MusicRadar deals of the week: It's all about guitars with hundreds slashed off Gibson, Fender, Strandberg, and more

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Editor's picks
How we choose deals
Why you can trust us
Where to shop
Deals to look for

Welcome to MusicRadar's deals of the week! Get ready to dive into a treasure trove of fantastic offers on top-rated musical gear from across the internet. We curate a fresh batch of jaw-dropping discounts every week, so be sure to swing by regularly to catch the latest steals.

If you’ve been holding off until the new year for that new guitar, amp, or pedalboard upgrade, now might be the perfect time to pull the trigger. Several major retailers are running some seriously tempting sales right now, with discounts reaching up to 50% off across a wide range of gear.

Guitar Center is kicking things off with up to 25% off “all things electric” – and yes, that includes guitars, amps, and pedals. Whether you’re after a new six-string, looking to upgrade your backline, or finally nabbing that drive pedal you’ve been eyeing up, there’s bound to be something worth checking out.

Over at Sweetwater, things are getting even spicier with their January clearance sale, delivering discounts of up to 50% off across a wide range of gear. It’s the perfect opportunity to snag some quality kit without completely decimating your bank account.

Now, if you’ve been dreaming of adding a Gibson to your collection, Musician’s Friend has just given you the perfect excuse with 20% off across their Gibson guitar range. Whether you’re after a classic Les Paul, an SG, or one of their more modern offerings, this is a solid opportunity to save some serious cash on one of the most iconic names in guitar history. Gibsons aren’t exactly known for being budget-friendly, so any discount on these legendary instruments is worth paying attention to.

And if you’d rather stick with brand new gear, the official Fender store has some tasty discounts on Vintera II guitars, with up to $250 off select models. The Vintera II range is one of my favourite Fender lines for vintage-inspired guitars, so if you’re into the classics – think '50s and '60s vibes – it’s well worth having a browse through what’s on offer.

How we choose our deals of the week

Here at MusicRadar, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing, creating and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything music gear-related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our deals.

Our mission is simple - to help you make the best buying decision, find the right gear at the right price, to make the best music you can.

For us to recommend a deal it has to be a product we rate that’s been reduced to a genuinely great price or part of a truly fantastic bundle. It’s also important that we only recommend retailers that we trust.

You can see more of our product recommendations in our buyer's guides and reviews.

Why you can trust our choices

Our editors and writers are all experienced musicians and experts in their fields. They have a deep understanding of the categories that they cover, which means that you can trust their choices when it comes to recommending products.

We pride ourselves on the independence, quality and reliability of our testing processes and the reviews it produces. It’s what has made us the world’s leading music-making publishing company. You can find more details on how we test some specific key product categories, but the principles apply across the board, rigorously assessing build quality, functionality, playability and, of course, sonic performance.

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 of 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