Is Guitar Center a good company to work for?

Guitar Center has an overall rating of 2.8 out of 5, based on over 2,800 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has decreased by 7% over the last 12 months. 39% of employees would recommend working at Guitar Center to a friend and 22% 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 3% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Guitar Center?

39% of Guitar Center employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Guitar Center 2.8 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 (82) , Instructor (75) , 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 243 reviews)); "Coworkers are great and helpful" ((in 147 reviews)); "The benefits are good and that's all I can say." ((in 67 reviews)); "The hours are flexible and based on your availability to GC" ((in 43 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 332 reviews)); "Upper management is completely out of touch with what’s going on at the store level" ((in 97 reviews)); "Commissions were low and sparatic." ((in 93 reviews)); "Managers make less than $20 an hour in a state in which other companies pay managers $50k." ((in 74 reviews)); "Expected by customers to know the answers to all questions on so many products and guitar center provides no training" ((in 48 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 , Miami , Las Vegas , Seattle , Mobile , Salt Lake City , Brooklyn , Plano , Thousand Oaks , Concord , Wilmington , Brownsburg

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Guitar Center

Guitar Center reviews

2.8

39% would recommend to a friend

(2,736 total reviews)

Gabe Dalporto

29% approve of CEO

22% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.4

Diversity & inclusion

2.8

Work/Life balance

2.7

Culture & values

2.4

Compensation and benefits

2.4

Career opportunities

2.1

Senior management

Guitar Center has an employee rating of 2.8 out of 5 stars, based on 2,736 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).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

3K reviews

5.0

Feb 26, 2015

Been there a long time. Do what you are supposed to and you are taken care of.

Store manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great environment if you love music.

Cons

Retail, so be ready for working weekends and holidays.

4.0

Feb 24, 2015

Great Place To Work

Department manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Co-Workers Atmosphere Time-Off Policies Employee Discounts Great company to work for. Loved building customer relations, doing product demonstrations. Just an all around great job.

Cons

Call-Sheets Competitive Nature of Co-Workers/Assistant Managers Undermining Sales by Assistant Managers AM's can sell things from out of your department without you having a say, making you no commission. AM's used to take full advantage of this and sell hundreds to thousands of dollars from under you or take a cut in the commission percentage because they told you that you "have to." Working in a department like drums (like I did) you're struggling to make commission on a monthly basis. It's just a cheap shot and unprofessional.

5.0

Feb 21, 2015

Sell music equipment all day!

Department manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Cool people, great products, and for the most part the management is amazing.

Cons

Comission based salary, long hours, and the pay schedule.

Viewing 2497 - 2499 of 2,736 Reviews

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