Most new guitar pedals are now bolted to demo tables so you can't try them out with any amp there. Big failure on Guitar Center's part. I'll be spending my money somewhere else now. read more

The store manager Nick, was very unhelpful and impolite. He had an attitude and was very rude when I inquired about renting a speaker system for a company event. He made it seem like my basic questions were a major inconvenience. On top of that, they have an old price sheet out for rentals and now charge a lot more. When I asked why they haven't updated pricing he told me that he didn't know and that he wouldn't honor the original price. This guy shouldn't be managing a store. Stay far away from this location. read more

Guitar Center - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Arlington Heights, Illinois

See all

I was looking to get back into playing guitar, and trading my 30 year old stuff (dreadnought guitar, fender strat and small amp), and buy a mini acoustic. Anthony was great, he talked through the various options, and the pros and cons of each. He was patient, and never condescending. Regarding trade in, it was very straightforward. He said they would pay 60% of what they would sell it for. I had looked online at the values of my old stuff, and he was very close to that. Sure enough, when I went back a week later to pick up my new guitar (special order), my two old guitars and amp were for sale at exactly the price Anthony said they would sell for. They gave me more than I would have tried to sell them for, without the hassle. I went in with some trepidation, but it was a great experience. read more

Fantastic staff. I worked with a guy on staff named Josh S for a guitar and some PA equipment. He's very knowledgeable and respectful. I would recommend to see him when you arrive. He's got lots of musical experience. Not sure when he started here but I went several years back and it's improved with Josh's involvement and customer service. read more

Took my electric bass from the 70s to be fixed. Took about two weeks and everything was fixed, tuned, and provided new strings. Have a wide variety of instruments and tools for musicians and also provide free guitar classes. Very busy on the weekends but was helped in a timely manner. read more

I was in there to exchange a lap steel guitar that I ordered on line , it didn't work . The sales associate Riley was so helpful even though at that time it was pretty busy , GREAT JOB ! read more

Have not been to the local GC in ages however before the pandemic it's always been a nice stop to grab some audio equipment and have a good time seeing the production equipment I can't afford. It's always a good place to grab cables, you can get anything under the sun at a GC. It's quickly becoming the radio shack replacement for audio junkies. read more

Was there looking to buy a new bass combo amp but had no one there to help me at 5pm on a Saturday evening. It's very unusual for a Guitar Center in my experience. read more

The store is alright, and the lesson teachers are dope. BUT YOU CAN NEVER GET A HOLD OF ANY OF THEM. I'm currently sitting and dialing, have been listening to a dial tone for over 6 minutes now. I can't even leave a message. It's crazy... They say the best way to reschedule or cancel a lesson is to give them a call... but how is that possible if no one ever picks up and then I end up being charged for a lesson that I can't cancel?? read more

Guitar Center in Arlington Heights is my go-to music store. I bought my ovation there with a very deep discount (it was on sale) and they even help me get an ovation guitar case but this is years ago. Today, my husband brought me there and surprise me with an Air turn duo blue tooth to help me with the lyrics scrolling when I am using the Ultimate Guitar tab app. They were very helpful and friendly! Go there, they almost always have everything you need! read more

I've never been to Guitar Center before, but I had a fantastic experience there today. I needed new sound equipment for my fitness studio but I don't know anything about anything when it comes to sound. Anthony was extremely helpful, spent a ton of time with me, worked through what would make sense for my space, and made the whole daunting process a million times easier. I'll be back if I need anything else! read more

Friendly staff, clean shop, and a gorgeous display of the products? Everything was in wonderful shape and it was so fun to see the different kinds of designs. One-stop shopping for instrument needs--especially if you're a guitarist. They also offer lessons here. read more

See all

I've been coming to this Guitar Center for years. I never had a bad experience. I stopped by after a few years - this week , and found the staff a bit inattentive and quite under staffed. read more

