RIP OFF!!! I spoke to salesperson yesterday about a wireless microphone. He had what I needed and said that I could use a coupon for 15% off...Went to the store today...and was told I couldn't use it for this product...I drove 30 miles round trip...The manager told me that there was nothing he could do about it. Beau...I appreciate you responding...if you truly care about your customers and being honest with them...then you should speak with someone above you to rectify the situation...You shouldn't pass me off to an email address...that is poor customer service. Your company is welcome to contact me...I have already tweeted and post on Facebook in regards to this read more

There is only one reason for the five stars in my rating to this place. And is because of the best service and help that I always receive in this place is by a young man named Alex. He always looking for the way to help you with his knowledge and advice in choosing what is best for your equipment. He is the kindest person in this place. If I could I would give him 10 stars!! read more

Honestly it was my first time buying in here, I was looking for a guitar and everyone was really nice, especially the guy who helped me, i do recommend this store, they'll help you with everything and do the best to explain things. 5 stars read more

I am a newer player, I walked in looking to spend around $600 on a mid level guitar. I walked out, unable to get any assistance. I was unable to try out any guitars or get a feel for anything in that price range. The store was not busy, we were the only customers there when we walked in. read more

I went to this Guitar Center looking for a new uke and guitar. Even though I didn't buy one, they had a huge selection to choose from and mess around with. The store is run by Dustin F. and Dustin really cares about providing the best experience for every guest that comes in and out of this store. Don't be afraid to buy an asset here because they will go above and beyond expectations to make things correct. read more

I've been to this store a couple times in the past and just recently went back, each time was disappointing. Customer service is awful, had to wait almost an hour to be helped. Never going back. read more

Absolutely horrible service!! One guy sitting up front strumming a guitar while the guy helping me tried waiting on 5+ people at the same time. We called ahead and it still took over 90 mins. to get what we needed. FOCUS on one customer at a time, have more employees that actually help customers and can answer questions, etc. Basic customer service. Maybe even consider training the manager to work the register and help customers instead of standing there with a deer in the headlights look. What a mess! Over 90 minutes of our time lost because of poor service. Won't ever walk through the doors again. read more

I have bought alot of gear here and found the staff to be friendly, not pushy and polite. I'll be back.

I've been to Guitar Center in Aurora (on Naperville border) several times for small stuff - guitar strings, straps, picks, etc., and although the girl in the area where they sell this stuff has always been nice, she doesn't seem to know much about what she's selling. My wife has stopped there several times for me too and she says the people she has talked to don't seem to know what they are talking about. I stopped for some strings and, while there, I asked to see some finger picks too. The girl asked me if Ii wanted metal or plastic finger picks and I told her I wanted plastic because I felt metal was too hard on the strings. So she hands me one metal finger pick! Then she starts ringing up the bill for strings so I asked her if they have plastic finger picks and she said, "No." A guitar store with no plastic finger picks? Something else: The girl who waited on me had plumber's butt? four inches of her ass-crack were showing. I'm no prude so it didn't bother me but it would see that someone waiting on customers shouldn't have their ass-crack showing. The thing I really don't like about this store (and maybe all Guitar Centers?) is that some guy stands by the door and, when you leave, he goes through your bag and checks it against your receipt. I felt like I was a criminal or was checking into a prison to visit someone. What will they do next? Do a strip search? That gives me a bad feeling about he store and I will go somewhere else next time - where they have plastic finger picks! GC needs to find a system where they don't treat their customer's this way. Other stores do. They can't use the excuse that you may try to sneak small stuff out because you could do that at any store. You aren't going to sneak a guitar, set of drums, or amplifier out and they could put small, valuable things in cases if they don't already. If other stores can do it, GC can too. read more

I am amazed of the large selections they have for music related equipments. The staffs are very helpful and low key. The guitar technician provides helpful tips in choosing a guitar. Large selections of connecting cables. Great place. read more

The great score is for Jed the onsite service technician... He is an absolute pro with an outstanding service attitude... Jed gets it.... Very refreshing!!!! read more

