Guitar World deals of the week: get an ESP LTD for nearly half price, save $390 on a Fender Strat, plus some sweet savings on accessories from the Amazon Spring Sale

An ESP LTD electric guitar on a red background
(Image credit: ESP)
This week's best sales

  1. Amazon Spring Sale:
    Save big on accessories
  2. Musician's Friend:
    Massive Guitar Fest sale
  3. Thomann (UK/EU):
    Up to 60% off gear

It's that time of the week again, and your one-stop shop to save big on guitar gear is back with a generous serving of deals this week. Whether you're spring cleaning your collection and need to top up on accessories, or you want to go the whole hog and buy a brand new guitar, there's loads of discount gear on offer this week.

There's a much better sale than Amazon's if you want guitars, pedals, and amps, with 25,000 bits of gear discounted at Musician's Friend. I've covered this sale quite a bit over the past few weeks, but it remains the best place to pick up a deal on an instrument right now.

It's pretty limited in terms of product choice, but Positive Grid has a nice 15% off Spark Neo and Spark Neo Core at the moment. They're one of the easiest ways to practice your guitar quietly, so well worth checking out if you're looking for an alternative to your practice amp.

Finally, for our UK and EU readers, the Thomann Spring Sale has up to 60% off gear and is still in full flow. It's undoubtedly the best place to pick up a deal on that side of the Atlantic. There are massive savings on huge brands like Fender, Gibson, Universal Audio, and plenty more, so well worth a browse if you're in the hunt for a gear bargain.

As usual, I've picked out a selection of the very best deals on guitar gear I've seen this week. I also send out a weekly email with the biggest and best savings on guitar gear, so be sure to sign up for The Pick: Deals to make sure you don't miss out on any discounts.

My top deals

ESP LTD Deluxe MH-1000 EverTune
Deal of the Week
Save 43% ($600)
ESP LTD Deluxe MH-1000 EverTune: was $1,399 now $799 at Sweetwater

Why I ❤️ this deal: It's a top-of-the-range electric guitar that's nearly half price, an absolute steal.

I was unsure what to think when I first played a guitar with an EverTune bridge, but within about five minutes, I was instantly converted. It's quite an unnerving thing to have your guitar perfectly in tune and intonated no matter where you play on the neck or how hard you press the strings, so if you're into being as precise as possible with your playing, this ESP LTD Deluxe MH-1000 EverTune has got a gigantic $600 reduction at Sweetwater. Bargain.

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Universal Audio Enigmatic 82 Overdrive Special
Tried and Tested
Save 13% ($50)
Universal Audio Enigmatic 82 Overdrive Special: was $399 now $349 at Guitar Center

Probably the closest most of us will ever get to playing a Dumble, the Universal Audio Enigmatic 82 Overdrive Special has got a nice $50 reduction at Guitar Center at the moment. Modeled using a selection of actual, and incredibly rare, Dumble amps, not only can you use classic amp tones, but you can customize your own unique amp via the app. In my Universal Audio Enigmatic review, I gave it four and a half stars out of five, praising the smooth overdrive sounds and excellent clean channel.

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Ernie Ball Regular Slinky 4-Pack
Bargain Buy
Save 19% ($5)
Ernie Ball Regular Slinky 4-Pack: was $26.99 now $21.99 at Amazon

If there’s one thing you’re always going to need more of, it’s electric guitar strings. Whether you’re stocking up for upcoming shows or you want to spring clean your guitar collection and outfit multiple instruments with a fresh set, this deal on Ernie Ball Regular Slinky’s is the one to go for. Reduced by 19%, you’re getting each pack for $5.49, which quickly adds up to a killer saving when you start buying multiple items. The deal is only available on the Regular Slinky and Super Slinky 4-packs.

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Fender 70th Anniversary Vintera II Stratocaster
Editor approved
Save 30% ($390)
Fender 70th Anniversary Vintera II Stratocaster: was $1,299.99 now $909.99 at Musician's Friend

In our Fender Vintera II Antigua Strat review, we gave it a healthy four and a half stars out of five, with our reviewer praising the stability of the hardtail bridge and collection of classic 70s Strat tones. It's got a ginormous $390 off at Musician's Friend, and it's one of the last Vintera II deals I've seen knocking around having covered them over the past few months.

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Line 6 POD Express Black
Amazon Deal
Save 40% ($71.99)
Line 6 POD Express Black: was $179.99 now $108 at Amazon

One for the bass guitarists out there, this Line 6 POD Express Black has got a huge $71.99 off in the Amazon Big Spring Sale. Jam-packed with amps and effects tones, it's ideal for players who are just starting out on the bass, or those who want a simple and cheap practice rig for playing at home with headphones.

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Marshall DSL40CR
B-stock Bargain
Save 35% ($255)
Marshall DSL40CR: was $729.99 now $474.99 at Reverb

A friend of mine plays one of these in his band, and every time I go see them play, I think "I want one of those". Capable of searing overdriven tube tones, as well as a deceptively good clean channel, this B-Stock Marshall DSL40CR is available at the official Marshall store on Reverb with a huge $255 reduction. Worried about buying B-Stock? You needn't be; this amp comes with the full warranty of a brand-new amplifier, so if you want a gig-ready combo, this is an incredibly good deal.

