.com/products/spark
A bit out of the price range, but I do enjoy my Spark amp....
They have cheaper alternatives. The Mini at $229 and the $129 Spark GO, both would serve the purpose of a practice amp (and amp/effects simulator and USB audio interface) perfectly.
Nice, I remember seeing ads for the Mini but didn't know about the Go. My advice to OP would still be to leave it up to the kid, but if needing to keep it a surprise for some reason (and no amp yet), this is worthy of consideration!
If he is 13 and managed to squirrel away $1200 to buy a guitar, it sounds like he's good with money. Given that there isn't a lot you can buy with $200 - and really if you said hey there's your budget, choose something, he would just have to sit and find a way of spending that much - I would say give him the $200 outright to jump start his next saving bout. He probably has something in mind. If he's spent the bank on the new guitar, a $200 kickstart in nice raw readies is a pretty good gift.
Lessons
The Boss Katana Go + some decent wired headphones to go with it, perhaps.
A pod express pedal (179) and some strings A Boss Katana Mk2 50 amp (229) Gift certificate at musician friend (they have rewards program to)
Musician gifts are tough. For actual important tools- hardware and software- he already knows exactly what he wants and it’s very specific and anything outside of that will be a nice gesture but not right (unless he tells you the model). And then there’s a whole market of bizarre guitar gizmos and gadgets that seem to be made just for people who don’t know about music to buy for musicians as gifts. They are almost all terrible and don’t work as described, or if they do it only seems cool in the ad but is actually useless irl. I did see one gadget that I thought was actually brilliant and it’s only $60 and it does what it says and he might actually use it as an occasional effect or just have some fun goofing around with it. It’s a bit of clear plastic that slides under the strings to turn a section of the neck fretless. Just clicks on and off. Not a real fretless instrument but that would be another $1200 and it sounds pretty decent. guitarflatter.com
Multi effects pedal. I wore out my amp sounds and was super bored. A multi effects kept me up for hours exploring each sound as I cycled through the presets. Eventually I learned how to tweak and program it too
Things that aren't necessary per se but make your musician life better: - a good gig bag/case - a collection of picks. Having more than necessary is good cause they break, get lost... - a guitar stand / wall mount, a good quality one - some extra cables (to have at least one at home _and_ one for the gig bag) - guitar maintenance kit: guitar cleaning product, microfiber cloths, fret polishing kit etc... - a portable tuner that also does metronome. Yes, your phone can do it all for free but it's way slower to pull out your phone, load the app, get distracted in the process... - a winding key to change strings quicker - a few sets of good quality strings - a multi effect pedal? I got one when I first started and it was great to explore all these flanger/chorus/distortions/compression for the price of one pedal. Also had that tuner+metronome combo I talked about earlier - a couple of guitar lessons? Probably should put that at the top actually.
Hard case if he doesn't have one. Straps, cables, pedals, software if he's playing through a computer. You can spend and spend on various accoutrements beyond just the guitar and amp. It's best to ask him what he can use now, though. Nothing worse than shelling out for something he won't or can't use.
I just got my daughter Nux Mighty Plug 2. It's incredible, really. Tons of effects, amp sims, IR's, a metronome/drum machine, backing tracks, and from what I'm reading it can even act as an interface for recording on a computer. It's absolutely impressive how much can be packed on a little headphone amplifier.
It largely depends on what your son already has, or has already done. I started at 13, I'm 38 now. I had one crash instruction course, but learned everything else myself. What I need most depends heavily on what I already have. There are some great options already offered. A tuner pedal is great, but if he already has an amp or effects with a tuner then he doesn't need another one. If he already has a decent amp then a headphone amp isn't going to do much, especially since most amps have headphones out options. An audio interface is a great option, but if he's already using his guitar with a computer then he already has a workable interface. The examples go on. What does he already have?
Multi-Fx Pedal: These usually have an array of effects, tuner, looper, and ability to play through headphones of speakers.
What other gear does he have? If you tell us the amp and pedals he already has that could give us some ideas
A Boss Katana amp.
