Best Memorial Day guitar sales 2025: Major discounts and our pick of epic deals on guitars, amps and effects
Explore all the best Memorial Day weekend guitar discounts in one place – make massive savings at Fender, Musician's Friend, Guitar Center and more

Memorial Day weekend is here! The main event happens officially on Monday May 26th, but there are some epic sales live right now that you'll be able to shop through Monday and probably a few days beyond. Myself and the Guitar World deals experts are exhaustively rounding-up all the best sales and discounts - all at retailers we trust - to save you both time and, of course, your hard-earned money.
Memorial Day is usually an ideal time to pick up bargains on everything from smart tech to a new mattress, but in recent years I've seen it grow into a worthwhile shopping events for guitar players too – and the majority of this year's sales do not disappoint. This is your page, then, to find the very best Memorial Day guitar sales in 2025.
My sales pick of the bunch right now is at Guitar Center, where their massive sale promises up to 35% off a range of brands up until May 28th. Our top picks include electric guitars from Fender and Gibson, acoustics from Martin and Yamaha, and guitar amps and effects from Line 6 and EVH. There's more of our GC top picks further down this page.
Over at Fender you can score up to 20% off everything from beginner acoustics to high-end Strats. They were the first to drop their Memorial Day sale and the sale comes fully loaded with over 130 discounted items.
Elsewhere, Musician's Friend is offering the biggest discount of the year so far, with up to 50% off a huge range of big-name brands, including Fender, Gibson and Martin. There's also a coupon code for further discounts – add MEMDAY at checkout to receive 10% off qualifying orders between $49 and $98.99 and 15% off orders over $99. This sale runs through May 28.
Is there anywhere to avoid, I hear you ask? Well yes, actually. Amazon has never been the best place to buy guitar gear, save for a few brands, but honestly, if you're only looking for guitar gear this year my tip would be to avoid Amazon altogether as there's barely anything cooking (although this is an amazing Sony headphones deal if you're on the lookout for a new pair of cans).
Keep scrolling for more of the Guitar World team's biggest Memorial Day deal tips.
Memorial Day guitar sales: Quick links
These are the Memorial Day weekend sales to shop right now:
- Amazon: Shop all deals, up to 35% off
- Fender: 20% off Strats, Teles, P bass
- Guitar Center: Up to 35% off Memorial Day sale
- Guitar Tricks: Get 1 month of lessons for just $1
- IK Multimedia: Up to 67% off Tonex
- Musician's Friend: 50% off Gibson, Martin
- Native Instruments: Huge Summer Of Sound sale
- Positive Grid: Spark 40 for only $249
- Reverb: Up to 66% off new, used, & B-stock
- Sweetwater: Up to 50% off guitar pedals
- Waves: Bag 2 plugins for $59.99
Memorial Day guitar sales: Editor's picks
$450 is one of the biggest discounts on an electric guitar available in the MF sale, and it blends classic LP looks with some more modern appointments. A compound radius fretboard provides a flatter profile the further up the neck you move while the weight-relieved body makes it much more comfortable to play standing up. Two Gibson Tradbuckers deliver a classic PAF tone, making this guitar a great way to get a proper LP for less.
Whether you want to simplify your live rig or just get good quality amp tones for your pedalboard when practicing at home, the Neural DSP Nano Cortex is a powerful way to get better guitar tones. This B-stock model has got a nice $80 discount at the official Neural DSP store on Reverb, which makes it a great deal for a relatively new piece of gear. A recent update has made it a lot more powerful too.
Read more: Neural DSP Nano Cortex review
There are few guitars as versatile as a Tele and with a $280 reduction taking this Fender American Performer Telecaster down to just above the $1k mark, you can get a super versatile guitar for a lot less. It features the classic three-saddle ashtray bridge, Yosemite single-coil pickups, classic-gear tuning machines, and jumbo frets for an excellent feel when bending notes. The Greasebucket Tone System lets you use your volume knob without any drop in treble response too, further adding to this incredibly versatile guitar.
The Martin Special D is, in our opinion, the perfect mid-range acoustic. The Special D is a limited edition version of the popular D-10 acoustic, which means all solid wood construction, mortis and tenon neck joint, as well as an ebony bridge and fingerboard. With a huge $200 reduction in the Memorial Day sale at Musician's Friend, the price comes down well below the $1k mark, making it exceptional value for money.
