Only have two experiences here which ranged from 1-star to 4-stars. Bought an amp here and it was great. Right price. Good service. Nice selection to choose from. Wanted to buy a ukulele but the baritone ukes they had were missing strings. Two ukes for sale but neither with 4 strings. Huh? Ok then let's put on new strings so I can try and buy. Nope. No uke strings on hand. I can order strings or a new uke, they said. Huh? Never mind. NOTE TO MANAGER-- order some strings and repair the instruments you have for sale in your store. read more

Brought back a guitar I'd bought in 2024 that I was having issues with. I'd gotten the protection plan and they took it back with no issues! Walked out with a brand new guitar in exchange. Zack was the employee who assisted me and he did a great job. read more

wow, I called to see when my used guitar would ship. I was on hold, and they were short handed . I was not very understanding ( hard to know what's going on over the phone) , which is my fault. The manager , Levi, handled everything expertly ( dealing with a jerk customer, and very busy) , and did not escalate my anger, he remained cool, I struggled. My apologies. The guitar was shipped to me overnight, in a case. Wow. Impressed. This is a very good Guitar Center Store, highly recommended, and extremely nice people. Thank you very much Raleigh, Guitar Center. read more

went in on a saturday to check out a guitar. it reminded me a lot more of the guitar center i remember from the early 00s minus the pushy sales people. Nick and Levi were super helpful and attentive. the model i wanted had some damage to finish, but they made a good deal offering to waive 2-day shipping cost for the inconvenience. were willing to negotiate some but when i didnt like the first offer they still provided enough info and something i could agree to to make a sale. a lil sad that i didnt get the full play it in person and take home that day that im a bit nostalgic for, but was really happy to see a pretty lively GC on a saturday with helpful staff and a good experience. im also super thrilled to see their selection of guitars and tube amps.... i might have to come back next time ive got a tube amp itch to scratch. read more

I recently found the acoustic guitar that I had as a kid, and was pleasantly surprised to find it in very good condition. I called Guitar Center, thinking I would donate it so it could possibly be given to a young person. They told me that they did not do donations, but they do evaluate and purchase used equipment. I decided to go over and see if the guitar was worth anything. The staff politely guided me to the right employee. He gave the guitar a good overview, and then took lots of photos to send to the department that considers vintage items. After a few minutes, the staff member told me the price they would sell it for, and the amount they would pay me. I thought it was a generous offer that I accepted. After a little bit of paperwork, they had my old guitar and I had cash! I appreciated the courtesy and professionalism of the store employees. read more

Wow my husband & I were so impressed with the staff & selection at Guitar Center. He was able to test several guitars before finding the perfect one! We will Go back! read more

As always, I was going downstairs to browse and begin my shopping. The two yakking frat boys at the door counter had other ideas for me by encouraging me too strongly not to go downstairs. All I genuinely needed were some tuning pegs which, from past experience, I knew would be hard to find. Tired of the goofy twosome though, I asked for the tuning pegs and without a glance was instantly told they didn't have them. They then wrote me a note for another company out of state that they were sure would have them. I left. Buying nothing. If they even had tuning pegs, I could have made them work. I've been playing for 55 years and you just learn to do those things. I've been patronizing Guitar Center for many years and slowly, the service has deteriorated like everywhere else. Not enough employees to help the increasing amount of customers. So I think now, they've lost my business forever. It's likely I will not recommend them anymore. You can get just as good service by looking online and ordering it at a lower price. If you want to try out a guitar first, handle it at Guitar Center then order it online ... save yourself some folding money like that! Hopefully, business will become so poor at this location the two gooney- birds at the front counter will be fired so they can go laugh and cut up somewhere else. A real manager would have let these two go long before I got there. Guitar Center Raleigh?? PISS ON 'EM! --------- NOW you can see the "owner"'s signature and his reply to my review below. DON'T PAY ANY ATTENTION TO IT!!! This is his standard reply to every complaint. I doubt he ever employs it because Guitar Centèr continues its downward slide. Guitar Center is no place for anyone to seek advice about otqu read more

