Not going to do business here again. They tried to send me out of there with a clearly used interface. No confidence in your store.

So I emailed, due to the response of my post, and guess what everyone! Yup you guessed it ! Guitar Center STILL has done nothing ! It's been months at this point so it is what it is. I haven't and will not go back to Guitar Center Pasadena. read more

The website said they would be open till 9pm. Arrived at 8pm and they were closed. I drove 1 hour to pick up due to this being the only location with a product available. This is exactly why this store is going out of businesses. They can't even update their own website and hours . Done with this store in general. read more

Great place, I love Guitar Center, Dispute its location . keep up the quality services and excellent staff. \m/ read more

Guitar Center - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Pasadena, California

So, I don't know busy this place is normally on Sundays, but it was pretty packed this afternoon... and the staff were killin it! Everyone asked if I had any questions and if I was being helped. There were two guys who stood out the most today though. Matthew and Evan. Matt helped me with all my questions about mics, my interface, keyboards, and just what equipment works easily and well with what, in general. Evan helped ring me up and pack up all my things in my car. He's super sweet, knowledgeable, and quite friendly! Definitely check out this place if you have any musical gear questions, because they'll make sure you get answers! read more

I try to only come to this Guitar Center for any purchases and sales because i know that i'll be helped by polite and informed staff. Evan in the production department is particularly helpful, and a paragon of great customer service! read more

Please don't buy anything from Guitar Center. I recently purchased a portable PA System for $992. It took 4 cancellations, several phone calls with customer service, three pending charges to my card, my money wasn't available for 5 days, several emails with manager, complain to BBB, and a trip to Guitar Center. I finally gave up returned the speaker and bought it straight from manufacture. I recommend to the same, also do a complain to Better Business Bureau. read more

Honestly the nicest crew working here. It's a real pleasure visiting this store for my wife and I. Came in to see why our mic wasn't working, they took a look and found out it's the chord, which had a lifetime warranty. You guys are great thank you! read more

Three stars and it's quite simple why. 3+ years ago this location could've gotten 5 stars but they're severely understaffed now. Guitar Center is not like Target where customers go in to buy their routine items and leave. We need help getting pedals out of the locked shelves, getting down guitars off the wall or just for general questions. It's clear that this location is severely understaffed, and I mean "severely". Try calling the location right now and see if you can get anyone to pick up. This isn't the employees fault, they can only help one customer at a time. Musicianship has not faltered from the pandemic, if anything, it got MORE people into playing music so please, Guitar Center Pasadena, please hire some more employees! The checkout line is always huge and customers are always standing around looking for employees. Don't tell me the guitar monolith can't find unemployed musicians to hire! read more

Went in to check out an amp, they didn't have it... Should have called first, oops. The parking lot is good, the staff were friendly, store seemed organized. read more

Their guitar tech which I believe his name is Ricardo always does a great job on fixing and setting up my guitar. He's my go to guy and always treats me with respect and gives my guitar the best care possible. He really cares about his customer. read more

They opened for curbside pickup. I ordered online for pickup of a product in stock at this store. I showed up an hour later to pick it up since they are not answering their phone assuming it would be ready or could be pulled from the shelf easily. The lady working at the store stated the order is on hold. Other customers here in parking lot are waiting on their orders as well, supposedly all their orders also on hold. This location is not processing anything. Corporate customer service complained that the lady working here would not even pick up the phone when customer service called her to tell them the orders were cleared. I want the hour of my life back. I ordered at 4:30p, arrived at 5:10p, I got my one item at 6:35p. Ouch read more

I put a deposit over the phone , Drove & waisted 3 hours , to find out , that the used Guitar amp , that i wanted to purchase , does not have and adaptor as well as a battery cover, not to mention , it was in a very beat up condition , i asked for a discount , scott the manager did not discount the price at all , Very very disappointed , i have read other complains and reviews , with similar problems ! read more

