We compare prices from six UK retailers. Some links earn us a commission if you buy — it never costs you more, and it never affects which shop we show as cheapest. How this works
BLACK FRIDAY 2026 · FRIDAY 27 NOVEMBER

Is it really a Black Friday deal?

We've logged every guitar price at six UK shops every night since 8 June. On Black Friday we'll check each deal against 172 days of real prices and show you how it compares.

24,697guitars tracked tonight
2.7mprice checks so far
172days of history by 27 Nov
6UK shops
COUNTDOWN 31 days to Black Friday Until then we keep logging every price, so we can spot a "deal" that's really last month's price.

Every deal gets one of four verdicts

REAL DEALThe lowest price we've recorded for it at any of the six shops, or within 2% of it.
GOOD PRICEBelow its usual price, but we've seen it cheaper before.
NORMAL PRICEAbout what it has cost on most days since June, whatever the sale badge says.
RAISED, THEN CUTThe price went up in the weeks before, and the "deal" just takes it back down.

What a check looks like

Real price history, checked 27 Oct
Ibanez Tom Quayle TQMS1 Celeste
REAL DEAL

Ibanez Tom Quayle TQMS1 Celeste, Blue

£1,499at Peach
26 May £2,499Tonight £1,499

The lowest best price we’ve recorded. On 26 May it was £2,499.
Epiphone Special Les Paul
GOOD PRICE

Epiphone Special Les Paul, Inspired By Gibson Custom 1960 Double Cut Reissue Cherry Red

£749at GuitarGuitar
Dashed line: lowest £689Tonight £749

Below its average of £871, but it has been lower: £689 at Gear4Music, 9 Sep to 6 Oct.
ESP EC-256 Eclipse
RAISED, THEN CUT

ESP EC-256 Eclipse, LTD EC-256 Vintage Gold Satin

£299£499at Thomann
Dashed line: £299£299 on 9 Sep

Thomann had it at £299, put it up to £499 on 27 Aug, then cut it back to £299 on 9 Sep.

634 guitars got dearer since 1 Sep

Most prices are falling: 5,753 of the 14,446 guitars we've watched since then are cheaper now. But if one of these comes back down on Black Friday, that isn't a deal. It's last month's price.

Cheaper40%
Dearer4.4%
No change56%
GuitarShop1 SepNowChange
Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Flying V 70s Maui BlueGuitarGuitar£499£699+40%
Epiphone Crestwood Custom Tremotone, Polaris WhiteGear4Music£444£619+39%
Epiphone Coronet, CherryGear4Music£324£439+35%
Ibanez AZ2203N Antique TurquoiseGuitarGuitar£1,399£1,799+29%
Epiphone Uptown Kat ES, Emerald Green MetallicGear4Music£484£619+28%
EVH Wolfgang WG Standard M - Baked Maple - Wine RedPeach£579£709+22%
Music Man Sterling Standard StingRay Baritone SR50 Toluca Lake BlueGuitarGuitar£699£849+21%
Same listing, same shop: the price in the first week of September against tonight's. Biggest rises first, at most three per shop. Andertons isn't included: our record of its September sale prices isn't reliable.

We'll email you a link to confirm first. One short email a week at most; unsubscribe in one click. Privacy notice

What four months of prices taught us

1 in 5"was" prices we checked had actually been charged while we watched (2,573 guitars, early October).
Thursdayis when most price cuts showed up this summer. Sunday had the fewest.
4 in 5price cuts of 5% or more were still in place a month later.

Questions people ask

When is Black Friday 2026?

Friday 27 November. Many shops start their sales earlier, and we check every price every night, so the checker works on early deals too.

Do shops put prices up before Black Friday?

Some prices go up and many come down. Since 1 Sep, 634 of the guitars we track got dearer and 5,753 got cheaper. We flag any Black Friday deal that just undoes a recent rise.

How do you know a deal is real?

We compare the Black Friday price with every price we've recorded for that guitar since June, at that shop and the other five. A crossed-out "was" price on its own doesn't count.