The Sweetwater Black Friday deals are still live even though Black Friday is officially over. It's one of the biggest going with discounts of up to 70% on over 14,000 items. It won't be long until we pivot to our Sweetwater Cyber Monday deals page, but until then, this is the place to be to grab a last-minute deal.
It's still the perfect place to grab a saving on your favorite guitar gear, and although some of the bigger discounts have sold out, one of our favorite deals is $500 off Charvel guitars. Designed for serious players who like to play fast, these are proper shred guitars with some serious specs.
You can still get yourself a healthy $120 discount on the Bass Katana Artist Head MkII, which is seeing a significant reduction likely due to the release of the Gen 3 Katana. Perfect for gigging, it delivers 100 Watts of power in a compact head that's easy to take from rehearsal to the stage. With superb amp models and plenty of effects built in, it's all you need to get great guitar tones anywhere.
We'll be covering the Sweetwater Black Friday sale for the remainder of Cyber Weekend and updating this page with all the best deals, so make sure you keep checking back for the best deals - especially if you don't fancy trawling through 14,000 deals! We've sorted our favorites by category below for you too, just to make it a little easier to find your perfect deal.
Boasting the biggest discount of the bunch, this Pro-Mod San Dimas has a whopping saving. Designed for speed, it features a slick speed neck, hot Seymour Duncan pickups, a compound-radius fingerboard, and a Floyd Rose tremolo for ultimate playability. The versatile HSS configuration makes it a jack of all trades, while the dazzling Aqua Flake finish ensures it stands out both on stage and in your collection.
A brilliant choice for beginners, the Sterling by Music Man Cutlass has got a super $150 discount at Sweetwater, taking the price down below the $200 mark. Beautifully put together, the HSS pickup configuration makes it ultra-flexible tonally, giving you plenty of humbucker heft for harder styles with single coils for extra versatility.
Get One, Gift One: Get a Taylor BT-1 for only $99 At participating retailers, if you buy a 300 or 400 series Taylor you can get an additional Baby Taylor for $99, a GS Mini for $199, or an Academy model from $299. Taylor is running this promotion until January 6th, so if you have been after a new acoustic, this is a wonderful chance to get an additional model to use yourself or a gift for someone special.
With a generous $300 discount, the Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 HSS FR M in Gloss Black is a must-see this Black Friday. A speed-carved neck makes it a shredder’s dream, while its Seymour Duncan pickups deliver a perfect balance of high-output gain and clean, spanky tones. The TB-6 humbucker excels at crunch, and the SSL single-coils are fantastic for bluesy leads and crisp cleans.
If you're looking to splurge on an acoustic we can't think of many that are better, or bigger, than the Guild F-55E. It's got a hefty $1,000 discount at Sweetwater, making it an incredible deal on a premium instrument. In our recent Guild F-55E review, we praised it for its loud and well-balanced tone, slim neck with fantastic playing feel, and outstanding build quality.
The fabled tone of a Gibson Les Paul can be yours for a lot less over at Sweetwater. With a huge $600 discount, this stunning Cardinal Red Plain Top is just below the $2,000 mark, making it excellent value for money. Not only do you get the price reduction, but you'll also get two Maestro pedals completely free when you buy this amazing guitar.
At just $99, the Pigtronix Constellator is a brilliant deal at Sweetwater thanks to a huge $80 reduction in their Beat the Holiday Rush sale. It's an analog delay pedal that delivers a luscious warm wash that belies its budget price point. It's a seriously underrated bit of gear, and we love the modulated tones it can deliver, as well as the mini size that means it's easily able to fit onto any 'board.
Neural DSP Quad Cortex: free gig case and IR pack Neural DSP's Quad Cortex is still held up as one of the market's gold standard multi-effects modelers. Now, you can snap it up with a gig case worth $120 – perfect for gigging guitarists – and a free Eminence IR pack, which will help make those ampless signal chains sound even better.
