Guitar Center is swimming in a sea of competition, and catching strays along the way from online retailers. Its advantage is tactile - I can walk into this store and play a Stratocaster; I can hear someone drumming away from deep in the building; the walls are plastered with a pastiche of guitars, basses, cables. It feels musical in here. The staff is buzzing around, and you get a sense of being backstage at a concert. If I were CEO for a day? Introduce haggling. Enable customers and staff to hammer out a deal, and everyone walks away happy. Anyways, five stars for being a retailer in today's digital world. read more

Was greeted when we walked in the door. The gentleman who helped was very kind and knowledgeable. They were able to help us get an electric guitar kit and an electric drums speaker. read more

First of all I don't live to close to a Guitar Center. I drove 45 minutes round trip out of my way to the Southfield MI store. I'm a 53 year old guy. I have a little extra time nowadays to put into guitar. Long story short, I went in the store with $400 cash planning on leaving with a acoustic guitar. I was in the acoustic room trying out and handling about 6 or 8 different models. I was in there for over a half an hour. Not one person came in to say hello, do you have any questions, NOTHING. I walk out to leave, I see Noone else in the store, and a kid behind the counter with his face buried in his phone. Absolutely DONE with Guitar Center. I won't buy as much as a pick from these stores, let alone a guitar! They literally lost the easiest $400 today because of HORRIBLE customer service. read more

Update: They re-listed the guitar at the same price AND description as before, still lying. The little manager I spoke to had the nerve to condescendingly tell me that me getting a refund was them going "above and beyond", and that I should "be grateful". Insanity, especially considering they lied, continue to lie, and did not offer me anything to fix the situation, other than a bare minimum refund. "Above and beyond", what a joke. Original: I bought a used guitar on their website. it was labeled as a legator ninja x guitar. this is one of the best guitars from the brand, and the used deal looked really good. Key word, looked. Turned out it was not a ninja x, but a ninja F. The most budget guitar. They were charging more than this guitar was worth BRAND NEW, and lying about the model and condition of it. To make this worse, I purchased a guitar center gift card to get a discount, and they were refusing to refund me my money for this card, insisting that I either keep the scam guitar, or that I get the money as store credit. Even though this gift card was bought under dishonest conditions, they weren't budging. Eventually I showed up to a store and had every shred of evidence that the guitar they gave me flat out was NOT what they posted on their site (even the condition was worse than they had said). I said that either they refund my gift card to my account, or that they give me the expensive guitar they advertised and fooled me into buying. They then decided to refund the gift card and break their precious policy, likely because they didn't want to actually take the loss and give me the guitar they advertised, and stay honest. I might come in here to test out amps but I'm not even buying another guitar string from this company and store who can't ID guitars or offer any customer service for their (huge) mistakes. read more

This is a really great place for musicians to go especially if you live in or work in and around the Farmington, West, Bloomfield, Southfield, or Farmington Hills area. They have a huge selection of things to try in store, which is a great benefit because it's rare to be able to try items in store with everything being online. The best thing I could recommend doing is do your research online and then coming to the store after you've narrowed down a few options. The people who work here are extremely knowledgeable and are passionate about music and the mechanics of the music making and of sound in general. They can offer you a lot of choices and are very cool to work with when looking to purchase an item for your musical interest. They have things that are for every price range and I have to give a special shout out to Noah. He is absolutely fantastic at his job and I really enjoyed speaking with him and talking shop with him every time I come into the store. He has a grade a employee and sets a great tone for you to feel like you're in a place where the people who work here actually do appreciate the art of music and sound production and recording. If you were looking for a great beginner microphone, that will last you for a very long time go with the Iconic Shure SM58. It what happened? read more

cluttered store, good selection of guitars and accessories but organization could be better. service could be better. employees seem to enjoy staying at their own stations and chat with each other than offer helping hands. do not come if you are looking for low end prices. record player selection was meek. read more

Guitar Center - guitars - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Southfield, Michigan

A good sized multilevel store with many different rooms in every corner. You can almost get lost here. Staff are friendly by greeting you and providing help when you need it. The acoustic room has two separate small rooms within to practice. Various sales throughout the store. read more

