I just bought the Alvarez AG60CE back in January, through Guitar Center, who told me that since I didn't buy their warranty for this brand new guitar, I had to go to the Alvarez distributor in the country, in St. Louis to have it fixed The problem is, Alvarez is a shitty Guitar, banking on big names like LR Baggs to sell their garbage. The L.R. Baggs electronics were completely shot on this guitar... Even the tuner didn't work. They said they would fix it for me, but I had to pay the $160.01 to ship it to them, first. That's right. Alvarez built me a defective guitar, then made me pay an additional 40% of the price of the guitar to fix their own mistake. If anyone really wants an Alvarez guitar, I highly recommend buying a used one. I wonder how long L.R. Baggs is willing to take a hit in allowing the Alvarez brand to cost them money before pulling out themselves. read more

Great selection -- probably because nothing is selling. They don't seem to take these reviews seriously, because the place is a dump. I came in to buy a Gibson SG and sat down to try out five of them. Not a single guitar was in tune -- annoying enough -- but what was worse was how every one of them felt: sticky, sweaty, grimy, like toys at a doctor's office or a McDonald's playground. Every Gibson guitar had way too much neck relief, high action, and tarnished strings. These are $2,000+ instruments, before tax. This isn't just a Guitar Center problem -- it's also a Gibson quality issue, made worse by the store's techs. One Gretsch on the wall had both pickup mounting points broken -- the pickups were literally hanging out of the guitar. Maybe it was used, or maybe it fell off the wall... or was smashed by Pete Townshend (though I doubt it). Couldn't find a pick anywhere. And, of course, the acoustic room had visible mildew or mold -- which seems to be a standard feature at every Guitar Center. read more

What happened to this place?? Started shopping here 20 years ago. Lived here practically for about 10 years solid weekly. Spent TONS here. Used to have killer selection of gear and fantastic service. The layout was beautiful. Demo pedals galore. And always someone in the building that can answer questions about anything. Now it's just watching a steady decline. Nothing like it used to be. Same Plain Jane guitars, never see anything new and exciting. Employees can't answer questions or look like they don't want to be bothered. They def don't make you feel welcome anymore. The other CT locations just as blah. Time to say goodbye. read more

I'm mostly writing this review in reference to Bill in guitars. He was condescending and dismissive to the point of walking away in the middle of a question I asked him. Guitar Center locations are always hit or miss but this guy's attitude was an absolute joke. It's not surprising to see this behavior from the typical young kids who work for GC but Bill's an old guy who should know better. Their loss. They have a fairly impressive selection of used instruments, which is generally my area of specialty. I buy a number of guitars but this place will never see a dime from me. read more

Glad to say that today we had excellent help and service from Bill. Came in with my son a little bit confused about what kind of equipment we needed - Bill was so patient and knowledgeable. Stayed with us and helped us with multiple purchase and showed us how to use some of the items and installed a few things for us. Thank you Bill! read more

Guitar Center - Purchases - Guitar Stores Near Me - Orange, Connecticut

Tommie Alex Jared and the whole staff are extremely professional and most of all helpful. Make you feel a part of the family. Great selection, great atmosphere! read more

I finally filled a dream from some 55 years ago, when I would walk into Manney's and adore the beautiful Guitars. My wife got me a Squire Stratocastor , and a Champ 20 Amp. Today, I saw Bill , Peter and Jeff at the Orange Guitar Center, who all helped out in even setting my Stato up with flat wounds with low action - Im not sure what a 10 is but Jeff went the extra mile today to make sure my Statro had low action. So For Guitar Center - I rate them as a 10 out of 10 - read more

