Ryan Hudak is a super talented luthier. I brought in a stratocaster with a mysterious wiring issue and he solved it in like ten seconds. I thought I'd have to leave my guitar there for three days, but I was in and out of there in like 5 minutes. Guitar Center tech work can be hit or miss but this location has real pros behind the counter. Reasonable price too! Check them out! read more

A huge shout-out to Ryan, the tech guy. He takes such good care of me and my guitar. Friendly, knowledgeable, and goes the extra mile, a real gem! Thanks Ryan! read more

Love coming here cause it's therapeutic sometimes, they have a wonderful selections of guitars, drums, pianos, DJ equipment, lightning, etc, it has an old school feel to it, the employees that work here are very helpful and will answer any questions that you may have, and I recommend this location to any music lovers who are in the area.. read more

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Had a Great Experience here. Just want to give a shout out to Donnie, the Drum tech at this store. He was great.

I never, ever write reviews and have ALWAYS held GC in the highest regard. I have better things to do. It's a waste of my time and the time of the individuals who have to read these, if they actually do. Especially when brick and mortar retail locations are dead and dying. I will keep short. Although, just a music store, I get it. The management at store and district level continue to hire inexperienced, and incapable individuals to manage their stores. The bigger picture may not mean much, however it creates a terrible experience, isolates loyal customers and makes one question the ability and skills to hire, run, maintain, and keep a sustainable business that will last and be successful. There are obvious and a few factors NO business wants. Negative attention, bad word of mouth on social medial and verbal experience sharing. A fine, true and extreme example includes making a decision to call 9 local law enforcement agents on an individual seeking to shop and wish all is well with three of the store's employees. That person can now only share how bad, unnecessary and ridiculous this decision was with all the local businesses they work with, including their friends and family. Now have to deal with the aftermath, even if they think they were in the right or whatever very likely incorrect information they received. The proof is in the law enforcement as they were told fake, inaccurate information and wasted their time. Enjoy, be careful, it can happen to anyone. - Marek Carrilious read more

Guitar Center - Professional and personal Management Consulting Services - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Totowa, New Jersey

I am pleased to say that I gave these folks another shot, as they had a drum kit on sale that I had been ogling over for about two years. Given that their price was the best available, I decided to take a shot and pay them a visit despite my poor experience from last year. I was pleasantly surprised by my experience, and it was a night and day difference in comparison to my previous fiasco. The store was much more organized, the demo gear was in great shape, and there were numerous staff members who willingly offered to assist me with my purchase. This reminded me of what this store once was for the majority of my life, and this was such a welcome surprise. This made me want to begin visiting this store again versus shopping online. I hope things remain this way! read more

Hands down best buying experience you'll have. Staff are highly knowledgeable and gave me more insight than I could have wished for. The manager Chris is a gent! Will never go anywhere else. read more

The repair tech ryan helped me out with changing my strings! He was very kind and did a great job! totally recommend

Usually, I go to this location and everything's been pretty good. The people usually know how to help really well. Today I went and the guy at the desk had the nastiest attitude I've ever experienced there. He almost looked offended that I walked up to the desk to return something. Spent a couple minutes at the main desk to return something and ended up walking to the secondary desk to get help because the employees were looking at the main desk but ignoring that I needed help. He asked "is there anything wrong with it?" I replied back "no it just wasn't exactly what I needed." The employee then started to scoff and laugh while starting the return. He spent the entire transaction talking with his other coworker not even making eye contact or making sure we had everything ready to go. Only time he spoke to me was to say you're good to go. Didn't explain how the refund would go or anything. This interaction put a sour taste in my mouth for this location. read more

To the business owner, Beau L., that wrote me back. Looking at your yelp reviews 31 out of 66 reviews are one stars. What is the point of sending more feedback to the email address you gave me if you haven't address any of the feedback customers are giving you. Most of your customer reviews are extremely poor. You must be doing something wrong at this location if you're continually getting poor reviews. It doesn't seem as THE business owner your methods are very effective and there appear to be less than optimal if any improvements whatsoever, based on customer reviews. This has been an ongoing issue for years now according to your reviews on yelp. Have you noticed that? Maybe you should fire your staff and rehire, especially starting with management, specifically the gentleman I had the issue with last time I was in your store. Or at the very least retrain your staff to put your customers needs first. Have you heard that expression, 'The customer is always right' ? To be totally honest with you I see a huge problem with this location and Guitar Center in general. Beyond disappointed, and to be totally honest with you it's pretty pathetic. What exactly are you doing to improve customer service at this location? You continue to garner poor reviews overall. Shaking my head literally. Personally, if I was a business owner of this guitar Center at this location I would be pretty alarmed and ashamed of myself. Doesn't seem like you're really care about your customers and aren't doing anything perceptible to change things at this location. read more