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I love Guitar Center though it been a while since I have been here. When I was younger, I used to spend a lot of time and money in this store. I came with my buddy here today he needed to pick up some gear. read more

My husband and I took my 7 year old in here to look at some guitars . When we walked in we were greeted and the staff was very helpful. hey didn't try to sale us an 500 guitar and they also told us about lessons. We will be going back . first experience in and will he back they sale a lot of stuff read more

after having spent thousands of dollars here on guitars and all sorts of other musical instruments; I am totally disgusted with this place. Today finally pushed the no more button. after placing an order online for just a turntable and waiting until I got the email and then 2 hours afterwards I show up at the store to pick it up and no one seems to understand what that means. do they not realize that people actually can order from their Company online? this particular Guitar Center store has no help. Can you imagine having a store with 15 counters and only four people working in the store? on my way out of the store today I decided to tell them to please hire someone because no one should have to go through what I went through just to pick up something that was already paid for and pre-ordered. This location has no parking and I really mean no parking since they are in a strip mall with 15 other businesses which are mostly restaurants and use all the other parking spaces; which leaves no parking spaces for people visiting Guitar Center to pick up items or take lessons. Guitar Center you know this and you could actually have some spaces reserved for your customers the same way that these restaurants do with signage. I believe it is time for me to take my audio business to another store maybe another chain; because this one certainly doesn't appreciate all my lettuce. when you have to beg three people in the store to tell you where to pick up an online order, that should make it clear to everyone that there is a problem and a great need for signage to resolve it. The real issue would be setting up a pickup station right by the door and Staffing it with someone at all times since you don't have parking available. I just don't understand why this location can't figure out basic things like serving their customers yeah.. read more

And so my boycott begins. Today Guitar Center accused me of trying to sell them stolen goods, which happened to be something I had bought at Guitar Center a few years back (studio monitors). More on this in a moment. First, the amount of money I've spent at Guitar Center in the past is almost sickening. Music is really my only big hobby and I'm a sucker for high-end gear. Almost all of my extra cash goes to music. I'm not trying to come across as pompous, but in the (unlikely) event someone higher up at Guitar Center reads this I want to have them understand the type of customer they lost (two customers really). I'm just an individual and I understand that my personal boycott doesn't amount to much, but it amounts to *something.* It does for me, anyway. Just in the last year or two here are a few things I have purchased, and I'm 100% sure I'm forgetting a bunch: Fender American Elite Precision bass (~$2,000, new) Music Man American 5-string StingRay ($1,000, used) Music Man American Sterling ($800, used) Fender Rumble 500 ($600, new) Multiple SM-57 microphones ($100 each, all new) Fully outfitted pedalboard with Voodoo power supply, 10 pedals, PedalTrain board, etc ($1,200+, almost all new) Apollo Twin Quad recording interface ($1,300, new) And much more. I'm not going to list everything, these are just some of the bigger ticket purchases in the last 12-24 months. I've also bought multiple field recorders, many mics (such as a multiple B52s, a bunch more SM57s, overheads, some condenser mics), cajons, countless cords and hardware, MIDI keyboards, and on and on. I've been shopping at Guitar Center for over 20 years and I have spent FAR more than what I mentioned above. I've completely built up three home studios, I've bought drums, drum mics, guitars, many other instruments (such as another American P bass), at least three other audio interfaces, many more pedals, many pairs of headphones, IEMs, a full Markbass setup, more monitors, PA gear, mixers, literally just about everything you can think of. Yes, I have a sickness when it comes to gear and I almost always reach for the best. My best friend and partner in music has it almost as bad as I do, collectively we have spent countless dollars here. He is joining in on my boycott. He has bought American Strats, amps, studio gear, etc etc. So what triggered this? I moved to MI a few years ago and recently I had my cousin and best friend (partner in music I mentioned earlier) ship me a pair of Yamaha HS-8 monitors that I had left behind. He runs his own warehouse business and takes pride in what he does, so he packaged them up really well. Wrapped them in plastic wrap, and sealed them up perfectly. I'm living in an apartment now and these are way too big for my current situation, so I went into this Guitar Center to sell them. I was going to buy a bunch of gear to start fleshing out my apartment studio, even had a pair of nearfield monitors on hold there and some other things. I drove TWO hours to get hear and dealt with the absolutely terrible parking situation. I drove to this location because they had a few things in stock that other stores didn't have, I was going to drop a bunch of cash on another purchase to start building yet another home studio (a smaller scale studio for my current living situation). I had both monitors in a box, went up to the Live Sound guy, opened it up and he immediately told me that it looks like they were stolen (since they were individually packaged really well). He thought I had stolen them and was trying to make a quick buck. I tried to explain the whole situation (heck it was MY name and address on the box!). He had none of it. He told me it looks like I swiped it off of someone's porch and was trying to sell it to them. Inside I was boiling, but I'm a calm person. I didn't have the credit card I used to purchase these (bought these 5-ish years ago) so I requested that they look through all of my transactions because they will find them, but nope. I'm a thief. Over the years I've had plenty of bad experiences (and some good) but convenience kept me coming back. Accusing me of being a thief though is a line crossed. The *only* time I will ever step foot in a Guitar Center again is to use them as a showroom floor so I can test gear and if I find something I like I will immediately purchase from a direct competitor. I will not purchase anything else from them or their affiliates (Musician's Friend, Music & Arts, Private Reserve, etc). I'm only beginning to build my next studio, I'm planning on purchasing an Handsonic electronic hand drum, sound proofing, a new MIDI keyboard, and more very soon, and Guitar Center will see none of my money. Of course I'm just one man so it's not like I can start a movement, hah, but this is the type of situation I will share with every musician friend I know. It has been a long ride, but today I am done. read more

