Guitar World deals of the week: save big on guitar gear with a stonking $700 off a Gibson and a massive $330 off a Fender

With many early Black Friday guitar deals ending this week, we've finally started to see full-fledged sales landing at some major retailers. There's loads of sales chatter flying around so to help you cut through the noise, we've singled out some of our favorite individual deals to save you wasted time trudging through endless pages of products. 

As we gear up towards Cyber Weekend properly next week, Guitar Center has launched its full Black Friday sale early, offering massive savings of up to 40% on loads of great guitar gear. They're calling it their biggest sale ever, and we've seen discounts on Fender, Gibson, PRS, and some of our favorite pedals with loads of EarthQuaker Devices stompboxes seeing heavy discounts.

Fender has also dropped some more early deals on their official site, with 25% off Aerodyne and 20% off Vintera series guitars amongst some great discounts on Player and Player Plus guitars. If you're a die-hard fan of the big 'F', then you can also get a bunch of discounted merch in the sale too.

At the time of writing, we're still waiting on Sweetwater to launch their full Black Friday sale but for now, you can still grab yourself up to 40% off select gear in the Musician's Friend Holiday Deals sale, with their full Black Friday sale set to launch next week.

Finally, for our UK readers, we've seen two major sales launches today. First up Thomann's Cyberweek sale is offering ginormous savings of up to 60% off a huge range of gear, as well as a massive up to 80% off software downloads. Gear 4 Music has also gone live with their Black Friday sale which features plenty of guitars, amps, and effects for UK and European players to choose from.

Gibson Les Paul Trad Pro V: $2,499, now $1,799
The Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro V is about as versatile as a Les Paul gets, packing coil-splits and out-of-phase switches, and comes in a luxurious satin finish. If you're in the market for a bonafide rock machine, this has to be your next guitar – especially with Guitar Center slashing the price to just $1,799.

Price check: Musician's Friend $2,499

View Deal

EarthQuaker Devices Data Corrupter: $229, $183.20
This absolutely bonkers pedal will make your guitar spit some seriously guttural sounds. Part chainsaw fuzz, part sub-octave, and part synth, if you're the sort of player who wants to experiment with your tone, this does otherworldly sounds like no other. 

It's got an excellent $45.80 discount over at Guitar Center at the moment, and if this particular pedal is a little too out there for you, there are plenty more regular EQD stompboxes included in the sale too.

View Deal

Schecter C-1 Platinum FR: Was $979, now $799
This stunning-looking metal machine has got a sensational $180 discount in the Guitar Center Black Friday sale at the moment. As you’d expect from a metal guitar the EMG pickups are ultra-aggressive, so will give you tight chugs for days. 

It’s a versatile instrument too, thanks to the Floyd Rose Special locking tremolo and Sustainiac pickup in the neck position. The Sustainiac is a superb addition, whether you’re looking for expressive cleans or distorted leads that quite literally sustain forever. 

View Deal

Eventide Blackhole Plugin: Was $199, now $29
One of our favorite reverb plugins, the Eventide Blackhole lets you simulate spaces that are physically impossible, resulting in some seriously out-there sounds. Over at Plugin Boutique, it's got a massive $170 reduction in their Black Friday sale, making it incredible value for money. If you like to record your guitar at home this will be a fantastic addition to your plugin collection, opening up loads of creative avenues for your guitar playing.

Fender Aerodyne Strat HSS: $1,329.99, $999.99
One of the best playing Fender guitars we've played in years, the Fender Aerodyne Special Strat HSS has an unbelievably fast-playing neck on it. It's a shredder's dream when paired with the floating tremolo and a set of locking tuners, allowing for some seriously expressive lead playing. In the Fender Early Black Friday sale it's got a massive $330 price drop, a huge reduction on an absolutely amazing guitar.

View Deal

Amplitube 5 Max: Was $299.99, now $79.99
Save big on Amplitube 5 Max from IK Multimedia this Black Friday. For a limited time, you can score a whopping over 70% off its original price! It gives you a ridiculous amount of modeled amplifiers and effects, including some officially licensed models. 

View Deal

Harley Benton Fusion III: Was £349, now £263
For our UK audience, there are some fantastic guitar gear deals at Thomann, who've just launched their Cyberweek sale with up to 60% off gear and up to 80% off downloads. This Harley Benton Fusion III guitar caught our eye instantly, offering a massive saving of £86 and coming bundled with Native Instruments Guitar Rig 7 LE totally free.

View Deal

Guitar sales to shop

Looking for more guitar bargains? These are the sales you should check out right now.

• Amazon: Today's top guitar deals
• Andertons: Bag £££ off PRS SE models
• Fender: Massive Early Black Friday sale
• Gear 4 Music: Big Black Friday Sale is live
• Guitar Center: Up to 40% off guitar gear
• Musician's Friend: Up to 40% off Holiday Sale
• Thomann: Up to 60% of Cyberweek sale

How we choose our deals of the week

Here at Guitar World, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything guitar related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products we recommend.

First and foremost, we are guitarists, and we want to match other players with the right products for them, at the best prices.

For us to recommend a deal it has to be a product we rate that’s a genuinely great price or part of a truly fantastic bundle. It’s also important that we only recommend retailers where you will have a positive shopping experience.

Why you can trust our choices

We spend a lot of our time scouring guitar retailers for fantastic deals on our favorite gear. Not only is it our job to research and recommend the best gear in our buyer’s guides, but we’re also dedicated to helping players get the best deals for the gear they need, too. After all, the only thing better than new gear day is a hearty discount.

We cover a lot of the big sales events throughout the year, including Memorial Day, Black Friday, 4th of July sales and Amazon Prime Day, and we have a good view on which products are likely to receive the biggest discounts and when, the prices they’ve been in the past and which deals are genuinely worth a look.

Where are the best places to shop?

Online shopping is definitely a lot easier and more secure than it used to be, and we like to recommend a small handful of online retailers who have a sterling reputation and offer fantastic benefits like fuss-free returns, great customer service and, in some cases, full checks and setup of guitars before they are dispatched. So, all the deals we’ll recommend on this page are from retailers that tick these boxes. 

What sort of deals should I look for?

Great deals come in all shapes and sizes. There are a few key types to look out for:

• Single item - A single product with a great discount
• Site-wide discounts - A single discount percentage on a large range of products across a site
• Discount codes - Load your basket to a certain value and redeem a discount code for money off your basket contents
• Added value deals - These include multi-buy discounts, or additional products or software for free when you buy certain items

November has arrived and with it a flurry of early Black Friday deals have landed in our inboxes. We were expecting an influx but this year has already surpassed the expectations of the writing team here at Guitar World, with pretty much every retailer and many manufacturers either going all-in on their Black Friday sale or tempting us with some sweet early savings.

First up, Sweetwater's early Black Friday sale has landed offering massive savings of up to 70% off gear. Big hitters like Mesa/Boogie, Taylor Guitars, and Universal Audio all feature