At just $99, the Pigtronix Constellator is a brilliant deal at Sweetwater thanks to a huge $80 reduction. It's an analogue delay pedal that delivers a luscious warm wash that belies its budget price point. It's a seriously underrated bit of gear, and we love the modulated tones it can deliver, as well as the mini size that means it's easily able to fit onto any board.
We all love buying new gear, but investing in your actual playing will take you much further. This TrueFire All Access Annual Plan will give you measurable improvements in your guitar playing, and with a huge $150 off, it's amazing value for a year's worth of lessons. With regimented practice, you could see a huge increase in your playing ability thanks to the huge selection of high-quality lessons and professional tutors available on the platform.
Read more: Truefire review
Memorial Day guitar sales: Discounts and coupons
Guitar Center Memorial Day sale: Save up to 35%
Save some serious cash at Guitar Center. Until May 29th, you can save up to 35% on a wide range of guitar gear from big names like Fender, Gibson, Yamaha, Blackstar, and more. So, whether your rig needs an upgrade or you'd just like something new, GC is where it's at this Memorial Day.
Fender Memorial Day sale: Save up to 20%
Grab yourself some awesome deals with up to 20% off guitars, guitar parts and accessories. As well as premium-level American-made guitars, you can also bag a bargain on Made in Mexico Player series instruments too. If you’re not looking to make a big investment over the Memorial Day weekend don’t worry, you can also get some great deals on accessories like guitar straps and some sweet deals on guitar pedals too.
Musician’s Friend: Save up to 50%
With some of the biggest discounts for guitarists we’ve seen so far for Memorial Day, the Musician’s Friend sale is one of the best places to pick up an absolute bargain. Launching days early it was also one of the first to get going, making it a great opportunity to grab yourself some big discounts for Memorial Day weekend.
Sweetwater Memorial Day Pedal & Amp sale: Up to 50% off
With a huge array of pedals and guitar amplifiers discounted for the Memorial Day weekend, there may not be a huge sale at Sweetwater but it’s certainly good for guitarists. We’ve spotted big discounts on well-known pedal brands like Earthquaker Devices, JHS, Walrus Audio, and many more, as well as some huge savings on guitar amps from the likes of Mesa/Boogie, Victory, Ashdown, and others.
Reverb Memorial Day sale: Up to 66% off
With some gigantic savings on new, used, and B-stock gear the Reverb Memorial Day sale is a great place to shop if you’re looking for a bargain. There’s a huge selection of guitars, guitar pedals, amps, and accessories available in the sale, making it the perfect place to shop for guitarists.
Memorial Day guitar sales: Guitars
$450 is one of the biggest discounts on an electric guitar available in the MF sale, and it blends classic LP looks with some more modern appointments. A compound radius fretboard provides a flatter profile the further up the neck you move while the weight-relieved body makes it much more comfortable to play standing up. Two Gibson Tradbuckers deliver a classic PAF tone, making this guitar a great way to get a proper LP for less.
For those after a premium-level instrument, the Fender American Ultra Luxe Strat is an awesome guitar. It’s got a massive $550 off, one of the biggest reductions in the whole sale and offers an upgrade on the already versatile Strat sound with its HSS pickup configuration. The Floyd Rose lets you perform some serious guitar acrobatics, and whether you’re playing hard rock or funk licks it will deliver superb guitar tones.
It's not got the biggest discount, but this Gretsch G5210-P90 was too stunning to overlook this week. At Guitar Center this brilliant budget single cut has got a nice $75 reduction, giving you transparent tones from the dual P90s, and a comfortable thin 'U' profile neck that will handle a range of playing styles with ease.
The Martin Special D is, in our opinion, the perfect mid-range acoustic. The Special D is a limited edition version of the popular D-10 acoustic, which means all solid wood construction, mortis and tenon neck joint, as well as an ebony bridge and fingerboard. With a huge $200 reduction in the Memorial Day sale at Musician's Friend, the price comes down well below the $1k mark, making it exceptional value for money.
