share your experiences with guitar center

[thestubbyone]

It cant be happening to just me. I buy my guitars there because of one main reason. If not satisfied I can return the guitar within 45 days for a full refund. Nobody else in the music world in my area comes close to that.

But......more than half the time I make a purchase of either a new guitar or used one (always of which I call store where located to verify condition) there is some really obvious and unacceptable defect in the guitar, regardless of new or old. So I had some money together after cancelling a planned trip to Egypt, and decided to buy a new guitar. But looking at reviews on line I found a number of different unique guitars I was interested in. 2 were Alvarez, one a baritone guitar and the other with a redwood top with a unique sound. So I wound up buying 4 different guitars (I already have a small stable of guitars). When I went in the store, the sales associate asked what am I going to do with all these guitars. I said I am hoping that at least one of them will not be a defective one.

Sooooooo, I got my first guitar yesterday and picked it up in the box. It was the alvarez baritone. I had the store guy open the box and it APPEARED to be wrapped as coming from the factory. I got home and took it out of the box. The first thing I noticed was it was tuned down a whole step from the normal B tuning. That got my attention since my past experience was that guitars that had been returned at least once, the tuning was irregular or non existent. One new guitar I purchased years ago had a set of strings on it that were completely loose. So I put the guitar down to get more light on to inspect it and i hear something rattling inside the guitar. The pickup was floating around loose inside the guitar! it appeared to have used a piece of double sided velcro for attachment to the body of the guitar and the glue backing had broken loose. This glued side of the velcro had sawdust and wood particles attached to the glue! Oh well, I'm batting 0 for 1 so far.........

[L20A]

My experiences with Guitar Center have always been good.

They had great prices on the PA that I bought from them.

I bought a used guitar from one of their other stores that showed up with issues.
They agreed about the issues and I was not charged anything for having it shipped to the store.

I bought A Martin that wound up with a neck issue.
Guitar Center agreed and replaced the guitar at no charge to me.

I have purchased several Guitar Cases from them.
One time the case wasn't the right one and they replaced it with the correct case again at no extra charge to me.

I an a fan of Guitar Center and happy to have one close to me.

[Monty Christo]

Originally Posted by thestubbyone

I had the store guy open the box and it APPEARED to be wrapped as coming from the factory. I got home and took it out of the box. The first thing I noticed was it was tuned down a whole step from the normal B tuning. The pickup was floating around loose inside the guitar!

Do you really think Guitar Center de-tuned it and knocked the pickup loose, then wrapped it up and put it back in the box and sealed it?

[warfrat73]

I've generally had good experiences too. Though the return policy is a big reason why I'm willing to take a chance. The thing with a generous return policy is that it's a double-edged sword... somebody else takes it home, plays it for a month, returns it and then you end up with it when they turn around and sell it again.

That said I bought my OM-21 from them and my Eastman MD-315 mandolin from them, both used... got a great deal on both, and both were in better shape than I expected.

Though I've heard from other folks (mostly on this forum) that not everybody is so lucky.

[Mr. Paul]

Traded for a used Lowden, around '97. Decent deal, all went well.

Bought a new Martin OMJM about 7 years ago. Noticed two days later a crack in the ebony fretboard about 10 inches long. Manager apologized and issued the refund, saying they would send it back to Martin for repair. It was back for sale the next day at full price, no mention of a defect. I've since heard of enough similar experiences to know that this is policy for them. Their return policy masks a lot of poor practice.

They sell a lot of guitars so they are a net plus for the industry.

[Bowie]

People love to vilify GC because it used to be "cool" to bash them. It's not anymore and it'll be a sad day when they're gone. I used to buy all my guitars from them, before I got into more high-end instruments that they don't carry. I'm sure I've spent over 50k with them so I've made a lot of instrument and pro-audio purchases over the years. Experiences were generally very good and you simply can't put a value on being able to go in and try a number of guitars before buying "the one". I buy and sell guitars all the time but some of my "keepers", that I've held onto for 20 years, are ones I got from GC. Special pieces I only would have found by trying them out first hand.

As far as being an online retailer goes, I occasionally get odds and ends from them and they have been reliable.