I came here to check out acoustic guitars after looking online for a while. An older gentleman came into the acoustic room and helped me out when I told him which models I was considering. When they didn't have it in stock, I asked him for suggestions within a certain budget with a few different ideas in mind. He suggested a couple different guitars and explained the differences, pros/cons between them, and seemed really knowledgeable about the products and guitar in general. Not only did he recommend a great guitar at a discounted price (I later went online to look at more reviews, which were all 5 stars), but he played a few songs for me on it since I was a little shy. The case meant for the guitar I was buying had a broken piece on it, so he gave me a hard shell case from the next model up. I wanted to get the 2-year warranty, but it was a little expensive. He took off about $30 from the guitar so that net, the insurance was only ~$20. Overall, I was very satisfied with the customer service and he didn't try up-selling me at all. Later on I went back for some odds and ends like picks, and everyone was pretty friendly then, too. Their employees didn't seem too much like vultures, like other places with commissioned sales people. I prefer this location over the Joliet location. read more

Two stars for the guy that couldn't be bothered to help a family that needed A LOT of help that knew ZERO about guitars. He was too busy reliving the good old days for 20 minutes with another person. Lucky for us he took long enough to let us bother him to ask for help - made it made it clear he was annoyed - and got us Ashley. Ashley helped us get everything we needed in terms of accessories, what to look for, future needs, and even kindly priced matched items. All this while working a very busy counter, taking, phone calls, and the original guy continued to talk about the 80's. Had we run into Ashley from the start 5 stars all the way! We will make sure to beeline it to her on future visits! read more

Had a small issue and the store manager took care of it very quickly. Great store with a customer focused team. Stand up guys read more

I've had really good luck here. Jeremy is the salesman I've worked with and he is an excellent resource. GC has a great inventory and overall really good prices. I've purchased guitars at GC and other places, for family / friends and haven't had a bad experience anywhere, including GC. Had to have a repair done on one of my guitars and the local GC repairman didn't do that kind of repair, referred me to Cremer in Aurora. Nice folks here. read more

I recently was in the market for a microphone, speaker/sound system for entertainment purposes and didn't have a very large budget to work with. I wasn't even sure what type of system I needed or wanted. The guys at Guitar Center were very helpful in explaining watts, SNR, wireless microphones and quality. Very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful staff. read more

As a jazz player I'm incredibly disappointed in their lack of selection in strings. Hardly any flatwound strings, and none that I would use. off to online shopping I guess. read more

Finally decided to buy a smaller piano to place in my bedroom so I don't bother and wake up the family in my house in the early mornings. My big acoustic piano is also getting old, so I just want to make sure I have something more up to date and reliable. I came here three different times to play around with the keyboards and figure out which one I liked better. It was a tough decision but I ended up liking the Casio CGP-700 over the Yamaha DGX 650 for various reasons. The first time I came in was on a weekend and it was very busy, and I didn't need any help so I went straight to the room with the pianos and tested all of them. The second time was a little a busy, but the employees still made small talk with me and saw that I was testing things out and asking if I was doing okay and if i did need help. The third time I came in I brought my mom to get an opinion on what she thought sounded better and so on. This time Stephen approached the both of us and asked how we were doing and if we needed help. We had a small conversation and he gave an opinion on what he thought. He even got the keyboard I was interested in out and showed me the size of the box so I could determine if it would fit in my car. Very nice. This sold me. I agreed to come pick it up on Thursday and that is exactly what I did today (03/16/2016) All I have to say is the people that work here are very nice and welcoming and down-to-earth. Although Stephen plays guitar and not so much piano, he still shared some insightful opinions on the keyboards I was looking at and some little stories here and there. He made purchasing real smooth and simple and very thorough and that's exactly how I love purchasing things to be. So, a huge shoutout to Stephen for making the experience more memorable. When I got home, I was able to (miraculously) pick up the box and bring it into my house. Assembly took about 20-30 minutes and it looks gorgeous. The Casio CGP-700 plays like it did in the store and it sounds so beautiful. I placed it in my room and it still sounds just as wonderful. If you like rich, quality sound and realistic feeling keys, go for the Casio CGP-700. It also has a touch screen pad in the middle and it's very easy to use. This keyboard comes with a foot pedal, however, I decided to buy a bigger and better quality one because I'm picky and I liked the look of it. The sustain pedal that comes with it is a small, square and all black pedal that is pretty small. I stashed it away for backup of the current pedal I'm using breaks or gets damaged. The pedal I bought is the Proline keyboard sustain pedal. Thank you Guitar Center for quality products and quality service! :-) read more

