I've been reading a lot of the negative reviews on Yelp about this place and I can't understand why some people hold a negative opinion of this place. I've always gotten help from the employees and I've jammed with some incredible people. I love this place. read more

Follow up. I forwarded my complaint to YourVoice@GuitarCenter.com. I was told that GC would "We will assist in turning this experience into a positive one. " As you can guess I have not gotten response back in 9 days and they have not turned this into positive expereince. Many of the people who have had bad experiences at either GC stores on GC online are telling the truth. I was one of the naive musicians who thought that the bad reviews were from people who were impatient, or liked to complain. I know now that all the bad reviews that GC has gotten are legitamate. It really doesn't solve this issue by getting a phone call from a regional manager. It doesn't make me feel better about the lack of integrity of the manager of store 831. I have spoken to him. He still has no integrity. Trying to pass of a demo or floor model as a new instrument is dishonest. I spoke to the devil again, he did his devil magic. He started to brag about how he can call any used instrument new. This is sad. Sorry. But why do I have to be the one who teaches GC employees and management that its not nice to lie? read more

My experience has been the opposite of what I've read in the negative reviews on here. Yes, sometimes you have to wait for a staff person to finish with another customer, but you can't expect them to pay 100 staff people to just be standing around. Each department does have someone who is an expert in that field. And we all know that people only tend to post a review when they've had an unhappy experience. Anyway, I have been going there for 15 years - made many trips and spent thousands of dollars in big and little purchases. I have always found the staff to be knowledgeable, helpful, and never in a rush. I am a classically trained church musician who also works with praise bands at the church. So going into a store that is geared to rock music is a little out of my area, and I am not savvy at all about what to buy, especially the more technical aspects of things. So the thing I really appreciate about this store is that they have never been condescending to this novice old man. I think they are enthusiastic about music and about helping others make music in any and every way. read more

Went to Pro Audio section today with every intent to make a purchase and ended up walking out of there upset and money still in my wallet??!! I have been a long time customer and I have spent thousands of dollars over the years but, I was extremely upset today with their customer service. Andrew was helping me and doing an ok job and then completely ditched me for another customer who?? Andrew said to me he would be back with me in a second and the other customer even said to him, I have a thousand questions. This did not deter Andrew to assist in finishing up with me. Another Rep who I don't know his name offered to help me which was nice but, it took me 10 minutes to establish everything with Andrew and I explained to him thank you but, I do not feel I should have to start from square one and walked out. Pretty rude and ridiculous. I would never do such a thing to someone being in the sales business myself. Can't say I'll ever be back there again. read more

At the entrance some one belts out a loud greeting in an attempt to either make you feel welcome or deter shop lifting, not sure which. When you walk in you get that kid in a candy store feeling. that soon goes away when you realize that most of the gear is geared toward parents buying Christmas presents and kids who lose interest in their noise maker of choice after a week or two. The selection is wide enough that no matter what weapon you choose to assault eardrums with you will definately find something that you need/ want. The prices tend to be cheaper than anywhere and they match deals too! I've never had much use for the employees in a comission driven enviroment like this...so I tend to ignore them until I am ready to buy something........in the rare event that I am deficient of enough brain cells to ask one of them for anything I am bogged down with opinions that I would never care about let alone ask for. If you know what you want this place is the spot to buy it..........if you are looking for gear that is a little less popular than you may have to look elsewhere. read more

Purchased a used Yamaha Classical guitar for a very good price. The staff was very helpful in helping me choose a nice guitar that fit my needs. They also helped me pick a tuning device and extra strings. Very good service! read more

Waste of time. Viewed a amp online. went into the store to try it out. Before testing I asked if it came with a power supply and was assured it did. Went to the counter to buy it and they let me know it would be $20 extra to get a power supply to get any sound out of the amp. Customer service is horrible. The man-bun wearing manager Andy Greenfield is no help at all and completely ignored the problem. They just left me at the counter for an hour acting busy with other customers. Totally unprofessional. Why not lose all your power supplies intentionally if you can put your price online for $20 cheaper than anyone else? Wait until the customer has decided to make a purchases before the bait and switch. Ridiculous. Waste of 3-4 hours of my life. read more

It's Guitar Center. You can't expect any more or less. Most people go here out of necessity rather than being ripped off at Music and Arts or Bill's. I've really never had a bad experience at any one of their locations because you simply have to laugh, not get mad, at some of their employees. The good news is they do have some good guys (and gals) working there. I always have Steve H. over in keyboards and pro audio help me out and I've always had a pleasant shopping experience. Their prices are usually on the high side but there's a computer so you can price-match, and the new price is honored. I've gotten a few good deals that way. read more

