Steven was great!!!!!! Completely satisfied.cam in to exchange and he made it so easy. The service here is amazing!

If you want to purchase a guitar, be ready to wait in a line just to get HELPED in the guitar room. All of the good guitars are locked and no one is available to unlock them for you. You can only look at one guitar at a time. Totally do not recommend this location. They act like you're inconveniencing them, but really all you want to do is bring in some extra cash flow? read more

Friendly staff! They are so enthusiastic about music and audio in all its forms. Helped me out with pricing some stuff for youtube recording. Didn't make a remark about not using it for music or anything. Just encouragement and no judgement. read more

My first visit to this center was less than stellar. I was in need of a beginner electric guitar and the person who came out to help me pretty much told me I won't find one within my budget. But I accidentally did find one within the store. Although he applauded my good eye, I wasn't allowed to test it and was offered one to play one that was close but not quite the same. I went home and played my guitar and certain chords sounded bizarre. Needless to say, I gave a scathing feedback in their online survey. The 5 stars is for what followed. Brett, the store manager called me personally and apologized for my experience. He offered to make things right for me and so I brought back my guitar the following weekend. He tested out my guitar and pointed out that it was how I played my chord( acoustic style) that was causing the distortion. He told me that he has been playing guitar for 25 years now and he knew quite a bit about them. He also gave me a mini tutorial on how to use the guitar and amp and was so courteous , it blew me away! He cleaned up my guitar quite nice and I left a happy customer. So all in all, my advice is to insist on testing your instrument before you leave the store and insist on good service- there are quite a few very helpful guys here! read more

Terrible experience. Bought a set of Numark Mixing Decks. I'm a complete novice and just wanted to mix some tunes and have fun. I get home and set everything up and I start realising that the software that comes with it has had most of it's functionality removed. I then go to the Software website where they tell me I have to pay between 129 and 249 dollars to "Unloock" the functionality. I mean, I couldn't even record what I was doing on the software that came with it. Pretty sad about the whole deal I head into the store at Orange and return the decks. I'm met by the Manager, Steven, and I'm told there's a restocking fee. I tell him that I was not told about it and I didn't agree to anything like that. He said; "it's on the website". He then noticed there was damage on the box and said; "well, the box is damaged and opened". I then explain to him that the Damage on the box was there when I bought it and a sales rep, Dan, who was awesome btw, let me open it and see if there was any damage to decks "BEFORE" i bought it. So, mad about the fact that I just felt cornered to buy software, was hit with a return fee and was dealing with a rude and Shady manger, I contact Guitar Center and complain through their live chat. Where the Customer Service rep starts arguing with me about the ins and outs of the software that came with the decks. All in all. One of the worst retail experiences I've had. I will never purchase anything from any Guitar center again. It's ok Guitar Center, you can keep my restock fee, you obviously need it badly enough to loose a customer..... read more

Bad Customer Service and Lies! Two years ago I went into the Orange, CA store and traded in a DDJ-SR controller for a DDJ-SX2. I was super surprised on how much money they offered me for my old and "excellent condition" DDJ-SR. The clerk that helped me said, if you decide to make the trade, I recommend that your purchase the Pro Care with it. This way if you see a new controller come in, the price will be protected. For instance, we will give you what you paid for it if you decide to trade the new one in for another. So I went ahead and bought the Pro Care. Today, 2 years from that date, I go in to trade my DDJ-SX2 for a new controller. First of all I get greeted by one of the guys in the guitar side and asked me how he can help. Before I said anything, he said are you here to sell or trade or if something was wrong with my controller. I said, I'm here to trade. He response was that I can try going to the other side, but didn't think they can help me because they were busy and didn't have time for that. So I went, to other side, gave it a shot anyway. I met Brett the manager of the place. I asked about the price protection and they didn't have any clue about it. He said the only thing it protects is the first 60 days. Who the heck will be trading their controller before 60 days??? Unless it's giving you problems. Anyway, after a long discussion, they would only offer me $450 for a limited edition (red) controller that is in excellent condition. Definitely a rip off. My suggestion is do what I will do... put it up for sale on your own and get what your equipment is worth. Pro care is still a good idea in case of accidental situations but it does not protect your price! That's a lie and it's false advertisement! Missing the "only for the first 60 days" part! Currently looking for a store where I will get better customer service and honest people! read more