I took a bass guitar in to get an overhaul and a six string for non functioning pickup to be rewired. Bass needed new volume pot, which I knew. Tech could not find right one and could not order right one. He wound up installing one too large for the space and does not fit in well. He tried to argue he was doing me a favor because he special ordered it and was not going to charge me for ordering. But it is as good as a square peg stuffed in a round hole. The new volume key rotates on its axis and pulls off without resistance. The volume knob can't be turned above about less than one or the distortion is ear shattering and electrocution hazard feeling. Story is far from over. Tech put new strings on it and now has all the tone of a very twangy toy bass guitar. Not the worst scenario because easily remedied by changing the strings again, but so far completely failed me. I complained loudly about the virtual ruination of it and tech offered I should not have to pay if I did not want to, offer he tried to retract when a manager overheard the proceedings and wondered what was going on. Like a piece of wood, manager had no knowledge of customer is always right, even after I recounted that the computer system there would quickly relate that I have bought several guitars, several amps, and many accesories there over the years. I paid nothing but the bass is despised by me now. Switch now to the six string. I paid for that work, which cost $60.00 or so and took both guitars home. The rewiring worked literally one time. I took the guitar back next day and the tech had told a different manager an entirely different story about why the work on the bass had not been charged for. That manager had no skill to empathize with my story. And to top all of this off, you guessed it, when they plugged the guitar in to check the pickup it worked like a charm. I took it back home and no surprise, the rewiring has not worked again even once. Shame Guitar Center is the only alternative anymore, aside from independants, who offer much less all in all. Guitar Center is fat and knows it is the only game in town. Hope to hear this joint goes belly up. read more

My husband and I came in today, purchased a guitar and keyboard. Staff was super friendly and helpful. When we got home my husband noticed something was loose on the guitar and was bummed thinking he had to return or exchange it. He took the guitar back and they were able fix it in minutes, seriously can't recommend this guitar center enough. They were so helpful and had a great selection. We will be back for sure! read more

In Las Vegas their are 2 guitar centers. One on Charleston Boulevard and one on Las Vegas Blvd. I always went to the one in Charleston. I had just thought that the guitar Center on Las Vegas Blvd. was more like a tourist trap. Going to have a lookee. Lou touched up boy was I wrong which of the Charleston store I had bought a Taylor a baby Taylor and like 34 days later the fish cracked brought it back. You took it back couldn't find anything in your store that I wanted on Charleston, my buddy said let's go travel Las Vegas it's a better store I never been there or was I happy there and I spent over $1000 got the best guitar. I'm very happy the people there are very courteous and helpful Charleston. You gotta find somebody and then they'll go find the person to help you. It's bull crap there. So that guitar center on Charleston is lacking big-time. I want to Las Vegas Blvd. I'll recommend everybody to go there. read more

