I am conflicted on this one. This is my first experience in this store and I don't think I'll be returning. I really want to not have that snotty couldn't be bothered mentality in a music store. It's fucking music. Really. I got what I went in for, but only after being made to feel as if I'd inconvenienced the staff member. This is after being almost pounced on by the 2 used car salesmen standing right inside the door wanting to know how they can help you. Don't let this tactic fool you, they will point you in a general direction and then they disappear. Leaving you with staff that almost has to be forced into dealing... Now this is a real shame because the guy who helped me knew what he was talking about. I would have trusted him as a future resource bringing my business back if I wasn't made to feel as if my very existence interrupted his regular plan or schedule... This could have been a stellar review. I am disappointed it's not. read more

Went there to get my guitar restrung and pick up some percussion instruments. Rick restrung my guitar in about 20 minutes. (It was a more difficult procedure because of the guitar) He was very personable and even gave me a few tips for restringing it next time. Thanks Rick! read more

In the course of managing one's life, there are certain products and services upon which trust in the provider is paramount because you as the consumer has no expertise whatsoever: Auto mechanics, colonoscopies, dentistry...and buying your first guitar fall into this category. Sadly, as a first-tine buyer today,I felt like a combo fish out of water--one sitting in a barrel ready to shot---today as I was told the $79 model was terrible (then why do you carry it? And why does it supposedly retail for $199?), then was given the $89 model, and "accidentally" charged me or the $19.99 service contract that I already turned down ("oh sorry, I do that out of habit" Seriously?) Their pricing follows the Kohls model: everything has an absurdly high fake "retail" price. Isn't there some kind of law against that, or is it so commonplace, that it has no meaning any longer, like Ethiopian princes seeking American ATM customers to help then cash enormous inheritance checks? It seems by the various revues that service really depends on the sales person--but I, for one, was very unhappy (and see I didn't say "playing the blues.") read more

Tried to do a reset on their giftcards. Manager could care less and ignored me and wouldn't bring out backstock. If this is the way you treat vendors, I will never be a customer! 10 empty pegs and not 1 full of your own Guitar Center giftcards! Great! Shot yourself in the foot! You deserve it! read more

Incredible service. Brought my Les Paul in for repairs and couldn't have been more impressed by the service. In and out in 10 minutes!

So let me preface my comments with the fact that I spend a shit ton of money for instruments and specifically at GC. So the other late afternoon I come into the store and head to the bass section. Pick up a bass plug it and start playing. I notice one guy working the section. He is trying to sell this father/son combo a bass and an amp. The dad seemed to know little about instruments as well as the son. The guy working tries to first sell him a huge 2x10 combo like $800 or more after the dad said he is just learning and play in his room. Then they sales guy tried to sell him a 1000$ bass. Are you serious. And he starts saying all this bs about passive pickups vs active etc.. So I am sitting there noodling waiting to ask about the 5string I'm playing on (I liked it but wanted it in a different color). Now the whole time I'm playing on this one litttle amp. I get up to grab another bass and the guy working there just plugs a bass he was showing the dad/kid combo into the amp I was playing in and he gives me this look. So I said hey I guess I wasn't using that. He said "I need it". I mean he could've asked or said to the dad hey listen to how nice this amp sounds. But no he was a douche, here is the kicker. The dad and son asked him to look something up and he left and then they left. I walked out and went to another GC and spent 2500$ on my bass. Douche lost a huge commission. read more

In all the years of visiting and purchasing from GC's in the NYC metro area this is by far one of the best.. First of all it's brand new, you can still smell the new carpet as you walk the store. When I first walked in I was greeted with a friendly smile and an hello from every staff member that walked by.. I visited this store to review a few PA systems but of course I had to visit the acoustic room first.. There the first thing I noticed was the size of the room. It was rectangular in shape and not very wide.. There was about five or so folks playing guitars and it was a bit crowded.. However this soon became a non-issue when I noticed all the guitars, I mean even top-of-the line, were not locked up.. Good right? In addition there was a very helpful sales consultant whose name is Chris P. Chris was very helpful and knowledgeable about the guitars I was interested in. I was comparing several and decided on a beautiful 2017 Gibson J-45 Custom which I had no intention of buying during this visit.. But hey they have 45 day return policy and the 24mths of no interest payments made it a pretty easy decision.. Love the guitar and this store which I will definitely will return to purchase the PA system Chris and I also discussed. Keep on strumming.. read more

Look honestly this store sucks. It was fun looking at guitars and checking out cheap prices. But trying out guitars was dreadful 80% of guitars in the store itself had extremely rusty strings that proved to be almost unplayable! The staff had no clue what they were talking about and it was extremely frustrating. I don't really like writing reviews, actually this is my first one. But this store is absolutely dreadful. Although they get a star because of the helpful desk man at the entrance for helping me get directions back home. Kudos to you sir! read more

I came there on Sunday and I was waiting at the checkout for 20 minutes with drum sticks in my hand. I left empty handed and disappointed . If you want to be ignored, welcome to the guitar center! read more

I love GC online/phone support and sales team, however the store in Paramus, NJ on RT 17 North is the worst. I do not shop there anymore. The staff gets annoyed if you ask for that 15% discount that you would get if you shop online, they won't match it. Last week i went there to order a DJ light, online they were offering the discount when i asked the store employee he said he would speak with the manager after waiting 15 mins he said to me "the manager said no and he is too busy to come out".I did order the light online and revived it in 5 business days with the discount. Today i ordered speaker stands on the phone with GC. i asked if i can pick it up in the store. The rep called the Paramus store and the manger said they are not excepting online order pick ups. However the Totowa, NJ store is. The staff and manager in your Paramus store are awful and i will never go back there again bc of the nasty attitudes. read more

