Guitar Center

I went to guitar center to find a smaller guitar than the dreadnaught that I’ve been borrowing. The salesman, Ben showed me some guitars he thought I might like, but was no-​pressure and even gave me some tips on holding the guitar that would make the dreadnaught less awkward for me. I didn’t buy anything today, but had a very good experience and would certainly go back when I have a better idea of what I want.

I want to give a Shout Out to a great guitar store. I would especially like to single out Eric, the guitar repair guy. I had a problem with my guitar. The problem was corrected perfectly and the Guitar Center went above and beyond in providing excellent service. I would encourage any guitar owner to visit the store. Superlative service and staff.

Terrible customer service. Rude. I am a loyal customer of guitar center for years. I bought my first guitar, keyboard and microphone set there but have never had such rude customer service. The man ignored me and nobody would help me. (Mind you. it wasn’t busy and he was sitting down talking to his friend with his hands relaxing behind his head). Unbelievable. Also, this store is very small compared to the other Guitar Centers I’ve been too.

Not very impressed with this store. I’ve never been impressed with Guitar Center or their online arm, Musician’s Friend — both are staffed with friendly people, but they don’t seem to actually know much about their products. There’s also this constant gag of trying to upsell — buy this extra thing, buy some extra guitar picks ($ 6.99 for a small pack which probably cost 25 cents to make), buy the insurance plan on it… it’s very typical, Best Buy-​esque retail that I think most shoppers have grown weary of dealing with, which is why Amazon has become so successful.
So, yeah, the markup is pretty insane, and I’ve found that the people who work for Sweetwater or B&H are way more knowledgeable… unfortunately, they don’t have stores in this area. Inside the beltway, GC is pretty much your only option.

I was in the market for a new acoustic guitar. The first sale associate I dealth with was Ben. A good honest human being, but he did pressure me into buying a guitar that I didn’t 100% wanted. So that was kind of a downer.
I then met Taylor. Very knowledgeable, friendly, helpful, and honest. I recommend everyone who is in the market for acoustic guitar to give Taylor a chance to earn your business.
I visited a few other shops in the area, but once I walked in to Guitar Center. It was just wowed. The store is huge. Wide selection of EVERYTHING music related. I hesitated to even set foot into Guitar Center since their Unilocal reviews aren’t good, and some are just plain horrible, but I am glad that I did.
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One of the drawback with Guitar Center is that they do not carry mid end to high end Yamaha acoustic guitar. I don’t know what sup with that! Yamaha L series is top end quality and world renounced. I will be getting a Yamaha L series down the road. Hopefully they’ll be carrying L series in store by then, or the sale will go to
.

This place is so cool! I only came here because Music & Arts was closed, but now I’m glad of it. They have so much more than just guitars here, including drums, synths, and even lighting equipment. I gazed longingly at their electric ukulele before finally making my purchase of a few maracas.
I would give this place 5 stars, but since all I actually did was try out a instruments and then buy 2 maracas, I can’t speak for their customer service or the like. But I CAN recommend this place to all of you, because in my short experience, it was great.

I used to like these guys, but I cannot recommend their guitar repair service. I took my guitar in to get the action lowered, and when I went to pick it up I was handed a bill for that, replacing the humidity packs (which I didn’t ask for) and new strings (also). To make matters worse, they didn’t even lower the action…
When I complained the sales guy treated me like I was an idiot, and told me I had to pay or he wouldn’t release the guitar. He refused to get the manager also. I had a gig so I was stuck.
Avoid at all costs.

They had a great selection, and I got a great deal on the monitor speakers I was looking at. Although I had to order them in, the confirmation email came before I left the counter, they shipped directly to me, and the best part is that as I tracked my order through my email from them, they came in 3 days. I received exactly what I wanted at the advertised price. Oh, and I even ordered on a Sunday (they were ready to mail off to me in 3 hours or so).

I am a huge fan of this Guitar Center. Though the store is a hundred miles from where I live, I seem to buy guitars here about once every month or two. The deals are good and the service is excellent. I like the selection at this store compared to the one near me in Lancaster.