I ordered a DW hi hat stand on line for curbside pick up at Guitar Center in Southfield, MI. When I arrived, I notified the company and opened my trunk. No one appeared, so I went in, even though I received a message that they were on their way to deliver it to my car. Once inside, I found the sales rep who I spoke with previously on the phone. He said he did not get a message that we were at curbside. I showed him the phone message proving otherwise, upon which he apologized. He ran off to get me the order, which appeared in an annihilated box. See picture. He then opened that box, which contained another box with the hi hat stand, which other box had previously been opened. I specifically ordered a factory sealed item, so I rejected it. He asked me if I wanted a refund and I said no -- that I had paid for a new-in-the-box item and just hadn't received it yet. He said it would be another 3-5 days for a new one. After shuffling some papers, he said he needed my credit card and that the price had gone up by $50.00! I exclaimed, "What?!!" and he said he'd check with the manager to see if I could get the original price. After a few minutes, he said they would honor the original price, and he again asked for my credit card. I said, "Why?" He said he refunded the first transaction, even though I specifically had told him not to. Although exasperated at this whole event, I gave him the card and he attempted to ring up another charge, but claimed the card was declined. Sure enough it was --- after wasting 10 minutes on the phone with the credit card company, I was informed that the sale's agent typed in the wrong three digit code on the back of the card!! When I went to inform the sale's agent of his error, he was no where to be found. That was all I could take. I got on the phone with Sweetwater, ordered the same item on the spot and paid for it (less money, by the way!) and will have it w/in 24 hours delivered to my house. I told the other clerks about my dissatisfaction with the entire transaction (the sale's agent still had not returned) and left the building. I look forward to dealing with Sweetwater from now on. read more

Guitar Center - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Southfield, Michigan

I seem to have the same experience at every Guitar Center I've ever been to. Let me say this, I'm a drummer, have been playing for 16 years, and have been working in the music industry for 11, so I know a thing or two about gear, and what I like. Every time I step foot in here, I'm met with pushy sales staff who see me merely as commission and become far less interested when they realize I'm only there for sticks or drum heads. The sales staff treat you like you are a musical idiot and they're far better than you in every way. I go there with a specific need and get in and out as soon as I can to try to deal with as few people there as I can. Attn: Guitar Center HR... hire more music lovers and less snobs... take away their commission pay and pay them a decent wage and I may actually enjoy the atmosphere a little. as it is now.. not at all! read more

Literally never had a single problem here. Absolutely awesome. Here's some djent 10001000110 00 WEEERRR 10 101110

If you have no choice, Guitar Center is better than nothing. But it's close. One of the problems is that they sell models of brand name instruments that are made and configured just for them. So although a guitar with a wwll-known name on the headstock is really made by that manufacturer, it is not the same exact model that is sold elsewhere, and therefore it could have less street value. Most of the models they sell are the same as other stores sell though. So if you are going to purchase, make sure that the model is mainstream. You can check the manufacturer's website. The other problem with Guitar Center is that some of the instruments have been played by casts of thousands. So you should ask if you can try a few of the same model. Eventually a new one will come out wrapped in paper and then you can decide if it is a good one or not. Finally, like the previous reviewer, I am constantly annoyed by the staff. They are in it for the commission and cater to kids that drag Mommy and/or Daddy in to buy something for them. So the staff is used to talking down to customers and preys on the undereducated. However, all that said, where else in the area can you see so many models under one roof or have that many of each model to choose from? The prices are fair, although not the very lowest. I have been playing guitar for over 50 years, and the other day I was in GC trying a guitar. It was plugged into an amp and I was noodling out a few riffs. Then I realized that some other guy was playing along with me on the other side of a stack of amps, I couldn't see him and he couldn't see me, but as i was playing lead, he started playing rhythm and in the right key and with the right cord changes. It was really cool! So after a few minutes, I walked over to him to see who he was. To my surprise it was a kid of 16 or 17. He said "Wow, you really are good! How long have you been playing?" It was a funny question really. I didn't even know what to say. So I said that I didn't know really, but it has been over 40 years. There was a kind of pregnant pause and he just said "Cool." Guitar Center is good for comparing and trying out instruments, and if they happen to have exactly what you want, maybe they can be good for buying. I get strings, picks and music here. But I don't like to buy instruments or amps here. Except for a couple of small places on the east side that don't carry equipment from many manufacturers though, there aren't a lot of places around that really can compete with GC. We just don't have mainstream musical instrument stores in our area other than GC. Now if you are in NYC or another major city, you would have choices. If you can; select. If you can't; settle. read more

