Even though we're still a good fortnight away from the main event, the floodgates for this year's Black Friday music deals have officially opened at Guitar Center. They've rolled out up to 30% off a massive spread of music gear, making it a cracking opportunity to bag some serious reductions.
If you're eyeing up anything from heavyweights like Gibson, Fender, Boss, PRS, Yamaha, Akai, Arturia, and more, you'll likely find it heavily discounted. You've got until the 2nd of December to take advantage of what are easily some of GC's most competitive prices this side of Christmas.
On top of the core offers, it's worth keeping an eye out every Thursday through Sunday. During those windows, they'll be dropping limited-run 'doorbuster' deals that offer chunky savings until the stock runs dry.
I took a look at the full sale over my morning cup of coffee today, and spotted plenty of deals that stood out. The Akai MPK Mini IV is one, a MIDI keyboard I reviewed earlier this year. It’s got a $10 discount, which might not sound like much, but that’s 10% off the normal price - already a lowly $99.
For this version, they finally upgraded that much-maligned joystick with proper pitch and mod wheels, and added a Studio Instrument Collection software that runs standalone or in a DAW. It adds a huge range of synth sounds and some cool-sounding drum samples, too, helping it retain its title as the king of beginner MIDI controllers.
If you want a proper pair of studio headphones, the Sennheiser HD 490 Pros are down to just $349 in the sale. That’s an $80 discount on what I think are the best overall studio headphones around right now. I’ve been using them in my own studio for well over a year now, and they deliver a really flat and balanced sound that’s great as a second reference against my studio monitors, or for checking the low end.
They’ve been sitting in the top spot of our guide for the past year or so now, and I even tested them with a Neumann K100 Binaural Dummy Head Microphone to see the frequency response. The pro version comes with two sets of earpads, and although it’s a small feature, I find the ability to swap which side of the headphones the cable goes into really useful when moving between studios and setups.
If you want a more grown-up MIDI keyboard, the Arturia KeyLab Essential 49 Mk3 has a nice $70 discount. It offers a significant upgrade over the Mk2, with a better display, improved buttons and pads, as well as a slick new look. It’s also got better connectivity with a really handy software-definable footswitch input.
We gave it 4.5 stars out of five in our Arturia KeyLab Essential Mk3 review, praising it for its excellent integration with Arturia Analog Lab V, as well as its Advanced DAW scripts for the big five DAWs. If you’re moving up from a smaller MIDI keyboard for beginners, this is a great next step.
Shop more Black Friday sales
- Thomann: Find all the Hot Deals
- Positive Grid: $99 smart amps
- Sweetwater: Early Black Friday sale
- Guitar Center: 30% off Black Friday
- Guitar Tricks: $99 annual sub bundle
- B&H Photo: Score discounts on pro audio
- Guitar Tricks: $99 annual sub bundle
- IK Multimedia: Amplitube 5 only $29.99!
- Musician's Friend: Up to 50% off sale
- Plugin Boutique: 100s of software savings
- Reverb: Shop used gear
- TrueFire: All-access annual sub only $79
- Waves: Huge plugin bundle deals