With a $100 reduction in the sale, the Fender Player Plus Meteora HH is a great buy for those looking to step up from a beginner instrument. It’s an incredibly cool looking guitar, and surprisingly ergonomic despite looking very different from others in the Fender stable. Two humbuckers help deliver plenty of girthy mid-range guitar tones, whilst the combo of locking tuners and tremolo let you add plenty of personality to your guitar playing.
Okay so it's not cheap by any measure, but this is a stunning, premium-level acoustic guitar that sounds absolutely incredible. It's got a gigantic $1,250 off over at Musician's Friend, which is an absolutely huge discount. The really flat fingerboard makes it comfortable for fingerstyle, and it's got a huge voice that manages to be loud when strumming hard but still delivers balance and clarity.
There are few guitars as versatile as a Tele and with a $280 reduction taking this Fender American Performer Telecaster down to just above the $1k mark, you can get a super versatile guitar for a lot less. It features the classic three-saddle ashtray bridge, Yosemite single-coil pickups, classic-gear tuning machines, and jumbo frets for an excellent feel when bending notes. The Greasebucket Tone System lets you use your volume knob without any drop in treble response too, further adding to this incredibly versatile guitar.
With a massive $340 discount in the Fender Memorial Day sale, this MIA Telecaster is fantastic value for money. The SH pickup configuration offers some unique tones you won't find on many guitars, with a big and warm sound in the neck position while the bridge single coil offers that classic Tele twang and bite.
It’s very much a premium guitar with a premium price tag, but for that, you get an incredibly comfortable playing experience thanks to the forearm rest. The combination of Lutz Spruce and Rosewood makes for a classic tonewood combo that delivers beautifully blooming notes and chords, while Gotoh tuners ensure your tuning is rock solid.
Memorial Day guitar sales: Effects
Whether you want to simplify your live rig or just get good quality amp tones for your pedalboard when practicing at home, the Neural DSP Nano Cortex is a powerful way to get better guitar tones. This B-stock model has got a nice $80 discount at the official Neural DSP store on Reverb, which makes it a great deal for a relatively new piece of gear. A recent update has made it a lot more powerful too.
Read more: Neural DSP Nano Cortex review
At just $99, the Pigtronix Constellator is a brilliant deal at Sweetwater thanks to a huge $80 reduction. It's an analogue delay pedal that delivers a luscious warm wash that belies its budget price point. It's a seriously underrated bit of gear, and we love the modulated tones it can deliver, as well as the mini size that means it's easily able to fit onto any board.
If you're looking for a good quality low gain overdrive, we think the J. Rockett Blue Note OD is a hugely underrated option. It's got a massive $100 discount at Sweetwater at the moment, so whether you want to use a pedal to push an amp harder, or add something into your gain stack to really deliver some satisfying saturation, the Blue Note OD is an excellent choice.
This gigantic $100 saving makes it a good chunk more than half price. The Moon Pool Tremvelope is a compact stompbox that can play the role of both tremolo and phaser. It can deliver both traditional and more ‘out there’ sounds thanks to its plentiful and usable controls, and we gave it four stars out of five in our Pigtronix Moon Pool review.
Spring reverb is a hard one to get right, but the Catalinbread Topanga is one of my favorites. Arguably one of the finest spring reverb emulations full stop, it captures that splashy sound of an early 60s Fender spring reverb tank brilliantly, even with the dwell setting cranked. It can do subtle sounds and substantial ones equally well, and with a $33 discount in the Sweetwater Memorial Day pedal sale taking the price down to just $186.99, it’s my top pick if you’re after a spring reverb for your ‘board.
If you're looking for a simple but fun fuzz pedal, the Fender Hammertone Fuzz is a great shout. It's got a cool $30 discount in the Memorial Day sale, and is powered by a pair of silicon diodes. It cleans up beautifully with your guitar's volume knob, and has a switchable octave voice for extra top end.
Read more: Fender Hammertone pedals review
The stock of the UAFX amp modeling pedals has never been higher thanks to The Edge admitting he’s been using them during U2’s Las Vegas Sphere residency. There are plenty of ‘Marshall-in-a-box’ type emulations out there, but little doubt the Universal Audio UAFX Lion is one of the best. The $100 reduction in the Sweetwater Memorial Day sale takes the price down to $299, far less than an actual ‘68 Super Lead and well, if it’s good enough for The Edge…
The Walrus Audio Fathom has got a gigantic $100 discount in the Sweetwater Memorial Day pedal sale, which bring the price down to just above the $100 mark. It's superb value for money and as well as the more 'out there' ambient tones it's got very usable plate and hall settings too.