We are all entitled to our own opinions, right? Well... here is mines: Parking: 5 Location: 5 Customer Service: 4 Facility décor/cleanliness: 5 One of my favorite stores in America! I'm a pianist and i love to stop by to see the latest in gear. Guitar Center does a great job showcasing the latest trending items. Everytime i purchase gear I don't like the fact that the sales guys bombard you with options to add warranties. Often times i'll say "I'm good" or no thanks and they continue to try to get you to purchase that warranty. Last year I did end up buying the extended warranty for a used keyboard and that warranty went to waste as the board held up fine. Other than that, Guitar Center will still be near and dear to me! read more

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Last month my sister and I brought her grandson's guitar in for restringing. The guy at the service department was not friendly. He told me to go get strings. I brought the wrong type and he made me go get the correct ones. I also purchased a 100 dollar guitar to use myself, as my guitar is in storage. No one helped me. The restringing took over a week and cost $50. That's upsurd. The store is not clean. I have dealt with guitar center in Florida and always been happy. I won't be back. Sorry. Theresa read more

I received a gift card for Guitar enter. I went and asked for a few specific things. I needed 3 250k pots for a Fender. They had to be split shaft. I also purchased a few more things to use up the gift card since I live 30 miles plus from this store. When i got home I started doing repairs on my guitar and found out they gave me one solid shaft pot. I called them and asked if I could send it back would they send me a split shaft. I spoke with the store manager, he said he would have to speak with another manager but would call me the next day. Ok, I have been waiting for 2 months to receive a call. You know if you can not assist a customer in a small thing, how can you help them in a large purchase. I have purchased a few large items but since I never received a call that I was told that I would receive, Guitar Center did not get my business. Too bad, read more

Bought a guitar here a while ago and didn't like it. When I came to return it the salesman was very pushy to try and make me keep the guitar. Will never be shopping here again. read more

Great music store. Employees are pretty busy so sometimes hard to get people. Gabe is the man. Extremely knowledgeable, passionate, and friendly. Will be back to buy more high end gear especially from him. read more

I've visited this location on multiple occasions with one or two other people. These are my thoughts and observations. - They have a large selection of entry and intermediate quality gear. The professional grade selection was lacking, so you might have to go to a specialty store for that. - Most of my interactions with the employees have been pleasant, but a few have really rubbed me the wrong way. - I spoke with two guys in the pro audio department about renting mics, and those guys were awesome. - Mic rentals are reasonably priced. It was $70 for a $400 mic for 3 days with stands and cables. We returned ours on time, so I don't know what happens if you don't. - I noticed there's hardly ever an employee in the drum department. This seems to dissuade customers from being obnoxious on the kits. Overall, this is one of the better big box music stores. If you need to rent mics or pick up supplies and accessories, I'd recommend this Guitar Center location. read more

I received my keyboard that wasn't even boxed in another Box and Bubble wrapped. This is in my opinion. I think if they cared about their customers they'll take a little bit more care of Your property and get It To you without damage. Customer service at the srore was great. Not product delivered from their so called distribution center. Never again will I buy anything very expensive again there without a being in the store. read more

Raleigh store had a remarkable selection of electric pianos, but the sales person was quite busy and impatient and I bought one from Sam Ash, across the street. read more

The young man who is the dept manager is very rude. I bought a new gretsch in box for 622.00, got home and guitar had issues so I drive back 75 miles from Goldsboro to do an exchange and the guy refuses to exchange the guitar saying all new guitars have defects so I cannot do exchange but will just do refund or you can take this guitar as is. This person should not be working anywhere. A rude sob. read more

i came here for strings. when i came in, everything seemed normal. when i went to pay though.. the "manager" young man was yelling at an employee (that was currently with a customer, mind you) about the shoes he chose to wear to work. i'm certain this discussion should have taken place in a private, closed-door kind of setting. not at the register. this incident was unprofessional and i would like for the manager to be under review. this man should not be responsible for any work environment. i hope for the employee sake that this "manager" is removed of his position and maybe go back to running the register since all he did was socialize and put an employee on the spot to embarrass him. read more

