I have been playing guitar for more than fifty years. I am a musician and a guitar collector. Obviously, I'm old. I'm also smart. I also understand that sales people at Guitar Center often try to juggle five customers at the same time. I respect them and they respect me. Most are young, aspiring musicians, not seasoned sales personnel. Some are jerks, some are wonderful. Sometimes it just depends on how busy they are, or what a rock star they think they are. I like the way I can be ignored when I want to be . . . they don't bug me, or hype me, ever. When I'm ready, I patiently seek out an available sales rep. Personally, for the most part, I have had good experiences with the Guitar Center staff at both the Fountain Valley and the Orange Guitar Center stores. I recently bought two Lanikai concert ukuleles from Jared at the Fountain Valley, California, store. He's a great guy, a little full of himself, but that's OK, sometimes creative people are, even me. I've heard Jared play guitar and he's good at shredding. Don't know if he can play anything else. Today, I walked into the Guitar Center store in Orange, California. It was basically empty, but in the time I was there, noodling on a couple of guitars, it began to fill up and get busy. Sales rep. Andy helped me find what I had originally come in for. Then I told him I would just browse around. He said, "OK, let me know if you need any help." I found a great deal on a Mitchell blonde curly maple topped solid body electric that was on sale for a mere $349.00, marked down from Guitar Center's usual (low) price of $449.00. (I like the way they always give a buck off to make it seem cheaper - $349 rather than $350). The Mitchell was beautifully constructed, neck through the body, well-appointed smoky black hardware with locking tuners. To me, it looked as good as a $3,500 PRS, and the neck played well - don't ever tell me Chinese made guitars are no good. I know good guitars and among the 25 guitars I own are a Taylor 813ce and both a Gibson and a Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentleman with TV Jones pickups, along with the usual array of Strats, Teles, SGs and Les Pauls, hollow bodies, an arch top, a Rickenbacker 12 string, etc. . . . Even compared with these, the Mitchell was good, especially for the price. I asked Andy for a pick, which he immediately obliged and I plugged the Mitchell into a Fender Hot Rod Blues Jr. amp at low volume and noodled for half an hour, fine tuning and getting to know the feel and sound of the guitar. I liked it. I also liked that nobody interrupted my solitary self-indulgence. I decided I'd buy it. By the time I brought it up to the sales counter, there were several people in line ahead of me. I even let one guy go ahead of me because he just had a small question. After my order was rung up, Andy, the sales rep. apologized for the wait. I told him "No problem." He asked me if I wanted the insurance, I said "No". I never take the insurance. As I said before, I'm smart. I complimented Andy on his professionalism and style. I would recommend Andy at the Guitar Center in Orange, California as your sales rep. . . . . He's cool. read more

A couple of months ago I replaced the existing bridge on my Gibson SG bass with the Babicz bridge. I tried to set it up myself but couldn't and put the project on hold. So this last Saturday I had a gig and wanted to play the SG bass and decided to get it setup professionally. I called Guitar Center in Fountain Valley, but they already had setup commitments to other customers, so they referred me to the The Block in Orange store. I called and spoke with Vincent, who said if I come around 2:30pm, he could do the setup then. I checked in the bass with Sergio and he mentioned that I will get a new set of Ernie Ball strings with the setup - cool. I decided to stay in the store and look around. That store has a great selection of everything, by the way. After about half an hour I went back to the work table and saw Vincent working on my bass. He was sanding the frets and fretboard, then was oiling the fretboard. I didn't know they would do all that - very cool. We chatted a bit, and I found the guy to be very informative about his work - very cool. So after dropping it off and walking out the door, I had my bass ready for the gig that night, after about 1 1/2 hours - very cool. I can't say enough about that kind of help and service - very, very cool. When it comes to getting work done on my basses, I'm very fastidious, and I appreciate the very professional work that was done. 3 cheers to Sergio for checking me in and for Vincent for explaining things well and for doing an excellent job, on the same day as my gig. Mark S. read more

I am writing this review on behalf of my nephew, who had a very disappointing experience with Guitar Center's lesson services. His instructor quit without any notification, and yet he was still charged for lessons he never received. When he tried to resolve the issue, the store manager, Brett, refused to provide a refund, citing that my brother should have notified them. This logic is completely flawed and demonstrates a lack of accountability and customer care on Guitar Center's part. Due to this incident, I will no longer be patronizing Guitar Center and recommend that others steer clear of this establishment as well. The way they handled this situation is unacceptable and has severely damaged my trust in their services. Save yourself the frustration and take your business elsewhere. Very sad cause I buy a lot of equipment here but no longer, you guys need to take your heads out of your your culo. Bye Felicia. read more

I am writing this review on behalf of my brother, who had a very disappointing experience with Guitar Center's lesson services. His instructor quit without any notification, and yet he was still charged for lessons he never received. When he tried to resolve the issue, the store manager, Brett, refused to provide a refund, citing that my brother should have notified them. This logic is completely flawed and demonstrates a lack of accountability and customer care on Guitar Center's part. My family has spent thousands of dollars at this specific location, making this experience even more disheartening. Due to this incident, I will no longer be patronizing Guitar Center and recommend that others steer clear of this establishment as well. The way they handled this situation is unacceptable and has severely damaged my trust in their services. Save yourself the frustration and take your business elsewhere. read more