I'll make this one short and sweet. Ive had my share of problems with buying used gear from guitar center, but, since they've always offered a risk-free 30 day policy, I took my chance. I ordered a Roland Gaia synth from a store in New jersey, had an issue with it, and was told to return it to my local return center. Notwithstanding the missing knobs, the unit came from NJ with a completely incorrect power supply. I called and asked what to do and was told that supply would work just fine. So - halfway into a gig, unit starts to reset. then does it again, and again. The TC Electronic power supply for the Roland unit apparently wasn't correct after all!. I was certainly ( and I think understandably ) annoyed, so I took the unit to my local (towson) guitar center to return it. The sales person coded the return as "buyer's remorse" ---- well. if by buyer's remorse, they mean do I regret not getting what I paid for , as in a keyboard with the correct power supply --- yes, that's true... Then, as was always the policy with not working units, the do NOT return the shipping cost because they say I simply decided I didn't want the unit for no realistic reason... , costing me for the shipping (the privledge of testing the theory of whether a Roland GAIA keyboard will work with a TC Electronic power supply designed for one of the guitar pedals. ) I should've learned my lesson after receiving a fair amount of used equipment that was in terrible shape from these "experts" but, always felt the risk was worth it because there was no penalty if you received something that genuinely didn't work. Keyboards are my living - I have more keyboards in my studio than in most guitar centers, and I buy them to keep them I know what I want, and I buy with purpose.. Now, there's no chance of EVER taking a chance on a used piece from Guitar Center if you're going to be penalized, not wanting to be left paying money for the privilege of trying a unit without even the correct accessories to make it work. The real question - does anyone as guitar center care?? I went from being a $35000/yr pro-studio customer to avoiding the store like the plague and just dealing with true pro stores, on the internet or locally. The discount wasn't worth the attitude... This same review applies to New Jersey, as well, as they were equally complicit in this situation. read more

this store has a generally better selection than their sister store in Glen Burnie, but, the salespeople are just totally clueless. The current generation of keyboards and pro audio equipment is fairly technical and requires some level of competence to sell and support - these guys just don't have it. I feel sorry for the average musician who comes to this store looking for help buying a workstation keyboard, sound system, or, even worse, computer recording system. just standing around the counter for an hour will yield so many wrong answers, bad answers, potentially destructive answers, etc. to customers questions that I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I am not the type of customer who asks a lot of questions, buys stuff and expects the staff of the store to instruct me every step of the way, etc. I know what I want, I buy it, and that's it. I don't hang around music stores playing "stairway to heaven" - I just want to get in, get what I need taken care of, and get out. I am professional studio owner, specializing in vintage keyboards while also maintaining a large selection of high end outboard for vocal tracking, mastering and mixing. I also repair amplifiers and keyboards. as a studio owner, I used to purchase between 15-22k a year at Guitar Center in Towson until a few years ago when the store reached such a pit of disorganization and poor attitudes that I established an account elsewhere. (I recall one incident where the store manager was angry at me for trying to pick up a piece of gear I had order on a Saturday - for some reason that was a no-no - his quote was "if you needed your precious preamp so bad, you should've come in to pick it up yesterday when we called you and said it was here..." ). you quickly get tired of that treatment when that preamp just cost you $4000. I have been in the store a few times since I stopped doing business there with friends and have observed what I described above and absolutely do not regret transferring my business to a store that, even though it is a long distance drive from my home at least, answers my calls and emails, doesn't act like I am bothering them by trying to make a purchase, and gives me prices on the equipment I want to buy even if they have to special order (most of what I normally purchased was not stocked at GC - high end keyboards, studio equipment, etc -- in the past, GC used to be great for special orders and working with high dollar/high end clientele, but that changed in 2012, and I can't afford - and have no reason - to give it another shot... Since then, I have spent six figures on a new facility with all new gear.). the bottom line - i am not guitar center's target client. they could provide what I need, but I think looking up the prices takes too much energy. I am more writing the review because I feel so badly a for all the people who go in, ask questions, get terribly wrong answers, and end up pulling their hair out when things don't work. I mentioned above, I repair keys and amps for living, as well as run a studio, so I see first hand the total devastation these improperly trained salespeople cause in the lives of musicians who rely on them for answers. it's a shame that the market cannot support salespeople who know what they're talking about (anyone remember Gordon Miller music when they had Rich, Ronnie, Duane, Justin, and that guy who looked like he stepped out of a Def Leppard video? Aileen might've been not-so-nice, but I clearly remember all those guys, when I was getting started, gave me the right answers, and helped me when I needed it. you can't find pros like that anymore around here. even guitar center, when they opened up and had Buddy and those guys, had some fair technical knowledge on staff. not anymore...) Google is your friend... read more