Outstanding customer experience! Son's used bass was shipped damaged. Staff went out of their way to fix the bass immediately. Great job and thank you. read more

My review is based off of the percussion selections at the store. They have a great selection of drum sets and you can even jam on some at the store. They also carry some latin percussion instruments (though poorly tuned). They have a great selection of drum set sticks and an alright cymbal vault. If you are an orchestral or band percussionist find somewhere else. This place is really ment for rock drumming and they do not carry that much stuff for other genres. Also, a lot of their stuff is over priced so you might want to check to see if they will match a lower price. Overall, this place is great if you are into drum set or rock, metal, pop, or fusion drumming. read more

Very few employees here actually know anything about musical instruments. Definitely more of a Walmart than a music store. However the selection in recent years has condensed down to more quality instruments and less children's toys (budget epiphones and whatnot). Corollary, there are vinyls for sale here, which is hard to find. Worth going to as long as you know your needs. Do not expect good advice from the staff. read more

I love GC. I hate GC. It's great that you can go play with anything on the floor. It sucks if you want to ask a question or god forbid try something out that's high up on the wall and expensive. Gil, the GC garage guru is awesome. Knowledgeable, helpful and his passion happens to be in line with mine, Japan made guitars especially Charvel and Jackson. Everyone else doesn't know jack about sh*t. The good is that you can spend an hour trying out stuff. The bad is that you can spend an hour trying to get some help from people that don't know how to answer your questions. And aren't willing to anyhow. First issue I had was when I wanted a cheap-ish amp for my 6 yr old to play on. Price under $150. Dani tells me they don't have anything like that. Next to the registers they have "Acoustic" amps that start at $60. I buy one, it sucks, I return it and get a Peavey Vyper Vip1. Great little amp btw. No one there knew anything about it. Second issue, I wanted an acoustic that was smaller than a dreadnought. "We don't have those." They actually have several but no one seemed to know this ( my budget was $500-1000) I joined the string club and go there once a month for free strings. Other than that, ill spend my cash somewhere else. There was a girl named Alex that was great but I haven't seen her in a while. Also Jeremy sold me a used Jackson that kicks ass. He was cool and willing to help. But come on guys. Train your people or get rid of them. You lost at least $1000 from me because you didn't want my money. Here's some advice: say hi when someone walks in. Don't wait until they're leaving to ask if they need help with anything. And you sell more than Taylor, Fender and Gibson. Sell it! Don't berate me because I want something else. The manager should be fired and replaced with someone that cares about the employees and customers. read more

I had read the reviews prior to entering the store and was thinkin this would be an annoying experience..absolutely the contrary..I had a trade in and a desire to purchase many items used and new..and danny and steve were real people and knew their trade..neither was aggressive to get commission..they just wanted to help..what I discovered is they let me breathe while investigatingng..and stepped to me when it looked as if I was in need...I'm very happy with my rhoads jackson..and I appreciate these guys. read more

Went in to buy a strat, was in there for about a half hour and none of the employees even bother to ask if i needed help so i took my business elsewhere. read more

The only reason this deserves 2 stars is because i won a raffle at this guitar center about 8 years ago. This place has awful service (as do all guitar centers) because not only is the staff careless, but other than the guitar portion, they are clueless. I've been playing the drums for 12 years, so i am very familiar with the different types of equiptment that goes along with a drum set. The other day i asked the man behind the counter of the drum section if they would let me borrow some practice sticks because i have been looking to buy an electric drum set. The man gave me attitude and made me wait 5 minutes for him to finally gain the courage to let me use them. As i make my destination to the drumset i notice that the headphones had been snaped in half and that one of the amp speakers had been blown out. Guitar Center is the leading supplier of music instruments in the US, i would expect that they should atleast be able to replace a $23 headset. After playing on this piece of shit drumset for no longer than 35 seconds, i came to the conclusion that i am willing to drive 45 minutes away to the other guitar center, instead of spending another 30 minutes of my life in this shithole... dont go here unless you want an electric guitar, they cannot help you with any other field. read more

