Is Guitar Center a good company to work for?

Guitar Center has an overall rating of 2.8 out of 5, based on over 2,797 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has decreased by 6% over the last 12 months. 41% of employees would recommend working at Guitar Center to a friend and 24% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about Guitar Center have been left by employees working as Music Instructor , Private Lessons Instructor and Music Teacher .

Does Guitar Center pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Guitar Center employees rate their compensation and benefits as 2.4 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Guitar Center. This rating has decreased by 2% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Guitar Center?

41% of Guitar Center employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Guitar Center 2.9 out of 5 for work life balance, 2.7 for culture and values and 2.4 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Guitar Center?

Sales Associate (598) , Operations Associate (86) , Store Manager (81) , Instructor (74) , Lessons Lead (69) , Assistant Manager (61) , Gear Advisor (57) , Retail Sales Associate (57) , Customer Service Manager (47) , Operations Manager (44) , Department Manager (40) , Sales (36) , Repair Technician (34) , Customer Service Manager (CSM) (28) , Operations (28)

What are the pros of working at Guitar Center according to real employee reviews?

"The direct people you work with are great and will help you in any way they can." ((in 237 reviews)); "Coworkers are great and helpful" ((in 143 reviews)); "The benefits are good and that's all I can say." ((in 66 reviews)); "The hours are flexible and based on your availability to GC" ((in 45 reviews)); "We swear like sailors in the warehouse and have a great culture as an ops team." ((in 37 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Guitar Center according to real employee reviews?

"Low pay compared to companies with similar store size Low amount of staff result in poor customer and employee experience." ((in 328 reviews)); "Upper management is completely out of touch with what’s going on at the store level" ((in 97 reviews)); "Even though you don't make commission as a store lead they still require you to sell and expect you to be topping the leaderboard." ((in 85 reviews)); "Managers make less than $20 an hour in a state in which other companies pay managers $50k." ((in 74 reviews)); "No training to speak of." ((in 40 reviews))

What are employees saying about Guitar Center layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Guitar Center layoffs and their outlook for job security at Guitar Center in 2026.

What are the top reviewed Guitar Center locations?

Westlake Village , Los Angeles , New York , Westlake Village , Indianapolis , Chicago , Nashville , Draper , Austin , Houston , Dallas , Boston , Atlanta , Kansas City , Hollywood , San Jose , San Francisco , Knoxville , Rockville , Las Vegas , Seattle , Miami , Mobile , Salt Lake City , Brooklyn , Plano , Thousand Oaks , Concord , Wilmington , Brownsburg

Guitar Center reviews

2.8

41% would recommend to a friend

(2,733 total reviews)

Gabe Dalporto

28% approve of CEO

24% positive business outlook

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Guitar Center has an employee rating of 2.8 out of 5 stars, based on 2,733 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Guitar Center employee rating is 21% below average for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

3K reviews

3.0

Mar 12, 2025

Great place to work if you put in effort!

Sales associate

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Commission pay - I've witnessed it dozens of times, if you slack off you wont make money. If you hustle, make genuine connections with customers, and provide good service, you'll be paid well. Discounts on equipment Gig leave Perfect work environment for a musician Networking

Cons

The focus on selling Pro-Coverage (Insurance on gear) is ridiculous. You are forced to sell people on insurance that many times costs them more than the cost to repair the damage. Having had to deal with Asurion (the insurance provider) on many occasions on behalf of customers is horrible. At this point i genuinely feel bad that i need to sell it otherwise i risk being written-up and/or fired for not obtaining the minimum requirement of a 30% attachment rate.

2.0

Mar 11, 2025

Horrible Expectations

Lessons lead

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great people, artists, creatives. You meet a ton of cool people that you can connect with outside of work and on a personal and creative level

Cons

Terrible training, no corperate integrity. Pretty much steals peoples money then leaves the store employees to take the blame. Horrible benefits outside of equipment discounts. Outdated operating system and website. Pour communication from all levels of management. No training but high expectations. Plan on getting thrown into a dumpster fire then immediately blamed for the dumpster fire.

3.0

Mar 11, 2025

No

Operations manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Discounts and time off, fun environment

Cons

lots of work for not a lot of pay, bad corporate management

Viewing 172 - 174 of 2,733 Reviews

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Guitar Center

Guitar Center reviews

Company ratings over time

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Great place to work if you put in effort!

Horrible Expectations

No

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