Guitar Center’s Guitar-A-Thon is usually a great way to score some amazing deals, with some deep discounts. This year we found the best deals for guitarists! There’s some GREAT deals, so let’s check them out.
Guitar Center’s Guitar-A-Thon: Best Deals
Disclaimer/Editor’s Notes: 4/9/2023
Editors Note: Electrikjam got the heads-up last week about the products that would be featured during Guitar-A-Thon, and we went through this list and found the absolute best deals for our readers. We also took into account the readers we get from Reddit.
As I am writing this, we do not know the actual deals on some products, just that they will be deeply discounted. Therefore, we did not post the prices. If you click the links, the price should pop up on the master list at the bottom of this article.
The products we know that are discounted, we mentioned. Some of these we do not know the final price, and have only been informed that these will be up to 60% off. Many of these products are VERY limited, and it is first come, first served.
We only posted the “best deals”. Some of the Guitar-A-Thon deals are only 5% off or so, and we did not include those. We also only chose the deals that qualify for financing.
Nothing is “B” stock, this is all new gear, in the box. Used gear does not apply. We just wanted everyone to know that if you see something you want, you should jump on it! Guitar-A-Thon deals do not apply to Musician’s Friend.
Guitar-A-Thon 2023: Great Deals, Up To 40% Off!
Guitar Center catches a lot of guff because the company is basically the “big box” store for music gear, sometimes compared to Wal-Mart. To be fair, Guitar Center does vary from location to location. But if you didn’t know, Guitar Center and Musician’s Friend are the same company.
So no matter which “name brand” you order from, it is coming from the same place. I have personally never had a bad experience with Guitar Center, the used section has a ton of great deals all the time in Atlanta!
Guitar-A-Thon is a great opportunity to grab some gear, since some products are 40-60% off! This event covers guitars, of course, but this event is also a good time to stock up on things for the studio or practice room as well.
So we went through the ENTIRE list of Guitar-A-Thon products and picked out the absolute best ones. We only chose the deals that had a good discount, and would be useful for our readers. There are literally pages of products to sift through, and not all of these are a “good” deal.
While it is nice to find some new guitars, we also found some great deals on studio gear. If you really want to dive into recording guitar at home, you’re going to need some gear like interfaces to get started. We found some great deals on studio gear that will get you started!
Finally we also found some deals on accessories, and plugin software. These can definitely add to your tonal arsenal for your home studio. There really is a lot to cover today, and some great deals to be had. Hopefully we have taken some of the work out of endlessly scrolling!
All of the deals are eligible for finance options, and come with a full warranty. These deals can only be found at Guitar Center, and most qualify for free shipping. Some of these deals are time sensitive!
There will be a master list of all of the products at the end of the article, if you’re just looking to find a good deal. Some of these are really amazing deals, that can save you hundreds of dollars.
So we weeded through all of the different sale items, and we found the absolute best. So let’s kick off Guitar-A-Thon with the most interesting part… the guitar stuff!
Best Guitar Deals
There are quite a few guitars in the Guitar-A-Thon celebration, and we found some of the best deals. First up is the Schecter C1 Platinum, and this guitar is a set neck construction with Grover 18:1 tuners, and the popular EMG 81/85 pickup set.
I actually own one of these Platinum C1 guitars, and I would not be surprised if someone told me this was a $1000 guitar. The satin finish with a Flame Maple veneer is just spectacular in my opinion. This is a no-frills metal machine, with a thin C-shape neck, and it will probably NEVER leave my studio.
The other great deals we found were in the Fender category, surprisingly! The Fender Blues Junior in this lovely sky blue color is going for a great discount. The Blues Jr is one of the best amps for the stage, and they can be used for all kinds of music.
If 15 watts sounds like a low number to you, I challenge you to crank up a Fender Blues JR in a small venue! This all-tube combo has been famous for a good reason. I used one on stage for smaller venues for years, and this limited color is really cool.
The Fender Neon Green Stratocaster is a special run color as well, and I can’t imagine this color will last long during Guitar-A-Thon. This is a good discount on the usual Player’s Series Stratocasters, and the unique color will really light up the stage. This is a solid guitar, and you rarely see price discounts on “Limited” models.
The Fender Player Series definitely added some better features to the MIM lineup, and this Neon Green offering has all of those updates. The two-point trem holds tuning much better than the vintage bridges, and the upgraded pickups have that sweet, classic Strat sound.
Finally, we have the Ernie Ball Majesty in this insane Hydrospace color. We do not know the actual discount amount, but Guitar-A-Thon usually offers an unbelievable price. These are a very special model, and there are only 175 guitars made in this color! So if you want it, you want to jump on this deal FAST.
The Ernie Ball Majesty is a beast of a guitar, equipped with a DiMarzio Dreamcatcher bridge pickup, a Rainmaker neck pickup and an onboard piezo bridge system. This means you can get just about any electric OR acoustic tones you can imagine. This guitar would be a weapon in the studio.
The Guitar-A-Thon event usually has quite a few more guitars for a deep discount, while there were some other guitars on the “secret” list we received, these were by far the best deals and the most interesting models. Unfortunately, most guitar deals were just not very exciting this year.
What Guitar-A-Thon really got right this year, is the amount of gear for the STUDIO that is being offered for crazy discounts. If you are looking to start a home studio, or you really need to upgrade your setup, this is the chance.