Ever notice so many people post negative reviews but never take the time to post a positive review? Picked up a new Martin Guitar that was on sale - I saved over $500.00. I was just driving by, but being on sale plus the fact that it had all the goodies, all solid wood, solid Sitka Spruce top, solid East Indian Rosewood back and sides, which were separated by a tasteful but not gaudy and over the top, white binding, gold sealed tuners, rosewood fingerboard and bridge and a mahogany neck. Bone nut and saddle. And with the higher end Martins you get a great case. I slapped on a new set of strings and this instrument sings. I have been playing it the last five hours without putting it down. What else sings was the customer service at THIS Guitar Center. They are not all created equal. Orange and New London stand out as the BEST Guitar Centers in all of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Mass. I really would drive by other Guitar Centers to go to either of these. It is the people who make the difference in these stores. I worked with Chuck who was great. As I said I was driving by and he set it aside for me to return to pick it up later in the day. I get it home and next thing you know I am back at Guitar Center in New London buying a new mic and microphone stand. It sounds that good. As I said, see Chuck in Orange. He will treat you right!! read more

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I went in to try and buy a new guitar. I waiting forever while I watched lazy workers not helping. there was a guy that helped me after he was done with another customer. he seemed like the only one bothering with anybody. he was great and helped a lot and got me out of there with what I needed. I think he was Jacob. the others were not even asking me if I needed help. don't think I would ever go back. very sad experience. happy though to have left with what I needed read more

*Update* Decided to bump up my rating, after a very bad experience, due to the service of Chuck in the guitar department. Had a few things I wasn't using and Chuck gave me a very fair offer for all of them. Whatever you do GC give the guy a raise and retain him he's an asset to the store! *Original Review* They sold me an Orange OR15 that didn't work. There was no output. I stopped in one night and saw it for $300. Thinking I got a deal I put a down payment on it. There wasn't enough time to try it as they were closing and I've played a few OR15s already. Plus I wanted to pay cash and needed to stop at an ATM. So the next day I drove all the way back to give them the rest of the money. Waited for an associate in guitars for a half hour. When I told him I put a down payment on it and was able to stop at the the ATM to withdraw the rest. Being very excited, my dream of owning one, was crushed. The associate asked if it was the one "over there". I said yes it is. He goes on to tell me it's not working. There's an issue with the output. It wouldn't output anything. Then gave me the option of a refund of my down payment or to ship it out to their tech to fix. Well obviously I didn't want a repaired one so I got my down payment refunded. Apparently the person that sold it to me the previous night didn't know it was broken. Think they could have put a sticker on it or something. So I asked you're going to give me a new one at the same price? No he responded. Then you're going to give me a discount for the time I wasted and the ATM fees incurred to buy it. No he said. And that was the last time I stepped foot in here. I had purchased about $4k in guitars, pedals, drum equipment etc. and they wouldn't do anything to make the situation right. Speaking of which there is never anyone in the drum department to assist. You have to recruit an employee from another department to help you. I just started walking behind the counter to get what I need. So they lost my business for good and now frequent another music store that goes out of their way to take care of me. And subsequently have purchased almost $10k from them. Their initials are S. A. I finally got a beautiful barely used OR15 on Craigslist for $30 more. However, as far as this GC is concerned I wouldn't step foot in here again. Let them cater to 15 year olds buying cheap Squires/Epiphones and modeling amps. No wonder they're about to go bankrupt. **To Beau** Thank you for your response. I don't really think there's anything you can do for me at this point in time. Tell management at the store, that when the customer is sitting there pissed off, that's the time to do something. What I find amusing is I was in there so often I was almost on a first name basis with everyone in the guitar department. You would think they could have been more accomodating at that point. Thank you though for the response and I'll most likely keep shopping with your competition. At least they're willing to give me a 15% to 20% out of respect due to the amount of money I've spent there. All the best. read more

Honestly. I don't know what the other reviewers are talking about. I've received nothing but excellent service from Chuck, Rick, Bill, Jason and the rest of the crew. They go above and beyond to make sure you're happy and are always ready to help. The only time I've ever have to wait was when they were busy with other customers. I highly recommend this Guitar Center. (Orange, CT) read more

Guitar Center - Working setup: Gibson Les Paul "Standard" and a Marshall CODE50 amp. - Guitar Stores Near Me - Orange, Connecticut