For Father's Day I purchased classes for my husband. I signed and paid during a special promotion for 4 classes and would be billed monthly if he chose to continue. His first class was Tuesday but I received a bill for the next month July the next day. I assumed an error and contacted them and was told it'd be reimbursed. I received a partial payment with an explanation that in was caught in a billing cycle, they would take care of it. After 2 more classes (total 3) they billed me again for 2 more classes to end the month July?! It was before the billing cycle..What happened to the 4th class!!!! We called and was told they' look into it. Spoke with 5 people mgmt and reps. 'new billing software', tech support made changes, clerical error at registration... None of which is my fault... yet I am still waiting for my money . read more

I have not even gone into the store yet because of the parking situation. I get off of work at 5pm which is apparently when the bar "Duos" who they share a lot with opens. By the time I get here at 6pm the lot is completely full because of this! You would think that they would have signs that designate parking to the guitar center so it is not overrun by the bar but they don't. I'm surprised they let this go on, how are people who want to patronize the other businesses in this lot supposed to if bar patrons are going to be allowed to take all of the parking? I guess I will have to go to a different one. read more

Great guitar selection and good guitar gear and very friendly service. Great store!!! read more

I know Guitar Center may get a bad rap. Their online store is not great. I ordered and paid for a pedal to be told it was sold. Then bought another and was shipped the wrong one. Scott in guitars was helpful and Jesse in repairs knows what he's doing. Jesse was able to look after on my schedule even though he was busy. He installed a couple of pickups and did a sett up on the guitar that I brought in. read more

This place has ALL the good gear! Came in looking for an odd cable for a small PA system. There are WAY too many cables for me to just brows around. That's when Peter asked if we needed any help. So glad Peter was the one who helped us out. This guy knows his stuff! I told him what I needed and he knew exactly what I was looking for and where to find it in the store. Not only did he help me find it but he had a sample cable he used it on a small PA system to show us how it worked and how well it worked. What a guy! Funny part about it, the PA system he demonstrated the cable on was the exact same PA system we had. Haha. But Peter knew all the answers we threw at him with not even having to think about it. What a guy! Thank you Peter for helping us out and knowing exactly what we needed. If you are ever in need of anything music related, go see Peter! He's a music guru! read more

I love this place, my son and I went twice last week and the staff was very friendly and informative, we have a lot of questions and they were so helpful, very nice rooms and selection of instruments, parking lot a little headache but not terrible. read more