Probably one of our favorite deals we've seen this Memorial Day, a cool $50 off the Line 6 POD Express is sensational value for money if you're looking for a new practice tool. An entire rig in a tiny footprint, jam-packed with quality tones from the HX series, it can work as a travel rig, practice tool, or even for playing live. You can also use it as an audio interface, which for just north of $100 is an absolute steal.
Read more: Line 6 POD Express review
Memorial Day guitar sales: Amps
For just south of the $200 mark, you're getting a hell of a lot of guitar amp with this amazing deal on the Friedman BE MINI 30W. It gives you hot-rodded Marshall tones at usable volumes, and even at full price is affordable for a tube guitar amp head. With $130 off at the Vision Guitar shop on Reverb, it's superb value for an amp that's equally good at home as it is on stage.
Read more: Friedman BE Mini Head review
Memorial Day guitar sales: Accessories
These Fender Tie Dye leather straps will add some serious aesthetics to your favorite instrument, and being leather you can rest assured they will last for years and years. There are three different colorways available that you can match to your guitar’s finish, and they’re nice and wide to ensure you stay comfortable when playing.
If you already own a Tele but aren’t happy with the sound of the pickups, this Fender Shaw Hot 50s Tele pickup set will give your old guitar a new lease of life. The set currently has a massive $63 reduction at the moment, taking the price down to just above the $100 mark. It’s exceptional value for money for a great-sounding pickup set and can help elevate a Squier Tele or MIM Tele to a whole new level.
Memorial Day guitar sales: Guitar lessons
We all love buying new gear, but investing in your actual playing will take you much further. This TrueFire All Access Annual Plan will give you measurable improvements in your guitar playing, and with a huge $150 off, it's amazing value for a year's worth of lessons. With regimented practice, you could see a huge increase in your playing ability thanks to the huge selection of high-quality lessons and professional tutors available on the platform.
Read more: Truefire review
Guitar Tricks: Get your first month for just $1
Enjoy your first month of Guitar Tricks for a single buck at this link and start improving your playing for less than a cup of coffee. Guitar Tricks features plenty of great content for beginners, but really shines when it comes to intermediate and pro players, with over 11,000 videos across the site.
When is Memorial Day 2025?
Memorial Day always falls on the last Monday in May. The holiday was introduced to honor the men and women of the US military who have died while serving their country.
This year, Memorial Day falls on Monday May 26.
What's on sale?
Traditionally the Memorial Day sales have always been about things like consumer tech (that's headphones, speakers and gaming gear to you and me), mattresses and the like. But over the last few years we've noticed a lot more action in terms of music gear and, specifically, guitars. The usual suspects including Guitar Center, Sweetwater and Musician's Friend, usually drop dedicated sales delivering money off guitars, amps and accessories. Last year we also saw more discounts on recording software, so if you're in the process of setting up a home studio, this could be a great time to upgrade.
We've also seen increasing participation from specific manufacturers, like Positive Grid and Yamaha.
While these offers won't match the Black Friday guitar deals that drop towards the end of each year, if you're in the market for some new gear and can't wait until November, you won't find better guitar bargains outside of Memorial Day.
More great guitar deals
- Best electric guitars: top guitars for all styles, abilities and budgets
- Best acoustic guitars: for beginner guitarists to pros
- Best guitar amps: tube, solid state and modeling amps
- Best beginner electric guitars: ace electrics for beginners
- Best acoustic guitars for beginners: easy strummers for new players
- Beginner guitar gear essentials and accessories
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I'm Guitar World's eCommerce Editor. In addition to testing the latest music gear, it's my job to manage the 200+ buyer's guides on the site and help guitarists find the right gear and the best prices for them. I've been a guitar player for 30 years and a drummer for almost 20. I've worked in the music gear industry for 20 years, including 7 years as Editor of the UK's best-selling drum magazine Rhythm, and 5 years as a freelance music writer, during which time I worked with the world's biggest instrument brands including Boss, Laney and Roland.
- Matt McCrackenJunior Deals Writer
- Daryl RobertsonSenior Deals Writer
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