Best Memorial Day guitar sales 2024: today's most epic deals on acoustic and electric guitars, amps, effects and more
Explore all the best Memorial Day guitar savings in one place – massive savings from Guitar Center, Musician's Friend, Sweetwater, Positive Grid and others
Memorial Day is here! Great deals have been bubbling away for a few days now, but if you've not yet had a chance to scope out what's on offer then this is the place for you – our deals experts rounded-up all the best sales and discounts happening today - all at trusted retailers - to save you both time and, most importantly, money.
Memorial Day is usually an ideal time to pick up bargains on everything from noise-cancelling headphones to a new mattress, but there are plenty of worthwhile offers aimed specifically at us guitarists, too. This is your page to find the very best Memorial Day guitar sales in 2024.
Our pick of the bunch right now is the Guitar Center Memorial Day sale which promises big money (up to 35%!) off acoustic guitars, and significant savings on guitar amps, and even electric guitar strings, right through to Wednesday May 29th.
Elsewhere, Musician's Friend is offering up to 40% off a huge range of big-name guitar brands. Or, if you have a particular budget in mind, there's 10% off orders between $49 to $98.99, and 15% off orders of $99 or more. This one also runs through May 29th.
Sweetwater is focusing on your pedalboard for Memorial Day this year, with a massive effects and accessories sale, promising up to 40% off pedals from Walrus Audio, Line 6, Universal Audio and more between now and May 31st, so you have a couple extra days to load up your basket. That said, some models are already selling out, so you'll need to act fast.
Memorial Day guitar sales: Quick links
While not all of these are Memorial Day sales, these represent some of the best offers for guitarists online right now:
- Amazon: Today's top deals on Fender, more
- Fender: 30% off Player, Affinity, more
- Fender Play: 50% off w/code guitarworld50
- 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 Total Studio 4
- Musician's Friend: Up to 40% off Gibson, Martin
- Native Instruments: 50% off Guitar Rig Pro 7
- Positive Grid: Savings on the OG Spark
- Reverb: Like-new, used, and vintage gear
- Sweetwater: Huge Memorial Day pedal sale
- Waves: Bag 3 plugins for 60 bucks
- Yamaha: Shop the huge Spring Sale
Memorial Day guitar sales: Discounts and coupons
Guitar Center Memorial Day: Up to 35% off
These Memorial Day offers are only available until May 29th, so you’ll need to move quickly to take advantage. With up to 35% off electric guitars, bass guitars, effects pedals, studio gear, and more, it’s the perfect time to refresh your gear before the festival season lands.
Musician’s Friend Memorial Day Sale: Up to 40% off
The Musician’s Friend Memorial Day Sale is a big one with up to 40% off a huge selection of gear including loads of great guitars and pedals. Including big brands like Fender, Epiphone, Schecter, Electro-Harmonix, and many more, these savings are only available until May 29th, so you’ll want to move quickly to pick up your bargain of choice.
Fender Memorial Day Sale: Up to 30% off
From Kurt Cobain’s outlandish Jag-Stang to Steve Lacy’s People Pleaser Stratocaster, limited-edition Players, and a plethora of accessories, the Fender Memorial Day sale is full to the brim with exciting products – and all with up to 30% off. This sale runs until 28 May, so you’ll need to be quick if you want to get in on the action.
Reverb Memorial Day sale: Up to 60% off gear
Shop deals on like-new, used, and vintage gear from Boss, Electro-Harmonix, Fender, Gibson, Korg, Moog, PRS Guitars, Roland, Sennheiser, Shure, and more.
Memorial Day guitar sales: Guitars
Squier CV 60s Jazzmaster: $429.99, now $349.99
One of our favorite budget offsets just got even better value thanks to a $80 discount in the Musician's Friend Memorial Day sale. The Squier Classic Vibe 60s Jazzmaster packs all that classic offset vibe into a guitar that doesn't cost the earth. Great for players who love indie or shoegaze style playing.
Fender Player Telecaster: $799.99, now $679.99
One of our personal favorites is the Fender Player Telecaster, seen here in stunning Surf Pearl. Now, don’t let the retro finish fool you. This gorgeous Tele is designed to cover as much sonic ground as possible. And the $120 saving makes this guitar all the sweeter.
Fender Player Strat HSS: $859.99, now $729.99
There's currently $130 off this gorgeous Limited Edition HSS Fender Player Strat in Sienna Sunburst finish at Guitar Center. Thanks to the HSS pickup configuration, this is one versatile electric guitar.
Fender Player Stratocaster: $889.99, now $667.49
This classy blacked-out Player Strat with gold pickguard has a whopping $222 off. That's a 25% saving. Featuring a trio of Custom Shop Fat '50s single-coil Stratocaster pickups, and a modern C-shaped neck profile with a 9.5"-radius fingerboard, this guitar plays and sounds as good as it looks.
Squier Affinity Starcaster: $299.99, now $239.99
This large, gorgeous semi-hollow is ideal for a myriad of styles, but most notably, it is a great way to get a cut-price version of Tom DeLonge’s awesome new signature model without breaking the bank.