I was having a bad experience with my order at through Guitar Center’s call center, so I contacted this store about a used item. I had been trying to get a NS7II from guitar center for two weeks with no success. The Assistant Manager Ryan Kelley offered customer service that exceeded my expectations. He continued to help me until he made sure I was completely satisfied with my purchase. I honestly didn’t expect to receive the level of service that Ryan provided. He is an honest understanding person, and I would buy any other future products from him.

I’ve been to a lot of GC over the years. This one is easily the worst. If you want to bang on guitars for a while and be ignored, this might be a good place for you, but if you want service you should probably go somewhere else. The manager of the store is terrible. I waited 15 minutes while he was obviously not doing anything for him to push a button for my sales clerk, so that I could buy an amp that wasn’t entered correctly in their system. Finally, after thinking about all the other stores out there that would gladly take my money and not so obviously treat me like someone to squeeze every cent out of, I left.

Walked in (slowly) with my debilitated father. Staff and (Ben?) Especially was incredibly accommodating. We walked out with everything we needed and they really catered to his needs graciously. Thanks guys.

I walked in to checked the place out. I did not feel comfortable. I went into the drum section, walked around tapping on some drums and a sales person came up to me, ask if he could help and mocked me by tapping on the drums with a goofy sarcastic face. Sure I may not look like a musician, but so did many musicians before they became musicians.

I’ve had multiple dealings with GC over the previous two years. One involved the purchase of pro-​audio/​DJ equipment, and I couldn’t have been happier dealing with their salesman. We played with a number of different speakers and combinations before settling on three speakers and a mix board for our setup. Hooked evertyhing up in the store, which required some cable shuffling, moving speakers, etc. Always helpful and happy to oblige. In the end, the system worked out very well for our group.
Second purchase was for a Martin D17M and the Fishman SA-​220, and I dealt with Ben in their acoustic guitar area (he only works Thurs-​Sat), who IMO, is one of the most knowledgeable acoustic guitar specialist I have encountered. I spent a number of Saturdays playing many guitars, debating going for 6 or 12 string guitars. He convinced me to go with the 6 as I would play that more, and had many suggestions. Never felt rushed and had all my questions answered. He’s just a fun guy to listen to and learn from with his experience. I took him up on his suggestion of installing the LR Baggs Lyric pickup and it sounds fantastic! He said that if you buy a nice guitar, you’ll likely play more often. I must say, after having a cheaper guitar sitting around, that is coming true. Time will tell if that holds out.
The only small compliant I had was that he suggested that I have the shop install the pickup. Since everything he had said until that point was on point, I didn’t even think to check the install instructions and assumed it would be more difficult. After picking the guitar up and reading the instruction manual, I’m confident I could have saved the $ 40 install fee since I’m pretty handy with tools and the double sided tape. What bothered me more was when I played the guitar and picked it up I heard little chips moving around inside. Apparently when they reamed the hole for the pickup install the installer never bothered to vacuum out the pieces inside the guitar body. To me, that’s not quality work, but lazy work, and I would question where else the installer cuts corners. Will not be returning for additional work in the future based off that.
I ended up buying a cheaper 12 string for fun and occasional songs that demand that sound but did that online as GC did not carry the particular brand I wanted.
I had also been coveting the Fishman amp since hearing it 2 years ago, and now that I had the Martin, and we are finally playing some open mic and other venues, I could justify splurging. Sure, there would have been cheaper ways to get decent sound, but I kept coming back to the Fishman amp when compared against the others. Took the work from the side contracting gig and bought me one of both, and couldn’t be happier!
Each time I purchase, there is a follow up email from the salesperson which I find to be a nice touch. All in all, very happy with the experience.

I’m a new guitarist, but from day one, the staff here have always very friendly and helpful – never any condescending attitude. The prices are decent, and the selection is great for acoustics and electrics. My wife bought me a Seagull S6, and I’m really enjoying it. I bought and returned I think 3 different guitar cases before I found the one I like, and they gave me no resistance on the returns.
The only competitors are Music & Arts, which sells mostly cheap junk for inflated prices, or Crossroads Guitar, which seems to focus only on higher-​end instruments. GC has those too – including an $ 8,000 Martin – but it has plenty of instruments for just a few hundred (and even under $ 100 if you’re really pinching pennies). You can pick them up and try them all, amazingly.
They also sell drums, basses, amps, and keyboards – even ukeleles. I did not see any tambourines, but they’re probably there too if you ask for «Mr. Tambourine Man.»
Parking is easy – and they’re next to the ABC store and Omaha Steaks. Booze, steaks, and guitars – perfect!