After reading many of the reviews, I was expecting the worst. Only reason why we went here is because it is close to home. I couldn't be more pleasantly surprised! Joe, the salesperson and guitarist, was very friendly and super knowledgeable. He spent ~40 minutes giving us the history, features, and details between the Martin and Taylor guitar that we were considering. Absolutely no pressure to buy. No pressure about the extended warranty. We ended up purchasing both! Great learning and purchase experience. Would recommend going to Joe for your guitar questions and needs! read more

Absolutely do not whatsoever take your children for lessons at this location.. The store manager Scott treated me horribly. He basically told me to bring my kid in with Covid. My child has been taking lessons for almost 6 months now..that is almost $750. the manager of lessons Sarah has excellent customer service.. she is the reason that I have continued paying $125 for four 30min lessons a month Even though I am a single mom and often times my account is overdrawn when the lessons are debited from my account. Unfortunately today I had to deal with the store manager Scott for the first time. I don't think I have ever been more disappointed with a store managers customer service and insensitivity. I am so disappointed that I have decided to take her out of her piano lessons at that store. It's A real shame that an employee has better customer service than the store manager. Sara should be the manager of that location! read more

Consistently the worst Guitar Center location I've been to. The workers don't care, and it seems the management doesn't either. Came in for a guitar pedal that the website said this location had. Wasn't in the glass pedal box so I asked about it. They checked on the computer and confirmed they had one of these pedals left. "Ok... Can I please check it out?" I asked. "Well, we think it's in its box in storage somewhere," the guys says. "Cool.... Can you please get it??" I asked again, in disbelief. After waiting some more, finally three guys (not sure why they needed so many) started looking through a storage drawer full of other pedals in boxes. After not finding it, one guy says that it might be in the drawer on the other side. The other guy responds "ehh, probably not. That's usually where (other pedal brand) is.. Well, looks like we're done here man. Sorry." Are you kidding? You can't even be bothered to check the other drawer? You literally had a guaranteed sale if you could be bothered to put in one iota of effort. Save your time and go to another music store. I won't be returning to this location ever again. read more

Great store with fantastic selection and staff! Have brought two of my guitars here for setup by Ricardo and just dropped off the third. Appreciate the quick turn around, attention to detail, friendly service and time they took to answer my questions. Very knowledgeable, helpful and proficient staff. read more

If I could leave a negative 10 stars I would. I just went to this GC yesterday. Me and my buddy bought a bunch of accessories and he bought a fender elite bass. Literally dropped more than 1800 on stuff. I seen a synthesizer that I fell in love with. It's priced at $1395 on the floor on clearance. I went home did some research and decided I wanted to buy it. Currently limited I wanted to put it on layaway. I called in store. They said it's $1899. Confused as to why the price change because I know clearance items are marked to sell and they usually don't change. So he said "my boss said that if you want to buy it today he would leave it for $1395". When has this policy become implemented? That if you want something on layaway it needs to be full priced? It's not even new it's a floor model!! I called back and asked to speak to a manager and the same person Jesse answered and didn't want to pass me to a manager. Needless to say this guitar center has lost a long time customer and we will be returning the fender elite bass that was purchased yesterday and I'll buy the synth elsewhere. Thanks for nothing! *UPDATE*. They actually rose the price of CLEARANCE to $1899. Which is RIDICULOUS IN ONE DAY. read more

Guitar Center - Arturia Matrix Brute Synth at $1399 clearance price - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Friendly staff! Esp. Gina--she helped me find a cable I needed for a really obscure use case (think field recording) and knew her stuff. This store is all right by me read more

Matt in the Audio section answered my rookie comments with respect and curiosity. He really wanted to size up what I was looking for and was able to work with my budget. While I was there, I chatted with a few other folks at the counter. There was a Dad there with his kid buying some headphones and they too were treated with that same chill wisdom. Turns out, Matt's in professional sound - no coincidence? Who better to buy gear from? Tip of hat to all the chill people that work at the Pasadena Guitar Center. You are appreciated more than you know. read more