Guitar Center - front of building - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Tyler and Ceelo (hope I'm spelling your name right) in the pro audio department were fantastic...I parted with a great DJ controller and they made the experience painless (almost lol I'm gonna miss my baby) go by GC pro audio department and buy from these gents! Thanks guys! read more

UPDATE : my father went to return it A DAY AFTER we bought it and the guy charged him a "restocking fee"... COMPLETE BULL--- .... Drove 45 minutes EACH WAY with a question on a setting up a mixer / audio frequency to my computer. Spent almost $100 and the guy was so confident he knew what he was talking about. I get home aaaand set it all up, and it doesn't work. I'm comfortable with these mixers to know how to set them up, but this pissed me off. Because now I've got to go all the way back and return it. Better yet, I call the number for the store and the guy rudely just says, "Uhh just sit on hold for a few minutes... I'm too swamped to care." THANK YOU FOR THAT! Seriously though, this place is a mess. There was ONE GUY working the entire floor with a bunch of people asking a million questions. Had he been honest and not rushed his time with me, I would have bought a higher brand but he just supposedly "knew what he was talking about" and obviously didn't know a daaamn thing. Never coming back here. Ever. P.S. I've been to dozens of Guitar Center locations, (I even took guitar lessons back in Southington, Connecticut and it was phenominal.) This store looks so run-down, the staff doesn't care whatsover and oversells you constantly. read more

I have an American Telecaster. Bought online. Had set up else where. Guy ruined the nut by cutting into, trying to make action closer. I decided to talk with different repair guys, get a feel of their experience to fix cause not going back to first place..... Kirby in the repair shop seemed to be the guy. He installed a custom cut bone nut onto the neck and it plays in-fucking-credible. Highly recommend Kirby. Also, he gave me cost upfront and said it would be ready in one week. Final price was on target and it was ready in one week + one day. But, well worth the wait. Guitar was in same perfect condition walking out as it was the day I walked in too...... read more

This location is the best GC in the Triangle Area. My brother and I picked up a keyboard for my sister's wedding here and Taylor was phenomenal explaining our options. Long story short, we were told we could return our equipment to the Cary location. After poor customer service and denial from the Cary Manager, Will, the Raleigh staff made everything better and apologized for the miscommunication and poor treatment. Needless to say if I ever have other musical rental needs I will stick to the Raleigh Guitar Center even though it is much further. They are worth the drive :) read more

Recently one of my pieces of audio equipment broke and I had it covered under their warranty so I took it to this guitar center store. After getting home with the replacement, I noticed that the box was missing an important adapter (packaging error, not guitar center's fault). One of their employees drove to me personally and delivered what I needed. Thing is, I live an hour and a half away. They made a 3-hour round trip for free to give me a 5-dollar adapter. Best customer service I've ever had. 5 stars read more

I like the fact that you can play any guitar without having to buy it. You can really get a feel for what you like.

I stopped here, Saturday, thinking I was just going to be comparing some prices I was researching for a particular model of a bass. While the staff is courteous and knowledgeable, they are not very attentive when it comes to getting their attention for help with a purchase (one of the reasons I haven't shopped here for a few years). One of the younger fellows on the staff started helping me out and then said he'd be right back after he cashed out another customer he had helped. I waited around for about 25 minutes before I finally flagged him down to try to express my interest in a particular instrument. Even then he said he'd be right there but it took him another 15 minutes. The thing was, I'd found a used bass that was much more bass than I'd expected to find for the same money I had budgeted for the purchase and I wanted more details and even some slight adjustments to the instrument. I finally got the information I was seeking and the sales clerk took the bass back to a tech for the adjustments I requested. When the clerk realized I was buying, he also tried to sell me some accessories to go with the instrument and I politely declined and went elsewhere to buy those accessories (shameless plug here for Amazing Tone Music in the Falls River Plaza - Durant Rd) at a better price where I also get top notch service and attention. I'd have had less of an issue with the service or attention if I felt the guys on the sales floor were overwhelmed. In other words, there were 3 or 4 sales guys standing around shooting the breeze with each other and it seemed like they'd look the other way when I tried to flag them down. After about spending an hour in the place for a transaction that should have taken about 20 minutes I drove home with the bass. Btw, my daughter was like a kid in a candy store with all those electric guitars hanging on the walls. It was "Why don't you buy this one daddy?" or "Why don't you try that one out, daddy?" She was an absolute joy despite her impatience for having to wait around. FWIW, I purposely dress down when I go shopping like this just to see how I'm treated. Unshaven, unkempt hair, with Ratty looking jeans, a Holy T-shirt and a worn out insulated plaid shirt over top of that. If another store (i.e. Amazing Tone, Falls River Music) had this particular instrument in stock in the same price range, I would have shopped elsewhere. However, it was a very rare find at a very good price that was not to be found anywhere else. read more