One of JHS' most popular pedals has a massive 20% discount in the Sweetwater sale, unlocking transparent overdrive tones for less. With a $49.75 discount taking the price down below the $150 mark, it's the perfect way to add clarity and articulation to your tones without spending loads.
The Peavey Classic 20 is one of the best value tube amps on the market, but the latest iteration packs in a ton of connectivity and handy features like power attenuation and USB/XLR outputs. Now you can scoop it up over at Sweetwater – and shave $100 off the usual price.
A great amp for vintage-style guitar tones, the British-made Victory Amps The Deputy is the signature model of Peter 'Danish Pete' Honore of Andertons YouTube channel fame. It's got a massive $220 discount at the moment, making it a great option for a tube head that delivers a highly responsive and dynamic tone.
If you're looking for a small tube amp this Black Friday, we'd go for the Supro Delta King 12. Not only does it look incredible, but it takes pedals brilliantly. It's got a great clean sound but if you crank the volume it'll break up beautifully. With a tasty $100 discount in the Sweetwater sale, it's a great opportunity to pick up a tube amp for a lot less.
Sweetwater Boss Katana sale: Save up to $150 Sweetwater is getting ahead of the game with their early Black Friday sale. You can save up to $150 on select amps in the Katana range, including slightly smaller savings on the new Gen 3 models. With money off amplifiers for both guitarists and bassists, there hasn’t been a better time to snag a bargain on the world’s best-selling amplifier range. Stock will likely be limited and we don’t see these prices sticking around for long.
❓ Sweetwater Black Friday deals: FAQ
(Image credit: Sweetwater)
When is Black Friday?
The 2024 Sweetwater Black Friday deals will land on Friday November 29, followed three days later by the Sweetwater Cyber Monday deals on Monday 2 December.
There are two origins of the term Black Friday: one relates to a huge stock market crash, and the other refers to the day after Thanksgiving in America, and that’s the one we’re referring to here.
Sweetwater's Black Friday sale always presents rich pickings for guitarists, as potentially thousands of products will be discounted. Black Friday is also a win-win for retailers and shoppers, as retailers get to shift a lot of products in a short space of time, and you get Christmas gifts and the gear you need at a discounted price. Some of the Sweetwater Black Friday deals will have huge discounts, while others will offer more modest savings.
Amazon, of course, is a major player in both the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, and while it’s a place to stock up on cheap headphones and smart speakers, for musical instruments we recommend heading to dedicated retailer sales, such as the Sweetwater Black Friday sale.
What deals should I expect?
We’ve been covering the Sweetwater Black Friday sale for many years now, so we know from past experience that this is one musical retailer you can rely on for really good discounts. Sweetwater has a clear, no-fuss returns policy too, which should help you feel more confident when it comes to buying gear online, whether you’re after the best budget guitar amps or the best pedalboard to get your effects in order.
Based on what we have seen from previous Sweetwater Black Friday deals, there will be savings on acoustics and electrics, plus amps, strings and a range of guitar pedals like looper pedals and distortion pedals. There may well be discounts on the basics too, such as guitar cables and various guitar straps. Recording software and microphones are a more recent addition to the Sweetwater Black Friday offering, so if you're looking to lay down some tracks in the coming months, November is a good time to shop.
Rest assured that we’ll be rounding up the biggest discounts here, as well as the Sweetwater Black Friday sale offers that, while not monstrously huge, are still worth buying because of the immense quality of the product involved.
We’ll be updating this article with all the early Sweetwater Black Friday deals, but we fully expect the majority of offers to lack and on Black Friday itself.
How do I find the best Sweetwater Black Friday deals?
As we’ll be doing all the legwork of trawling the Sweetwater Black Friday sales during the event itself, all you need to do is bookmark this page and take a look at the killer deals we’re curating for you.
We can spot a worthy deal a mile-off, and know which ones aren’t worth snapping up, so if you haven’t shopped a Black Friday sale before, stick with us and we’ll make it easy. After all, some of these Sweetwater Black Friday deals will be time-limited, and the last thing we want is for you to panic, buy something because it’s a good price, then you figure out later that it isn’t right for you. That’s a waste of your time, right?