Asked employee for help with some information on a previous purchase I made from Guitar Center. They turned there back on me twice during the conversation to make a call and talk to the manager about something not related to my question. So I just gave up and walked away. This was at 10:30 AM and the store was empty. Will not be returning. read more

Bought a new clarinet from them At the end of the month I checked the credit card statement to notice there was an extra charge from the same date for almost the same amount When I called and spoke to the manger Greg he said he did not have a record in his system of the charge so just dispute it with the credit card company I went to BBB and consumer report to find out this is a consistent problem How much money are they earning through these bogus charges? read more

I had called this Guitar Center the day before Christmas Eve looking for a Decimator II pedal as a Christmas gift. Adam in accessories was the one to answer my call. He told me the only one they had in stock was the one in the case. He asked if I'd like him to try to locate the box for that one, and set it aside for me. I told him, if it weren't a gift, my answer would be yes. I didn't want him to waste time looking for the box, because I really wanted in a sealed box to give to my friend. He told me he'd call me right back. When Adam called me back, he told that he had searched for the box ANYWAYS just in case. He also checked all nearby guitar centers to see if they had any in stock. He then, called the closest one to make sure they had one in a box for me. I ended up able to get my gift super last second, with almost 0 effort on my end. I could not be happier with the service I received. read more

One word: HORRIBLE. Had to go to the store three times because the equipment they sold me didn't work, THEN exchanged it for something used and didn't work either. When I tried to speak to a manager, he/she wasn't available and "Could I wait 10 minutes??" I THINK NOT. read more

Don't understand the other reviews that gave Guitar Center on Rt. 17 just two stars, or even one star. I've been coming here for years, and I almost always have a good experience. This place is huge, and they have everything musical. High end, low end, easily found and even some hard to find stuff. Yes, their staff is very inconsistent; lots of new people who seem to rotate through the store and don't know very much, but I don't really go there for advice. Its more like going to Home Depot. They have so much good music equipment of all types, but you have to spend some time walking around, getting to know the place and where everything is. They have a lot of really good prices, so you won't want to shop around there, then buy something on Amazon. I recently bought a small PA system and mike there; couldn't have been happier with the price and the quality. The biggest problem with the place is that it should be named Mega-music world, not Guitar Center. Guitars are just a small part of what they sell. read more

DO NOT GET INSTRUMENTS SERVICED HERE!!! TECHS ARE SCAM ARTISTS!!!! I visited the Paramus Guitar Center a little over a month ago to get a Bundy Alto saxophone serviced that my brother-in-law loaned my 9 year old son.The drop off seemed easy enough. I walked over to the Music and Arts counter and was asked how much I wanted to spend. I chose Tier 1, which a service package of $16.25-$120. After all...this is for my 9 year old son who thought it would be cool to say he owned a saxophone, not that he was joining the band. He said the polishing did not come with the service and that it would be an additional $60. After sleeping on it, I called back the following morning and spoke with Danielle. I explained to her that I really wanted to get the saxophone polished too, so I would like to spend no more than $90 on the service, and add the polishing for $60. She said No Problem, that she'll make a note on the order. It was a Saturday and the saxophone would not be looked at until Monday. Well.......Tuesday morning I get a phone call from Danielle stating the service estimate would be $681.00! The technician wrote down to replace every single thing on the instrument. He stated bars were bent and all the pads needed replacing. I personally looked at the saxophone before I brought it in, and the leather pads looked fine. The bars were not bent! I told her that he (the technician) was crazy and to just replace the neck cork and polish it up. She said....I don't know if they will just do that? I then told her to forget servicing it altogether and that I would be in the the following night to pick it up. This is where it got ugly. I went in the following night, opened the case at the counter, and the smell coming from the case was sooooo strong. It smelled like WD40 or kerosene....something like that. I instantly noticed that the swab in the saxophone looked wet....like a wet dog's tail. I went to pull out the swab, and the handle came off. It was cracked. I then squeezed my fingers in the neck to get the swab out. It was saturated with some kind of solution. So saturated the keys were all sticking! I was furious. I asked for the manager, but of course there was none to be found. I ended up taking the saxophone home and made a trip there the following morning when they opened. I was not letting this go! The following morning, I took time off of work to go down and speak with the manager of Music and Arts, Gregg. Would you believe he had the nerve to say to me that I must have brought in the saxophone this way, that they did not touch it! Obviously the technician was upset that I declined his service and said he was crazy. This was an obvious act of malicious behavior by the technician. We then brought the saxophone to a Mom and Pop shop in Pompton Lakes and was told he ( the Music and Arts Tech) oiled up all the keys so they would stick and tightened the upper bars to make the keys looked seized. The idiot left the swab in when he did this. I thought about filing a claim with the Paramus police department, I even called and was told I was welcome to come in to do so....and if the saxophone was actually damaged by what they did, I definitely would have. read more

I called this guitar center in the morning, and asked them if they have a particular piano in stock, new, in a box. The salesman says yes he does, three in fact. We get there, and they have zero in stock, except one broken floor model. He says their other store in Paramus has two in stock, brand new in box. We go to other store, and are told the same thing, that they only have a broken floor model. I asked to see the manager, named Jon-Paul, and he was rude, laughed at me, charged me nearly $600, even after I asked for a cancelation. I went to a sam ash store, and they were polite, had one in stock, and we left happy. read more