Guitar Center

Awesome drum staff!

The customer service here was phenomenal! The girl behind the counter was very helpful and super nice and bubbly! She had a great personality that you sometimes don’t see in retail. Great job! I’ll be returning just based on how nice they were!

Brought in a drum pedal that wasn’t working that wasn’t even purchased there and both sales associates took the time to help me resolve the issue. One associate in particular, James I believe, went above and beyond. Great guys. I will be back– Thanks!

They really don’t have what real, gigging or touring musicians need outside of strings and picks. Guitar Center seems to aim for the easy, lucative underbelly of the gear buying public: novices, dreamers, and parents.
If you need gear work done such as amp or guitar repair, rebuild, customization, or setup, stay far far far away. The places you should go are Noll Guitar in Cranston and B Sharp on broadway in providence.
If you are buying your first electric guitar, you can do far better online (craigslist) or used (daddy’s junky music down the street).
There are things that Guitar Center is good for. Trying out guitars different than what you normally play, the aforementioned strings, picks, tuners, and their pedal selection is not bad. They have financing and do trade-​ins.
I also don’t like having my bags searched at the front desk when leaving. Its insulting.
Points also deducted for prog-​rock flash metal employees ‘casually’ plugging in and showing their chops. That’s as painful as hearing 14 yr old me awkwardly plucking the opening riff of Stairway to Heaven circa 1992.

After reading other reviews, it seems i;m not alone. I was looking for and electric guitar and amp for my daughter. I walked around and played several guitars, all the staff passed me by with not even a nod or hello. It appeared they hire the homeless here, dirty looking and unprofessional. I left and drove to Daddy Junks Music down the road and bought a new guitar and amp there. If I managed this store, they would all be fired.

Shopping at guitar center is like shopping at Target and the service is generally on par with that. This location is no exception. The majority of guitars are geared towards beginners and are priced between $ 200 and $ 700. They do have a few decent instruments in the mix but they are few and far between. I have purchased merchandise from Guitar center in the past… but you really gotta sift through a lot of crap instruments to find something that suits your needs.

Steve was our associate today and yes he was very helpful. My husband was looking to purchase his first acoustic guitar and the opportunity was there for Steve to hard sell us the pricey items and excessive accessories. He actually demonstrated an interest in saving us money… call me crazy. but i thought he was genuine. He helped us to feel comfortable and provided us with honest feedback on a variety of brands. this was a nice experience for us. we will be back.

Things
to
play
Wow, what a selection of modern musical instruments. The store is divided into several rooms, one for guitars, one for drums, one for keyboards, etc. I pounded, picked, plucked and strummed all kind of things. Everyone was nice and just ignored me as I enjoyed myself.
They have a great inventory of guitars, Les Paul, old Firebirds, Telecastors, Strats, just about anything you could want, even a used and vintage guitar area. Plus some nice mandolins and a separate room for acoustic guitars.
The drum room not only had kits but numerous hand drums. Dubeks, double drums, tablas and djembes everywhere.
The electronic/​recording room also had a great selection and I had a nice talk with the knowledgeable fellow that works there about recording techniques. It was obvious he wasn’t trying to sell me anything, he just loved talking about the subject.
I was extremely impressed with not only the amount and quality of the instruments but also how nice, friendly and knowledgeable the employees were. The only negative is that this is a modern music store. No early instruments or music and unfortunately as knowledgeable as the people were about modern music, mention Medieval, Renaissance or Baroque music and you get a blank stare. That’s fine because what they do, they do very well here.

I was completely freaked out here by the sales associate who had a 1-​inch diameter peg in his ear. My earlobe is not even that big if I stretch it out!
I just bought an acoustic guitar from this place, after much deliberation and calculation. The assistance I had from Brian totally made everything easier. I found a sweet and sturdy hard case for my new guitar for a low price, and was able to make comparisons between models that I wouldn’t have figured out on my own.
It was quite a taxi trip out here, but the selection of equipment is worth it.