Guitar World deals of the week: get a $99 phase shifter, over $300 off SSL software, plus loads of big savings on Fender gear
Welcome back to the latest edition of your wallet-friendly weekly companion. This week sees a huge improvement on the sales front as we head towards the end of the summer, with many retailers offering some fantastic savings on guitar gear. There’s plenty to get through so let’s get to it!
Musician’s Friend has launched their huge Labor Day sale very early, offering enticing discounts of up to 50% off. It includes plenty of big brands like Fender, Epiphone, Squier, and loads more. It’s the biggest sale live at a major retailer at the moment, so well worth a browse if you’re deal-hunting.
Sweetwater has some great deals on Fender at the moment, with discounts of up to $200 off a range of the company’s guitars and pedals. It even includes money off the excellent Fender Tone Master Pro, which also includes some free impulse responses from Eminence.
For our British readership, there are phenomenal PRS discounts at Andertons. You can bag yourself a free pedal worth £45 when you purchase discounted guitars from the PRS SE series. There’s also a free pedal worth up to £379 if you purchase a PRS-branded amp, perfect for those who love the PRS sound.
Over at Guitar Center, there are some great wallet-friendly deals on Behringer pedals, with everything from tuners to reverb pedals seeing some heavy discounts. Already priced firmly in the bargain category, extra money off makes these a no-brainer if you need something utilitarian for your pedalboard.
Finally, Fender has expanded their deals selection to include $200 off selected American Professional II models. There’s loads of money off various series like Player Plus, Vintera II, and American Performer, but $200 off the American Acoustasonic range really caught our eye.
That’s it for big sales this week. Labor Day is coming up soon so we’re expecting to see more sales announced by the big names real soon. Until then, have a look at our top picks below for more great savings on guitar gear. See you next time!
Editor’s picks
Fender Tone Master Pro: $1,699.99, now $1,499.99
If you want a modeler that’s clear and easy to use, it doesn’t get much better than the Fender Tone Master Pro. Its large screen makes it super easy to use, and the sounds aren’t bad either. With a $200 discount, this relatively new bit of gear is a tempting one indeed from Sweetwater. It also comes with some free Eminence IRs giving you more options for your cab sounds.
Behringer Dual Phase: Was $159, now $99
Behringer has a thing for cloning classic pieces of gear and this pedal is no different. Based on the Mu-Tron Bi-Phase, it’s a dual phase shifter that sounds just as thick and juicy as the original. It delivers vintage phase sounds and with a $60 discount at Guitar Center, it’s exceptional value for money.
Epiphone ES-335: Was $699, now $559
As far as semi-hollow guitars go, there’s nothing quite like an ES-335. Most of us don’t have the cash to stump up for an actual Gibson, but when Epiphones are this good it doesn’t really matter all that much. This limited edition version has got a tasty $140 discount in the Musician’s Friend Labor Day sale, giving you classic guitar tones for much less.
Fender Player Plus Telecaster: $999.99, $899.99
If you want a versatile electric guitar, it doesn’t get much better than a Telecaster. This Player Plus Tele is even more versatile thanks to a built-in Series circuit that gives you humbucker-esque tones. It’s got a cheeky $100 discount over at the official Fender shop at the moment, great for guitarists who want a quality gigging guitar for less.
SSL Guitarstrip bundle: Was $379, now $39.99
If you want to get more out of your mixing, the SSL Guitarstrip could be just the thing to help you elevate those guitars. Specifically designed for mixing six strings, it has loads of useful features that make it nice and easy to use for the recording guitarist. The bundle also features the AVA Bass Flow plugin, which is designed to make your low-end really sing, an important part of underpinning the guitars in a mix. The bundle has a ginormous $339 discount at Plugin Boutique
Guitar sales to shop
- Amazon: Today’s top guitar deals
- Andertons: Huge summer sale
- Fender Shop: $200 off guitars
- Gear 4 Music: Huge clearance deals
- Guitar Center: Behringer pedal sale
- IK Multimedia: Save big on software
- Musician’s Friend: Up to 50% off
- Plugin Boutique: Save big on plugins
- PMT: Up to 60% off sale
- Positive Grid: Save on Spark
- Reverb: Big savings on top brands
- Sweetwater: Save on Fender
- 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
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