Was in line today and there were 3 checkers who had no clue there were 5 people in line waiting more than 10 minutes. We will never come back. The only person who spoke with us was the security guard to pull our mask up. Who ever was the manager in charge today was no where to be found. read more

I have never played a guitar before so I thought it was smart to go there and talk to someone with experience. Got there walked around for 40 minutes trying to get an eye contact, whoever works there are masters in avoiding customers. However, I was finally successful and I got a nod from some guy. Even though I was a noob, I was willing to drop a couple of bills for a guitar. Not everything is bad, its chill vibe kinda relaxing. Reasons to go there : 1. you know what you want, 2. You hate people. 3. You think you wanna learn a new instrument but you really dont. 4. You want to blame others for not playing guitar. 5. You need a story to tell when friends tell you story how rude others have been to them. 6. To see how not to run a business. There no such thing as shitty people, there's shitty management. It deserves 1 star since I said hi and bye to the security guard. read more

This is an update for my previous review. From 1 star all the way back up to 5 stars. Guitar Center Pasadena (specifically the manager Joey Garcia --and shout out to Perry as well--- I see you Perry, thanks for your help too ) have restored my faith in Guitar Center. My original review here on Yelp received a reply telling me to email yourvoice@guitarcenter and so I did. I basically laid out the entire thing again on this email. About a week or so later I was contacted by someone at GC's customer service. I'm going to just not speak on my interactions with that customer service person because however I may feel about that conversation, it's irrelevant because that person must have spoken to the Pasadena store's management and explained everything. However it went down, I'm not really sure. All I know is I received an email from Joey over at GC Pasadena apologizing for the mistake and offering to make it right by allowing me to exchange the used item for the new unopened item I had paid for. Quick, to the point, and super kind/polite to boot. I went from being angry and frustrated to feeling happy and grateful. A bit of trust + the belief that not everyone is out to screw you out of your hard earned money were both restored in me because of how this all ended. Thank you again guys! read more

I see there's tons of negative reviews and having patronized GC Pasadena the last 25 years or so I can say that I've never been treated poorly, I've never been sold something substandard, I've never had a problem returning anything. . . I'm really surprised. And I've bought a ton of stuff from instruments to amps to recording software to accessories. I can find nothing negative to say about the folks there. read more

Ricardo is incredible. Nicest, friendliest, and most talented tech I've ever interacted with. He goes above and beyond for every customer and stands by his work. He is one of the most christ-like human beings I have ever met, and I will follow him wherever he goes. read more

Went to this guitar center to get my boyfriend some stuff for his drum kit. Honestly, everything is really easy to find since they're in sections, but there are hardly any staff readily available. The majority of them are running registers or are already occupied taking care of something else. I waited for close to 10 minutes at the register just to ring up the stuff I was buying (with no line). It's never like this when I go to other guitar centers. It wasn't even busy when I was here. I recommend this place only if you know exactly what you're getting. If you have detailed questions, you'll be waiting a while on a busy day. read more

Their customer service is the absolute worst. This review is for Guitarcenter.com, as they do not give you a space on their website for feedback. My order was not delivered - FedEx said it was "lost... GC did not require signature for delivery of a $250 item so obviously FedEx found it very easy to lose. When I contacted GC custom service, they told me they would open an investigation and it would take10 business days to complete. I told them I didn't have 10 business days to wait to find out if I will receive my order- which was meant to be a birthday gift and I had ordered it weeks in advance to have it on time. They refused to replacement my item or refund me. I never heard back from them and have to do all the follow up myself. I filed a claim with FedEx and they told me it was marked as lost, but when I called GC to follow up again they said they had not heard back from FedEx. I the customer at being penalized for both of their errors and I'm still waiting to find out if I will *maybe* get what I ordered. read more