This Guitar Center is a good location, though I remember it being tricky to get into the lot from 46. I've come here a couple of times when this was near my old commute route with my partner (to pick up guitar strings, repairs, look for old guitar boxes in the back, etc). Not our home GC store, but the staff were good. read more

Went there yesterday to buy a pair of earplugs to wear to a concert and the experience was tedious. There was one associated standing around basically doing nothing. When I asked where I could find what I was looking for he told me that I had to ask a sales associate. Great, where would I find one? They're all busy now. Finally found an available sales associate and asked the same question. He had no idea where I could find them and had no interest in figuring out where they might be. 15 minutes later I found a few and asked which were the best. Again, crickets. He had no idea. After realizing I was on my own, I selected one and got behind 2 other people waiting on line to pay. Another 15 minutes of my life gone because apparently at Guitar Center it's just as difficult to pay as it is to shop. Rule # 1 of ANY retail business, take people's money as fast as possible. Again, epic failure. Try Sam Ash. read more

Great experience. Donnie in drums was especially helpful. Awesome to have someone back there to help drummers!!!

So in one order for 2 items, a bass and an amp, I first get an email asking if I will accept a floor model bass for the full price, no discount offered. Then I get a notice that the amp is ready for curbside pickup. Go to the store and have to wait 25 minutes. Called the store and spoke to the manager to be told they can't locate it, and when the kid finally comes out with it, he says 'well we are short staffed'. Ok, I understand we are all hurting for workers but then stop offering a service that you don't staff for. I will definitely stop going to this location. read more

I always have a great experience there! We needed a repair on a guitar that was giving as a Christmas gift. The store manage, who was in the middle of something, totally helped us out and quick. He is awesome and friendly and educated us on all of my questions! Totally recommending this place! read more

Just tried to buy a simple power adapter for my guitar pedal and this was an arduous task for the staff. I ultimately left without purchasing one. read more

My father recently passed away and was a heavy smoker, and he left his Guild guitar to my wife who's asthmatic and is very sensitive to smoke smells. So we had to get the guitar cleaned. We brought it to Guitar Center and they were direct and warned that cigarette smell is impossible to totally eliminate, that it will never not smell like smoke, but said if we want to proceed to put it through the Platinum cleaning and they'd do their absolute best. And they did, because once my wife got the guitar she couldn't smell any smoke at all. They also helped me pick out a new case for the guitar, since the case would likely hold smell as well so I wanted to replace that. I'm not a musician at all so an associate took a good 20 minutes with me to find a case that fit. Evidently Guild guitars have funny-shaped heads that make it hard to fit a case to it. The guy had to pull out a ladder and climb to the second level to find one that fit. Super helpful and attentive. read more

Feeling so fortunate that Ollie the technician from the Totowa store was available when I walked in with my P Bass that was in dire need of a set-up and new flatwounds. I opted for the platinum set-up tier and Ollie took the time necessary to perform a complete diagnostic check and make a number of critical adjustments based on my technique and preference. I'm extremely satisfied with the end result. I highly recommend Ollie and the entire sales staff who have consistently shown themselves to be knowledgeable, courteous and professional ! read more

I almost never give 1 star reviews, but this shop sets the standard and here's why. I walked In - impressed with the many instruments on display. I found my way to the acoustic barn and started to do some price and model shopping. An employee was playing and singing in the high end room but never stopped when I peeked in. Then, when he finished, he walked out and disappeared. I walked around the store, no one approached me or even made eye contact. I want back to the acoustic barn and all of a sudden, three employees came in. I was hopeful. They, however were trying to buy a used guitar so I was ignored. And then, I was further surprised. One of the three took down a guitar off the wall and started to play it as I stood there, again, completely ignored. I played guitar in high school and college so I was interested in getting back into it. My niece gave me a $25 gift certificate for this company and that's why I stopped in. But I'll be (expletive deleted) if these people will get my business. Clueless is my best, kindest description of the store. Just an awful place if you want even a tiny amount of service. Never, ever coming here again. You have been warned! read more

Horrible GC. I went in to check out a Fender that they had. Got there at 11:10 and the doors were locked. When I knocked on the door some blonde kid just waved me off as if I was a child. Will never go again. read more

My 13yr old boy is in to hard rock and has been requesting a guitar for lessons. When we walked in and started browsing we were greeted by Donny with a friendly hello. I gave him some time with my son while my wife and I browsed the audio section for an interface and a mic for recording where we were greeted by Joe who also was very friendly and very knowledgeable. I returned to my son who had picked out a couple of guitars and someone demoed all three that we had the selection narrowed down to. He went with an Ibanez RG. We grabbed some peripherals for the axe and Donny and Joe helped us to the counter. At that point we encountered Zach (I believe he was the manager on call) who was also very friendly and helpful on the tail end of the transaction . I was an assistant manager at guitar center between 2004 and 2008 and I know this chain has gone through a lot of changes . It is good to have the same "glad you are here" experience that our team at GC in the early 2000s would provide to our customers. read more

If you want a place to try out guitars undisturbed, this place is great. If you want assistance from a salesperson, good luck.

