1. Quick links
2. Early deals
3. Guitar deals FAQ
4. Shopping tips
5. How we choose
6. Last year's highlights
Okay, so Black Friday is edging ever closer and trust me, as someone who has covered this sales event for years, it pays to be prepared. From now until the end of Cyber Monday, this page will be populated with what we believe to be the greatest offers from across a wide range of retailers and product categories - so if you're on the hunt for a bargain, you've come to the right place.
In the last few days, many of the top music retailers have dropped their official Black Friday sales - and a lot earlier than we were expecting. Over at Sweetwater, you can score huge discounts of up to 80% off big-name brands, Musician's Friend has up to 50% off gear, while Guitar Center has slashed up to 50% off everything you need to make music.
Meanwhile, over at Fender.com you can bag yourself big savings on everything from the popular Player Series to the Acoustasonic, American Performer and Squier Paranormal range. And finally, Reverb has massive savings on all manner of items, with up to 80% off used and brand-new gear.
Of course, this is just the start of the sales, and we expect the deals to ramp up as we get closer to the big day next week. So keep an eye on this page to see what we uncover.
Black Friday guitar deals: Quick links
Below, you'll find all the latest Black Friday guitar deals to shop right now:
Fender Play: 50% off a one-year sub
Fender store: $150 off Vintera
Guitar Center: 50% off Black Friday Sale
IK Multimedia: BOGOF Pianoverse
Plugin Boutique: Shop UAD, Sonnox, more
Positive Grid: Up to 50% off amps & more
Waves: Up to 30% off bundles
Andertons: Shop all sale items
Fender Play: 50% off a one-year sub
IK Multimedia: BOGOF Pianoverse
Plugin Boutique: UAD, Sonnox & more
Positive Grid: Up to 50% off amps & more
Thomann: Early Cyber Week Sale
Waves: Up to 30% off bundles
Editor's picks
Electric guitar deals
Acoustic guitar deals
Amp & pedal deals
Black Friday guitar deals FAQ
When will the Black Friday guitar deals land?
2024's Black Friday guitar deals will officially rear their heads on the day after Thanksgiving - Friday, November 29th. Leaving less than a month between then and Christmas Day, it's probably the best time to load up on Christmas presents for the special guitarist in your life. Black Friday's best guitar deals will last that whole weekend (or Cyber Weekend, as it's also known) before culminating in a Cyber Monday guitar deals frenzy on Monday, 2nd December.
The events of previous years tell us that November 29th isn't the only day you can get some ridiculous savings. Many of the best Black Friday guitar deals will crop up in the weeks leading up to Black Friday - some as early as mid-October - and many deals will still be on offer leading up to Christmas Day.
If a bargain is what you're after during this Black Friday/Cyber Monday period, then you'd better keep your eyes and ears peeled at all times. Deals will be launched at random times of the day - or night - so it's worth keeping an eye on your favourite retailers to make sure you get what you're after. We'll be scouring the web for the best Black Friday guitar deals as well, so keep an eye on this page, too.
What Black Friday guitar deals should I expect?
We'll be keeping a close eye on the biggest guitar retailers throughout the next few months. Based on what we saw last year, the Musician's Friend Black Friday deals and Guitar Center Black Friday deals brought about some killer deals for guitarists - so we'll be looking to those retailers for some of the best deals on electric and acoustic guitars, guitar audio interfaces, guitar amps, effects pedals and guitar accessories.
When it comes to electric guitars, Black Friday is one of the best opportunities to pick up an absolute steal. Last year, we were inundated with deals on the ever-popular Fender Player Series Stratocaster from Guitar Center, and Musician's Friend knocked a bundle off some of the best metal guitars and tasty valve combos. We'll be expecting some very similar (and hopefully even better) deals this year from Guitar Center and Musician's Friend.
For those that wanted to do a bit of home recording, the best place to look was definitely Positive Grid - who knocked a lofty 50% off the price of their BIAS FX 2 and AMP 2 software. Generous, eh? Again, we're expecting to see some major discounts this year.
For the pedal nerds among us, we're expecting some big savings on brands like Boss, JHS, Line 6, MXR and Digitech, if last year's deals are anything to go by.
We've been covering Black Friday guitar deals for a long old time now, so you can rest assured that we'll be scouring the web, scouting out the best deals on all the guitar gear you can dream of, and sharing them with you right here first.
Which sites are best for guitar deals on Black Friday?
It's fair to say we have a lot of experience when it comes to shopping for guitars, amps, pedals and accessories - and not just on Black Friday. Now, while there are a myriad of music retailers out there, we only recommend the shops and sites we trust and have had experience dealing with personally.
For us, on Black Friday there are a small handful of places that we would point you towards and it's a mix of retailers and manufacture's own sites.
In the US, we highly recommend checking out the likes of Guitar Center, Musician's Friend, Sweetwater, Fender and Positive Grid. These sites always have killer Black Friday sales and more importantly they each have excellent customer service and decent returns policies.
In the UK, we'd suggest starting with Thomann, Andertons, PMT and Gear4Music. Again, these sites always deliver when it comes to excellent Black Friday sales, while also providing stellar service.
How to prepare for the Black Friday guitar sales
1. Create a wishlist early - The most sensible way to take advantage of this year's Black Friday guitar 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. Get your research done sooner rather than later. That way, you'll know exactly what you're looking for, and can jump on a great deal as soon as you spot it.
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 you'll never play. Has a popular model just received an update? Well, if so, perhaps the old version will be massively discounted for Black Friday? You could start by checking out our guide to the best electric guitars under £500 if you are on a strict budget.
3. Consider your guitar goals - What do you want to achieve with your guitar goals for the next 12 months or so? Is there gear out there that will help you hit them? Are you looking to join a band? Now could be the time to invest in a giggable rig.
4. Clear some space - Something else you should consider ahead of time is whether you have enough space in your guitar rack for another six-string. Now might be the best time to get rid of any unnecessary gear that is taking up space - and better yet, if you sell it, you could put that extra money towards your Black Friday purchase.
How we choose which guitar deals to cover
Here at MusicRadar, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything music-making, 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 players and creators, and we want to match like-minded folk with the right products for them, at the best prices.
For us to recommend a deal on guitars or anything else 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 music retailers for fantastic deals on our favourite guitars, amps, pedals and accessories. Not only is it our job to research and recommend the best gear in our buyer’s guides and reviews, but we’re also dedicated to helping musicians get the best deals on the stuff 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, 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.
Last year's highlights
Find more epic deals on a range of music gear below
- Our pick of the best Black Friday music deals
- View our guide to the best Black Friday guitar deals
- Or all the early Black Friday drum deals
- Save money with the latest Black Friday plugin deals
- These are the best Musicians Friend Black Friday deals
- See what Guitar Center Black Friday deals are available this year
- In the UK/Europe? Check out the best Thomann Black Friday deals
- Bag a discount on the biggest brands with these Black Friday Andertons deals
- Make sure you're heard loud and clear with these Black Friday microphone deals