I called asking for a classical Yamaha C40 guitar, they didn't have any in stock (which was understandable). The employee answering said that I can see their selection but to be quick because the tryout room closed at 8:45 ( I called at around 8:10, fifty minutes before closing). Anyways , I go in and ask one of the workers where I can find a nylon string , they then told me but also emphasized how soon they would be closing. I then enter into the acoustic room (where they keep their nylon/steel string guitars) and there's a homeless man strumming awfully on the guitar and making excessive noise. I had to step out to tune a guitar and even then I couldn't tune it properly. A staff member then walks in and starts seeing if all the guitars are in their respective places , WHILE THE HOMELESS MAN IS STILL STRUMMING THE GUITAR. I then left the room to browse the rest of the store , it's now 8:55 and you can still hear the man playing dead chords. What happened to closing the tryout rooms @ 8:45? The workers knew and didn't care. There was a security guard at the front of the store too which appalled me ; knowing that he just let the man waltz in. That's all I have to say, and on top of that the employees were a bit short worded ... but oh well. Who isn't nowadays. read more

So I went to this guitar center yesterday to see about trading in an American Standard Strat for maybe something of equal value. First off it took about 20 minutes of waiting in the front before I even got the manager to notice me. Once I finally got his attention he did not even greet me with a standard "hello" he just yanked the guitar out of my case and brought it to the back where instead of playing it and testing the value I'm sure he just looked it up on EBay to see what others are going for. You can not test a guitars worth on what the internet has. He then offered me a $400 for a guitar that was purchased for over $1,000. Now granted my guitar had a few minor paint chips on the back it was still in perfect playing condition. He wouldn't even speak To me about a trade he just handed me it and walked off. I won't ever be coming here again to even think of doing business. read more

I needed to have my guitar adjusted, so I called Guitar Center, Padadena today (09-10-19) about 20 mins before they opened and a young man answered. I asked the fellow what time their Guitar Technician would be in and he said 10:00 AM (the same time they open). I immediately hopped in the car with my guitar and made the 45 minute drive. I intended to speak to the Tech and then drop off the guitar. Upon arrival, I was told that the Tech isn't actually scheduled until 11:30 AM. Well, I didn't have the time to wait as my day is pretty heavy, so I asked to speak to a Manager. I told the Manager he should make sure his people give accurate info over the phone, as I just drove 45 mins (one way) for nothing and he didn't seem concerned that I was upset. Some young kid. Been a Guitar Center customer for 40 years. Will make my purchases on-line, somewhere else going forward. read more

I bought amp they didn't answer my question for the pedal I got but it's ok bc I looked it up

Needed a new drum throne. Went to GC with my son hoping to be in and out since I already knew which throne I wanted to purchase (Roc n soc). All the sales associates where running around and didn't really seem interested in wanted to help me. Finally flagged someone down since I needed the to bring one from the back. Well that took almost half hour of checking the back, looking at the shelves then going to the back to check again. Finally he found the right one. I love going to GC, but cmon get more sales guys to help customers. read more

