1. Quick links
2. Editor's picks
3. FAQ
4. Last year
The full Sweetwater Black Friday deals have finally arrived, offering musicians some phenomenal discounts of up to 80% off music gear. Whether you're shopping for a new guitar or a set of studio monitors, it's the perfect place to get your hands on some of the best gear in the world for a lot less this Black Friday.
As you'd expect, there are too many discounts to name, but one that caught my attention was a hefty 50% off the Walrus Audio Mako series. It includes the R1, M1, and D1, perfect for guitarists, synth players, or producers who like to use guitar pedals as pseudo-outboard gear.
If you're looking for a new microphone for your productions, I'd check out the Slate Digital VMS ML-1. It has a huge $300 discount and uses modelling technology to give you the sound of many classic mics in a single house. Featuring classics like the U-47 and Sony C800G, it's a great way to get a classic mic locker without spending five figures.
From now until Cyber Weekend itself, I'll be keeping a close eye on all the deals available at Sweetwater alongside the MusicRadar team, and we'll be updating this page accordingly. To see some of our top picks available right now, just keep scrolling. You'll also find quick links to each category of the sale to get you where you want to be quicker.
Sweetwater Black Friday deals: Quick links
The full Sweetwater Black Friday sale is live right now! Here are some quick links to help you find what you're looking for easily:
- Shop the full sale
- Guitar deals: $600 off Gibson
- Recording deals: $800 off UA
- Drum deals: $500 off Roland
- Keys deals: $250 off Elektron
- DJ deals: $50 off Ortofon
- Software deals: Up to $200 off DAWs
Editor's picks
Sweetwater Black Friday deals: FAQ
Does Sweetwater do Black Friday sales?
Sweetwater's Black Friday sale is one of the biggest shopping events of the year for musicians, delivering epic discounts on instruments, software and so much more.
Black Friday 2024 at Sweetwater will take place on Friday 29 November, but we expect the offers to start much earlier than that and to carry on through to the following Monday. That's Cyber Monday to you (we'll be bringing you our pick of the best Sweetwater Cyber Monday deals, too).
If past years are anything to go by we'd put good money on some deals landing in October, giving shoppers early access to Black Friday levels of discount, without the stress of making purchases so close to Christmas. Shopping early also means people can plan their budgets better.
Sure, Black Friday at Amazon is one of the biggest online sales for stuff like headphones and TVs, but it's by no means the place to shop if you're a muso. If you want discounts on musical instruments, the Sweetwater Black Friday sale is where you should be looking - we’ll be rounding up all the best deals here.
What deals should I expect?
Last year’s Black Friday sale at Sweetwater was a real bumper affair, with seemingly endless offers on all types of musical instruments and accessories, from guitar amps and Black Friday plugin deals to electric guitar strings and home recording kit.
So we’re expecting this year’s Sweetwater Black Friday sale to bring more of the same, and cater to every type of musician. Sweetwater has been running all sorts of sales throughout 2024, which leads us to believe it’s gearing up for a very exciting run of offers in the lead-up to Christmas.
Based on what we have seen in previous years, you can expect to see big discounts on major and more boutique brands popping up among the best Sweetwater Black Friday deals. Last year saw massive discounts like up to $210 off Shure Microphones, $400 off Roland V-Drums, and a healthy $50 off Focusrite interfaces. If you're into guitars there were plenty of discounts on six-string instruments too, including a huge $500 off the Schecter Corsair.
Is Sweetwater good to buy from?
Sweetwater has a reputation for some of the best customer service throughout the whole music retailer industry. Not only is their customer service top notch but they also have a massive product selection, so chances are if you're after a particular piece of music gear, they'll have it.
We value our reputation so we would never recommend a retailer that isn't brilliant, so we can wholeheartedly recommend Sweetwater as an excellent place to buy music gear from.
How to prepare for this year's Sweetwater Black Friday deals
1. Create a wishlist early - There can be a lot of deals flying around on Black Friday, so it's important to zone in on the things you really want. Making a wishlist is a great way to keep your focus when the sales start happening.
2. Work out what you actually need - Consider your current gear collection and outline where the gaps are. Are you missing a delay pedal from your pedalboard? Perhaps you need more connectivity on your audio interface. Whichever it is, having a plan ahead of time will prevent you from pulling the trigger too early and regretting your decision.
3. Consider your music-making goals - Is your band going to be playing lots of gigs in the new year? Perhaps you're finally going to record that solo album you've been putting off for years. Think about what you want the new year to do for your music-making career, and buy gear that will help you hit those goals.
4. Make some room - Have you got enough room for that 4x12 cabinet? Having a pre-sale clearout is not only a great way to save space in your practice room or your home studio but can also free up funds for more gear!
How we choose the best Sweetwater Black Friday deals
We're all musicians here at MusicRadar and music is an integral part of our lives. We all own various pieces of music gear from guitars and amps to synthesizers and studio monitors. Many of our writers have decades worth of experience in the industry and it is literally our job to review and recommend gear.
We want to make sure that you get the best bit of gear possible, and like you, we love music-making, so you'll find plenty of great deals here. We would never recommend a piece of gear we wouldn't use ourselves, and it has to be a genuinely good deal or it won't make the cut.
Why you can trust our choices
We may only be dealing with Black Friday here on this page, but at MusicRadar, we spend the whole year searching the Sweetwater website for all the best deals. It's our job to research and recommend the best music gear for our buyer’s guides and reviews but as gear hounds ourselves, we're also always on the lookout for a great deal.
We cover all the big Sweetwater sales throughout the year, including deals like up to 70% off PA gear, their Back to School sale which saw huge reductions on bundles, and of course yearly regulars like the Memorial Day sale.