[hairyharris]

In the last 3 weeks: took 2 weeks to process order then ship.
alvarez md60bg arrived on a Thursday.
Handle on hardshell case was broke. 1 rivet holding it on.
The guitar came out of the case with foreign substance on fretboard. All over it. I took the obvious old strings off which were dull and very dirty as well. After cleaning up the fretboard there was significant string rub and wear between the frets. 2 frets were in obvious need of attention. Each had a groove from use on the high E and B strings. Guitar sounded out of whack to me. In general the guitar was dirty with some scratches on it. Alvarez confirmed it was a 2019 model in email using the serial number. Guitar was described in Excellent condition. I returned it to my local GC on Saturday, 2 days after receiving it. I was not hassled over it and my refund showed up on my card on Tuesday. If you are curious over a particular guitar it is a fair option since the return policy is generous but with my experience I will not do GC online again. Good luck on your choices.

[FretMuse]

I feel lucky to have about five GC's inside my travel radius. I've bought and sold a few Fenders and Martins from/to them and have been treated decently. I think they're trying harder to accommodate savvy enthusiasts, which must be hard up against other customers who are less savvy, or don't know what they're looking for, or who, maybe, can be belligerent and hard to deal with.

My acoustics have moved to Bourgeois, which they don't sell, but I recently (a week before the Fender price increase) bought a Fender American Pro II Telecaster using a 10% veteran's discount they offer. I wanted Roasted Pine, so it was ordered, then delivered from the GC warehouse in an unopened box in perfect condition.

Their generous 45-day return policy can't be beat.

[fpuhan]

The only local guitar store closed last year. There are no Guitar Center stores that don't require me to spend nearly an hour on the road, so I'm left with the legendary Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center, which is across the state line, but worth the drive.

So, I'm left to casually check out GC when I'm traveling. My last experience was probably my best. Traveling to New York with friends, we stopped in Pennsylvania for food 'n' fuel, and there was a GC. I went in curious if they had a Martin 000-18. A helpful associate found there was not one in the store. I thanked him and left.

Every other random stop I've made (Texas, Massachusetts) I was greeted with mostly a yawn. I moseyed about the store completely ignored by staff who were busy gossiping or otherwise engaged in socializing. Not impressed.

[bfm612]

I've always had a good experience with GC. I've bought maybe just five guitars or so, but the service has always been great and professional. Most recently, I placed an order at the store for a used guitar that was coming from out of state. I placed the order before noon on a Thursday and had it overnighted so I'd receive it the next day. GC told me I have plenty of time and should receive it Friday. For some reason, UPS didn't pick the guitar up until Friday afternoon and I ended up not getting the guitar until Monday afternoon. Anyway, GC refunded me my shipping costs with minimal questions asked and they did it with a smile. Standup people, everyone I've dealt with.

[rllink]

They are okay. I traded there once, a cheap used guitar for a cheap used guitar. They did a fair trade. Other than that, I haven't bought much from them. I don't like the box store vibe and all the people there just to be there. I can't compete with the masses. But I've not had a bad experience at or with a GC, it just doesn't inspire much in me.

The biggest thing though, the nearest GC is forty minutes from my house and the coolest independent guitar store with a real guitar store feeling is just a half mile away from them. I find that when I drive down I spend five minutes at GC before I go to the other store. And the prices are the same.

[thestubbyone]

Originally Posted by Monty Christo

Do you really think Guitar Center de-tuned it and knocked the pickup loose, then wrapped it up and put it back in the box and sealed it?

Obviously not. But I do think it was sold to some else, returned, and the defect not cleared.

[Monty Christo]

Originally Posted by thestubbyone

Obviously not. But I do think it was sold to some else, returned, and the defect not cleared.

Could be. Also could have been damaged in shipping from the factory, I suppose.

[Pdubs76]

I pop in from time to time to grab strings, and a quick scan of the acoustic room for any decent used guitars that may have showed up since the last time. Everything is locked up these days, so I don’t even bother with trying to track down the staff unless I see something I’m really interested in. That’s been my GC experience post pandemic.

[rollypolly]

I've had mostly good experiences with them. The worst was recently when I bought a tele partscaster from them that was described as having a Warmoth neck. The neck was nice so I just trusted them. Months later I decided to sell the guitar and the buyer wanted to look at the heel of the neck. No Warmoth logo or parts number anywhere. Needless to say I was a little annoyed at GC, but only out a few hundred bucks.

Just be cautious and do your due diligence. Some deals can still be had there.