This one goes out especially to Yousef, who went beyond the call of duty. More on that later. Now, I've had mixed experiences at Guitar Center. Hence the 3 stars. A little backstory. I play acoustic guitar. So, a place like Guitar Center is like Heaven for someone like me who has G.A.S. (Guitar/Gear Acquisition Syndrome). Me and a lot of my friends have it. Lots of times when I go in to just get a pack of strings or merely just to kill time, I go back to the humidity controlled room where the high end acousitc guitars reside. They're mainly Taylors, Martins, Gibsons, and a couple of Larivees or Santa Cruz. Let me know if I've lost you. The guitars in this room average a price tag of about $1500. A few of them are $2000+ But I digress... I play bass guitar at my church. We use a wired in-ear monitor system. I just recently bought a pair of Westone UM2 dual-driver in-ear monitors (MSRP upwards of $300, I got it for way less than that) and needed some replacement foam tips. Potential jokes in 3.... 2.... 1... The last couple of times, I've gone in to talk to Jake, who's an assistant manager here and is a friend of a friend, so he totally takes care of me. And NO, not in THAT way.... pervs, haha. I actually came in yesterday and he said they were out of stock, but could get them shipped in overnight from another store. I'm leaving for a retreat with my church this weekend and was originally going to pick up the tips Friday morning but things may potentially change and might have to leave before they even open at 10 on Fridays. So I call and see if the tips had arrived yet so I could pick it up after work. I get transferred to accesssories, and well, I'll give you an approximate timeline. 12:22 - Guy #1 gets my info and puts me on hold 12:26 - Guy #2 picks up asking me if I've been helped, ask him to check on my item 12:46 - for one reason or another, the call seems to get dropped. WTF??? 12:47 - Call back, get transferred again, get put on hold again (Guy #3) 12:52 - Yousef picks up (conversation paraphrased) Y: "What are you holding for?" (I initially think WTF?) Me: "Yeah, I was checking to see if blah blah blah was in" Y: "Let me put you on hold for a sec" (2 minutes later) "The computer says it's still in transit, but it most likely will come in later today. You know what, let me get your phone number and check into it and give you a call back." "Ok. xxx-xxx-xxxx" (5-10 or so minutes later) *ring ring* Y: "Hi, it's Yousef from Guitar Center" Me: "Hi" Y: "I did a little digging and turns out the ear tips came in. Someone signed for them earlier" M: "Oh, awesome." Y: "Just show the girl upfront your ticket and she'll lead you to the right person" M: "Great. Will you be there later?" Y: "Well actually I won't. I'm not supposed to be here right now" *short pause* "I'm actually off today and I came in to pickup my paycheck and they told me to pick up this call" M: "Oh wow, I really appreciate all your help" Y: "You're welcome. So yeah, just show your ticket and you'll be on your way" M: "Thank you" In the middle of that conversation somewhere, I had told him he was like the 3rd or 4th person I had asked to check on my order, so he apologized for that as well as apologizing again before hanging up. But how awesome is it for someone on their off day who just so happened to be picking up his paycheck was the ONE AND ONLY guy to provide me with the customer service Guitar Center SHOULD be displaying? So Yousef gets 5 stars, but the other employees get 2. read more

Why do I have to look for someone to help me here.I thought employees working at a music shop would be more upbeat.But then again it is a Friday night.A lot of famous Dj's and musicians started out working at shops like these.So I would think they would be more helpful,it's not hard labor.I was greeted at the door but that was all.The place is starting to look run down and the customer service is going with it.Yes they have work shops but I think that is all that is positive about this location.I'll stick to the Azusa location much better service. read more

Seven different stoners, all in the same room, all playing different masturbatory guitar solos by bands like Slipknot and Metallica, at full volume. Hell on earth. read more

The absolute worst musical instrument store with the most awful all around staff I have ever experienced. Went to check out options for a kid's 1/2 or 3/4 guitar for my 5 year old son. The place was empty except for staff, who stood around ignoring customers and goofing around with each other. All except one guy with a dark beard who came to help briefly. I asked one young white dude to help me, and he had no idea what options they had. So he told me kids should not learn to play guitar until at least 10, as he himself didn't learn till he was 13. So what, moron? I started guitar when I was like 6 or 7. Their are virtuosos all over YouTube who are 10. This young man was totally clueless. Since he didn't know what to say except leave and don't buy anything, he immediately told me he had to help someone else - though he was doing nothing when I asked him to help me!!! And he walked right off. The selection of guitars was also very limited and lame. All Epiphones and Fender Squires - all bottom of the line cheapo guitars. Other customers in the keyboard department or drum department were also getting no help. Saw one employee taking a guitar off the wall, put it in a carry case, take the guitar out, then repeat the process over and over like a broken automaton. And, as I left, found six employees at the front exit just cracking each other up with small talk. Music store employees are notoriously jerky, but usually they are struggling musicians who know their stuff and just don't want to be working a day job. Here, it was all young doofuses who didn't seem to care at all about music and were as enthusiastic as a late night fast food drive through cashier. And once again, their guitar stock sucked. read more