I want to commend Ana at Guitar Center for her exceptional help during the recent exchange of my guitar due to quality concerns. Despite the issues not being her fault, Ana's professionalism and dedication shone through, ensuring a smooth process. Ana's proactive approach and commitment to customer satisfaction made the exchange hassle-free. She not only facilitated the process but ensured that the replacement guitar exceeded my expectations. Throughout the exchange, Ana kept me informed, providing updates and reinforcing my confidence in Guitar Center's commitment to customer happiness. I highly recommend seeking out Ana for assistance at Guitar Center--her expertise and dedication make her an invaluable asset to the team. Thank you, Ana, for turning a potential hassle into a positive experience. Guitar Center has earned my loyalty through your outstanding service. read more

I am writing this review on behalf of my nephew, who had a very disappointing experience with Guitar Center's lesson services. His instructor quit without any notification, and yet he was still charged for lessons he never received. When he tried to resolve the issue, the store manager, Brett, refused to provide a refund, citing that my brother should have notified them. This logic is completely flawed and demonstrates a lack of accountability and customer care on Guitar Center's part. Due to this incident, I will no longer be patronizing Guitar Center and recommend that others steer clear of this establishment as well. The way they handled this situation is unacceptable and has severely damaged my trust in their services. Save yourself the frustration and take your business elsewhere. read more

Racists racists racists!!!! That is the only way to describe the staff. They constantly harass my son and me and today the manager even told me I couldn't play the drums and did it rudely. This after seeing and videoing other people that just don't happen to be the same race I am, playing drums exactly where I was told I couldn't play. This is a clear case of discrimination and I will be contacting the corporate office and the Better Business Bureau!! See if that manager still has that smug smile he gave me as I was leaving the establishment. Utter disrespect to a customer that has spent literally thousands of dollars there. Hopefully the corporate office has better regard for a good customer. read more

I was told by an employee that what I ordered online was in store ready for pick up, the employee confirmed that my entire order was there for pick up. I drove to the store during covid to pick up my stuff and it either was not there or they couldn't find it! It's no wonder why GC is in financial trouble, BAD BUSINESS GC, I WILL NEVER SHOP HERE AGAIN! Will also post this all over social media! REALLY BAD BUSINESS! BTW I spoke to the store MGR on my way home and he didn't seem to give a shit! GUITAR CENTER I HOPE YOU GO BANKRUPT AND YOUR LYING EMPLOYEES LOSE THEIR JOBS! GC BAD BUSINESS! Employees non sympathetic or just don't care! BAD BUSINESS GUITAR CENTER! read more

If you like being ignored, go to Guitar Center. If you want to deal with people who think they are too hip to even acknowledge you, go to Guitar Center. If you like it when some 20 something year old guy who lives in his mom's basement gives you tons of attitude when you are a paying customer who just wants to buy a pack of strings, go to Guitar Center. If you like young hipsters who spend $1,000's of dollars on piercings and tattoos but zero on common sense, go to Guitar Center. I have no idea who does the hiring at this place, but aloofness & lack of communications skills must be their most important requirement. read more

Service is good , I know it's the holidays so they have a bunch of new staff. I placed an order in the store right before Thanksgiving for a pair of drumsticks as gift. When I came in to pick them up I find out they are on back order and won't be in until way after I need them. I was really disappointed that nobody told me they were back ordered originally, however, what I was able to purchase today was even better than what I ordered. The sales guy in the drum department today was much more knowledgeable and helpful and the guys at the accessories counter were just as good. Service recovery was spot on! read more

Thanks to a good store manager named Bret, we have switched to shopping at the Guitar center in Orange. He went out of his way to help my son pick the correct equipment he needed to make everything work together. Yesterday he made a lifetime customer. More stores need to be customer oriented. We customers can shop anywhere, but we will always go where the customer service is the best. They have so many guitars to choose from. Plan on taking a while to select the one that is perfect for you. Took my son a hour. read more

I walked into Guitar Center ready to spend $2,000 on a speaker, and the experience was extremely disappointing. One employee told us it was fine to test the equipment, but shortly after, another came over and told us to shut it off because it was "too loud." If I'm investing that kind of money, I expect to be able to properly test the product and make sure I'm getting the best value. Instead, I felt rushed and unwelcome. Definitely not the kind of service you'd expect when dropping thousands of dollars. read more

This place is pretty cool the staff is really friendly and I buy a lot of my gear here. My girlfriend plays the piano and keys so she really digs this place too. They usually have most things I need in stock and if not they sometimes offer to order it for me. Although I recently bought a pedal from here and it's making some weird noises but guitar center told me to call the manufacturer, which kind of sucks because there's no one I could get through to. read more

These guys are freakin jerks. Every employee in this stupid store things they are Grammy winners. They are very egotistical, Rude, think there $h!t don't stink and have no customer service. It a god damn music store so let people try the instruments before they buy them. Instead they mad dogg you and rudely tell you to stop as if you broke something. The employees here are the worst ever, go to hell Guitar Center. NEGATIVE STAR IF I COULD! read more

The staff is very ignorant and sad. The old bald guy with the tattoos just stands for hours flirting with this chick while talking s**t on customers under his breath. Why does guitar center hire such miserable people? It's pretty embarrassing. read more

Nice layout. I played too loud on the drums and they got mad but other than that the staff seems chill. They let me play for a while so I give them 5 stars.. Way to put up with the beast triplets! read more

Mike was such a great help in helping us choose a good quality guitar on Black Friday and even helped us carry it out to the car would highly recommend for all of your musical needs read more

Called to ask if they had a product. Called on 2 occasions, phone rang for 5 mins before I disconnected. I never spoke to anyone. Taking my business elsewhere. read more

Most of the staff here has horrible communication and no respect for the customers time. Steven belongs in clown school.