For an easier life, keep your eyes peeled on this page, and read our advice below on how to prepare yourself for a big event like the Sweetwater Black Friday sale so that you’re getting what you want and need with ease.
🛒 Sweetwater Black Friday deals: Shopping tips
(Image credit: Getty/South_agency)
Got your eye on a few things and wondering whether Black Friday is the time to buy? Here's a few tips from our personal experience that will ensure you're ready to strike if the gear you want is up for grabs:
1. Create a wishlist early - The most sensible way to take advantage of this year's Black Friday music 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
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.
🧐 Sweetwater Black Friday deals: How we choose deals
Here at Guitar World, our writing team is composed of actual guitarists who live and breathe the instrument. We write, gig, and record our own music, and our goal here is to pass on our knowledge to our readers, whether that's advising on playing techniques or giving recommendations on the best deals.
Black Friday is prime shopping time for ourselves, so we're always on the lookout for great deals inside and outside of our work. Because we use the gear we write about, we'd never recommend something we didn't think was good enough. At the end of the day, if we recommend something, it's because we've come across it in real life and we think it's great.
We've covered a lot of Black Friday events over the years which means we've got a great eye for the prices of items. We know the difference between the RRP and the price something normally retails out, which once again informs our assessment of whether or not something is truly a great deal. With that in mind, you can trust that all the deals we present on this page are actual value for money.
🤔 Sweetwater Black Friday deals: 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.
📅 Sweetwater Black Friday deals: Last year's picks
Marshall DSL40CR: $1,049.99, now $949.99 Having heard this amp out in the wild, we can attest to its powerful tone and rich voice, especially when overdriven. Proof you don't need a half stack to get that classic Marshall rock tone, it's got a cheeky $100 discount at Sweetwater at the moment, making it a tempting offer indeed.
Lewitt Condenser Mics: Up to $200 off We're big fans of the Lewitt mics here at MusicRadar, and recently gave the Lewitt LCT 540 four and a half stars out of five and the Lewitt LCT 640 received the same score. There are three mics with up to $200 off at the moment, so it's a great opportunity to add a quality addition to your mic locker.
IK Multimedia AmpliTube pedals: $329 $229 Equip your pedalboard with a wealth of new tones with this killer deal on IK Multimedia’s feature-packed (and just a little bit Strymon-inspired) AmpliTube X-Gear pedals. The X-Drive overdrive, X-Time delay, X-Space reverb and X-Vibe modulation each boast 16 cutting-edge algorithms, a trio of footswitches and an aluminum chassis – and now feature a tasty $100 off at Sweetwater.
Fender Acoustasonic Player Tele: $1,299.99, $999.99 One of the best-selling instruments of the last few years, the Fender Acoustasonic Player Telecaster is a brilliant hybrid instrument quite unlike any other. Currently, at Sweetwater there's a massive $300 discount on their exclusive Miami Blue finish, taking it down to just $999.99.
Neural Quad Cortex: Free plugin and GigCase We don’t need to tell you how good the Neural DSP Quad Cortex is. The price has recently dropped on this cutting-edge modeler/multi-FX unit, but here you can get even better value with a Neural DSP plugin bundled in (worth $159.99) as well as a Neural GigCase worth $119.99.
Guild Starfire Bass II: Was $1,499, now $999 Available with a massive $500 discount – that’s 33% off the original price – this semi-hollow short-scale Starfire Bass has a classic yet characterful profile, and we love that Emerald Green finish. If you’re unfamiliar with the Starfire Bass II, it was beloved by Jefferson Airplane’s Jack Casady and the Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh. This modern remake has got a great neck on it, while BiSonic pickups are brilliantly responsive – and sound superb when paired. In our review, the Starfire Bass II scored 4.5/5 and was called “a beautiful recreation of a classic”. With $500 off the list price, we’re surprised this is still available, frankly.
