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 237 reviews)); "Coworkers are great and helpful" ((in 140 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 35 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 325 reviews)); "Poor management and a corporate atmosphere" ((in 175 reviews)); "Terrible upper management that doesn't seem to have ever worked in a musical retail environment." ((in 91 reviews)); "Commissions were low and sparatic." ((in 80 reviews)); "Managers make less than $20 an hour in a state in which other companies pay managers $50k." ((in 75 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

2.0

May 20, 2025

Typical corporation can't take responsibility for their own failures

Sales associate

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Crazy employee discount. Coworkers are usually cool, dress code is pretty lax (aside from having to wear the shirt which is whatever). Commission can be good but it kinda has to be since they'll probably pay you minimum wage on a part-time schedule

Cons

Rarely hire people full time to avoid giving benefits. If your numbers don't meet the company's arbitrary goals they'll write you up and punish you by cutting your hours. POS system is incredibly convoluted but they'll spend more time training you on how to be a salesman than how to actually use the program required to carry out the sale.

3.0

May 20, 2025

Good part time

Sales associate

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

- Flexible hours - work around music instruments - Good supportive sales team - GC employee discount - gig leave

Cons

- Atrocious Management (store manager) - management decisiones have affected the well being of employees and lessons instructors - micro management - under paid to be doing multi tasks (selling and doing back room operations). - Corporate has lost touch with store reality and want to cut costs by all means.

4.0

May 17, 2025

Guitar center sales

Sales associate

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Fun job with nice discounts

Cons

Not enough pay to justify the hours worked

Viewing 127 - 129 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

Typical corporation can't take responsibility for their own failures

Good part time

Guitar center sales

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