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The filthiest guitar center ever visited. Needed major vacuuming and cleaning. Drums not tuned and had loose heads. Dust on all the equipment and no help in the store. read more

Horrible! As a musician for 25 years the employees here don't know what they're doing. No one greets you when you walk around the store. Stood in line for 25 minutes wanting for a bottleneck slide. Only one register was open with 7 people in line. Workers are more interested in up-selling than service. As I left I noticed 2 other employees goofing off instead of helping customers. As always Guitar Centre is the Wal Mart of music stores. read more

Purchased a new guitar online for Same Day pickup at the Orange, CT location. Upon arrival, I was informed that it was the display model and not new in box. Since it was meant as a birthday gift which I needed in two days, I was unable to take a display model. The Manager, Chaz, went to great lengths and spent an inordinate amount of time calling other stores to locate one. Finally, he located one in California and offered to ship it via UPS 2nd Day to arrive on my daughter's birthday (which it did). Throughout the process, he was very communicative and diligent with his follow-ups. As a Director, I'm thrilled to interact with a Manager that takes pride in his work and is able to multitask and interact with his staff while patiently assisting a customer. All in all, a great customer experience. read more

Good place to shop for your musical instruments, sheet music and accessories. Fair prices and will match competitor's prices. If they don't have it, they'll order it for you. Most of the sales people are very helpful. Good experiences there for the most part. read more

Ordered on line Notified when guitar arrived. P/u at counter with friendly girl who passed on to another to tune 4 daughter and also showed her how to work tuner. Great experience. Highly recommend . Tiny read more

The worst guitar center/Sam ash I've ever been in. And that's not a good review, honey! What I've written here is bad, sure, but this guitar center/Sam ash is worse. Why am I even taking the time to write this review, you ask? Because my man won't. He says, "that's psycho." You know what is psycho? This guitar center/Sam ash. 2 1/2 stars? On Yelp? That's generous. Yeah it is! My man has tons of grievances. We stood there for 15 minutes, honey, before they even bothered to tell us their system was down. A woman on drugs cut us in line! And announced it proudly, like it was her god given right. This guitar center/Sam ash lost a $4 sale from us today. Was it worth it Guitar Center/Sam Ash? Was it worth it? You tell us! My man is having to finger his mandolin tonight like a bum. Like! A! Bum! To make matters worse, we had to listen to total amateurs hacking away at the instruments. Who do these loiterers think they are? Edward Van Halen? Give us some answers and maybe we'll make the 45 minute trip again to not spend $4. read more

Last time I went it was just ok, took a dude a while to ring up some strings. The time before that however, was infuriating. I bring a brand new, brand new! Chasebliss Tonal Recall red knob to trade in, I never used this thing, well this dude takes it, clicks on the computer for a painful 10-15 minutes, I mean its was like watching my elderly mother try to navigate the internet... painful! I felt like yelling "gimme that computer!" Anyway, after what seems like forever this dude has the nerve to offer around 200 bucks (on a brand new $500 pedal) waste my time, byeeeeee. As a customer service stalwart, places like this drive me craaaaaazzzzyyyyy read more

Avoid if possible. I bought a $1000 DJ deck from this location. The clerk took a full 30 minutes to wait on me because he was chatting with his friend. Ultimately, his friend was the one who walked me thru the features, not him. When he rang me up, he asked for my name and address. I said the deck was a gift and I didn't want to be in their system. His next question was, "Okay, phone number...?" At that point, I was so ready to leave, I caved and gave him my phone number and he kind of smirked that he got his little victory. With service like this, you're better off using Amazon, or better yet, bring your business to a small, privately owned music store that appreciates your patronage. read more

Unbelievable. This store looks like a washed up musicians basement. Half of the displays are empty, paint is peeling and it smells terrible. In addition to the unwelcoming store appearance, their customer service sucks. I understand it takes time to sell or trade in used gear, but after 90 plus minutes with no one helping us, on a very slow Week night, I had it. The only helpful and friendly employee, Gary, should be paid triple, since he ran around helping as many people as he could, with zero help from his coworkers. From now on, it's Sam Ash in New Haven for me, where at least they recognize that they have customers in the store and help them right away. read more

