Austin might be the best guitar-shopping city per capita in America — a working-musician town where used gear churns fast, vintage rooms are genuinely good, and the person restringing your Tele probably played a gig last night. South Austin is the crawl: multiple destination shops within minutes of each other.
4.7 ★★★★★ 1,139 reviews
Established purveyor of band & orchestra instruments & accessories, plus rentals & repairs.
4.1 ★★★★☆ 1,142 reviews
Chain of music stores offering guitars, amps and DJ gear, plus lessons and repairs.
4.2 ★★★★☆ 1,059 reviews
4.6 ★★★★★ 772 reviews
Established purveyor of band & orchestra instruments & accessories, plus rentals & repairs.
4.6 ★★★★★ 474 reviews
Every item at this funky art & gift store is music-themed, including clothes, decorations & jewelry.
4.7 ★★★★★ 413 reviews
Shoppers can buy, sell, trade or consign their vintage guitars at this store that also retails amps.
These shops buy and trade used gear: Guitar Center, Guitar Center, Austin Vintage Guitars, Capital Music Center, South Austin Music, Austin Guitar House. Read our selling guide before you walk in — expect roughly 50–60% of resale value in cash, ~70% in trade credit, and bring the original case. The full national list lives in the sell-your-gear directory.
For lessons — yours or the kid's — these stores teach: Guitar Center, Strait Music Company, Guitar Center, Strait Music Company, Capital Music Center, South Austin Music. Our lessons guide covers the $25–40 half-hour going rate, what age kids can start, and why the squeaky first months are normal — or browse the full lessons directory.
The vintage and rare-gear walls worth the trip: Guitar Center, Guitar Center, Austin Vintage Guitars, Capital Music Center, South Austin Music, Austin Guitar House. Our vintage buying guide covers what drives value, the fakes problem, and why reputable dealers earn their premium — and the vintage directory has the full state-by-state list.
My boyfriend and I came in today to purchase some cables that we needed for one of his shows. Usually customer service isn’t so great at this guitar center, but they really surprised us this time.
Apologies in advance if this goes a little long... I'll do my best to explain my experience as quickly as possible. It all started innocently enough...I put a recently acquired tube amp on marketplace for trade & i got a response for what *seemed* to be a perfect trade.
I came into the store last week, as I'd recently become interested in picking up guitar (having played drums throughout school and a bit in my adulthood). I did some research online but had very little knowledge on guitars in general.