I was interested in buying two guitars and had a few questions. Every time I sent a message in the chat they answered me the same' I don't understand" so I decided to buy them in Amazon read more

Came in 30 minutes before closing. I needed help restringing my ukulele. Alex, the technician was busy but took the last 10 minutes to restring it for me. I APPRECIATE you, Alex! The definition of great customer service. read more

Terrible experience tonight with Ashley. Walked up to the register to pay for the guitar I wanted and she was in a bad mood for some reason. Her first words when I walked up to her were what's up? Not how are you or how's everything it was what's up. Told myself inside you don't say that to a customer when he is ready to pay for a 500 dollar used guitar. Didn't say anything to her just smiled. Rang up the guitar and asks for personal info gave her my name she misspelled it. She asked if I can say it again I did she misspelled it again. Told myself third time shall be the charm guess what again she misspelled it. Now it was getting ridiculous. Asked her if she was ok and she said no was having issues with her coworker tall guy who was twitching at other register was bothering her all night. That's when I just asked her for a refund these people have issues between them. Bad for business no wonder there was nobody inside. Will never go there again. I hope guitar center management takes a look on there video about these two. read more

Steven-the manager in audio/wires department awesome. Took great care of me! I'll do all my business with him here now. Thanks Steven.

Today I went to this guitar center and had a bad experience I was shopping for a case for my DJ controller and I was approached by an employee Steven. He asked if I needed and help and told him no thank you. He then proceeded to tell me to put my mask up when it was already up so I literally put it up to my eyes. And he turned around and said put it up again after I did that. After looking around to see if I wanted to get anything else. I asked him if there was any promotion on the controller case. When I asked him he said why? And I proceeded with "what do you mean why?" He said "why would there be" I then said, "I just wanted to ask" then he asked if I wanted to get a card. I told him no. Steven was giving me a very bad attitude from the moment I walked in. His attitude was very upsetting to me the whole time and just from observing him when I was searching I can tell he was upsetting other customers to the point they walked out after he would ask them a question. This was the worst experience I had at guitar center because of Steven. I really hope this issue can be resolved and the customer service can be better... read more

I've been shopping here for over 15 years. Never had a problem until recently. My husband bought some expensive head phones and their service plan. A week or so later it went on sale. So he decided to swing by to get the price match. When he went in, he was helped by Joel. Joel told him he was unable to do the price match because it was under MY name. But HE was the one that paid for it with his credit card. It was under my name because I have an account under my phone number 15 years ago. Joel said I had to be present to do the price match and said some comment in the source of "having you here is causing me more work". My husband was like what?! So he left to get me. I'm busy with my two little kids. It's a lot of work to load and unload them into and out of the car for something that would only take 5-10 mins. Sure, I'll bring them along so they can destroy your store. When I got to the register, Joel apologized for making things difficult. WHY IS IT A BIG DEAL THAT THEY NEEDED ME THERE?! Because he needed to see my ID. When it's my HUSBAND that paid for it under HIS credit card. Joel said it's their policy. Well, that's a dumb ass policy. It's an inconvenient in so many ways. Joel said that it's because the last name is different. WHAT THE HECK?! Yeah, the last time we've gone there, we asked them to update my last name and they weren't able to. Instead they created a duplicate account under my maiden last name. Seriously? Well I'm sorry, but my ID has my new last name now... will that be a problem?! Well he finally did the price match and needed my husband credit card to credit back the $$. Oh so now you need my husband here too?! Oh do you need my husband to sign his name as well or can I, his wife, sign for my own husband?! This is by far the most inconvenient policy for customers. Joel said he will get in big trouble if I was not there and he did the price match for my husband. When it was my husband's credit card. My advice. If you're married or have a name change, create a new account and pay for your own stuff. Yeah, I'm still upset... and Joel, don't be saying comments like that to your customers. It's your job... we're not causing you "more" work. Talk to your manager about it if you don't want to work so much. Thanks. read more

Lee is a super helpful guy who helped me on the weekend. Thank you for being patient with me and letting me try out some high-end acoustic guitars. He is kind, respectful, and insightful. Much appreciated Lee! read more