Sam and David are awesome. Great place, great selection and amazing customer service. Will definitely be spending a lot more money there.

Overall, I could not ask for more — huge selection, a totally personal (and fun) shopping experience, and a result that we are thrilled with.
My husband is new to guitar playing and I wanted to get him an electric guitar for his birthday. I visited Guitar Center and worked with Adam, who was incredibly knowledgeable and happily scheduled a follow-​up shopping trip with me and my husband.
On our second trip, Adam had picked out the four guitars that we discussed the first day and had them ready to play with his recommended amp. My husband was able to try all four and Adam stayed with us the whole time, answering questions and offering advice. His recommendations were totally unbiased and he never tried to steer us in any one direction based on price or personal preference. I got the impression that he would have let my husband play 100 guitars if he asked.
After we completed the purchase, Adam offered a warm «Congratulations» before helping us to the car. On the way out, there’s a guy who checks what you’re leaving with and compares it to the receipt (smart in a place with $ 10,000 guitars!) and even that guy was so nice. He said that he had the same guitar and that my husband would love it. He then offered a «Congratulations» as well.
Thanks for making this such a fun experience.

Please don’t go here to play stairway to heaven. They have heard it enough. This store has a good selection of electric guitars but the acoustic selection is a little and the side rooms are small.

Ok this place is not my favrit but they have «strong points» as well. Ok first I tell you what I don’t like then you can be the «judge»
Firs off all, I do not like how the «sales assosiates» they try to ask me hello how are you and how can I help you today they are «annoying»! I am a «grown» man and I know what I need and where I can find it ok?
Second off, they do not have a lot of CDs or records what kind of music store is this??? Only guitar, amplifier, trumpets. They sell record players, but then there are no records to play on them? Hello???
Ok now the «strong points». Ok they have my favrit guitar «Fender Squire» and also my second favrit «Fender Stratocaster». They let me play guitar and «test out» their guitars all the time and for this I am great full. I have learnt to play «Stareway to heaven» and also about half of «Terrapin Station» so I like to come here and exercise (jerry garcia would be proud: P). There acoustic room has a lot of very nice guitars also, my favrite is «Yamaha» but it cost «$ 399.99» which is out of budget but one day ;) .
They have a lot of pics too for guitar and I like to buy a diferent one every time I go for «souvenir». Last time I bought one that looked like bowling ball and its my favrit right now
So there you have it. I give it three stars because this store is like «ying-​yang», some good some bad but we all have to live together :)

As a musician of almost 11 years, I have had the privilege of visiting my fair share of Guitar Centers in the past, and I have enjoyed every experience thus far. However, much to my dismay, I can’t say the same for this Guitar Center. Something about the layout of this particular location was not appealing to me at all. It looked more like a warehouse and far less ambient than the other stores that I have had the pleasure of waltzing into. The acoustic guitar room felt tiny and cramped, and I had a really difficult time finding what I was looking for. I was completely terrified that I was going to knock everything over with all the junk in my trunk. I could have easily asked for help, but I became far too distracted and immediately started playing everything I could get my hands on. This happens when you love making beautiful sounds.
The actual purpose for my visit today was to trade in a bunch of equipment that I no longer use in order to buy a better acoustic guitar. Although I found a really great Martin that I fell head over heels in love with for a surprisingly fantastic price, they did try to play my entire life with the trade-​in value of my used gear. And I wasn’t having it. I politely declined their weak offers, telling them that I’d just sell my stuff privately and put the cash towards my purchase later. One trick that I would suggest is selling the majority of your stuff elsewhere, and then trading one item in (which yields you a 10% discount on any other item you want to buy that day). In the long run this is best of both worlds and will definitely stretch my money the furthest. I plan on getting my Martin when I get to Portland next month because they have no sales tax in OR. That’ll save me a cool $ 40.
I will say that the service I received was exceptional, which is why I won’t go ham on this store. But the fact that you wanted to offer me $ 75 for a used Ibanez that I saw advertised on your site at $ 250? C’mon son. C’mon.