I've seen this place numerous times, but never went in until I had to bring in my girlfriends guitar for repair. The staff was very knowledgeable (although my complete lack of knowledge on guitars probably made them look like super genius', LOL) and they were able to fully answer all my questions. My repair is going to take a little longer than I hoped for, but it is 10 days until Christmas. Pricing sounded reasonable and they even gave me a few pointers on guitars. Apparently, my girlfriend had the wrong type of strings on her guitar and they were wound incorrectly on those top screw thingies (again, my guitar knowledge showing here). This caused a piece to break off. It took them about 1 second to figure out what was going on with the guitar. My only problem with this place is just dealing with Capital Blvd traffic which is such a pain for me! read more

I went here a few years ago and they had what i needed. Sounds like other customers have had issues, but i didn't experience those.

Don't come here on a weekend!!! I had put it into my head that I want to learn to play the Guitar. Thankfully I had done some research on the web because when I got there on a Sunday afternoon the place was packed. So I waited and waited some more for someone to recommend a good guitar (I wanted electric/acoustic) for a beginner. When I finally got someone the "advice" consisted of the guy sitting down and playing on the guitar. Well, that's nice - but what am I supposed to do with that? In the end he played about 3 guitars for me - and I ended up buying the one that I had picked out online already. I was impressed that a week after I had bought the guitar I got an e-mail from the guy who sold me the guitar asking how I was doing. Nice touch. So I suppose if you know what you want Guitar Center is great - their selection of Guitars and everything related to Guitars is huge! And hopefully during the week they'd have more time for some individual consulting. read more

Having been at other Guitar Centers, this one was really fairly pitiful. The salespeople ignored anyone that didn't flag them down. We had one guy who after going to get a price for us, not just forgot about us... he AVOIDED us. What a salesperson,eh? How does this place stay open with Sam Ash right across the street? If it isn't customer service, then I am baffled. read more

We stopped in here yesterday for some guidance on drums for our son who recently started playing. Mark was very helpful and informative. He took the time to answer our questions and explain things to us without making us feel stupid! Another customer in the store wasn't also very patient while he was helping us figure out what we needed. read more

I was disgusted with the customer service. I live with a really bad speech impediment, it can't be helped. a couple of the employees found it amusing I suppose. I'm a disabled Veteran, a former SF ranger, I went into the store to buy a birthday gift for my wife who is the love of my life, that was all I wanted from them. Instead, I was mocked and laughed at. Things could have really got ugly but I chose not to take it there, I have a really great life, and I'm not going to jail today or any other day because somebody else wants to act like an idiot. They would walk by me laughing under their breath whenever I would talk. I get this from time to time so I know it when I see it and usually I just ignore it. I have some very powerful friends in the music industry who sometimes buy from The Guitar Center. I say in closing Be very very careful, the toes you step on today, may be attached to the ASS you have to kiss tomorrow. read more

Went in last week to buy an amp. After leaving the store I discovered the sales associate had tacked on two years of their Pro Coverage without asking me. In the past year, I've bought two amps, a keyboard and a guitar from Guitar Center. Hope that sixty bucks was worth it because it cost you a customer for life. Ordering online from someone like Elderly or Sweetwater doesn't give instant gratification but at least you don't have to deal with deceptive sales practices. read more

