Guitar World deals of the week: Save $700 on an Ernie Ball Music Man, get $400 off a Strandberg, plus all the biggest sales on guitar gear

Welcome back to deals of the week, your place to find the best deals on guitar gear from the past week. As usual, I've been hunting down big savings on great gear so without further ado...

One of the biggest guitar-specific sales of the week is still live over at Sweetwater, with discounts of up to 50% off for guitar month. Guitars, pedals, amps, it's got it all, whether you're after something budget or bourgeois. With some big savings on Strandberg, Victory Amplification pedals, and some great deals on acoustic guitars, it's the best all-around sale for browsing deals right now.

You can also find plenty of awesome gear in the Musician's Friend Guitar Fest sale, which is offering up to 40% off some awesome guitars from the likes of Epiphone, Jackson, Ernie Ball, plus plenty more. With discounts hitting in the region of $800, if you want a premium guitar for a lot less then I'd highly recommend you give it a browse.

Consider yourself a proper guitar geek? Then this one's for you. Over at Reverb, you can grab yourself up to 30% off guitar parts at the Stratosphere store, which is celebrating making a welcome return to the online merchant. With discounts on hardware like bridges, tuners, tremolos, and pickups, as well as aesthetic items like knobs and neck plates, if you've got a Fender or PRS guitar that's in need of some TLC then this is the place to be.

Guitar Center still doesn't have anything particularly good for guitar gear, but if you're into your recording it's definitely worth checking out up to 25% off in their Studio Essentials sale. With Focusrite interfaces, Yamaha monitors, and Arturia MIDI keyboards all with some heavy discounts it's the perfect place to outfit your home studio.

That's it for this week and with two massive guitar sales to browse, it's definitely a good one for savings on gear. As usual, I've picked out some of my favorite deals for you below, and I'll be back same time, same place next week for more deals hunting.

My top deals

Deal of the Week

Save 19% ($400)

Strandberg Boden Metal NX 6: was $2,095 now $1,695 at Sweetwater Sound

Why I ❤️ this deal: It's a large and rare saving on a guitar like no other.

This week I had to shout out an incredible $400 off this Strandberg Boden Metal NX 6 over at Sweetwater. I'll be the first to admit I was sceptical of the brand until I got my hands on one. The trapezoidal neck feels really weird when you first pick it up, but I found that within 5 minutes I was blitzing across the fretboard with ease. The ergonomic and lightweight body means it feels really agile when you wear it on a strap, and the small size means its really easy to transport, barely heavier than your average backpack when you carry it around. The discount is also available on the 7 and 8-string versions if you want to get properly heavy too.

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Tried and Tested

Save 15% ($30)

IK Multimedia Tonex One: was $199.99 now $169.99 at Musician's Friend

I'm a big fan of amp modeling, and as well as using one on my own rig, I've reviewed loads of them for Guitar World. One that gave me the biggest surprise was the teeny tiny IK Multimedia Tonex One. You can use it as an amp modeler, or it can act as a single stompbox, and rather than relying on traditional models, it uses captures from the Tonex ecosystem to generate its tones. This means you get some mindblowingly good sounds from a pedal that takes up hardly any room on your pedalboard. It can be run via USB-C, and you can switch between two modes, essentially making it a two-channel amplifier barely any bigger than a chocolate bar. With a nice $30 reduction over at Musician's Friend, it's well worth picking up if you want quality low-cost amp modeling on a busy pedalboard.

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Last Chance

Save 13% ($30)

Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro X: was $229.99 now $199.99 at Guitar Center

With Guitar Center's Studio Essentials sale due to end next week, this is your last chance to pick up this excellent deal on the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro X. A staple in pro studios all across the globe, I've not been in a studio that doesn't have at least a couple of pairs of these as part of their setup. They're great for recording as they isolate you really well from the rest of the room, and they work great as guitar amp headphones if you're playing with a modeling amp, giving you a very neutral and balanced sound. They're not often discounted either as they're so popular, so a cool $30 off the price is very welcome indeed.

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Bargain Buy

Save 20% ($19.95)

Sennheiser e 609: was $99.95 now $80 at Sweetwater Sound

It may not look like much, but the Sennheiser e 609 is the go-to microphone for recording guitar cabs in the industry. Specifically designed and voiced for guitar, its flat design means you can place it as close to the grille as possible, making it excellent for live applications. It's also a brilliant microphone for studio recording where you don't have much space, as you can hang it from the amp's handle and dangle it down, meaning you don't need to use a mic stand with it. At just $80 over at Sweetwater, this is my bargain buy of the week for anyone who wants to record their guitar amps more easily.

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Premium Gear

Save 19% ($700)

Ernie Ball Music Man Luke III: was $3,599 now $2,899 at Musician's Friend

Ernie Ball Music Man guitars aren't cheap, but that's because they're incredibly high quality. Anyone who's played one knows that they're absolutely worth their price, which means $700 off this Ernie Ball Music Man Luke III is an amazing deal. It's rare to see such big discounts in the guitar world, so if you're after a premium-grade instrument, then this is an awesome option. The pickups are wonderfully voiced for lead guitar playing, and the on-board 20dB boost circuit is a neat addition, allowing you to up the gain via a push-pull knob. Add in excellent playability, rock solid build, and you've got a guitar that will last a lifetime.

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Used Deal

Save 30% ($10.08)

Kluson Vintage Telecaster bridge: was $33.60 now $23.52 at Reverb

Modding your guitar is nowhere near as difficult as you think, and it's a great way to get a better playing instrument without forking out for something new entirely. Over at the Stratosphere store on Reverb, this Kluson Vintage Telecaster bridge has got a hefty 30% off, giving you a top-quality component for less than $25. Built with a steel baseplate and brass saddles, this is a higher quality than the bridge you'll find on most vintage-style Telecasters, making it a great way to enhance that classic Tele twang.

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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.

• Amazon: Money off accessories
• Gear4Music: Clearance deals
• Guitar Center: Save on studio gear
• Guitar Tricks: 1 month just $1
• IK Multimedia: $200 off Tonex Max
• Musician's Friend: Up to 40% off
• Plugin Boutique: Money off plugins
• Positive Grid: Save on Spark
• Reverb: Upgrade for less
• Sweetwater: Guitar Month sale
• Thomann: Hot deals on gear
• TrueFire: Save 60% on lessons
• Waves: Buy two get one free

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:

• Amazon Prime Day 2 - while the exact date hasn't been announced just yet, Amazon typically has another Prime Day sale before the biggest sales of the year arrive during Black Friday. Last year, it was called Prime Big Deals Days and was a great place to grab savings on smaller items like strings, capos, picks, etc. Expect this sale to arrive in October.
• Black Friday 2025 - The biggest sale of the year will be here soon, falling on the last weekend of November. This year, the timing means that lots of people will be getting paid on Black Friday itself, which could make it the biggest one yet. It also means that there won't be many days between Black Friday and Christmas as there has been previously, making it essential to get your orders in early! We'll be keeping track of all the best deals on our Black Friday guitar deals page.

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?

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.