In the past 10 years, I've purchased 4 guitars, 2 amps, 1 loop pedal, 1 bongo drum and a host of accessories including pickups, strings, bags etc. from Guitar Center. I remember the days when I would cherish walking into Guitar Center to hear the sounds of musicians trying out instruments and the sales staff eagerly helping customers try out instruments. The place would buzz with sounds and energy like that of an outdoor music festival and one would sometimes forget that they are in a store at all. Sales staff and customers would often breakout into a solo on an instrument that would draw the attention of everyone in the store. I realized after my last visit that those days are gone and the sounds of Guitar Center that I use to remember have been replaced with a cold business atmosphere silence. Walking in today, I was greeted by a staff that asked if he could help me find anything. When I replied that I was browsing, I was given a dirty look without a response that would set the tone for the rest of my visit. There was no music in the store and the sales staff outnumbered customers 2:1. I first stopped at the electric guitars section to try out some pedals. Despite owning a Boss loop pedal, I couldn't get a single electric guitar to work on a loop pedal. No one offered to help as sales staff stood around talking amongst themselves. I then made my way to the acoustic guitar room. The first two acoustic guitars I tried were out of tune. I wondered to myself, how can someone appreciate the quality of a guitar to make a purchase, if most of the guitars are out of tune? Feeling discouraged but still hoping to make the best of my trip, I made my way to the keyboard section to try out some synthesizers. None of them worked. There was a station setup next to computer with an AKAI controller as well as MIDI keyboard. I could not get the setup to work despite my best efforts, and I own AKAI controllers as well as MIDI keyboards. At this point, I wondered to myself, is it a coincidence or is this a purposeful attempt to discourage customers from trying products at this store? I finally made my way to the guitar picks and straps thinking I would at least buy something so it wouldn't be a complete waste of my time driving to this store. But I decided against it because my experience at this store the last two visits were almost identical. I thought to myself, I would prefer to buy from Amazon because this Guitar Center has offered me nothing today that I couldn't have gotten off Amazon and in fact the experience was much worse. No customer service, no attempt at letting customers try their products, and time wasted driving to the store. The whole atmosphere reeked off desperation and a lack of sincerity in customer service. Sales staff would take 3 seconds to figure out if you've walked in set to buy and if not, they would disappear to continue their conversations with coworkers. The store was terribly maintained and I'm not even sure if the people who work here are musicians. It is sad to see the state of this store and I can't imagine it being profitable the way it looked today and on my past two visits. This will probably be my last visit and I hope that the decay in culture at this store will reach a tipping point for change. Until stores like this one decides to embrace the original reason why Guitar Center was such a success, it will continue to lose business to online retailers without having anything additional to offer. I hope this store that once promoted a culture that placed music first, business second will take a moment to reflect on how that culture has turned 180 degrees before it is too late. read more

Bought my grandson some equipment for his bass guitar, was very happy with his gifts and he plugged them up and played for me. Thank you guitar Center for a beautiful day read more

The guitar Center in Canton Mi. is horrible, undereducated staff, long time waiting for help. I sold them a Peavy head that was worth a LOT more than they wanted to give me for it, and they were extremally rude . Trying to get someone who actually knows about the product's at this store is like finding the Holy Grail. The Acoustic guitar's are not set up to be able to demo them and trying to find someone to take one down for you is also a long process as they have usually only 2 employees working at once and this was the same before the pandemic, after it, going there is not even worth it because you can not handle any of the instrument's. I have spent thousand's of dollar's with them and no longer will they get a thin dime of MY hard earned money. I get FAR better service when I go to a guitar center ( one you can actually handle the instrument's) and demo one, then but it from American Musical supply on line , they have FAR better service and shipping is only 2 day's and return's are so easy it's a pleasure to do biz with them,. Guitar Center is no longer a musician's store ,it's just another faceless company that only cares about your money. read more

This review is not really about sales and service for musical instruments and accessories, but is actually about the repair shop portion of the store. Big chains like Guitar Center, Sam Ash, etc. often get a bad reputation (whether fairly or unfairly) for employing folks that might not be qualified to work on your guitar. Bottom line, it all depends on who is at the repair bench and it's best to leave preconceived notions aside. Jesse, the lead tech at this store, has the necessary credentials and will do a good job on your guitar. So far I've had him do some set up work on a couple of guitars along with some hardware installation and a pickup upgrade. All great work. If I had more extensive work that needed to be done I would not hesitate to take it to him. He's great with turnaround time and prices are reasonable as well. I'd had previously been dealing with someone else for repairs and modifications and had a mixed experience. I'm taking my guitars to Jesse from now on. read more

Guitar Center has a good gear selection, and they match prices, which is really cool. However, the gentleman's comment above rings true for me as well - the sales staff can be quite pushy trying to get that big commission, and often treat you like an idiot. I hear the same lines like "I have 3 of them at home," and "these things are flying off the shelf, so you better act fast." But overall, its still fun to go in there and try out the gear. read more