People who work here are not helpful at all. I wish theres a rate for no star or negative star. I'm not buying the an expensive item, just for an adapter but it doesnt mean that you are not gonna be helpful about it. Thanks but no thanks. Found what I need by myself. read more

Guitar Center - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Totowa, New Jersey

My son quit drum lessons in July 2023 because his teacher left the studio. It is now October 2023 and my credit card is still being billed. If you are taking lessons DO NOT give them your credit card number. Even after you quit with the studio they keep billing your card. I know have a complaint in with the credit card company. My next step is the attorney generals office in NJ. If they want your number, have your child go to a different studio. read more

I went into sell a Monomachine worth 3,500 dollars and the half black more stocky guy with a white ponytail was so rude to me and gave me serious attitude and dirty looks ( I'm assuming because I wanted to sell some gear for cash ) so that must make me a dirt ball to him and asking me "What is this ?" He then went on his phone to look up the appropriate price for it and said he can do it for 900 which I am aware Guitar Center takes 30 % but these sell in the 3,000 category which is not 30 % percent. He went on about how it's not even new so it's the best they can do when ... none of them are new and stopped being manufactured in 2014. I said no and was flustered and took the box and left and he said yeah go on now in a sly manner. I went to this Guitar Center and the one in Paramus and I'm convinced most of the people who work for this company are miserable failed musicians that hate their job because they are so rude - so thanks to the guy with the white pony tail for being so judgmental upfront for me trying to sell gear - then the company shouldn't offer the option ? I would rate 0 stars ! read more

We just stopped in there to have a guitar checked out to see how much it would cost to repair the amount was way over what anyone would spend on repairing such a guitar, but I expected that I just wanted to know the condition of the guitar was worth anything or not anymore . The person working at the repair center part of the store located on the left inside the store explain this in detail what would need to be done. While in the store we checked out keyboards other guitars and the drums as well. We found several people in that store that really seem to enjoy working there and made the experience an excellent choice. Normally I'm not a fan of the big box stores and chains but this location definitely has the right people working there and makes us want to come back over and over again. read more

Guitar Center - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Totowa, New Jersey

This is my fifth visit and every time they topped the last visit. Look I am 60 years old and new to the musician scene and I have a lot of questions. Chris and his team are top notch. Every purchase was professional and on point. The follow up was phenomenal and they never tired of my questions. This is now my store as I continue my guitar journey. Thank you all at Guitar Center. read more

Best guitar store very nice people I love this place treat me nice hopefully they will treat you nice read more

Guitar Center - This jimmy page Telecaster is amazing - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Totowa, New Jersey

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I 100 percent recommend this store! Dylan was so knowledgeable, professional. All the workers were so friendly and the manager was great!

Unless you desperately need strings, cables or sticks and can't wait for online delivery, shop elsewhere. Checkout takes forever every single time. The people who work there are in desperate need of someone to give them direction. The Manager always acts like he's being bothered whenever his own staff or customers have questions or need anything. Who hired this guy? Look at all the negative reviews of this place... read more

I ordered a coffin guitar case, ground shipping, it arrived damaged, the amazing staff, Chris, Mark, Dan and Gary immediately refunded my money, no hassle at all, offered a a replacement, free next day shipping! These guys are polite, professional, and willing to go the extra mile to satisfy their customers, rarely seen in today's businesses. I will continue to shop at this guitar center in Totowa route 46. And recommend shopping here for all your musical needs. A big thank you again to the great staff at Totowa guitar center route 46 in Totowa N.J. A+ Five out of five stars! Natgtr read more

Chris was very helpful in exchanging our device! Immediately greeted us with kindness and a smile. He was quick with solving our problem! Average wait time, especially during this season as many people come in to buy gifts! read more

Been coming here for years purchased guitars, pedals accessories etc. Always treated well and their 45 day return policy is great. If your not happy then they aren't happy and they live by that. Always nice to have the item in your hand as to try as opposed to buying on line. Sales people are very helpful also. read more