Spector Euro 4 LX Bass: was $2,699, now $2,399 These Czech Republic builds offer a more affordable, but still high-quality take on Spector’s US-made basses (hence the Euro moniker). The Euro 4 LX uses an alder body, with a walnut veneer and figured maple top – all rendered in a stunning Dark Cherry satin finish. It’s loaded with a combination of EMG’s P- and J-style active pickups and super solid components. Its sister model, the Euro RST reviewed very well, and this is a seriously chunky discount, knocking $300 off the usual price.
Shure Beta mics: Up to $150 off Built for robust performance with excellent noise rejection qualities, Shure Beta mics are excellent value whether you need a live vocal mic or a small diaphragm condenser for studio duties. There's a huge selection of Beta mics on sale at Sweetwater at the moment, with up to $150 off select mics and discounts on popular models like the Beta 58A vocal mic, Beta 87A handheld condenser, and the Beta 52A kick drum mic.
Though it's made in Indonesia, rather than the company's native Japan, the Yamaha Pacifica Standard Plus PACS+12M can stand its ground with plenty of S-style guitarsthat ring up at twice the price, or more. Already a lot of bang for your buck at its usual value, the Pacifica Standard Plus PACS+12M can be had for $200 off this Black Friday.
Mesa/Boogie amps: A massive 25% off One of the biggest names in the guitar amp game has got a huge discount in the Sweetwater early Black Friday sale. With a healthy 25% off a range of tube combos and tube amp heads, you can get $340 off the fearsome Mesa/Boogie Mini rectifier and a massive $756 reduction on the Mesa/Boogie Mark Five:35 tube combo.
Guild D-240E acoustic electric: Was $439, now $299 We wouldn’t normally class Guild’s D-240E as a beginner acoustic, but with $140 scratched off the price tag thanks to Sweetwater, it sits into the upper end of the market. Not only does it have a solid top and Guild’s archback, mahogany body design, but it’s equipped with electronics too. Get this, and you’ll have a studio or gig-ready acoustic from the off!
Blackstar HT Club 40 MKII: Was $899, now $599 One of the most dependable, portable gigging tube-driven combos has had $300 knocked off its price at Sweetwater for Black Friday. With two channels, reverb, and Blackstar’s ISF control, you’ll have classic Brit and US tones covered in a maneuverable, stylish 1x12 combo amp.
Guild Starfire IV: Was: $1,399, now $899 Save up to $600 on five Guild Starfire models over at Sweetwater. These guitars are seriously underrated at the best of times, so $899 for each is a really great deal. They've each got '60s-voiced LB-1 humbuckers for Golden Era tones, and are uber-playable thanks to their three-piece U-profile necks and thinline maple bodies. Oh, and they look drop dead gorgeous, too.
Mini heads from Soldano, Bogner & more: 15% off The mini-head movement shows no signs of slowing down and that is a-okay with us. These tiny solid-state reworkings of Soldano, Bogner, Friedman, and Diezel models punch well above their weight, tonally. Solid-state tech has moved on massively in the past decade and the likes of Soldano's SLO-Mini and Bogner Ecstasy Mini (both available for $212.49 right now) do a surprisingly convincing job of capturing the character of heads 10 times their price.
More great Black Friday deals to explore
You can trust Guitar World
Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Daryl is a Senior Deals Writer at Guitar World, where he creates and maintains our 200+ buyer's guides, finds the best deals on guitar products, and tests the latest gear. His reviews have been featured in prominent publications like Total Guitar, Future Music magazine, and MusicRadar.com.
During his career, he has been lucky enough to talk to many of his musical heroes, having interviewed Slash and members of Sum 41, Foo Fighters, The Offspring, Feeder, Thrice, and more. In a past life, Daryl worked in music retail. For a little under a decade, he advised everyone from absolute beginners to seasoned pros on the right gear for their needs.
Daryl is also a fully qualified sound engineer, holding a first-class Bachelor's degree in Creative Sound Production from the University of Abertay.
