This place is rad. One of my favorite spots to find parts and stuff that other shops don't usually have on hand. There's always interesting guitars, amps and pedals to check out. I like the atmosphere of the place and Carlos seems like a cool dude that is always happy to help you find what you're looking for. read more

Warning to anyone buying from this seller through Reverb. Please do not let what happened to me happen to you. Guitar Wars knowingly bait and switched me on a Roland JC 120 amplifier. The price seemed fair enough and the picture seemed to match the description, however, the amp I received was a far cry from either. It arrived in an unsalvageable old furniture box, poorly packed, and absolutely beat to death. The model JC 120 that was delivered was not the same amplifier as the one advertised. It was hardly functional, the cabinet was cracked and tattered, channels popping and fizzing and knobs mostly not functioning. On top of that, it was filthy. Anyone who has ever played through a JC 120 knows that these are heavy amps that require casters to move them in any reasonable fashion. While pictured with the clean amp in the listing (the one that I did not receive), the tattered and battered model that was delivered to me did not have them. So here I am, essentially stuck with a useless burned out shell of a JC 120 that's basically immovable by one person without a hand truck. See pictures below. Guitar Wars knowingly scammed me out of $800+, don't let it happen to you. Please keep in mind, this did not happen in shipping. This was very much orchestrated intentionally. The amp was listed in "Good" condition. Please find a few images of the actual listing they posted below the images of the box. **please see Google reviews for pictures mentioned above** read more

Have purchased used guitars in the last 5 years....b day gifts for my son. Good guitars, all read more

Great customer service n knowledge of equipment.. cool Star Wars back drops .. easy to find.. read more

Cool guitar shop! Owner and staff are friendly and helpful! A lot of inventory and prices are good!

Carlos and the team at Guitar Wars are awesome. They have an amazing collection of guitars, amps, electronics and everything you need to play. If you play and need equipment or repairs, this should be your go-to place. read more

The crazies guitar shop I've been to. Star wars themed with an amazing collection of rare guitars. The shows/markets are super sick. Been to two of their markets now. 10/10 would recommend. read more

I love guitar wars ! Ever since the beginning of 2024 they started hosting free markets along side their shows. Great crowds. Great music. Great food. AND DOG FRIENDLY !!! Friendly staff ! Family owned. read more

If you like guitars or Star Wars, you gotta check this place out. I had them restring an old guitar and he got it done within 5mins. The guitar looked brand new. But while we waited we saw all the different guitars plus all the Star Wars displays. They even have a studio for guitar lessons. They are very nice and accommodating. I even bought a guitar mound so I don't have my guitar leaning against the wall. read more

Cool little Star Wars-themed music shop with a lot of gear at very affordable prices. The staff are very friendly and helpful, always willing to talk about gear and assisting customers in finding the right piece of gear at the right price. I purchased a Squier Baritone Telecaster from them and they were very kind and helpful throughout the whole process. They even included a free strap as part of my purchase. They are always good for a nice conversation, even when popping in for just a set of strings or similar. May the force be with you! read more

A music store with great service and the inventory is organized so you get a look at everything including instruments. This is a good find if you are tired of the places with all the hype. Great! read more

I was able to get my acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, and ukulele set up for an extremely reasonable price over the weekend. The vibe is also really cool with a Star Wars aesthetic. Lots of cool gear to look at too! Definitely going to be heading back here for all my setups/gear needs. read more

These people are aboveboard and great folks. I went to buy a guitar there today and trying it out the owner grabbed a chair for me and set me up and even turned the music in the store off. I was really happy to hear this guitar loud and clear while I tried out many different styles. They did a cash I store discount for me and the guitar had been for sale in the store for 3 years! Highly recommend these people. read more

Great selections of both new and used gear. This is going to be my go to store from now on.

I saw these folks on their Reverb store and went in to check out the gear. Carlos and his son are so rad and so helpful. They were engaging in good COVID safety and were very kind to help me with all the gear I was digging on and I bought some great stuff and they cut me a deal! Ok, so now on to the interior - this place RULES! It's got a Han Solo in carbonite and an area for LIVE SHOWS! Dude - San Jose has got some cred again! I would love to just hang out at this place like a skate shop. They do lessons, have a bunch bunch of gear man it was just a great experience. Excited to go back! read more

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Neat shop! Quirky, in a San Jose strip mall off the beaten path, eclectic selection of affordable stuff. They're super nice and helpful in selling me an inexpensive guitar in great shape. read more

This business is honestly so amazing very well princes and amazing customer service and a very fun environment