I hate to give a 1-star review. But the tag that goes along with the 1-star review in Yelp which is "Eek! Methinks not" is the most appropriate. This ain't yo' daddy's Guitar Center is how I feel. This store has become overpriced, messy, and filled with inattentive staff. My main objective in my last visit was to find a couple replacement parts for one of my Les Pauls. As well as check out their used Gibson Les Paul collection (of which I found zero). They had none of what I came in there for. But I still left and bought some strap locks, a guitar stand, some picks, etc. The only person that even acknowledged me was a new guy, who confessed his lack of knowledge on the Guitar Center way of life. All the vets made no eye contact and said nothing. The store was poorly laid out, with all their merchandise on the wrong hooks, showing wrong prices and what-not. The correctly marked prices seemed a bit high from what I'm accustomed to in a Guitar Center. But I still bought a single guitar stand. I was going to buy some Schaller strap locks. But the prices on the nickel locks were marked at $25!!! So I passed and bought their cheaper "Pro-Line" brand for $15 instead. When I got home, the Schaller strap locks online are $16 on their own website, as well as their competitor's sites! That pretty much sealed the deal for me. No more accessories from a local Guitar Center. Maybe a guitar, as I like to try before I buy. But how am I going to try out a set of strings? Exactly. My need to visit a Guitar Center has now been vanquished. You've taught me to buy online. And yeah, I know I can print an ad and bring it in for a price-match guarantee. But that's just too much trouble when I can sit at home and click a mouse instead. Eek! Methinks not. read more

This place rules. Great staff, super helpful, particularly Evan in the synth department!

These guys really need to work on their customer service. I was eyeing this used Taylor 214 CE and was about to buy it, but the guy that I was talking to, told me that they had to keep the guitar for a certain amount of time. This is to ensure that the item wasn't stolen. I'm like, dude, then why have product on the floor then. If it was, in fact, stolen, wouldn't the original owner know the serial number of the guitar and just merely call the various retailers to see if they had it? Why dangle a nice guitar like that in front of customers? smh. I only go to GCs now just to play their instruments and see if I could get it cheaper online or some place else. I really hope that their corporate offices see this review and many others, and actually does something about it because their Disney mentality of treating customers like crap because 1000s more will come back isn't gonna fly. read more

I guess once you get hired at a Guitar Center you automatically achieve a level of coolness that nobody else is worthy of. I went in today, scanned the room for an employee who didn't appear busy and found taller older man staring at an amp for about thirty seconds so I approached this guy (I don't remember his name) and asked if he had an special deals on strings (today being black friday and all.). He said he didn't deal with that stuff and pointed towards a direction and told me to ask someone else. Strike #3. After that fine display of customer service I asked if they carried a particular guitar that' I've been interested in at their location. He went to his computer and checked the surrounding guitar centers for stock. He told me the nearest location that had it was in Hollywood. That's cool, i accepted the fact that it was not in town. Then I asked about their used gear trade-in program, and hoped he'd give me a ballpark figure on a pair of guitars i own, he then told me not to bring in my gear because I could get an idea of how much I could get from this brand new website called eBay.com. He said he'd give me half of whatever I saw on this magical website. Way to promote your stores Trade-in program guy. When I decided to conclude my visit to the local Pasadena Guitar Center he shared a final thought with me. He went and told me that the guitar I was interested in was pretty pricey and I should basically get my priorities straight and decide whether this guitar was either a NEED or a WANT. Offensive would best today's visit to this Guitar Center. All in all, Thanks for nothing Guitar Center. You're lack of customer service training amazes me yet again. ===================== My suggestion: Although Best Buy may not be known for it's musical department, The folks who DO work in their music section aren't only trained to play, read, and know musical equipment & instruments just like GC employees, but when they are trained, they are trained to NOT be what a typical Guitar Center employee is. If being looked down upon is your thing, then by all means, shop Guitar Center. read more