I ordered an LED fixture from the guitar center website that seemed like a really good deal. Unfortunately, the website had mislabeled the item, and it was just a lens for the LED fixture, which was not a really good deal. Unfortunately, I only found out about the mislabeled item after it had been purchased and delivered to the Orange Guitar Center for pickup. I was being helped by a nice guy, named Gar Borras, who found the item quickly for the pickup, and then went through great lengths to figure out with me what had gone wrong with the online order. It was as we both had deduced: the website wasn't selling the right thing. Thankfully, Gar was able to help me get a refund for the website purchase and took the time to take care of me, which I really appreciated. Zero Stars for Guitar Center Website, 5 stars for Gar and this location. read more

Robert's review of this brand new GC located within the Block (over on the Borders/Lucky Strike end) is pretty spot-on. **The person you'll want to see at this Guitar Center is named Robert as well, great guy and definitely knows his stuff; Damon and Tony the Asst Mgr and Mgr (respectively) have a great staff. The quaint layout here is nice The stock is fresh (again, new store) The employees are well-mannered, attentive and friendly (hope it stays this way) Unlike a lot of other music stores nowadays, even some of the younger guys seem to know their stuff - thanks Tim (Guitars) for helping me with the vintage Tele's over the phone the other day. I definitely would not go so far as to call it the best GC in SoCal (the Sunset Strip location holds this title), but a fun little store. The Sunset Strip/Hollywood location kind of stands alone because of its rich history and of course, their super-extensive Vintage Room, their secret Rock Star (celebrity) tryout/jam room upstairs, and how can you forget about The Rock Walk out front... If you'd like to take a look at what I'm talking about, have a look at just some of the Fender Telecasters (Broadcasters, originally) that they house in the huge Vintage Room at Sunset, which range from $5k to $75k, many in the $40,000.00 range: http://www.vintageguitars.net/products/searchProds.cfm GC Orange at The Block had a great Grand Opening party with a coupon mailer that broke off a nice discount for those that came. Hopefully this store sticks around and begins to collect a lot more used/vintage and unique pieces, as that's really the only reason to head out to the big box guitar stores nowadays vs. shopping online. While the store is just a bit on the smaller side, upon my first trip, I'd still break off a smooth 4 stars for a cool Orange County guitar shop and nice folks who know their business and great customer service over the phone. When you're competing with all the tax free/ship free sites on the net and now even Best Buy (which has the same father corp as GC) for business on instruments, accessories, pro-audio, etc... that's truly important. read more

Came in today to get some guitar strings for my guitar that I haven't played in about a year, I'm kinda new to guitar still and didn't know exactly what strings I should get. Ryan walked up to me and asked if I could use some assistance, helped my get exactly what I needed and I was in and out of the store in 5 minutes. That's some quality service. read more

I came in to buy a digital piano the other day and the workers were so nice. I was lucky that Guitar Center had a 10% off deal so it really helped with my purchase. I bought the Yamaha 105 series and everywhere online (Amazon & even guitarcenter.com) had it for $599 but when I went in to this location, it was $579! So happy to even saved a little. I've been itching to play piano for so long I was overjoyed to finally find a good replacement for the upright piano I used to have. I also bought a piano chair & a temporary stand. I had to order the Yamaha L85 matching stand & 3 pedal unit because they don't often have it in stock in stores. I was told it'll come in about 2 weeks so I can't wait! 5 star for the service. 5 star for the price. Quick & easy! read more

My son's band is playing for my wife's 50th, and we were looking around for a decent PA system. When I discovered that Guitar Center, this location, rents gear, I thought I'd pop over and check it out. I ended up with an incredible sound system with two thousand watt speakers, subs, a mixer, mics, stands, eight LED lights with stands, and a fog machine, all for under $300. This location also offers lessons, and a large acoustic guitar section. I don't care for this mall, but they do have direct access from the parking lot. read more

The staff is very friendly and willing to help, but service is so slow. You would think with that many people on the clock, they would be a little more efficient. I called ahead to check the stock of one small item and have it ready for pick up. I got there, waited a few minuted for service, and finally checked out about a half hour later. The next day I returned to get a price adjustment (I was charged the wrong price), and was there for over 40 minutes. Should've been two small, easy transactions. Good thing I wasn't in a rush. read more