Walked in, not greeted by anyone. Was my birthday so I thought I might purchase something. But after spending 20+ minutes walking around the store and not getting anyone to even look in my direction shows what kind of service they provide here. I hate to be one to complain, but this was terrible customer service, especially on a birthday. Picked up four acoustic guitars all completely out of tune, so many guitars locked up. Someone in drums section was wailing on the drums for 15+ minutes incredibly loud. I get that it's guitar center, but there comes a point where it's excessive and other customers can't shop or test gear. Regardless I watched the employees all talking to each other, playing guitar, having no care of making any sales. Will not give this location my business because of this. I'll find an online retailer. With music stores shutting down lately, it doesn't hurt to provide some decent customer service. Not everyone comes here to jam. Some people want to actually buy things. read more

This is my son's first month of piano lessons, he's four. The store manager, Matthew is amazing! Not only is he super friendly and welcoming, but he's very accommodating. I'm really happy with Robert, my son's piano teacher because he's really patient with my son and is a wonderful teacher. I encourage parents to check out the music lessons, so far I have no complaints. read more

Incredibly skilled staff with amazing service! Has a sting pop on me and needed a quick fix. "Doc" restrung that string for me in less that 3 minutes and had me out the door! 10/10 read more

I wanted to purchase a bass that was currently out of stock everywhere! Went to this guitar center and the gentleman helped me order it, even though it was on back order and explained the awesome insurance on it as well. Got my order 10 days earlier than expected and I'm thrilled. The guy who helped me said hi and helped me as soon as I walked in and was incredibly helpful and nice. read more

A total 180 turn around in service! You guys have totally redeemed yourself. I can't remember the last time I seen such Great customer service like this. Great job! Thank you, -Mike G read more

This Guitar Center is unprofessional. They had everybody waiting outside for an hour from when they were suppose to open. Do not come here if you need anything. This particular location is one of the worst I seen. read more

Again as always Matt manager of the store is fantastic. You see him on the floor helping if he can. Always there to help with orders from other stores and on line. Great crew Great store. read more

We just left the Guitar Center after last night having terrible service in Rockford Illinois and boy what a wonderful difference!! From the minute we walked in and when we left it was a joy! I talked to Marky the manager at nights last night and told him my bad experience and he hooked us up! We came in today and man everything I needed was put together with my name on it. Marky was not there but Maxwell the customer service manager was awesome! He took great care of us, was professional and knew his stuff! Rockford needs to take a lesson from this store. The store was cleaner, more organized and they knew where things were at! Glad we came here, it was worth the trip!! Thanks Marky and Maxwell we'll be back!!! read more

I've been purchasing guitars and amplifiers from here for years. Recently I've been purchasing microphones and accessories. It's all good, they honor warranties and replace any defective items. No need to save receipts, it's on the computer under your phone number. Very good service by the staff. read more

Overall I would give this Guitar Center location a 2 to 2.5 rating. For starters, I received a $50 gift card and decided to purchase some picks, and, just for fun, a small $45 jimbe! At the register, however, the clerk pressured me to buy insurance on it. I politely declined, as the drum was free for me and a novelty. He persisted nonetheless, explaining how any number of horrible things could happen to it, such as someone kicking it over on stage. Yeah, or put a cigarette out on it too, right? LOL Really? It's obviously a cheap drum, not a well-crafted, leather skinned instrument with a hand carved shell for stage performances! Why would anyone pay $10 extra to insure this toy? Either way, isn't it the customer's prerogative anyway? Thanks, but no thanks... But he kept persisting...! By the fourth doggone rebuttal, I was so super annoyed that I was ready to take my gift card and leave the store! No, I don't want insurance for this! On another more serious occasion, I decided to purchase a very real instrument--a professional grade Martin acoustic guitar with a hard case and a humidifier. I take excellent care of my instruments, but after 33-days, I noticed the pine top had a split in it from the bridge down. How and when did this happen? Only the Lord knows. It was in it's case! I returned to have it replaced under warranty. This clerk was great (to his credit), but the manager apparently had an issue with the exchange, stating the 30-day return policy had passed and that there is a "one in a billion"--with a 'B'--"chance" that Martin manufactured a bad guitar. Again, really? It's made out of thin wood. It was also in it's case, with the humidifier, when it cracked down the center. In addition, it was sitting at home, not on any stage, when I opened it up. So, I held my ground, and they agreed to let me exchange it for an identical model, which was in the floor's humidifier room. I said okay, played it a little, and agreed on the exchange. A few days later, I went to plug it in (it's an electric acoustic), and it wouldn't amplify; the built in electronic tuner was also dead. I did buy the insurance for the guitar; maybe I'll be back for repairs...? From now on though, I'll probably stick with specialty mom-and-pop shops, not big box stores. read more