On this particular review I am going to go over which guitar I purchased, how the service was, which is 1.) how long they let you browse, and 2.) how smooth the transaction goes, and additionally how to sell a guitar through them if you need extra cash. I recently went to Guitar Center with a friend and ended up purchasing a Gretsch Squareneck Box-Car Resonator guitar and am very happy with the purchase.The service at this particular location is alright. The staff seem friendly and knowledgeable whenever you have a question or need some technical advice. They let you play any guitar you want hooked up to any amp you want. There were three separate rooms at this location which always helps the browse. At the checkout counter you can add several things so be prepared. You may add a tuner, a capo -which I picked uo, extra strings, and most important a strap and case. You NEVER go any where without a hard case. Just before purchasing I had the idea to sell my 6 string Laguna guitar. This is a relatively simple process and one all the staff work hard to ensure goes smoothly. Just get it assessed by a staff member and then receive your payment which I forwarded as a store credit. I am definitely a paying customer and will go back again. read more

I spent almost an hour wanting to trade something in to purchase an item on the shelf. Right off the bat the guy tells me they probably won't want it but they have to test it first. After waiting an hour and the sales guys helped 5 people in front of me while other employees are standing around they tell me immediately they don't want my item! Avoid this store, customer service is horrible!!!! read more

As with any GC, you have to know what you are walking into, and this location is no different. I'm a drummer, and their drum dept is especially lacking. If you are looking for a starter set, it's ok, but that's about all they carry, only starter and few intermediate level drumsets. Their prices are not as low as they once were, about what you'd find anywhere, and you can't haggle on price anymore, so if you are looking for a pro-drumshop, there is a much better choice in the Chicago area. Selection of cymbals, sticks and heads is just ok, they have the common big sellers, but that's about it. The staff is just ok too, some are good, some should find another line of work. In summary, GC is just ok, the service and selection are average, and their prices are nothing to rave about. If this GC was a color, it would be beige. There is a much better option in Chicago, drummers know the store I'm talking about. read more

This is my go to guitar center, I'm here every other week picking up string club etc and had some troubles with them very here and there but this time was just too bad and ruined my day and left me embarrassed inside one of your stores, I called ahead to ask if there was a Used Boss Super chorus pedal in stock in store to pick up today and the guy said yes "there is one pre owned and one new in box" I gave him my name and he put it on hold for me, so about 45 minutes later I'm there after the half hour drive and go to the guitar section desk and say "I called ahead, my name is Kyle" and it was a different guy then who I talked to on the phone, this guy began to look for my Chorus pedal that was put on hold for me and cannot find, he is looking over and over through the shelfs and display cases, 5 minutes a go by and I say "I just called 45 minutes ago" that point this guy started giving me a attitude and doesn't look me in the eye and says in a harsh voice, "I'm not the guy you talked to, that guy is on lunch break" then he finally finds the pedal that was on the desk the whole time, then he goes to ring me up and I give him my phone number etc and he says total is $109, I was shocked, I said i out the used one on hold not the in box one, and he just gives me a dirty look and come around through the counter to my side and looks through some display cases and says "yeahhh we don't have that in stock right now" I stood there embarrassed among the other customers and myself, I left dampend with my whole day ruined, Im not asking for a free chorus pedal but please do something for me, I've been coming here for years, It's wrong to tell a customer a items in stock on hold here for you and drive a half hour and nothings there, horrible service, do something if you want this loyal customer to be back :( read more

Between two recent visits, the first on black Friday (very busy!) and today (much slower) my boyfriend and I actually received better customer service on the busier day. We asked to try out a multi effects pedal and had no problems, however when we tried to do the same thing today the employee gave us a hard time & sent us off with a lame alternative. When asking questions about the multi effects pedals the two employees we spoke with did not seem to be very knowledgeable. Not only that, but with today being a slower day it was still impossible to try any equipment out without being completely drowned out by a Jimi Hendrix wannabe who admitted he was only there to play, not actually purchase anything. It's common courtesy to keep your volume at a decent level when there are other customers trying to test out equipment that they actually plan to buy...all while an employee just sat and watched him play. My boyfriend couldn't even tune the guitar he was using because of the ridiculously loud volume of the other person's guitar. Even the other customers being helped had to deal with employees having to shout at them to be heard. We've made the mistake of purchasing equipment before testing it and being able to test it is supposed to be one of the benefits of going to Guitar Center. If you want to make commission, instead of trying to feed customers some bs that you're pulling out of your bum you should actually put forth that wasted effort on making sure your customers are having a good experience & are able test out equipment. I guarantee people will be more likely to make a purchase. You definitely lost a customer today as we will be looking elsewhere for future purchases. read more

