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

Apr 4, 2015

Great experience, great family

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

The people I worked with were extremely passionate, and I have not yet experienced a stronger family-like connection with a team. Great for those with strong entrepreneurial spirit. Hard work, but not unlike any other job. Lots of training. During my time there, the culture did change for the better in many ways.

Cons

Extremely tight budgets, lots of complaints about pay.

2.0

Apr 3, 2015

Good people on the ground floor, iron-fisted corporate management

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

At my particular store, the employees are very tight-knit, making it an enjoyable team to be a part of. Obviously the gear and the employee discount are huge perks. It's a novel thing to be surrounded with music gear constantly.

Cons

As to be expected, low pay. Even with the new structural and payroll changes, it is a tough job for the compensation. Being retail, the customers can be difficult. Upper management has recently been employing new policies that must be followed to the letter, giving individual stores very little wiggle room or independence.

4.0

Mar 22, 2015

Fun place to work

Greeter/security/check out line

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

You meet a lot of cool people with great tastes in music & style.

Cons

They've recently gotten rid of my job position. I worked at the desk greeting people & preventing equipment from being stolen. Without this extra security they may lose a lot of merch.

Viewing 2485 - 2487 of 2,736 Reviews

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