I didn’t do a Black Friday post last year.  Some people were angry with me!  I’m sorry.  You can have your money back.  But THIS year I’m back to doing my Black Friday post.  Here we go!

SALES!

Ah yes – Black Friday, that wonderful time of year, when Guitar Center takes all of their cheap crap and knocks 5% off.  I got a “special” Black Friday event invitation in the mail with a handful of things I don’t want.  Either too expensive or just crap.  But GC has a host of Black Friday sales items this year.  Let’s have a look:

Guitar Center

  1. Fender Strat with a pretty blue body and maple neck for $499.  Usually $599.  That’s a pretty good deal on an awesome looking Strat.
  2. Epiphone Les Paul Traditional Blah Blah Blah.  Epi Les Pauls are all over the used market.  There’s a reason for this.  They sell tons and tons and tons.  But hold on – this Epi has Gibson pickups.  Those two pups are worth about $100 each, making this is a good deal at $499.
  3. Shure SM48 for $29.99.  No, no, no.  Look, the SM57 is THE industry standard generic mic and you can get one new for around $99, still.  You’ll never regret buying a SM57 and you’ll use it forever.  No point in buying a SM48 that I can think of, unless you have to record a band and you have almost no money.  Actually, in that case, the SM48 isn’t the end of the world.  But I prefer spending a little more on the SM57, the “do anything” mic.
  4. Harbinger Speakers.  A hundred thousand watts for $50 or something.  Not really.  They have a 12 inch two way for $129.99.  This is junk.  If you are doing gigs, you’ll eventually get rid of this and get something better.
  5. Attack of the Drum Pads.  Every year, the edrums get a little bit cheaper, because secretly, all guitarists want to play drums, too.  All drummers want to play guitar, by the way.  The Simmons SD350 comes with a monitor amp and it’s only $350.  Damn.  The one problem is you don’t have room to leave this thing set up, do you?  You do?  Then buy it.  Great deal.  I wish I had room.

Sam Ash

  1. Frank Zappa Ukulele?  Oh, I read it too fast.  Fender Zuma Ukelele.  Who cares.  We play guitars.
  2. Line 6 Spider V 30 with a 8 inch speaker, save $15.  Or, save your money up for an actual amp.
  3. Squier Contemporary Strat or Tele, $299.  This is 50 bucks off, and it’s a good guitar for a very good price.
  4. Gibson Les Paul CM 2015, $400.  A new Gibson for $400?  This is normally $500.  It’s probably worth about $400.  I like this one – I think this is a good buy, if you can find it at your local store.
  5. Amps?  Nothing of interest expect Line 6, which I’m not interested in.  Don’t get me wrong – I think they’re good bang for the buck.  But your amp is not something to skimp on.

In Store Deals

Everyone, from the big box stores to the small mom & pop shops (if you still have any near you) will be putting out some sale items that won’t be advertised.  It’s worth braving Black Friday madness and checking these stores out – yes, they’ll be busy, but you might score something really cool.

And as usual, look out for great prices on cables, strings, etc.  This is usually a good time to buy strings.  You should buy some strings for your acoustic guitar.  When’s the last time you changed those?  If you can’t remember, it’s probably time for new strings.

One more thing.  If you can’t find something else, get yourself some cool branded t-shirts.  I have a lot of Fender t-shirts.  I have one Gibson t-shirt.  I’d like to get a Marshall t-shirt and an Orange t-shirt at some point.  With so many t-shirts, I don’t have to resort to wearing the “You can never have enough guitars” t-shirt I got as a gift.  Actually I have several of those.  Or had, rather.  Don’t feel bad if you have one of those t-shirts and you like it.  I’m not the cool police.  But if you replace that t-shirt with a Fender, Gibson, Jackson, or Marshall t-shirt, you will look 100% cooler.  Trust me.  I have a BS degree in Music, which is appropriate since the music business is very BS.