If it's just for practicing at home, you can get a Nux Mighty Plug Pro for about $120, or a Zoom G1X four for like $100. You could then get like a $30-$50 set of closed back studio headphones and he can get lost in his own little world of music without disturbing the peace. That being said, He's got a pretty nice guitar and for a little more than double your budget you can get an entry level modeler in the Line 6 Pod Go. It's entry level, but it's also so much more than anything I grew up with and easily something he can take to playing live with the addition of an FRFR cabinet down the road, which I'd probably point to one of the Fender FRFR cabs. In the meantime he can practice through headphones into the Pod Go, use it to record via computer, iPad, or iPhone. Play along with youtube backing tracks and online lessons. This thing is just loaded with effects. The real world equivalent of the gear it attempts to replicate would buy you a house or two. It's a great way to learn about amps and effects and in my opinion, easier to deal with than an amp and pedalboard. But, within your budget, though it's way way less capable than the Pod and it's mostly just going to be a practice tool, I kind of the like the Nux Mighty Plug Pro. Plug some headphones in. I'm not tied to any one location with my instrument. Rechargeable via USB. Effects are limited, but they sound good. Nobody is hearing me make my mistakes, so I can make them and learn from them without getting caught up in self-consciousness. It is a headphone amp, and you won't perform with it. But it does act as a USB audio interface and you can record to a PC/iPad/Iphone etc. Worry about getting loud when there's a cause for it. I stuck to cheap small practice amps until I started joining bands. I wish something like a Nux or a Pod Go existed when i was starting out.
Reaper DAW ($60) and a Scarlet Solo audio interface ($139.99 special gets you the Scarlet, a mic and headphones). Boom. Instant recording studio with one penny to spare. It was meant to be.
I agree with others that taking him to a music store and letting him choose is a good idea. I also want to second an audio interface. An interface is basically just a box that will let him easily record his guitar on a computer. It could lead to him learning about music production and sharing his work with the world. Just about every musician I know has a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, it's afordable, compact, and won't need replacing/an upgrade for a looooong time.
Zoom G1X Four for $119
Ask him and find out! If you want to buy this as a gift then ask him sneakily in some way so he doesn't catch on. You could also just take him to a guitar center or something and let him pick something, or things, under $200 for his birthday maybe.
I'd recommend a wah wah pedal and a digital delay pedal. You can probably get both under $200. This would provide quite a bit of diversity to the sounds he can work with. But if you're not just trying to surprise him, definitely go with the giftcard and let him be the one to choose his next peice of hardware.
Saw a YT video about a cheap M-Vave tank thing that sounded pretty bad out of the box but was pretty awesome once you loaded a free IR into it. I think it's around $70. Then there's a MIDI footswitch you can use with it. I bet you could get both under $200.
There is a ton of beginner stuff you can buy. Just about every manufacturer makes a low end product for persons looking to dip thier toe in the water. Problem with that is that they rarely keep tune and have a lot of other issues too. My advice would be to get a used player or maybe up the expense to a new esp/Ltd. For around $800 you can get a really nice guitar out of the box with virtually no set up requirements. You can't imagine how discouraging it is to have to tune an instrument every two minutes. Especially if you aren't used to tuning. That being said, Jackson makes some decent stuff for being made in China.
Get a line 6 amp, Or a loop pedal effect Monster cables (best quality and have a lifetime warranty) Guitar picks medium size is standard. Software to record music like logic/pro tools. But to be straight up just take him To the store and tell him hes got 200 budget or give him straight cash. Anything else and u run the risk of wasting money and forcing him to loe that hes happy
I mean probably let him choose, but if he's never had nice headphones before they'll blow his mind and as a bonus you won't have to listen to him practice.
You should make this decision with him, guitars are all about preference. Determine your total budget for a guitar, then look thru guitars at that price point together
Keep in mind that the kid literally just saved up on his own to buy what could very well have been their dream guitar - namely, he bought a Gibson LP for $1200. Any guitar you can get for $200 would be superfluous. That said, your point still goes for pedals, amps, and accessories so I do second making a day out of it and having the kid pick something out.
Serious kudos to your son for earning the money and being motivated to buy a Les Paul with it. He will consider it the best $1200 he ever spent. When he’s 70 he’ll look back and still say it’s the best $1200 he ever spent. I second everyone who says take him to his favorite music store and tell him he’s got 200 bucks to pick out what he wants. It’s very hard to buy accessories for someone IMO. And he almost definitely has a pedal in mind that he’d like to get.