You guys ROCK!!!! Been a loyal fan of GC all my gear are from GC... Bought my fist ovation,fender and my taylor !!! Nice costumer service knowledgeable staff!! Purchased a shure super 55 last night and dropped my wallet. Unable to sleep the whole night cant wait for 11am today. Finally called store and guess what they have it!!!! Thank you so much for helping people make music and thank you for my wallet.... Thanks tobthe person who found it !!!! Keep rockin keep makin music !!! read more

When it comes to Guitar Center, the quality of employees can vary from location to location. So far, on the half dozen visits i've made here, the staff have always been very friendly, patient and helpful. Considering that this store is in a very prime, high rent location, the selection is not quite good as good as it should be. Guitar Centers in more modest locations have a better selection. Also, while having your business in the middle of a huge and popular entertainment center is usually a good thing, for Guitar Center it's a disadvantage. First, you'll likely end up having to park far away from the store, unless you come during the off hours. Hopefully you don't mind walking a little bit. If you come here during the evening, weekend, holiday, or summer, the store is crowded with people who only come in because they have some time to kill before their movie starts. Most of the people aren't there to buy anything, and don't even play an instrument. You won't be able to find an empty stool to sit on, or a quiet space to use to try out a guitar or amp. My last visit a father brought in his 2 daughters that must have been about 8 or 9, and they started picking up $2,000 PRS guitars. I had to look away. Sure enough, 5 minutes later, there was a big thud. One of the girls tripped over an amplifier, and the employee who was helping me had to leave to help the sobbing girl. I felt sorry for the employees who have to deal with stuff like this. If you've ever gone to a family owned store that sells high end guitars, you will see a huge difference with how protective they are with their instruments, as they do not have the safety cushion (high profit margins) GC does. The result of the carefree vibe is that much of their inventory has wear or damage as a result of being handled a lot, and mostly by people who don't intend to buy. If you think that new guitar has been discounted just because it's a holiday, think again, and inspect the guitar closely and look for the scratches on the back of the body, or the crack in the neck pocket, or the dents in the finish. If you are set to buy, ask if they have one in the box. If you're going to be purchasing an American made instrument, make sure you know beforehand if it's supposed to come with a case from the manufacturer. Guitar Center is notorious for selling guitars without the cases they are supposed to come with, and turning around and selling them separately to make extra profit. If you are aware of their questionable business practices, and you side step them, then you can look forward to the fact that they have the #1 best prices hands down, along with a price match guarantee (which they even do with amazon), and a very liberal return policy which makes your purchases risk free. Two very strong benefits that keep me coming back, and allow me to overlook their shortcomings. read more

Went here twice for drum supplies and both times didn't have any drum staff. All I needed was a cheap bass pedal and some accessories for my kids set and no one could or wanted to help. Pretty terrible in-stocks as well, the Brea location is vastly superior both on the product availability and service aspects. read more

Jarett was freaking amazing he is so informative and helpful. He was knowledgeable about the guitars and what kinda sounds I was looking for in regards to music. I'm so glad he was able to find time with me and my friends, he made us feel comfortable about asking things and was really funny. Really smart guy Michael was there too and he too was super attentive and nice. Thank you you guys for bring so good to us! Will be back soon! :) Jarett's also cute and has a total Jack White vibe if you're into that heheh read more

We love Guitar Center for their good selection of percussion gear so came to visit this store when on vacation. Found drumsticks which were sold out other places. Bought a drum stand which sadly was defective. We called because we don't live near a store, and Brett helped us resolve the matter in a more than fair manner. Excellent, courteous and prompt customer service. I highly recommend shopping here. read more

The equipment sold here is very tailored to the beginner level musician just looking to get started and not willing to spend $$$ on quality equipment. There are a few nice high-end guitars, but that's it. The customer service could be better, but there is one sales associate working in the guitars/accessories department who always is an asshole and has such a curt attitude. I am planning on buying some new gear, but keep on getting detered to buy elsewhere due to the extreme lackluster customer service. read more