Sales person (Mitchell Chang) was not pushy. Was very knowledgable. I wanted an accoustice electric guitar and they had a very good selection and I had lots of time to play each one I was interested in. They even changed my strings for free! read more

Associates are knowledgeable about products and can be pushy. However, if a product does not work out be prepared to be interrogated when returning the item. Oh, don't forget the 15 % restocking fee that no one mentions. The associate I dealt with during my return was quite rude and heavily suspicious about my needs for a speaker system. Maybe he was having a bad day but I expect better customer service. read more

Well they were nice and helpful at first but then they stopped helping. They tend to migrate to people with stuff in hand or money in hand but if you have questions first... Forget about it. They will leave you stranded. I had some questions about lighting and some speaker stands. He never left his counter and while discussing my decision he just kept saying "you want me to order that for you?" Then when it came to lighting no one was there to help. I went into the room and started fiddling with the computer and turning on power strips myself. I finally figured it out enough but not enough. I get pissed of trying to seek help and getting ignored. So I took my business somewhere else and they lost out on a $4,000+ purchase. I have a friend they took his 5,000+ purchase somewhere else too. That's over 9,000 worth of gear they lost out on. How are they staying alive with such horrible service? Oh and then he wouldn't price match something for me either. So I guess they are losing out on that sale too. read more

New Yorker here to rave about the customer service I received. I'm a long time guitar player, and know the bad rap GC gets everywhere (I'm a former admin of a guitar forum). Anyway, I'm a Fender lover, and I saw a Squier Classic Vibe 50's on sale as a used item (yeah, the guitar snobs are saying "Squier?) on the GC website. I've never even touched a CV before, but have read good things about them. I jump on the purchase, then I received a "back ordered" email, so I thought, "wtf?" and call GC HQ, and I'm told there's a glitch in the system, and to call the store directly. I initially spoke to Zach, and he told me he'd check if it was on the floor. It was, and he said he'd make sure the shipping dept. knew, and it would go out asap. This was on Wed or Thurs evening. I told Zach I'd never played a CV before, and asked his opinion of this Squier series. He said, "about as good as a Mexican Strat." He was wrong. It's *better* than my MiM, and pretty damn near my American. The fretwork is fantastic; no sharp edges. Point? Zach didn't try to hard-sell me (big complaint of many who go to GC's). I had paid a few bucks extra, for 2 day shipping, and guitar players know what GAS is. I call back yesterday (Fri), and speak to Reuben, in the early afternoon. He finds the guitar with my name on it, and I tell him I'm worried the guitar will go to someone else because it's still listed on the GC website (glitch in system). I tell him I'm bummed, because I was really looking forward to having the guitar by this weekend. To make up for the hassles Reuben had the guitar shipped to me, NEXT DAY AIR. I received the guitar around 10 a.m. this morning! I had already posted in a guitar forum a "NGD!" (New Guitar Day) thread, and expressed my concerns about receiving the guitar today. Reuben also changed the shipping from my nearest GC for pickup, the original delivery destination (shoutout to the LIC GC who rock too!) to my home address. Boom, around 10 a.m. the UPS guy is ringing my doorbell. I'm one happy camper, and the only reason I'm posting now is, I've over-tuned the guitar to speed up stretching the strings, and also to give credit, when credit is due. Moral to the story: not all GC's suck (you try listening to Stairway being played 5 million times a day, and knowing 3/4 of the people coming into the store is only there to test drive gear, only to order from zzsounds). And not all NYers are a-holes. I didn't shout &$^&##!!! at the peeps at the store. If I did, maybe the staff there woulda said, "screw that guy," and went back to smoking blunts in the back after a day of dealing with a-holes. Support your local GC, there's always great used gear. Be courteous to the salespeople; I understand GC salespeople make crap commision, and *I* get a freaking headache from noobs cranking up amps playing the last solo they learned on youtube. So, to EVERYONE at this store, from people who picked up the phone, and to Zach, and especially Reuben: THANK YOU, you guys rock! Now to go to my local GC to possibly unload some gear, which wouldn't be much because the "used" CV was pretty dirt cheap. read more

