Welcome back to a special Father's Day edition of Deals of the Week. We've unearthed some fantastic deals on guitars and pedals, as well as some great ideas for last-minute Father's Day gifts, just in case you forgot about Dad. Let's get started...
It's happened to all of us at some point, stopped in our tracks by a single question; 'have you got anything for Dad?' It's a heart-stopping moment, further worsened by the fact you know it's too late to get anything shipped in time. Don't worry though, we're here to save your weekend with some awesome last-minute gift ideas for the hard-rocking fathers out there.
Guitar Tricks is doing an amazing deal with a year's worth of expert tuition for just $99, that's a 55% discount off the regular price of $179. With over 11,000 lessons from professional tutors covering a huge range of beginner and intermediate content, instructor feedback, and a free guitar setup guide chucked into the mix, it's a fantastic option for any guitar-playing dad.
If your Dad already has serious chops or some other form of tuition, you still have a couple more options. Over at Positive Grid, their excellent BIAS FX 2 amp simulator software has a huge discount with $120 off the regular price in their Father's Day sale. It's instant delivery so perfect for last-minute gifting.
If they're more the tube amp purist type, then how about a Fender gift card? Available in incremental amounts over at the official Fender shop, if you're feeling generous you can get $45 completely free when you gift a $300 gift card.
If you've already squared away your Father's Day gifts then there are two main sales on at the moment. Acoustic Guitar Month continues at Guitar Center, with up to 35% off acoustics from Martin, Epiphone, Breedlove, and loads more. Prefer electric guitars and pedals? Then the Musician's Friend Electric Guitar Month sale is the one for you, offering up to 40% off a huge array of brands including Fender, Gibson, Boss, Line 6, and plenty more.
That's it for major sales action this week. As always we've scoured through the sales and picked out some of our favorite deals for you below. Have a great weekend, and we'll be back at the same time next with more handpicked bargains.
Editor's picks
PRS SE Silver Sky: Was $849, now $679
One of the most popular guitar releases of the last few years, the PRS SE Silver Sky is more than just a Strat copy with a different headstock. PRS' attention to detail is evident throughout the build, from the flatter radius fretboard to the rounding of the neck heel. With a huge $170 discount over at Reverb, it's a brilliant opportunity to get classic Strat tones with modern playability for less.
Walrus Audio M1: Was $349.99, now $249.99
Covering the gamut of modulation tones from orthodox to unstable, the Walrus Audio M1 is one for those who love to tweak. It can do traditional chorus, tremolo, and vibrato effects of course, but that would be a waste of its potential. One for those who like to push the boundaries of guitar tones, it's got a hefty $100 discount at Sweetwater at the moment.
Epiphone Hummingbird Studio: $449, now $349
This well-priced budget acoustic guitar punches well above its weight considering the price. Delivering fantastic playability with all the striking looks of a Hummingbird guitar, it's got a massive $100 discount in the Guitar Center Acoustic Guitar Month sale, taking it well below the $400 mark. With bags of volume and plenty of booming low end, this great playing acoustic is perfect for beginner or intermediate players.
Boss Roland RE-2 Space Echo: $219.99, now $179.99
Shrinking down Roland's legendary Space Echo unit into a compact stompbox format is no mean feat, but Boss absolutely knocked it out of the park with the RE-2 Space Echo. Delivering some of the best-sounding echo tones we've ever heard, this versatile delay pedal has got a nice $40 discount over at Musician's Friend as part of their Electric Guitar Month sale, giving you classic echo tones well below the $200 mark.
Fender Player Jazzmaster: $829.99, now $709.99
Fender's ever-popular Player Series guitars have been on sale at the official Fender shop for a while now, and there aren't many left due to some fantastic discounts. There are still some left, including this Fender Player Jazzmaster that's got a huge $120 discount, which tallies up to 15% of the guitar's total worth. At these prices we can't see these being around for much longer, so move quickly if you need a brilliant new offset.
Guitar sales to shop
- Amazon: Today's top guitar deals
- Andertons: Save big on gear
- Fender Shop: Money off Player Series
- Gear 4 Music: Huge clearance deals
- Guitar Center: Up to 35% off acoustics
- IK Multimedia: Save on software
- Musician's Friend: Up to 40% off guitars
- Native Instruments: 50% off software
- Plugin Boutique: Save big on plugins
- Positive Grid: Father's Day sale
- Reverb: Save big on top brands
- Thomann: Hot deals on guitar gear
- Yamaha: Save big on acoustics
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