Similar to nearly all GCs in the Chicagoland area, the Naperville store a) is staffed by generally nice people (except for the British dude); b) is pretty much a no hassle place of business (e.g. you can try out just about any guitar you want without being hassled); and c) has a superlative return policy (e.g. you can return literally a million things without question). read more

This store has improved leaps and bounds recently under the current management team. I've always used them for various things over the years, with results both good and bad, but with the current crew they've got it firing on all cylinders now. Gil in the repair shop is worth the trip alone...absolutely outstanding repair work! read more

It is a great store to go to if you are looking for guitar stuff. I would give it five stars if the staff were more friendly.

I took a $950 guitar to get pickups installed and have the guitar setup and when I got it back it was completely messed up. I was charged $130 for pickups installed wrong, soldering was bad, my volume pot was broken. When I took the guitar back a week later I was told there wasn't anything wrong with the guitar. Here's what I did : Figured maybe it was my Blackstar HT20 amp head and cab, I sold it for a loss, went through a few other amps until I bought another amp for $500 and still sounded horrible. I then purchased another guitar on Black Friday from Sweetwater for $600 then took my other guitar to Hix Brothers down the street from guitar center where they took pictures of the way my guitar was given back to me but was charged another $115 to have the guitar done correctly. I called the corporate office in California a few times and not one response from guitar center. I called the location in Aurora and talked to someone and asked if the same person was still working there who replaced a very knowledgeable guitar person who previously worked there, I was told yes, he is awesome, and I had to let them know that no, he isn't awesome and he screwed up my guitar and I wouldn't let him touch anything of mine again. I then talked to a manager a week later where I was offered $20 worth of guitar strings for a terrible $130 repair, he then offered me a $50 store credit, so I guess I'm supposed to have lost over $2000 from their repair guy who shouldn't be touching a guitar to begin with. Why would I even want to purchase anything from a business that has cost me 20x the amount of an original setup. I feel completely ripped off and mishandled as a customer. I have never had any problems when ordering from Sweetwater and the guitar now sounds great like it should thanks to Hix Brothers. read more

When I started playing guitar years ago I thought this was the greatest store. I enjoyed coming in and looking at all the equipment and guitars and amps. I always thought that the people who work there know so much until now... After I started using smaller stores that are not chains I realized that this is not a good place to shop if you are serious about music. First when you pick up a guitar half of the time you have to tune them because they are just so off and it's not my job to go to stores tuning their guitars. Also since so many people go through the store during the day many of the instruments are missing a knob or have a chip in the paint which makes it hard for someone to find a good guitar to buy. Even though they have some great musical instruments at good prices I do not enjoy shopping there any more. In my opinion I would rather go to a small local store whose equipment is priced higher but is also better. read more

Going into Guitar Center, my daughter and I found a banjo right away. A salesman approached and began to help my daughter. Then it went wrong. A young man sitting on a bench playing a guitar asked the salesman a question. This interruption wasn't a single instance, because that could be overlooked. However this happened again and again. Once the salesman put one guitar back for a customer and retrieved him another making us wait yet again. This happened at least 5 times by about 4 different male customers. Interruption after interruption. Here is the point. My daughter and I could have been taken care of in a matter of minutes. Instead my daughter and I were there almost an hour. Here is another point: What ever happened to first come, first serve. And other customers politely waiting their turn? It was rude by the salesman and the other (male) customers, who, by the way left without buying anything. This culture of helping male customers and ignoring what they were doing with a female customer, is uncouth. If you are a female, I'd ask the salesman to look you in the eye and promise to take care of your purchase without interruptions. Or be ready to sit down and wait until all the male customers are taken care of. (that can be an hour or more) read more

from the girl at the door to the man at the register, i was treated with respect and kindness. i didn't read a price right and didn't give the coupon i had so they had to redo everything. not once did mark d. ever act annoyed or upset with me in any way. i am an old lady buying a gift for my son and had no idea what i was doing. thanks to all of you, i hope i will have a reason to shop there again. to all at guitar center, have a wonderful holiday! thank you! read more