Guitar Center - My little, uninsured, Jimbe. LOL - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Arlington Heights, Illinois

Not the worst Guitar Center, not the best. I do prefer to go here rather than the one on Halsted in Lincoln Park. They seem low on employees. That or they're all gathered around the cash register island area. You can't tell who works there and who doesn't. The drum room is always void of customers and employees, and even when the place is empty there's always someone whizzing back and forth from the pro-audio room and the store room in back, as if they're doing something important. Also, there's something about the building. It's proximity to the airport, and the fact it has no windows makes me think it was a strip club before Guitar Center moved in. read more

Wow where do I even start with this poor excuse for a company? Called about a specific item that I specified was $250, and they assured me it was in stock, pulled aside, and waiting for me. Drove 25 min only to see it was the wrong product that was almost $800. They of course didn't have the correct one in stock. So they told me they can have it at my door in "2 days tops." 10 days later and it still hasn't shipped. Got a call this morning about how no store has it and the only option is to buy a used version without wires. Nearly two weeks of being patient for no reason. Never heard a damn thing, no update, no nothing until this morning. What a joke. Go to Sam Ash or somewhere that actually cares. read more

I brought my son in to have his EVH 5150 restrung. It's his first Floyd Rose so he wasn't sure how to do it. Doc spent a good amount of time showing my son step by step the proper process. Thanks Doc for your patience and instructions! This small act has locked us in as future customers! read more

I had a Yamaha P-250 stage piano, new with the box. I had just purchased it months ago for $2,300 before learning I would be moving across the country to a tiny San Francisco apartment. I wouldn't have room for many of my things for a couple years. I called Guitar center to see if they wanted to buy my keyboard. I described the condition over the phone and was given a quote of $1,200 for it. The deal was "firm" as long as it was in new condition. When I arrived a few days later, I chatted with the same salesman. I mentioned that selling the keyboard was the last thing I was doing before dropping my car off at Car Max and taking a taxi to the airport. Before we had even taken the keyboard out of the box for inspection, he instantly lowered the offer to $800. "You said you have to sell it today. You're out of time. Where else are you going to take it?" He acknowledged that he remembered our phone conversation but said it didn't matter. I don't remember a business ever giving me an F U like that before. He seemed to take glee in knowing he had me over a barrel even though we already had a handshake deal. This happened years ago. I'm living somewhere with a lot more space now, and I've spent thousands on gear since then. But I've gone out of my way to avoid Guitar Center for anything I can get online or at small owner-operated stores. read more

I wouldn't recommend stepping foot into this location to use the bathroom, let alone doing business with these low class, uneducated individuals. I came in today with a 1978/79 Fender to get an estimate on its value and to see how much they'd buy it for. Unfortunately I was "helped" by a manic depressive teenager named Jay who couldn't be bothered to take photos and email them to the Hollywood office for a quote. Even though he said it's not up to them to determine the value, he said likely they'd only give me $500-700 for it DESPITE NOT EVEN OPENING THE CASE TO LOOK AT IT. When I pressed him to PLEASE look at and photograph it to send to the corporate office, he finally did so as if I was asking him to please look inside a dumpster--with serious attitude and totally disgusted. Mind you I'd only met him two minutes before, but he was so miserable and rude...as if I'd somehow offended him just by being there. He kept pressing that if I didn't want to sell the guitar TODAY he couldn't be bothered to take/send photos to corporate. How could I agree to sell it today if he wasn't going to give me a price? And according to him, it takes time to get the value from the corporate office? He was so disrespectful that I asked to speak to a manager. Then five minutes later the "manager" Matthew came by and looked at the guitar for half a second (from five feet away) and said, "Nah, we wouldn't buy that." The level of disrespect was unbelievable. Well, I called their corporate office and filed a complaint. My dad has COPD/Emphysema and I'm trying to liquidate his assets to help pay for his care, so this money is important to us. Guys if you're reading this: Enjoy the karma you earned today. Oh, and also...maybe invest in some antidepressants? Or a new career? You're miserable, and customer service isn't your thing. read more