I needed to get my guitar set up and called 5 places, all of them saying I either need an appointment two weeks from now or to drop off my guitar today and pick it up in two weeks. I came across Guitar Wars after several pages and expanding the search area. Gave them a call and they said I can drop it off today and pick it up tomorrow. Amazing! Regarding the hours: Yelp [as of July 14, 2020] said they opened at 11 but their website said noon. Be aware that the website is also out of date, because of the pandemic it's 12-7p or 12-5p [depending on the day] and not 12-9p. Guitar Wars is a bit far from my residence, but it's worth it. Previous guitar places seem intimidating, but this place seems fun and welcoming! I asked for the string action to be higher because I prefer death grip over fret buzz. The distance is now perfect and the new strings feel really nice. I'll definitely come back for the next setup! read more

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Michael and Carlos are AWESOME! Guitar wars is a great place to go...to browse, to buy, to chat. Both men are knowledgeable, helpful and willing to work with you. Both of my son's took guitar lessons from Micheal for a solid year and both enjoyed it and Michael really engages with his students and lets them select the genre of music to learn. I hope they will continue to prosper as a business and for music teaching. They are gems to the community. Rock on! read more

This place is cool! My fiance loves coming in here and looking around. You always are gonna find some rare item, like a guitar pedal or other piece of equipment. The store recently changed locations, but I appreciate this one more. The new location has more space for the guitars and the equipment. Also provided their name, they have a bunch of star wars memorabilia, which is pretty cool. They also have some shows throughout the year. I've been to about 3-4 of them, mostly the punk or metal type. It's a great way to find some good local bands if you have some friends to young to go to the bars with Haha. Also, the shows are free and at time they had free pizza! read more

One of my favorite guitars needed some fret work and is a pain in the butt to setup because it's a Floyd Rose... everyone else quoted me well over 100 just to look at it and I was like, "maybe another day." Moved to South San Jose and found out this place was literally 2 minutes from my new home. WHAT A GREAT FIND! For 75 bucks my guitar plays like brand new, has new strings, perfect action, the frets are wonderful, and is completely polished in every nook and cranny, to boot! I'm going to take every single guitar and bass I have to these guys. The store is also seriously cool - how I didn't notice the giant Han Solo "tomb" in the back on my first visit I have no idea, but just a great shop and great people. I don't usually bother with Yelp, but I felt like hopping on just to make this review I'm so happy with them! They also have some decent prices on a very wide range of random audio gear and instruments. Great all the way around! read more

Carlos SAVED me in a pinch. My bass had bad pickups and he needed a day to fix them. I had a mid-week, mid-day gig that I needed a bass for... HE LET ME BORROW ONE! What a champ. Great dude in a cool location with so much cool Star Wars stuff. read more

Guitar Wars - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - San Jose, California

I had a blast taking my 15 year old son into Guitar Wars to buy him his first 6-string. What a cool place! As huge Star Wars fans, it was a total trip to see all of the toys and decorations. And there was a great selection of guitars in a wide price range and we found him the perfect beginner guitar. Very patient and helpful service. Support local shops! read more

Super friendly staff, picked up some strings and picks. Good prices and a good selection of all things musical. These are the guitars you're looking for. Just picked up my Epiphone Les Paul from them, they fixed the wiring I destroyed while trying to upgrade some parts. They also set up my replacement bridge and adjusted the neck in one day. I also picked up a new practice bass, the repair and bass set me back less than $140.00. Thank you so much Guitar Wars, my new one stop shop for all things guitar. read more

Guitar Wars - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - San Jose, California

Decided to stop by and check it out while in San Jose for a funeral - really cool, a Star Wars Themed Guitar Shop......why no one had thought of this sooner, I don't know. The staff is nice, they don't try to sell to you, and they have a 10 min rule on playing to keep the kids from spending all day showing off. First off, the place is cool just for having such a wide variety of guitars ranging from the little Harmony H-803 hanging by the door, to the crazy Framus in the back, to a lucite left-handed bass - mixed in with some RJT Jazzmaster Clones (Offsets are always a win with me). Came in to check out pedals, wound up buying a pickup for one of my project builds (SD Detonator). I'm going to have to go back there and buy some more stuff. And the prices are great. Also what's cool - no guitar shop I've ever visited in my 23 years of playing guitar have I ever seen a shop that's open till 9pm and hosts rock concerts out front. read more

Friendly indie music store packed with new and used instruments and amps. They are located on the island in the strip mall parking lot facing away from the street so it's a bit hard to find. There was no pressure to buy anything and the decor in the store is amazing. read more

Guitar Wars - Chill owner and team. They have used amps and instruments and clearly love their business. - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - San Jose, California

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Went because of all the positive reviews. The staff was rather cold, and not much brands and choices.

