Bassists are getting some love too with Guitar Center’s ongoing Memorial Day weekend sale!
On the affordable end, the Squier Sonic Precision Bass and Affinity PJ Bass deals are excellent entry-level options for newer players or anyone wanting a cheap backup bass.
The Sterling by Music Man StingRay line is also heavily represented, and those are some of the best midrange basses for aggressive punch, modern versatility, and active electronics. The RAY4, RAY4HH, and Ray5HH models especially stand out because they deliver that classic StingRay growl for hundreds less than usual, making them killer choices for rock, funk, metal, and modern pop players.
Fender’s Player II and American Professional II basses are probably the safest “buy once, keep forever” options in the sale, particularly the Jazz Bass models and the roasted maple Precision Bass. The American Professional II fretless Jazz Bass at around $1,358 is especially notable because fretless American-made Fenders rarely dip that low, and the American Vintage II Precision Bass dropping from $2,500 to about $1,625 is one of the strongest premium Fender discounts listed.
The higher-end boutique and modern metal-oriented instruments are where the sale gets really interesting. Several Ibanez multi-scale and headless basses, including the EHB and BTB models, are discounted heavily, and those are incredibly ergonomic, technically advanced instruments for progressive metal, fusion, and extended-range players.
The Ibanez EHB1505MS at 40% off is one of the biggest steals in the entire list considering how expensive and feature-packed those basses usually are. Schecter also has some serious value here with the Riot, Stiletto Studio, SLS Elite, and Model-T basses getting major cuts.
Meanwhile, the Ernie Ball Music Man deals are unusually aggressive, especially the StingRay Special H, StingRay5 HH, and DarkRay models. The DarkRay in particular is a monster modern bass with built-in Darkglass electronics and studio-quality tone shaping, so seeing it around $2,100 instead of $3,000 is nuts.
There are also some sleeper deals depending on what style you play. The Yamaha BBP34 and BB735A are phenomenal session-style basses with excellent construction and balanced tones that work in almost any genre. The Fender MonoNeon Jazz Bass at 40% off is also one of the more unique signature bass discounts Fender has done recently.
Some of the deals include:
- Squier Sonic Precision Bass Guitar – Limited-Edition Surf Green – $199.99 (was $269.99)
- Fender Player II Jazz Bass Plus Top Limited-Edition Bass Guitar – Blue Burst – $719.99 (was $899.99)
- Squier Affinity Series Limited-Edition PJ Bass Guitar – 3-Color Sunburst – $259.99 (was $369.99)
- Ibanez AEGB30E Spruce-Sapele Acoustic-Electric Bass Guitar – $397.49 (was $529.99)
- Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay Special H Electric Bass Guitar – $1,851.85 (was $2,849.00)
- Schecter Guitar Research Riot-4 Bass – $844.35 (was $1,299.00)
- Ernie Ball Music Man DarkRay 4-String Electric Bass Guitar – $2,099.30 (was $2,999.00)
- Sterling by Music Man S.U.B. StingRay RAY4 Maple Fingerboard Electric Bass Guitar – from $374.98
- Sterling by Music Man StingRay RAY4HH Electric Bass Guitar – from $471.99