Guitar Center - Here's the 1978/79 I brought in to get a quote on (to sell to them) that Jay and Matt refused to photograph and send to their corp. office. - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Arlington Heights, Illinois

See all

Man, I'm pretty bummed about having to write this review. Stopped in this afternoon after looking online and seeing they had a guitar in stock that I had every intention of walking in, purchasing without haggling, as well as a hard case for it, and a set of strings, and some picks. In my last review I talked about how you're not being ignored if the sales guys aren't hounding you and asking if you need help -- all you need to do is speak up! That wasn't the case today. 'Bout 5PM on a Saturday, place was moderately busy at the very best. Looked around for about 10 minutes or so looking for what I knew I was walking out with, but couldn't find it anywhere. Kinda glanced through some other guitars, considering buying something else. Ehhh... I know what I want. So the first guy I asked kinda mumbled something and then walked in the back, dude seemed busy, no big deal. Went to the counter to ask if they had the guitar I was looking for, he seemed kind of unsure... and then the third dude said he'd help me in a minute when he was done ringing up another customer. Cool. So I stand around for 5 minutes or so waiting for him to finish up, and wander over by the guitars and wait for dude to come over. Other customer walks up, and he starts dealing with with them walking them throughout the store 'n shit, looking for stuff for the customer's little kid. After waiting another 10 minutes or so, I just left. Dude literally had the easiest sale in the world in front of him -- like I may as well have opened up with "Hey dude, I'm about to spend $600+ and you don't have to try and up-sell me or anything, I know exactly what I want, I just need you to find it and I'll be on my way." Oh well. So after I got home from SamAsh with my new guitar (for $40 less than GC's listing), case, picks, strings, as well as a new strap and capo -- $665.92 -- I decided to check GC's website. The guitar that was supposedly in stock there, they didn't even have. Double bummer. I'll be back, but it was a bad experience nonetheless. read more

Had issue with new guitar bought on clearance. They immediately resolved the issue with no hassle and to my satisfaction. Went over and above to make it right. read more

Friendly staff that have a ton of knowledge. I didn't mind spending my money with them!

THIS REVIEW FOR THEIR REPAIR CENTER ONLY. Brought our yamaha guitar friday evening for repair. Tried to have our local music store repair it but the owner wasn't able to do so. The problem was when my son hooked it up to an external amplifier, there was no sound coming out of the amp. The local music store owner stated that the electronic panel may need replacement. A little over than 24 hours, Saturday evening, the repair guy called us and told us that it was ready for pick up. Cannot beat that kind of service. He didn't make any promises on how long the repair is going to take and for how much. I'd rather have this kind of honest assessment than promise me something that will not be delivered. read more

I ordered this guitar April 1st for $100 and was extremely excited to get it. Originally the delivery was suppose to be 3-5 business days. A couple days after I ordered the guitar I received an email saying the guitar was not in stock and would be shipped to me by April 10th if I still wanted it. I did so I let them ship it to me and when I finally received it, the top part of the guitar was chipped/damaged. Hope this review helps for future. read more

Guitar Center - Yamaha Acoustic Guitar - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Arlington Heights, Illinois

