Guitar World deals of the week: save $530 on a Fender guitar, $71 on an Earthquaker Devices pedal, plus get a Universal Audio plugin for free

Last week we promised you a jam-packed deals bonanza for the joint Presidents' Day/Valentine's Day weekend and major retailers across the web have spared our blushes by providing some incredible deals for us. We've got loads to get through so we won't beat around the bush, let's do this...

Both Guitar Center and Musician's Friend went early with their Presidents' Day sales, and you can grab yourself up to 40% off guitar gear at Guitar Center. Musician's Friend has an identical discount too, so head there if you want to get up to 40% off gear too. Both feature a huge array of discounts and at Musician's Friend, there's an extra coupon deal on certain items too.

Fender also launched a Presidents' Day sale with up to 20% off American-made guitars. It features some nice discounts on the American Professional II series guitars, as well as some MIM models, and some nice reductions on Fender accessories.

Reverb launched its own Presidents' Day sale yesterday with over 10,000 discounts on new, b-stock, and mint gear. Buying used is a great way to get more for your money, and I've seen some significant discounts in the sale on a huge array of guitars, pedals, amps, and loads more.

Positive Grid is bucking the trend by opting for a Valentine's Day celebration, but you've only got until midnight on 02/14 to take advantage of these deals. You can get up to 45% off their smart amps and software, including all of the Spark amps apart from the newly released Spark 2.

If you want to up your recording game there's a nice sale at Waves with 200 plugins available for just $34.99 each. Better yet, if you buy 2 plugins in the sale you can get an extra one totally free of charge.

Finally, there's a Valentine's sale at IK Multimedia too, with some excellent discounts on Tonex pedals, plus reductions on the Axe and iRig audio interfaces. You can also still get AmpliTube 5 Max for just $99, giving you a huge selection of modeled amps and effects for a bargain price.

That's it for this week's major sales so far but don't be surprised if more deals get added across the weekend before Presidents' Day arrives on Monday. You can find some of our top picks below, and as always we'll be rounding up the best deals on gear throughout Presidents' Day.

Editor's picks

Gretsch G5237TG Electromatic Jet: was $749.99 now $599.99 at Guitar Center

This stunning-looking instrument has got a hefty $150 discount over at Guitar Center. We can already see it's in a lot of baskets too so there are a lot of guitarists eyeing this up at the moment. With two Black Top Filter'Tron, a chambered Mahogany body, and a Bigsby to boot, it's a proper rock and roll machine.

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Line 6 DL4 MKII Limited Edition: was $299.99 now $224.99 at Musician's Friend

The Line 6 DL4 MKII, one of the all-time iconic delay pedals, just got a shiny new paint job in celebration of its 25th anniversary. Reduced by a nice $75, not only do you get an amazing reverb and delay pedal, but there's also a limited edition keyring and sticker included in the deal.

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Earthquaker Devices Disaster Transport: was $170 now $99 at Reverb

Over at the Cottonwood Music Emporium on Reverb, you can bag yourself an awesome deal on this Earthquaker Devices Disaster Transport delay pedal. It offers a warm, rich, analog-inspired delay tone, great for atmospheric and moody sounds. With a $71 discount at the moment, it's a bargain for those who like to experiment sonically.

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Fender American Ultra Luxe Tele: was $2,649.99 now $2,119.99 at Fender Shop

With one of the biggest discounts we've seen so far in the Presidents' Day sales, you can get a massive $530 off this Fender American Ultra Luxe Tele over at the official Fender shop. It's got Noiseless pickups, stainless steel frets, an augmented 'D' profile neck, and a compound radius fretboard, making it an ultra-modern player that still delivers those tried and tested Tele tones.

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Positive Grid Spark Live: was $549 now $499 at Positive Grid

This ultra-versatile amp slash PA speaker from Positive Grid can play a myriad of roles, whether you want something for home practice, to take to the rehearsal room, or even live shows. It's a great Full Range Flat Response speaker that plays nicely with amp modelers, and with a PA speaker mount and the ability to tilt it like a wedge monitor. It's got a cool $50 reduction at the Positive Grid store at the moment, well worth it if you need an amp/speaker that can cover a lot of ground.

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TC Electronic Ditto+: was $159 now $99.90 at Sweetwater Sound

Looper pedals can be an indispensable part of a guitarist's rig, even if you're not using one to play live. The TC Electronic Ditto+ allows you to quickly record and jam over your own ideas, making it a fantastic tool for songwriting, as well as helping to hone your lead playing and develop your ear for melodies. It's currently got a cool $59.10 off at Sweetwater, taking it to just below the $100 mark.

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UAD 1176 Classic FET Compressor: Was $99, now $0
For those guitarists who like to record, this deal is a no-brainer if you don't already own a UA 1176 compressor. Based on one of the all-time classic hardware units, you can get this slimmed-down version for absolutely nothing over at Plugin Boutique. It'll work on guitars, bass, drums, vocals, and pretty much anything else you want to chuck it on.

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Guitar sales to shop

• Amazon: Guitar gear deals
• Andertons: Save on guitars
• Fender Play: 50% off annual
• Fender store: Up to 20% off
• Gear4Music: Clearance deals
• Guitar Center: Save up to 40%
• Guitar Tricks: One-year sub just $99
• IK Multimedia: $200 off Tonex Max
• Musician's Friend: Up to 40% off
• Plugin Boutique: Money off plugins
• Positive Grid: Save on Spark
• PMT: 2nd hand deals
• Reverb: 10,000+ discounts
• Sweetwater: Epic guitar deals
• Thomann: Last-minute deals
• Waves: Buy two get one free

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