I wish I could make a one star review. No other store staff can handle other departments in the store. The items I want were right there on the floor and I was not allowed to take them and just go check out. I was not allowed to go to the front register and order my part numbers either. I am so disgusted with this store it's beyond words. Go buy your gear from a local shop that gives a hoot about your satisfaction. Manager was unavailable for me to make a complaint as well. Screw this place. read more

Worse customer service ever. There have been great employees that have served customers in the past. The guys that work live sound at night could care less if you buy or not. Everything is like an inconvenience to them. The ironic thing is, the best tech/sales manager anywhere works here. If Chaz is in the building, demand to see him when you get neglected and you will. read more

This place needs to require ID on credit card purchases that exceed a certain dollar amount. My credit card got hit for $6,000 the other day. Luckily, I'm not responsible, but the bank is and that means we all are. Get it together, GC! Paulie read more

In spite of what many have said, I have enjoyed my visits here and made several purchases. The staff has been helpful and patient. If you need some hardware right away this is a good place to start. read more

About what you would expect from a big box chain music store. I have shopped here dozens of times over the years so this review is not based on one good (or bad) experience. A few of the staff members provide good service, most of them however are indifferent. A few have attitudes. Selection is ok, although I generally only go to check out the used gear. I would be surprised if this place is around in 5 years. read more

As I said in my Sam Ash review, I returned the original guitar and continued a search for the right guitar. My travels then took me to Guitar Center to get the right guitar. I go there and talk to a man who gets me the guitar and it should come in Thursday or Friday after Christmas. I think that hurts but I will still be in town to give my nephew the guitar. I check the tracking on Christmas Eve to see how far and it got changed and they are thinking the Monday after now. Now I will not get to see my nephew get his gift since my flight goes back to Washington on Saturday. I do understand that shipping can be tough for companies around Christmas but this sort of just put a damper on the holidays as I was really excited to give him his first guitar and teach him a bit about how to play. read more

I've been to Guitar Center a few times and they never have any of the supplies that I am looking for ( and they are not anything unusual!!). No one wants to help, and the shelves are not stocked after items have been sold out for weeks. On numerous occasions the staff wants to send me to the Music and Arts Center in Fairfield, neglecting to realize that for people that live in Orange, it is not convenient to drive all the way to Fairfield, with the gas prices as they are, and the customers time is also valuable. If the supplies that are sold out are restocked, that would avoid a lot of unhappy customers, and therefore, a repeat in business would occur. Unhappy with many visits here. read more

Staff terrific, extremely friendly and unlike other Guitar Centers we've visited, not at all "pushy." I bought my son a vintage Moserite Ventures guitar recently, and they worked with us in the nicest way to help us make a decision about the purchase.,we couldn't be happier with it. Every interaction with the staff was great, and it was more like working with a small "mom and pop" shop than a local branch of a huge company. If you're looking for the "hard sell," aggressive staff typically seen at Guitar Centers all over, go elsewhere. This place is great! read more

The retailers are not friendly. When trying out new gear, all the employees seem to glare. They seem to have employees everywhere except the cash register and I had to wait in line for 30 minutes just to get some guitar picks and strings with only one person in front of me. Overall, i shouldn't have to feel uncomfortable trying out a new amp/guitar because of the employees. On top of all that, i have to wait a while before someone can help me. read more

3 stars for having a pretty decent selection of new and used gear, deducted 2 stars for service. Hard to get a sales rep to pay attention to you...I don't know about you but I don't want to have to work to spend my money. I've had the same issue every time I've shopped here... seem to be plenty of associates around yet hard to get any help. read more

nothing to write home about ...other than looking and getting your hands on some cool gear , the people that work there don't have the passion I would expect ...price are beyond easy to beat ...don't go out of your way..just not worth it ..I called twice to ask if they had an item in stock for a gift and both times they didn't have it when we got there ...and had an attitude and made no effort to find a solution to the problem... read more