Their door sign says open at 11am Sunday, but website says 12. Door still locked at 12:30. No one answers phone all day. That's messed up! read more

UPDATE: Nicholas H got me straightened out and was very helpful. Got a reasonable price and was able to use some of the money to order studio monitors through the website with his help. Rating has been adjusted accordingly to account for both experiences. read more

I just want to start out by saying I want to thank Guitar center in Raleigh for really helping me out. The customer service is amazing. I brought one of my guitars in because I was having some trouble with it. I called to see if they could help me out and they did. I left a very satisfied customer and I will continue to work with them for any future guitar buying! Taylor was great. He did everything get could to make sure everything was right. Thanks again guys!! read more

I bought a Martin guitar in Dec of 2017. It was never set up and I was not happy with the way it played. I contacted the store in Scottdale Az where I bought it, but they didn't have a tech at the time. I contacted the store in Mesa and talked with Juan.He told me to bring it by and they can thake care of it for me. I went to the store on 7-17-2018 and met with their tech Mike, he took over and within an hour I had the best playing Martin guitar ever. I also bought some other thing and the help I received from Juan and Mike was beyond great. I felt very much at home and I would recommend this store to anyone needing repairs or new equipment. Thanks to all. Don Hanson read more

This place is crazy on Saturdays, just filled with kids, out of school and checking out the instruments. They have a massive selection and big discounts. Service is good considering the volume of business being done. read more

yesterday at the request of a Yelp viewer I went to Guitar Center to purchase a professional digital recorder. For starters this store will surprise you. It looks small on the inside but this store basically has everything. Nobody will push sales quotas on you and actually the staff know what they are talking about. I had questions about recording devices and the person that helped me knew so much that I actually got a better deal than I anticipated. If I won the lottery this would be a place i would drop some money in. This place is much better than Sam Ash - hands down. I would highly recommend this place for all your music needs. read more

I went there to buy my first guitar and it was an awful experience. The guy in the acoustic room, Rob Little, was more interested in showing off how much he could play. He barely answered any of my questions and seemed reluctant to even let me handle the guitar I wanted to buy. I feel, after the fact, that he took advantage of a newbie and sold me stuff I didn't have to have. On top of that the guitar was not even right. The truss rod had to be adjusted and some of the frets repaired which meant I had to go back, pay more money to have that fixed. All in all a very sour experience and I will never go back to this, or any other, guitar center store. I would give zero starts if I could. read more

I came with a fellow Army buddy who was looking for some monitoring speakers for his home studio, I ended up purchasing a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO-80 Closed Studio Headphones on Nov 11th 2012. We had both just gotten back from deployment and were excited to spend a few bucks. The customer service associate was more than helpful and even gave us a few bucks off because we had just gotten back to the US. He also convinced us to purchase the PRO protection plan for our products, and my God am I thankful for that young man doing so. I've been rifling through all my receipts, and trying to figure out where I put the information from my service plan. Sadly, I wasn't able to find anything. I went into my local San Diego, CA Guitar Center in my home town and I was given the 'Sorry, can't help you bro' treatment. So, I reached out to the Raleigh, NC store that I bought the headphones from via email. The store manager Nick Harris hooked me up with the warranty guys, gave me a copy of my old receipt from Nov 2011, and let them know I'd be contacting them all within one business day. Thanks Mr. Harris, I hope one day you can manage the stores out here in San Diego, CA. They're totally unaware of that really important process called customer service. You guys out there in Raleigh, NC are a cut above! read more

This is based on numerous experienced here...I've gone back a dozen or more times (until I discovered Harry's) and always received the same horrible service from people who didn't know what they were talking about. Multiple times I waited in line for 45 minutes or more until someone helped me. I've been given wrong information on products, and wrong (made up) advice about product implementation. Stay away from this place! Go to Harry's...or, if you NEED to go to a chain store, go to Sam Ash. read more