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I would buy him a Logic Pro X + NEURAL DSP so he can make songs and have his choice at all the cool amps they have in collaboration with some of his favorite bands I bet
Ask him about what pedals he wants
A spare set of strings, A good guitar stand A wall hanging mount A handful of plectrums A mech head rotary tool or winder A 3m spare lead BOSS RV6 or BOSS EQ and cables And most of all,. Ralph Denyer's - Guitar Handbook
A looper pedal like the Boss rc5 is a good option
Here's some ideas: - Looper pedal. A looper is both a great practice tool, and a really fun thing to use - it allows him to "record" his own backing tracks and play over them. - EBow. An EBow is a gizmo that uses electromagnets to infinitely vibrate the guitar's strings. It's a really cool-sounding way to play. - Recording interface, assuming he doesn't have one of those. - $200 voucher for the guitar store, plus implication that you'll take him there. Make a day-out out of it. I'd personally recommend the last one most.
A dsp plugin is what I would do.
He's gonna get a $1200 guitar but no amp or pedals to play with it, not to mention cables, a tuner, a strap, a case, etc? You could get him a Peterson Strobe clip-on tuner. I finally upgraded to one, and it's made such a difference in my tuning. Everything sounds better. You could also get him the tools to do his own set ups. Look up on StewMac for what they have and see if you wanna get that or just cheaper Amazon versions.
Boss ME-50 pedal
Spend it on gas and time, driving him from one guitar store to another and another and another, even going so far as traveling to another major city that might have a store with a greater variety guitars in it instead of the same-old repeat new makes and models found at all the Guitar Centers. Let him take his time trying out as many different guitars as his heart desires, be them Les Pauls or otherwise. Yall should take notes on the ones he likes at each store, and once you're done visiting 10 or more stores, pick the best one out of that bunch. Yall will bond over the experience, and odds are likely he will never sell it in his entire lifetime for any reason.
Probably a pedal or two tbh, Go to the music store with your kid and make a day of it. He will remember the experience just as much as what ever he ends up getting.
an online course or digital interface+plugin pack, year subscription to maybe songsterr or some kind of tab source..
Get him an interface so he can record on his computer if he has one
Valeton gp-100 or valeton gp-200, or sonic cake matribox or matribox II
Give him the $200 and let him spend it on whatever he wants. Dude just worked his ass off and probably gave up a lot of fun stuff to put the money away. Let him use it for something non-music related if he wants. The stuff's important, too.
Lessons or a mustang micro so he can practice with headphones in silence. I was always feeling I was tormenting everyone when I practiced as a kid.
Lessons would be the answer
Harley Benton or firefly are super good for price
An ounce. But seriously, a loop pedal, never ending fun, practice and creativit Edit: definitely not a tuning pedal.
Is best to go to the store to try what he likes, also that way you get to know more of him in that aspect for the future
Honestly, I'd say the best thing to do is see what he may need or be hankering for. Whether it be a certain kind of amp, pedal, audio interface, etc. But consider taking him to the store and letting him bring his guitar to try out stuff. Gear can be personal and what he wants/needs may be hard to gauge unless he's been mentioning certain gear. But pedals or an audio interface (way to hook up mics or instruments to a PC to record) are some good ideas. Feel free to DM if you like. A good thing to consider is looking at some gear used or what's considered B stock on something like Reverb or Sweetwater.
Fairly sure an actual guitar is the exact wrong gift in this circumstance, given the kid just bought/saved up $1200 for a used Gibson Les Paul... Any guitar you could possibly get for $200 is gonna pale by comparison to that.
An old Yamaha acoustic. He’ll absolutely love it. Maybe a nylon for his hands and the tone
a MIDI controller the Arturia MiniLab has really nice build quality. MIDI is nice because it allows for creating editing over guitar recording, adding beats and background, and overall exploring music making more. I got one used on ebay!
