Is Guitar Center a good company to work for?

Guitar Center has an overall rating of 2.8 out of 5, based on over 2,796 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 234 reviews)); "Coworkers are great and helpful" ((in 142 reviews)); "The benefits are good and that's all I can say." ((in 68 reviews)); "The hours are flexible and based on your availability to GC" ((in 46 reviews)); "We swear like sailors in the warehouse and have a great culture as an ops team." ((in 36 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 323 reviews)); "Poor management and a corporate atmosphere" ((in 169 reviews)); "Terrible upper management that doesn't seem to have ever worked in a musical retail environment." ((in 94 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 83 reviews)); "Managers make less than $20 an hour in a state in which other companies pay managers $50k." ((in 71 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

(2,732 total reviews)

Gabe Dalporto

28% approve of CEO

24% positive business outlook

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (2,732 reviews)

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 2,732 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

4.0

Feb 21, 2020

Flexible, willing to help develop skills

Guitar teacher

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

- Management was very flexible as far as allowing the instructor to arrange lesson plans to each student's needs - Plenty of resources, books, tools, etc. to assist instructors with their job

Cons

- Income depends on how many students you are currently teaching. Business was nearly dead during the summer and Holiday breaks. - Lessons department lead turnover was extremely high. Lesson leads are still expected to perform standard retail duties on top of taking care of scheduling and contacting students. There would occasionally be long stretches of time where we had no Lessons Lead and those periods would be a struggle for everybody else.

5.0

Jun 25, 2019

Good job

Sales associate

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Fun to work at if passionate about guitars

Cons

Some customers hard to deal with

3.0

Sep 9, 2016

Great Perks for Musicians, but you would make more Busking

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great connections to other industry pros, gear companies, access to industry events (NAMM) etc. You meet all the local musicians in your area, great for forming a band, or reaching fans. Excellent company support for musicians, gear programs, contests, time off for going on tour.

Cons

The pay sucks. The hours are long. Upselling when not necessary, pushing people's budgets, pushing credit cards, competing with your coworkers, sucks. Also, as a woman I experienced

Viewing 2689 - 2691 of 2,732 Reviews

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Guitar Center

Guitar Center reviews

Company ratings over time

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Flexible, willing to help develop skills

Good job

Great Perks for Musicians, but you would make more Busking

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