See all

TLDR: buy on Reverb from a reputable shop instead of GC. Not only you are supporting small businesses, you will likely get a better guitar and better experience. If you have to go to a chain store, Sam Ash in Buffalo Grove is better in every way. Unfortunately GC has lost me as a customer for good. Received 2 guitars that were damaged/not as described condition purchased online from them recently. Every time I drove 20 miles to the store to return them to avoid any further damage on the return shipping back. Instead receiving a proper apology, the store manager talked to me in a rude and condescending voice as if I'm stealing from them. He complained that "pretty much every order you made are returns and I can't refund the original shipping charge". In the past six month alone, I have placed a few dozens of order at GC, and those two returns account for a fraction of the total money I have spent. I also have photo proof that the guitars were in that condition right out of the box. I can tolerate their employees and computers being slow and inexperienced and having to wait half an hour to get a return processed. However, this kind of attitude to your loyal customers, or any customer, is completely unacceptable. Maybe the store manager has no incentive to be nice to me because he figured most of my orders were made online and therefore the store is unlikely to make any commissions from my future purchases? At the same time, there is a beginner guitarist playing "Enter Sandman" very loudly in the store for half an hour, and all the store employees leave him alone. Maybe the store just doesn't welcome guitarists who actually know about gear. Regardless, there are many, many music stores out there that take much better care of their instruments and customers. The new or used guitars I received from GC were almost never set up, and sometimes shipped and packed improperly. The condition listed on their website are often vague with the blurry photos. Lucky for me they have mostly arrived okay in the past. I guess when accidents actually do happen, this is the treatment you get from them. read more

This location. I'm not sure how business is still going on here after so many years. Decent collection of guitars. Zero inventory. If it's not on the shelf they don't have it. Now I gleaned this information after spending 10 minutes trying to flag down someone that works there who wasn't too busy running from one end of the store to the other, apparently doing nothing to engage myself or anyone else who happened to be there looking for guitars. Then a brief question (above) to an associate who was then too busy to actually ask any follow up question or engage me in conversation of any kind. Crazy. read more

Hello? Hello? To the 15 people working, please, I'm just trying to give you money. Please someone, anyone. Hello? Yeah, grabbed 2 cables and then could not get one person to check me out. Place is organized and everyone working seemed nice but they were so overly concerned about their commission that no one could decide who gets my $40 of merchandise. Obviously, I'm annoyed and would not go back. read more

all i have to say is... go and see STEVE KING in Pro Audio and he will take very good care of you!!! I've dealt with Steve for 5 years now and he's very honest and knowledgeable. If you care about customer service this is the guy to see. read more

I'm scratching my head over some of these reviews. Could it be they're reviewing a different Guitar Center but posted to this one without noticing the address? I'm sure some are better than others but the experience I had was so great that I know they didn't get helped by any of the employees I encountered. I am musically challenged and totally without skills of any kind, but my niece just started playing guitar after many years of enduring the trumpet. Someone in the fam passed on a dusty "kidtar" as Dan at Guitar Center jokingly and accurately referred to it. Anyhoo, she took to it like a fish to fishy stuff and a couple of us decided to pitch in and surprise her with a real guitar for her sweet 16. After looking online I quickly realized what a dumb idea that was due to my complete ignorance and off to the store we went together. Being new to this instrument, she was almost as intimidated as me. I was worried about a hard-sell approach making me feel pressured to overspend. The total and complete opposite happened. We looked around a bit on our own in the acoustic room. Very large selection and well organized. Lotsa price options. The vibe was very mellow and there were a few patrons strumming here and there. I was afraid my niece would be too embarrassed to try to play in front of anyone but even the folks there to shop were friendly and encouraging. First Brad came and loosened her up by admitting that while he loves and collects guitars, he can't really play them. He brought us one that she had already fallen in love with and gave us pertinent information in terms we could understand. He also brought us a very good used model when we hinted around about the price being a major factor. But as I mentioned she had already found her true love and hey, you're only sweet 16 the once, right? By now we were just playing around and enjoying the place so Brad left us in the very good hands of Dan. This guy was so sincerely kind and knowledgeable he could've talked us into buying the store if he tried. Instead he went above and beyond to make sure we looked at all our options and tried his best to get us the highest discount. In the end we walked away saving almost $300.00 because they allowed us to use a coupon we forgot to print and therefore did not have with us, threw in a kick ass guitar case when we ended up taking the floor model guitar in order to get the color we wanted and it was already on sale to boot. So purchases made and two satisfied customers going home on a busy Saturday afternoon, right? No! First we snuck into the drum area and my niece went all (insert your favorite drummer's name here) on a sweet set and I only regret not having my 8 year old grandson with us. He would've been thunderstruck! There were some other little ones running around with sticks they were given by the guy working that area and having a blast. I want to mention something else: The computer system was down and we had no hint of this until we were going to pay. I mean nobody was all hotheaded or frustrated or anything. It was just a casual sidenote from Dan as he gathered our stuff up and told us to stay put and he'd be back in a few so my niece could then try out the crazy expensive guitars just to torture herself. When it was all over he carried our stuff to the front of the store and then ran back to the drums to tell my niece I was ready. So now we had to go and can't wait to return. Many thanks to Dan, Brad and all the wonderful staff at the Arlington Heights Guitar Center for making this special occasion more memorable. read more