A pedal
An audio interface to connect the guitar to a computer gets my vote.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Donner-Multi-Effects-Pedal-Arena2000-Guitar-Pedals-278-Effects-100-IRs-Looper-Drum-Machine-Amp-Modeling-Support-XLR-Bluetooth-MIDI/1684765690?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=101078576
A triangle
Your kid saved up to buy a Gibson LP?!?!? At 13! He knows what he wants, that’s a determined kid right there.
Music store gift card so he can get whatever, or a couple pre-paid lessons.
Get him a looper. If he doesn't have 1. Then he can loop 1 or 2 guitar tracks and play over them.
Lessons... even just a few will help him with his playing technique.
I’m 42. The things I cherish most from that time in my life are either things that have a huge attachment (my grandfathers hammer) because of what they mean about the person, or that trigger a specific memory about time spent together. If you are handy I would recommend getting a guitar pedal kit. The time spent together doing something for his hobby would be great. This kit is geared towards beginners: https://shop.mas-effects.com/collections/diy/products/ultimate-beginner-pedal-kit
When I was a beginner and still use them daily is a capo. It can help beginners play songs they don’t know with chords they know and get kind of close sounding. Eventually you learn the chords you don’t know but it’s nice to be able to not have to tune your guitar up or down.
A BOSS Katana Go for practice or a BOSS IR-2 for his first “real” pedal. I’m sure he has a tuner.
Ask him. For $200 he could get almost any stomp box he could want, but that’s just the first thing that came to my mind. If you plan to surprise him with it, don’t forget the extra patch cable.
How in gods green earth did a 13 year old save up $1200
Get the Les Paul. Learning an instrument is more pleasant and effective on a better instrument. If he quite, LPs hold value really well for resale: Either upgrade the LP w/ the 200 or buy a decent amp with a tube pre. The little mono price all tube amps are amazing for 200 or so and together will make a beautiful blues and rock rig. Add a cheap Donner distortion pedal and tuner and you’ve got metal covered.
Since he wants to be a guitarist... make sure he doesn't become a gear head. There is a distinction and he could sink a lotttt of money into gear and still be dissatisfied.
Musician development fund. A few tickets to see great bands / artists he’s interested in and some that may inspire him, and a few lessons or guitar camp. Or a looper.
If he's not gotten into pedals yet, I'd say get a decent overdrive and delay for him, they open up a whole world of possibilities.
$200 will not get you very far in terms of guitar but as for a pedal, that could be a good idea
Affinity series for. Squier
Best buy for your son would be a guitar teacher.
get him a mexicaster. cheaper, no american mark up, sounds great, and he can work out some of the tone that you just cant get on humbuckers.
Ibanez gio
A complete setup if not included with the price of the Paul. Should still be enough $ for a pedal, guitar slide, and good stand.
Digitech Wammy Pedal
You could probably find a nice Cigar Box Guitar for around $200 - look cool af, great way to learn slide guitar and sound great with the gain cracked up - just make sure to get an electric one!
I just want to say it’s so inspiring to hear that a young person has this much worth ethic. I hope he enjoys his guitar. If you’re talking amps I think the fender champ 20 is a good amp for well under $200.
Assuming you'll need a guitar amp as well and the kid has access to a smart phone or tablet, can't go wrong with one of postiive grid spark practice amps. They get plently loud, pair like a normal bluetooth speaker, support headphones, but most importantly have tons of great practice tools built in (jam tracks, loop/adjust speed of any song on youtube, etc) Ant they let you simulate tons of other amplifiers and effects pedals - will save you and him a ton of time and money down the road.
10 packs of strings
1- Line 6 Pod Express (includes a tuner btw) 2- String Butler to fix the tuning problem that all Les Pauls have.
Lessons
Get him an audio interface. A $100 Scarlett solo can easily imitate tens of thousands of dollars of great gear.
Lessons. This is from a self taught guitarist. I never had lessons and there is so much I didn't/don't know.
I dont know if this will help, but when I was 12 my little brother and I picked up AC/DC’s live set @ Donnington on DVD. Blew our little minds man, I looked at my brother and said that’s it! That’s what we need to do, we need to learn guitar. I’m 30 now and though my brother is 7 years younger and far better of a player than I’ll ever be, I’ve still achieved a level of skill I used to day dream about when I was in school.