Stores like this are why I buy everything online. Called to ask if they had mic stand with a small shield for a desktop studio set up. I could buy it online but if I could just grab it today it would have been nice. Add a pretentious tone to everything Tony (the god of all existing studio equipment) says. Me: hey there, do you guys have a mic stand kit that comes with a shield for a desktop studio setup? Tony: no that doesn't exist. If you come to look around we can show you what we have Me: *confused as to why the answer wasnt "nah we don't have that man" .... But if I go to into the store, you won't have what I'm looking for? Tony: no that's why I told you it DOESN'T exist. We might have that but it's two different parts of equipment. Me: OK thanks bye. So 1. We've established you don't have it as a kit but it exists separately; cool, no sh*t sherlock. 2. I guess I can't buy the kit I was staring at the whole time on amazon because it doesn't exist. This conversation made me cringe. Apparently a mic stand together with a shield is like a unicorn for Tony. I'm now going to have to wait 2 days for my unicorn yo arrive bc I'm not about to give this guy his commission. read more

Whenever I need to get quality music equipment and a reasonable price, this is the guitar center to go too! I always go to Steven L. for all of my guitar needs, he set me up with a wonderful guitar, wall mounts for all of my instruments, a kick ass keyboard and he even got my in contact with Joe in the recording studio. I had a song written out and wanted to record it for my anniversary with my girlfriend, Joe was able to take the chicken scratch I had and turn it into a beautiful piece of music. Big shout out for Joe and Steven L. You guys rock!!! read more

The air conidtioner here is phenomenol hahaa so perfect place to spend your money during the summer time. The staff there is usually pretty good about helpnig you through your decisions, w/out being too much of a salesman, so you're generally going to be leaving happy. It's definitely the better Guitar Center in this area of SoCal, that's w/out a doubt. A music store w/ a staff that has good communication skills is rare hahaa if you shop in this field a lot, you know exactly what I'm talking about. They always have GOOD items on clearance, as opposed to undesirable overstock. They demo setup in the recording section is a good example of what you can accomplish in a home studio, & it helps to have that. I haven't explored it, but I know the also have a school in the front; after you buy yourself a new axe, you can slide in there & sign up for guitar lessons...I personally wouldn't use it, but it still looks pretty good. Great place to stop by to re-up on audio cords, & get rid of money you're tired of looking at hahaa there's something here for everyone. Happy shopping read more

Super nice staff! We came here initially for the 2012 Drum Off Prelims, it was nice to check out the gear and all the stuff I need or don't need. Staff was happy and cool. Lots of knowledge and smiles. Def will return for another Drum Off Prelim tomorrow. :) read more

I used to avoid Guitar Centers due to past experiences with poor customer service. I started coming to this location and am always taken care of! Erick usually helps me out. He is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. I bought a bass and guitar on separate occasions, and they always find a way to save me some money. I'll continue coming to this location over the neighboring others thanks to the great customer service and knowledgeable employees. read more

Dude! There's a Guitar Center at the Block! Very conveniently off the 5! This is 4 stars sheerly for proximity. I'd usually have to drive to Cerritos (opposite direction of my commute), Brea (out of the way), or Costa Mesa (out of the way). Thank the Guitar Gods there's a Guitar Center on my to work & on my way home. I'll be frequenting the Block more often! read more

Great customer service. Very knowledgeable staff. I simply love it here. Always something new to look forward to visiting, even if you don't intend to buy anything. Recommend: Find what you want via online 1st Then show them a direct link They'll beat it! Lookout for free demos/trials, classes, contests, & events they hold. They also release new music from their staff from time to time. Thought that's pretty cool read more

Told me they close at 9pm. Came to return my rental equipment at 8:20pm and they were closed. Called and manager would not help in any way

Staff will either totally ignore you or treat you like garbage. Steven especially has a real attitude problem. Don't ask him any questions because every word that comes out of that guy's mouth is dripping with derision. That clown's rudeness is is exactly why I won't be walking in here again. read more

