Guitar Center
**Guitar Center - Athens, GA: Your Ultimate Music Destination** Located in the vibrant heart of Athens, Georgia, Guitar Center at 1791 Oconee Connector Suite 450 is your go-to destination for all things music. With a stellar rating of 4.4 stars, our store is a haven for musicians of all levels, from beginners to seasoned professionals. We pride ourselves on our extensive selection of musical instruments, equipment, and accessories, ensuring that every customer finds exactly what they need. Whether you're looking for electric guitars, acoustic instruments, or the latest in music technology, our knowledgeable staff is here to assist you in making the right choice for your musical journey. Open seven days a week, our convenient hours (Wednesday to Tuesday, 11 AM - 7 PM and Saturday until 8 PM) allow you to explore our well-stocked shelves at your convenience. Customers rave about their experiences at Guitar Center Athens, with many praising our friendly staff and the wide range of products available. From personalized service like that offered by our dedicated team member, Wes Loper, to hands-on opportunities for trying out instruments, we strive to create an environment that fosters creativity and passion for music. While we appreciate all feedback, including constructive criticism about our luthier services, we continually work to ensure a satisfactory experience for everyone who walks through our doors. Come visit us today or explore our offerings online at [stores.guitarcenter.com](https://stores.guitarcenter.com) — where your musical aspirations come to life!
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Rachael Breyne
My boys had been begging to go to a Guitar Center, so while visiting Athens, we popped in, and they were in love. The workers were pleasant, and the store was adequately stocked. One son tried out some guitars while the other played piano and messed around with some DJ equipment. It was a good way to kill an hour for 2 teenage boys and gave me some great Christmas ideas.
Rose Gryta
Summary: The staff are nice, but I would not recommend using their luthier. I paid for a platinum setup for my guitar and it appeared to have only been restrung; it can't even hold a tune. I returned it, left it for another two weeks, and got it back in the exact same condition. They gave me a refund and were very nice, but it was a waste of three weeks. More detail: I had a lull in playing my guitars and bass. They sat in cases for that period and I wanted to get a professional to look them over before playing again, starting with my Ibanez Talman. I called up the shop and they recommended the platinum setup, which I agreed was best. I looked it up on their website and for $60 it included essentially a total deep clean with clay bar and polish, and all around adjustment/tuning of most parts of the guitar. I dropped it off on the morning of Friday, 7-18. Wednesday 7-23 I called after not hearing back and my guitar was ready. My first mistake was not checking my guitar while I was there. When I got home, it was clear it never got a microfiber onceover, let alone a clay bar and wax. The fret board was yellowed and clearly not touched whatsoever (see pictures). The strings were replaced, but that seemed like that was it. I called the store back and explained that a cleaning clearly wasn’t performed on my guitar at a minimum. They were nice on the phone, told me to come bring it back in. They agreed that the cleaning clearly had not been done. They apologized and even offered to clean it for me right then and there. I said if the most basic part of the setup wasn’t performed, I wasn’t sure any of it was, so I would rather have a full once over again just to be sure all parts were completed. He agreed and even mentioned they’d look into getting a partial refund for me. I was fine with things at this point. Stuff happens; they seemed to take it seriously and the conversations were light hearted. I did specifically mention wanting the frets polished here. About a week went by and I called and check. They said it wasn’t ready. I didn’t mention it, but I was peeved that my return service was getting performed slower than my original drop off, and presumably after other guitars that came in after mine. 8-5, I call in again. My guitar is ready. Again, I never got a call about it. I mentioned on the phone it was a return service, so I wanted to ensure it was all handled. He said the luthier said it was all done and good. I go back and grab my guitar. It’s pretty busy when I get in, so I just grabbed it and took it to my car to check. It looked the exact same as I had dropped it off. The same dust bunny was sitting inside of the sound hole, same dust under the strings and spots on it. I was bummed. I brought it back in and started explaining the situation. The first person I showed it to and who returned it to me originally agreed that the fret board wasn’t polished. The coworker at the desk started mentioning “we need to start asking customers what specifically they want out of a setup service” and I mentioned that I had already brought it back and specified I wanted a deep clean then. He offered to take it back again and I just asked for a partial refund since it had already been basically three weeks. He offered a full refund for the setup. They were pleasant, but his statement did catch me a little off guard. Why not just perform what was listed in the setup? I brought the guitar home and it was out of tune. I looked it over more and you can see the tuning machines were clearly not even lightly touched on the back from the dust (see pictures). They didn’t even do the first step of the tightening service for the tuning machines! Three total hours of driving and three weeks just for new strings.. The convenience was lost and even with the refund, the time I put in going back and forth and the cost of the strings made it feel like a net loss. Customer service up front was cordial, but expect less than the bare minimum from the luthier. I won't be bringing my other instruments.
It's ap
I’m in Marching Band as a senior, I really enjoy music, and in High School Band, I playing crash cymbals snd suspended cymbals for High School Band and Marching Band, this store have really good quality and best instruments and more that people really need and wanted, I came here just for fun playing drum and piano, I looked at guitars and pianos, I played drums in this store with single strokes, beautiful instruments, love this store, great service, it’s a 10/10, thanks for it.
David
The people at the Guitar Center in Athens are great. I have a couple of electric guitars and I was recently shopping for my first acoustic guitar. I can’t say enough good things about Wes Loper. He is enthusiastic and positive and genuine and seems to have fun at his job. Chad was also very helpful. Those guys were easy to work with and were most focused on my getting the right guitar for me.
Brian Lasley
Awesome store and very helpful for finding everything you need to shred like the pros do 🤘 If you need anything guitar related (electric or acoustic) they have it! Better than waiting a week for stuff to arrive in the mail. Shout out to Douglas for helping me out and rock on dudes! …
Israel Segers
I'm sure it would be great if they'd open at a decent hour. 11 am is too late to be useful for a lot of us. But I just ordered from Amazon instead.
tj mcclain
This is probably more than my second time being here but its the second time if stood and waited for help that never comes. Ive been standing here for 20 minutes looking for help with a pedal for my new guitar and I want to get strings but have some questions. Also last time wanted a electric drum set and never had any help that time either so i just left frustrated. After an hour wasted overall for both trips probably would just drive a few hours out instead next time.. Edit it bought a looper pedal and it doesn't come with a power cable at all so now I cant even use it. Idk why you wouldn't disclose this to someone who is so new they had to get help from videos rather than employees. This was really unpleasant and unprofessional visit. Probably going to be my last after returning it.
Tarrabyte
Guitar Center is always a lovely place to go for music stuff. I don't know how to play a single instrument but I can sort of screw around on a keyboard. I like making music in FL studio and going in here looking at all the cool keyboards makes me happy.
CORA BARROW
It's a good store. Good customer service. Had what we wanted and if not they help to find something that work for your need. They will also order what you want.
Brandy Bready
Huge selection of new and used instruments nice staff.