So let’s dive into these great deals for the recording guitarist, and see what Guitar Center has to offer for the home studio!
Pro Studio Gear
If you are looking to set up your own home studio for playing/recording guitar, then we found the absolute best deals for you to get started with some pro gear. The idea was to find some Guitar-A-Thon products that you could use to start your home studio, or maybe a much-needed upgrade!
Well, I think we found some winners here! The Sterling Audio USB Interface is like a mini desk console, and this is the first step to recording guitar with your computer. This interface comes with a great preamp that works well with guitars, as well as vocals. And it is $100 off the regular price!
The Sterling Harmony H224 audio interface is not a “cheap” interface. The metal chassis feels solid, and you have two inputs with LED peak meters. It also powered by USB, making it totally portable with your laptop.
The IK Multimedia TONEX EX Plugin is also a fantastic way to record guitar, or to have on-the-go with your laptop. This can capture your amps at home like the new NAM Plugin and the Headrush PRIME floor pedal. Virtually any amp or pedal can be captured in 5 minutes, and the TONEX community has tons of presets for you to download.
Finally, the KRK Classic Monitors are famous for being really great speakers for mixing. I have seen these in big Hollywood studios, as well as my own home studio! These are great for mixing, and especially good for playing guitar through your interface with an amp sim.
The KRK Monitors have been around for a long time now, and I see them recommended by professionals all the time. They have a flat response, which is crucial for mixing. If you have been mixing on headphones or cheap speakers, these speakers are a HUGE upgrade, and your mixes will be better than ever!
If you get all of these products, you have a great setup for recording at home. You can get some really professional results, without breaking the bank. The whole setup can have you recording professional sounding mixes for under $500, especially if you use something like Reaper DAW already.
There are some other recording deals included in Guitar-A-Thon, but these are the absolute best that we could find. We wanted to feature an entire “recording setup” where all you need is a computer! The KRK Monitors are honestly some of the best in the business, so they might be a good upgrade for experienced artists.
Accessories, Amps, And More!
The rest of the best Guitar-A-Thon deals that we could find, are a little bit “all over the place” categorically. But these deals were too good to not bring attention to them. So these may be useful to you, or maybe not. Still, these were worth noting for the Guitar-A-Thon event.
The Shure SM57 is probably one of the most famous microphones when it comes to recording. This mic can be used for guitars, vocals, and even be used for room mics in the studio. This mic has a legendary history, and now is the perfect time to stock up!
You cannot go wrong with a Shure SM57, so if you already have a studio, then you can stock up with this deal. If you are just getting started recording at home, then this is one of the best mics you can buy. The SM57 is pretty much “essential” for almost every studio on the planet.
While we don’t talk about bass playing very often, the Acoustic Bass Stack was too good of a deal to pass up. This is a 300 watt bass amp ready for the stage, and it comes with the cabinet AND a cable to hook it all up! For the price, it was impossible to look over.
I think we are all very familiar with Snark Tuners at this point, and the newer “Super” rechargeable model is one of the best. No more buying those little batteries! The $40 price tag is what has stopped many of us from buying one, but this is a great chance to get them for only $30!
Finally, we have the fantastic Studio One Professional Software. Studio One is a fully functional DAW that is great for home studios, and people that want an easy workflow. Studio One Professional comes with a TON of plugins, and you can record, mix, and master all with this single program. It has everything you need to create full songs that are Spotify/YouTube ready.
Usually, you would need a totally different program for mastering, or editing. Studio One does it all, and it offers some really great built-in plugins that other DAWs lack. This is a great buy if you are just getting started with recording at home, since it is very intuitive.
If you have used Pro Tools or Reaper for a while, then Studio One might be a refreshing change for your workflow. I tried it out myself, and it has everything you could possibly need, in a really easy to understand GUI. I have thought about switching to Studio One, many times, just for the ease of use.
Guitar-A-Thon 2023: Wrapping Up
It looks like the products that are going to be listed in Guitar-A-Thon this year are some of the best offerings that we have seen in a while, especially when it comes to recording gear. Sure, getting a good deal on guitars is the “spirit” of the Guitar-A-Thon event.
But if you have been playing guitar for a while, you are probably looking for some gear that enriches your guitar playing experience. In fact, I would say that recording yourself playing is one of the best practice techniques. You can really find where you need improvement if you record your playing.
Likewise, we focused mostly on recording gear because so many people are trying to write music at home, without having to drop a fortune on recording gear. Just a few years ago, it would cost thousands of dollars to get a home studio running.
With these Guitar-A-Thon deals, you could have everything you need to get professional recordings for a deep discount. So while I wish there were more deals on actual guitars, I am more than happy to see deals on other types of gear.
Again, a lot of these products are VERY limited! If you see something you like, then definitely pull the trigger. Some of these products only have a few hundred units to sell, while others may have thousands. Guitar-A-Thon runs out quickly sometimes!
I always save up a little bit of cash for Guitar-A-Thon, every year. You never know what kind of deal you might find, and I found lots of my current studio gear during these events. So if you don’t see something that catches your eye, check out Guitar Center to see all of the deals.
Below is the master list that we created for Guitar-A-Thon. If there is no price next to the product, then click the link to find out the new price. Unfortunately, they lets us know the SKU numbers for the products, but not the discounted price.
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