My wife bought a pedal for me and was sold what is obviously an open box item as being new. Pedal is scratched on the bottom, the seal on the box is ripped in several places and has dirt and hair stuck to it. Store must be run by a bunch of con men who realized that my wife didn't know what she was doing, so they took advantage of her. Go to Berkley Music Company or Motor City Guitars where you won't be ripped off. read more

Terrible bass guitar section. Mixed experience with staff. I hate that you have to ask them to price match stuff that is on Guitar Center's OWN DRATTING WEBSITE for a lower price. Guaranteed lowest price claim is BS, which is annoying because you have to get them to reprice darn near everything every time. That last point is a chain-wide issue not specific to this location but I did reflect it into their score as I would any other GC. So overall GC gets a 3, this one gets a 2 because of their employees. read more

Let's face it all other guitar stores in this area are sub sets of guitar center. While I like to support local owned businesses, local stores only present a partial supply. Also, local owned stores workers, I find many times are more arrogant then GC. Lastly. GC has better warranties and back their products deeper. Bottom line. This big business store just does it better no matter how much some this fact is unpopular. I recently found a Southfield employee name Mitch who I now trust. His expertise has saved me from overspending and error spending. I have no affiliation with GC in any way. GC is like Costco large, well priced, excellent selection, and fun to shop at read more

OK well what can I say, these guys live off of commission . I got my first hollow body guitar there and I got a better experience buying that than getting picks or strings at another time. The thing is though I've actually got to talk to a salesman about what was up and he spilled an understandable story. They pretty much cut the staff so he had about 5 people on the floor at the time and was in a hurry. But, there is a point where you have to suck it up and stop with the rudeness. The guy up front is always nice, he doesn't really sell anything, but looks at your receipt. One time that was really upsetting was when I was plugging in a Swollen Pickle Dunlop petal and the set up there was such a mess connecting to the amp, I asked a guy over to help and totally talked down to me. I remember what he said " The input connects the guitar and the output goes to the amp, right?" totally mocking me. What I really think would help you have a better time there would find a salesman you think would be actually helpful, with a sense of kindness. There was another time I was looking for a clean boost and the guy I talked to, the one I asked what was up later in the future at the time, really did care and help and listened to me play for awhile, but wasn't pressuring me at all. In their defense though, I would get irritated too from all the kids coming in playing smoke on the water, crazy train, and pain it black. Nothing against the songs and I wouldn't mind them playing them good, but they don't cause the kids are about 8-12, even though its their job to put up with it. Another thing is where am I going to go to find a new cable or a packet of strings that is so close? Sometimes, they do sell some crap there, but really you have to be knowledgeable about what you're buying. When ever you see a new guy working there he's real honest and tries helping you as much as he can, it's I just know when he works there longer he's only going to care about the money. The really fault here is the economic times and I know whenever or if it does get back on track it'll be a much better store. read more

I came into Guitar Center hoping for lessons that would help me learn a guitar song to perform for my fiance for a surprise birthday gift. After only 4 one hour sessions I was still very novice, but I have been practicing on my own every day since then (maybe about a month now), and I am so much more confident and can play the song without messing up! I can't wait to return to learn more. There isn't enough space to write enough good things about my experience with Gerry. He was extremely patient, encouraging and helpful. He is a killer guitarist so I found myself being a little intimidated at first, but his prescence and demeanor is perfect for coaching/teaching guitar lessons. By the way, I am 27 and I have never touched an instrument in my life before walking into Guitar Center. When I first held the guitar I held it the WRONG WAY....so that explains how "beginner" I was. I encourage anyone on any level, at any age, to sign up NOW for classes with Gerry. My fiance cried when I played the song for him, and so did I. Thank you, Gerry, for changing our lives and giving me the gift of music - my life wouldn't be the same without you and all of your help! read more

The staff were very helpful. They helped fix my amp even though it took hard work and several minutes. They never gave up and now my amp sounds as good as ever. Christian and Sam were very helpful staff membersPlus they have a great selection of musical items. I highly recommend this store. read more