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Mooer Drummer X2
Amazon Deal
Save 20% ($25)
Mooer Drummer X2: was $124.99 now $99.99 at Amazon

There are quite a few Mooer pedals available in the Amazon Spring Sale, but I picked this one out as it does something very different from the others out there. The Mooer Drummer X2 plays real drum samples, offering a pretty realistic-sounding drummer as part of your signal chain. Admittedly, it's better if you can split your signal and put it through a PA speaker or studio monitors, but for jamming in your bedroom and locking in your rhythm chops, it's an excellent addition to your pedalboard for just $99.99.

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Guitar sales to shop

Each week I search all the major retailers and manufacturers for the very best sales for guitar players. Here's a list of what's available and where this week.

Upcoming sales

If you're not ready to shop just yet but are looking to save some cash for an upcoming sale, I've got the insider knowledge on which sales are coming up soon. Here's what you should be saving your money for:

  • Guitar Center Guitar-A-Thon - It's usually around this time of year that we see the arrival of Guitar Center's Guitar-A-Thon. It's pretty much a yearly event at this stage, so I'd be very surprised if we don't see this massive spring sale event once again in 2026.

Top products

Part of my job is looking after all the buying guides here at Guitar World, which gives me a unique oversight as to which products are hot right now. Every week I look at what's getting the most clicks from our buying guides and list the top five products for you here.

Our clever widget sorts them by price and automatically picks up if there's a discount at a particular retailer, doing a lot of the hard work for me! If you're looking to see what other guitarists are interested in and get the cheapest possible price, then this is the place to start your search.

Why trust me?

Guitar World writer Matt McCracken holding a Telecaster guitar

(Image credit: Future/Matt McCracken)

You may be wondering, why should I trust what this random dude on the internet says? Well, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Matt McCracken and I've been playing guitar for well over twenty years. In that time I've gigged all over the UK, recorded in professional studios, bought and sold countless guitars, amps, and pedals, spent 5 years working in music retail for Dawsons Music and Northwest Guitars, and now I handle all things gear for Guitar World.

I am a guitar player first and foremost, and the reason I do this job is that I genuinely love all things gear. When I'm not working my day job, you'll find me in the rehearsal room with my band, helming the desk at my local studio working with other musicians, or writing new songs and testing gear in my home studio.

The main focus of my job is to test and research gear for our buying guides and reviews here, whether it's demoing the latest pedal release with my band, diving into the technical side of audio interfaces, or putting guitar cables head-to-head in group tests to determine which is the best. It gives me a great overview on what gear is out there right now, and unlike a lot of content you find online, I've actually had my hands on the gear I write about.

I'm also responsible for finding the best possible deals on gear for our readers, covering all the major sales events of the year like Memorial Day, Prime Day, Labor Day, and of course, the Black Friday guitar deals. I track prices of all the most popular gear throughout the year, so I know straight away whether or not a saving is the real deal or a dishonest retailer trying to pull the wool over your eyes.

How I choose deals

To determine whether or not a deal is worthy of inclusion in deals of the week it has to pass a few different hurdles. I'll ask myself the following questions about any deal before I decide whether or not to include it:

- Is the product genuinely good value for money?
- Is the discount amount real or has the RRP been inflated?
- Would guitarists benefit from having this particular piece of gear in their rig?
- If I've not had hands on experience with the gear, do I have a recommendation from a fellow staff member or musician?

I have various tools I can use to check prices if I've not been tracking it, like camelcamelcamel which can track the price of a product on Amazon. Generally because I'm looking at this stuff every week, I already have a good overview of what the product should cost.

Shopping tips

1. Consider your music goals - What do you want to achieve with your music over the next 12 months or so? Do you want to gig more? Learn a new instrument? Or finally, record your songs? Now could be the time to invest in gear that helps you fulfil your musical aspirations.

2. Create a wishlist early - The most sensible way to take advantage of any gear deals is to know in advance what you’re looking for. This will make searching much easier, rather than having to trawl through loads of deals you don’t want to find the ones you do, or pondering things you don't need. To help you create your dream shopping list, take the time to explore our expert and up-to-date buying guides and reviews.

3. Work out what you actually need - Check out your favourite brands, see what you need and will genuinely use - don’t waste your cash and fill your basket with stuff that will never truly see any action.

4. Streamline your current gear - Something else you should consider ahead of time is whether you have enough space in your collection for new gear. Could you offload some gear you don't use to make room and generate funds for some new gear?

5. Sign up to mailing lists - In addition to bookmarking this page, we'd recommend signing up to mailing lists of your favourite retailers now to get the jump on the best deals when they do come around.

Over to you

Spotted a deal that I missed? Drop me a line in the comments below and if it's still live I'll drop the best ones deal into next week's Deals of the Week.

Matt McCracken
Junior Deals Writer

Matt is a Junior Deals Writer here at Guitar World. He regularly tests and reviews music gear with a focus on guitars, amps, pedals, modelers, and pretty much anything else guitar-related. Matt worked in music retail for 5 years at Dawsons Music and Northwest Guitars and has written for various music sites including MusicRadar, Guitar Player, Guitar.com, Ultimate Guitar, and Thomann’s t.blog. A regularly gigging guitarist with over 20 years of experience playing live and writing and recording in bands, he's performed everything from jazz to djent, gigging all over the country in more dingy venues than you can shake a drop-tuned guitar at. When not writing articles for Guitar World, you'll find him making a racket with northern noise punks Never Better.

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