From last week's plethora of guitar sales, things are looking decidedly less juicy this week on the deals front. It means we've had our work cut out for us finding some super savings for you, but that doesn't mean there aren't still some bargain bits of gear to pick up this week. Let's get cracking.
Guitar Center's Guitar-a-Thon continues this week, offering hefty discounts of up to 35% off gear. We're expecting this one to end soon so if you see something you like, this payday weekend might be your best opportunity to grab it. There's also a cool sweepstakes running, so even if you don't buy anything it's worthwhile signing up to potentially bag yourself some free gear.
Musician's Friend has a new sale, aptly titled Rocktober. It looks like a continuation of their Guitar Month sale which is also still running, with massive savings of up to 40% off guitars, pedals, amps, and loads more. We spied big savings on Fender, Epiphone, and Universal Audio so it's well worth a browse for guitar players.
Over at the official Fender shop, there are still loads of discounts to be had with $200 off a range of their premium guitar lines. It includes American Professional II, American Acoustasonic, and the excellent Tone Master Pro. You can also bag yourself money off Vintera II, American Performer, Player Plus, and some Squier series guitars.
That's your lot for this week. It's certainly a lot less to contend with than what we've had over the last few months, but we believe this will be down to everyone ramping up for the Black Friday guitar deals bonanza that's coming real soon. As usual, we've picked some of our favorite individual deals for you below so until next week, happy hunting!
Editor's picks
Rickenbacker 360/12C63: Was $3,839, now $2,999
Probably the most iconic 12-string guitar in the world, this Rickenbacker is a truly special instrument, famously wielded by George Harrison of the Beatles. It's a premium bit of kit but a massive $840 discount at Sweetwater takes it down from near the 4 grand mark to just shy of 3 grand. It may not be within most budgets, but if you've been saving for one this is the lowest price we've seen in a long time.
Line 6 Catalyst 100: Was $399.99, now $249.99
The Line 6 Catalyst series is nowhere near as revered as the Boss Katana, and that's a little unfair in our opinion. Packed full of ultra-realistic amp models and high-quality HX Series effects, it's a brilliant amp for practice and gigging when you need a lot of sounds on hand. Over at Reverb, it's got a hefty $150 discount, which is the cheapest we've seen it anywhere this week.
EHX Nano Deluxe Memory Man: $213.30, $170.64
While most guitarists would love to have a big box Memory Man on their pedalboard, in reality, it's just inconvenient. The Electro-Harmonix Nano Deluxe Memory Man packs all the great sounds of this legendary delay pedal into a handy enclosure that'll fit nicely on a busy 'board. The $42.66 discount at Musician's Friend makes it much more affordable, and well worth it if you want a versatile analog delay pedal.
Gretsch G5237TG Jet: Was $749.99, now $599.99
With its combination of Bigsby tremolo, chambered Mahogany body, and Filter'Tron humbuckers, this Gretsch G5237TG Jet is fully geared for rock guitar tones. The gold hardware and Black Pearl finish look absolutely incredible, and we found the 'U' shape neck to be super playable. A $150 discount over at Guitar Center makes this a super tempting offer.
Fender Duel Pugilist: Was $229.99, now $183.99
This super versatile dual distortion pedal gets massively overlooked in our opinion. The ability to run the distortions stacked or blend them together is really useful, and you can run it so you get three total sounds, either A or B, or both on together. Sonically its really versatile, doing lower gain overdrive sounds or nasty, fuzzy distortion depending on how you set it, and with $46 off at the Fender shop it's two drive pedals for a relatively low price.
Guitar sales to shop
- Amazon: Today's top guitar deals
- Andertons: Fender USA sale
- Fender Shop: $200 off guitars
- Gear 4 Music: Huge clearance deals
- Guitar Center: Up to 35% off guitars
- Musician's Friend: Up to 40% off
- Plugin Boutique: Money off plugins
- Positive Grid: Save on Spark
- Reverb Outlet: Save on top brands
- Sweetwater: Back to school sale
- Thomann: 70th anniversary 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