Fender CC-60SCE: $349.99, now $199.99
A great beginner acoustic guitar that has got a tasty $150 discount for Memorial Day. Featuring a smaller and more comfortable concert body size it’s great for new players but will also find a spot amongst more advanced players as a nice sofa guitar. The all-mahogany construction provides a lovely warmth of tone, and the cutaway allows you to reach the upper registers.
Martin SC-10E: Was $1,299, now $1,099
If you like your acoustic guitars traditional, look away now. The Martin SC-10E is a futuristic take on the acoustic platform, with its offset body shape, nearly invisible neck heel, and super deep cutaway. Reduced by a hefty $200 in the Guitar Center Memorial Day sale, it's a great chance to own an incredible playing acoustic guitar for just above the $1,000 mark.
Yamaha F335: $189.99, now $149.99
For those who prefer the unplugged lifestyle, there are some great acoustic guitar deals to be had this Memorial Day, starting with the Yamaha F335 now available for just $149 - that's a massive 21% discount - and in three brilliant finishes. Do you want a great beginner acoustic guitar? This is a great one to get started with.
Martin 000-X1AE: $649.99, now $499.99
If you have a little more cash to spend, you can lay your hands on the Martin 000-X1AE acoustic electric guitar right now at Guitar Center with a tasty 23% discount off the full price.
Memorial Day guitar sales: Effects
JHS Double Barrel V4: Was $345, now $276
A combo of two of JHS’ most popular overdrive pedals, the JHS Double Barrel V4 gives you both the Morning Glory V4 and Moonshine V2 in one handy enclosure. The Morning Glory delivers transparent overdrive that’s renowned for tube-esque saturation, while the Moonshine handles Tubescreamer-style overdrive duties, giving you two popular flavors of drive in a single pedal. It’s got a cheeky $69 discount in the sale, excellent value for two pedals in one.
Red Witch Fuzz God IV: Was $239, now $191.20
A less usual choice for the fuzz pedal lovers out there, the Red Witch Fuzz God IV encompasses two different modes that can do everything from subtle breakup to crazed self-oscillating glitch-outs. It’s got a nice $47.80 discount in the Sweetwater Memorial Day pedal sale, and although it can be a little intimidating at first, if you spend some time tweaking you can make some incredible sounds with it.
Ross Compressor: Was $189, now $151.20
Probably the most famous of the recently re-released Ross Pedals lineup, the Ross Compressor has achieved near-legendary status in the world of stompbox-sized compressors. Similar to the MXR Dyna Comp, the Ross Compressor can act as a clean boost, a smooth leveller, or add some proper squash and sustain to your tone. It’s got a nice $37.80 discount in the Sweetwater sale, making it a great choice for the first pedal on your ‘board.
Catalinbread Topanga: Was $209.99, now $167.99
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 $42 discount in the Sweetwater Memorial Day pedal sale taking the price down to just $167.99, it’s my top pick if you’re after a spring reverb for your ‘board.
Universal Audio UAFX Lion: Was $399, now $349
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 $50 reduction in the Sweetwater Memorial Day sale takes the price down to $349, far less than an actual ‘68 Super Lead and well, if it’s good enough for The Edge…
EHX Deluxe Memory Man 550-TT: $297.50, now $197.50
If you’re after an ultra-versatile delay pedal, we spotted this pedal with a huge $100 discount. When paired with an expression pedal it’s a super expressive delay, whether you want short staccato repeats or endlessly oscillating feedback. This is an amazing bucket brigade delay pedal that does things a little differently, offering huge flexibility and a vast array of different sounds.
Catalinbread Belle Epoch: $359.99, now $287.99
Famously used by Eric Johnson, the Catalinbread Belle Epoch delivers Echoplex-inspired delay sounds for rich and powerful guitar tones. It's got a $72 discount in the Sweetwater pedal sale, bringing the price well below the $300 mark. If you're after analog delay tones it doesn't come much better than this, and we love the modulation and filter options.
EQD Astral Destiny: Was $199, now $169.15
If you like your reverbs out of this world, the EarthQuaker Devices Astral Destiny is an excellent choice. Packing 8 different reverbs that cover everything from low octave shimmer to pitch bending and harmonies, it's a totally unique pedal that sonic explorers will love. A $29.85 discount over at Reverb isn't huge, but might just tip those still deciding over the edge. There are also plenty of other EQD pedals available in the sale too if this doesn't take your fancy.
Memorial Day guitar sales: Guitar lessons
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.
Fender Play: 50% off an annual subscription
Sorted a free trial but now you want to continue getting all the benefits of Fender Play lessons beyond your trial? Fender is offering 50% off an annual plan for all Guitar World readers, dropping the price from $99.99 to just $49.99. Just add the code guitarworld50 at checkout.
Best Memorial Day guitar sales: Accessories
Fender x Wrangler Hard Case: $249.99, now $99.99
The looks may prove divisive, but a Fender hard case at this price is an absolute steal. Discounted by a ginormous $150, a 60% reduction is a fantastic deal if you need a fresh hard case for your Stratocaster or Telecaster.
Best Memorial Day guitar sales: When is Memorial Day 2024?
Memorial Day 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 27.
Best Memorial Day guitar sales: 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 is 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 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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