Carlos rewired my pickguard after I attempted to replace and rewire it. He charged a fair price, and time when it would be done.

I am happy to call Guitar Wars my friendly neighborhood music shop. As a life long South Bay local I have frequented the better known music stores in the area but had never ventured out to this side of town until I relocated to the east side. Although it is a small shop they carry a nice variety of gear. My presence was acknowledged by staff when I entered with my two sons and we felt welcome to take our time exploring the gear and decor hassle free. We enjoyed trying on the different Star Wars helmets, then my boys played on the keyboards while I checked out the amplifiers and effect pedals. They have a lot of used gear which is what I prefer and I was quoted a reasonable price on their guitar maintenance/upgrade service. read more

The Force is strong with these ones! Total beginner but got my hands on a nice entry level guitar that had been sitting for a few years to learn on. Brought it in to get it checked out and tuned up before I started learning and these guys were great. They walked me through what it needed and were able to squeeze me in between a couple other guitars to get new strings, slight neck adjustment and check out of the electronics while I waited. They were friendly and I felt they were enthusiastic to have someone brand new to guitar come into the store. Prices were good and service was excellent and I got just what I needed with no attempt to sell me on more than I needed. Would give them a few more stars if I could. read more

Looking for an inexpensive classical guitar. Went in here and found a good Hohner for $200... Owner threw in a gig bag for free!... Really cool casual pkace...lots of Star Wars Memorabilia..including a full size replica of Han Solo encased in Carbomite!...thanks Carlos...will definitely be back read more

My daughter needed a tuner and Yelped this place in So San Jose. I didn't want to drive all the way to Guitar Center and I always lean towards small business rather than big chain businesses. I have to say as soon as I walked in I was amazed by the Star Wars collection!! Loved it. I took longer admiring the collection than getting my daughter's tuner. The owner was really nice and got us everything we needed like a bass case, a few picks and a strap. I will be doing our music needs shopping here from now on :) anyone with ether interest should also ! read more

Great guitar store. The manager is very nice too. They carry very unusual used guitar gear, which is so hard to find nowadays. They also seem open minded on buying or consigning guitar gear too. Their prices seem fair, especially with pedals and middle of the line gear. I recommend them. read more

My thing about guitar wars is it is a cool store the owner Carlos he is awesome also he puts on shows to the customer service hello there is great the owner Carlos is very hopeful and and is very cool and also he's a very nice guy I do a lot of business over there and their guitars in their equipment are very reasonable prices also is different from any guitar store I've been to the name is cool guitar wars he is at a big Star Wars collector my advice go check it out thank you richard truchetta rock on read more

My Dad owns this Gibson Acoustic Guitar that's about 50+ years old that has been sitting in the garage collecting dust, with missing strings and needed to be restored. I went in Guitar Wars and loved the cleanliness and Star Wars theme look of the store, was greeted by Carlos. I needed strings to be replaced and had cracks all over the body so I got strings replaced, fixed body gaps all for $70 repairs, and bought a $5.95 guitar strap. Turnout was about 3 days, but Carlos did a stellar job, and was totally worth it. Thank You Guitar Wars! Support your local music shop. I highly recommend this place for all your musical instrument needs. read more

Good people, Good Prices, Good vibes. I always take my guitars to them if I need work done on them. The prices that they give are really good and way more affordable than Guitar Center or anywhere else. If you need to buy a good guitar this is also the place to find one. read more

Came here to sell a wireless mic I had . The guy offered me lower than I expected but what the heck, I needed to get rid of that mic that was sitting in my storage for a while to buy other gear I needed. read more

One of the best little privately owned music stores in the bay area. Ran by a super cool owner that wants to help serve the music community first... Help support the scene and check out this shop! read more

Employees are very kind, pretty cool small business shop, definitely recommend to go local with these guys in regards to guitar gear and see what they have in store. read more

Believe the hype!! These dudes are AMAZING!! I've had some repairs done on a few beginner guitars and the turnaround has been lighting fast!! I'm just a casual guitar player but if you are in a band and have an upcoming gig, this is THE place to bring your instrument for repair and upgrades. Carlos, the owner, has a fantastic array of Guitars (and a killer Star Wars action figure collection) that tempts me every time I go in. Saving my pennies but this is where I'm coming for my next purchase. read more