After going to the one off El Toro and having a terrible time, I thought maybe this one would be better. I did check Yelp, and while there were low reviews most the ones I saw were understandable. Kids coming in to mess with instruments, not toys, parents being dumb, ect. I thought wrong. At first it seemed fine. I found the model I needed, got help from someone who seemed chill, and he even let me unbox to make sure the synth wasn't weird (which I'm glad I did because of the 2 models in store they had, one had all kinds of weird splatters on it): So I went with the 1 good one, and took it home. Upon setting things up at home, I realized the usb cable was missing. Called Guitar Center to ask if I could come by to get one. The first guy I called was a little odd and kept trying to act like the usb didn't come with it even though online it said it did. He eventually just passed me off to someone else. The 2nd guy, oh lord. I explain I'm missing the usb cable. He starts talking about drumset kick pedals. I explain "no, I'm saying for a ROLAND JD-XI (spelled it out too!) the USB cable is missing." "OH SO YOU WANNA EXCHANGE!" Keeping in account the fact that the other model in store is all kinds of messed up, I asked if I could just pick up the usb cable (and bring mine to prove its not in mine). He says he needs to ask his manager. I wait. He comes back TALKING ABOUT DRUM PEDALS AGAIN. Even after I quite literally spelled it out for him that I was missing a USB CABLE for a SYNTHESIZER. OMG!? So I'm a little irked at that point and raise my voice in an incredulous way. "I DON'T NEED A DRUM PEDAL OH MY GOD DUDE!" He huffs loudly, and then hangs up on me. I try to call again and he picks up, and upon realizing its me, hangs up again. What the hell?! So by then I'm fuming at home. I spent $600+ on a synthesizer with missing cables and get crap service on the phone. I end up calling a different music store (one that I usually always went to for classical instrument needs but wasn't sure if they had synths) and ask if they have it. Sure enough they do, and I ask to put it on hold. I went back to guitar center same day to get a full refund. The guy that helped me out in the beginning did a total personality turn around after I asked for a refund. Kept trying to push for an exchange even though we both knew the other model was crap. I firmly denied and he went into asshat mode. Dude. There goes what would've been a 2 star review. After going to the other music store (Jim's Music in Tustin) I find out that Guitar Center also tried to rip me off by charging an additional $80 for a year warranty when the Roland product already came with a warranty. WHAT THE. Not going to a guitar center again. EVER. read more

I spent under 1000$ for a dj setup for a sick Halloween party! Erick helped me a lot, and was super knowledgeable about the stuff he was talking about and helped me get the best price! read more

Place was very crowded on a friday night. Mostly teenagers who are there to just play around with stuff and not really buy anything. So when I went in to buy a DJ Controller. Donavan was the man who helped me out. Honestly, He was a very cool dude. I really like how he was able to help many people at one time. Very professional dude and works hard. Store was crowded but what can they really do about it? Place gets 5 stars for customer service. Will come back again. (= read more

Second time I come here trying buy something and get horrible service. My daughter wanted a ukulele and this older guy with long blondish brown hair took it away from her and told her it wasn't a toy. I didn't see a sign saying kids couldn't touch the instruments. read more

I came to this Guitar Center to find a hard guitar case for my dreadnought. I had a flight back to Texas the next day and didn't have much time to spare. Although there was a big time sale going on and there were lots of people clamoring for help, I was able to get assistance in finding the correct case for my guitar. I was pleased with the professionalism and expertise of the staff. I was in and out within 20 minutes, tops. read more

This is the worst location of all the guitar centers in southern california. Because it is in a shopping center/outdoor mall you get people in there who pickup guitars who have no business playing them. So the guitars get thrashed and the amps/other gear abused. I see families come in with food and a bunch of kids who run around the store touching every guitar.(Probably have food on their hands). Some people think they can practice in the demo room and acoustic room/put on a show which is annoying. The selection is bad at this store and being at the mall creates wear on the gear at the store. I have also brought in an audio interface I was thinking about selling to the store, and on the focusrite saffire interface it has a large warning label saying "make sure computer is power off before connecting or disconnecting firewire cable". This is because a surge in voltage will mess up the equipment. The employee in pro audio proceeded to plug it straight into the computer without following protocol, potentially damaging my audio interface. The second he did it I said didn't you read the warning label, and have you ever hooked up interfaces before? He looked like extremely nervous at that moment. Luckily it is my backup interface I use for just MIDI and there is protection circuitry to prevent damage. However, this company should hire and train people properly. This is basic just reading instructions/telling them to always power the computer off before connecting or disconnecting the interface. That way you never have this happen again. I think this location is the worst, and should not be open anymore. There is already Brea, Fountain Valley, Cerritos, and Lake Forest. read more