I had a horrible experience with this store. I had to return my guitar that I received from GC.com order. It was used guitar but condition says "good" and clean. So I decided to purchase it. Well. It finally arrived. I saw a few dings and scratches but I didn't care because it played well and everything looked fine. Then I was going to put my tremolo bar to the bridge it didn't go in. So I looked at tremolo hole carefully and guess what I found, I see a piece of metal still stacked in a hole. I couldn't get them out so I asked GC tech guy to see if he can remove it. He said he will have to charge me and replace the whole bridge. Then I had to talk to the sales guys and explain the issue. He said I will have to replace the bridge or return this guitar. I liked the guitar but I didn't want to start modifying vintage guitar that I just purchased by paying extra 100 bucks. So I finally made my decision to return this guitar and look for something else instead. A few workers there started processing return and tried to help me. Until this point, I was disappointed about the guitar I received but I had no complain because I understand sometimes you never know what you going to get until you actually receive it. I knew this from buying a lot of used gear from GC last several years. Then here comes Matthew the store manager, he start saying that people like me taking an advantage of 45 days return policy and get something else and return all the time!! and he said things get complicate so we would have to change all unnecessary processing fees or whatever. I couldn't believe the things he said to me. He probably was not happy that I return the guitar but I wouldn't want to keep the guitar with broken tremolo bar piece on the bridge. I didn't want to return my guitar in fact I liked the guitar if it is decent condition. Am I a bad customer? I felt bad buying all my gears at GC and feeling unwelcome from this store. Anyway he finally just game me a check with some short amount that I have paid. I know that I don't get freight charge (about 20 bucks) back but there's still some short amount on my return. I noticed right away but I don't even want to waste my time continuing to make them understand what's went wrong the whole thing... so I left the store. Maybe he changed me extra for his extra handling processing fee. It was sad because I had been a frequent customer for this guitar center for a long period of time (Tomek was previous store manager and he was awesome! )!but I would never want to come back to this store again. read more

It's been a long time since I been to Guitar Center, heck I remember when they were on Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago and I was a basement rock star in zebra spandex --- oh such fond memories ... ok maybe too much info. So, since I was in the area recently, I popped in just to check out what's new and as always they have a tome of music equipment for a range of musicians to choose from and while I no longer playing at this point ... thank god for anybody wanting to hear me play, it was still great to check out the bass and guitars available. Just as before they can be a bit aggressive in their sales tactics, but nothing overtly unruly. It can be pretty funny to check out the "kiddies" testing out guitars playing the three cords they learned from their favorite song trying to show their masterful skills. (and no, just because you can play Guitar Hero doesn't mean you can actually play guitar) If you're a musician - note that I said "musician", it's definitely worth the drive to go check them out. Pros: Tons of selection Cons: Sometimes use aggressive sales tactics Cost: $$$ of 5 Overall Rating: 4 of 5 Recommendation: Worthwhile read more