I wanted to purchase a new electric guitar for my daughter. We chose one particular guitar. However, we were informed that it was no longer in stock and that we could purchase the floor model. Upon inspection, the floor model was missing two screws, which affected the sound. Therefore, The attendant asked us if we wanted to choose a different guitar. Upon selecting the second guitar, this also was out of stock. Therefore, we requested to see the manager and asked him if he would sell the floor model item to us at an open box rate. He acted as if we were bothering him and immediately declined, telling us that the item had been fairly new to the store. However, after inquiring, he was unable to provide the box or wrapping that the guitar came in and there was visible evidence of wear and tear, as well as fingerprints all over the guitar (in the age of Covid). This manager, Chris, then suggested that we purchase the guitar online, instead. We ended up buying two of the same guitar. One guitar, the floor model, which we walked out of the store with, and the other guitar, the new guitar, which we purchased online. As a manager, Chris seemed as if we were bothering him and did not provide a good customer service experience. How dare he force a customer to purchase two of the same item, because he didn't feel like providing an open box discount. Even 5% off would have sufficed. Nonetheless, We have been guitar center customers for more than a decade and will certainly consider taking our business elsewhere. Home read more

Guitar Center - Greasy fingerprints on the back of the guitar, showing clear signs of usage. - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Totowa, New Jersey

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Regular customers seem to get more attention than anyone else, but I believe it is done appropriately. They allow you to exchange their brand of cables (Live Wire) if it stops working properly at anytime with a new Live Wire Cable of same length & type with no questions asked. They will match any lower advertised prices for same item, even items on Amazon. The staff is very patient & knowledgeable. My son purchased a guitar pedal close to closing within days of Christmas. It took him well over an hour to decide what he wanted after trying three pedals that he researched prior to going to the store. The salesman was able to answer about 100 - 200 questions with ease. He knew exactly what my son was asking even though he was speaking in a very technical manner. In addition the return policy is extremely liberal which makes it easy to take the risk of purchasing something even if the person isn't sure what they want. Lastly they also sell used equipment if someone wants to sell something on on consignment. Lastly, they have an in house guitar tech or two certified to work on all major brands. They too are helpful and knowledgeable which goes a long way when purchasing surprises. read more

No one ever seems ready to help and lots don't really seem to know about the equipment they're selling. 9 times out of 10, they will not have what I'm looking for. Frustrating that they tend to carry and push cheap equipment as well. They're mic stands, for example, as abysmal and they don't carry the heavy duty ones you would actually want. I'd recommend it as a place to go to try out stuff that you can later buy at a better store online. read more

Completely satisfied with their service. Zack was extremely helpful from beginning to end on my purchase of my Ukulele. He's got a good ear because he too heard when the strings were off from what the were supposed to be. Once again their entire staff were nothing but professional and most important, super helpful. read more

I needed some overdue work on my 2000 USA made Strat. I don't normally get work done at large scale stores but the turnaround time at my regular repair shops was 2 weeks or more. So I took it to GC in Totowa and left it with Ollie. Best decision I've made in a while. Ollie diagnosed the problem and told me what to expect. He was spot on it turned out. This repair wouldn't be so spectacular if the set up and TLC he gave the guitar wasn't the best it ever got. The fender plays better than ever, I can't thank Ollie enough. If you need any guitar or bass work take it to Ollie. read more

Zach was very helpful in helping me choose my second guitar. It did have a little "nick" in it, but they were going to take some money off, if they didn't have another one. I went up to the register, ready to pay, and then that is where it went completely sideways. I'm talking to the cashier, and then I waited. 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th customer....All were taken care of, as I waited. Then another, I went up one of the cashiers, and asked what was the verdict? I wanted to know if they had another one, or if I was buying the damaged one. He said the other cashier was going to ring me up with a small discount. No problem... Then, I waited, and Waited some more. At the 20 minute mark, I said, if I'm not being given the opportunity to pay after one more customer, I'm leaving. Sure enough, this is what happened. Not for nothing, my money is just as good. I could have very easily just tried out some guitars, and went and purchased it somewhere else. This wasn't my intention, as I like to support small business. I called the store from the parking lot to tell Zack, who was the manager about my experience. This would have been a great time, to get me back in to pay for the guitar, but, for whatever reason, they refused to allow me to pay. Shopping on line is so much easier, and you don't have to deal with bad customer service. Lynn Stevens, West Caldwell. read more

It is with great disappointment that I am actually taking the time to finally write this review. I have been going to the Tottowa guitar center out of convenience for around 10 years. I've bought upwards of 12-15 guitars from them over this time, excluding some basic amps, a midi, loop pedal, and other miscellaneous equipment as well. Also I have used their services to "set up" some guitars as well when I didn't have the time. Only once in all of this time, was I treated with any sort of respect, and not once did anyone except the one dude that actually was nice (young kid with short brown hair) have any clue about setting up guitars. Absolute disaster each time. I write this informatively to save others because of despite CONSTANT hopes for one time I might have not even a regrettable experience, but just one where it can be bearable. read more