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Guitar Center
4.4 ★★★★☆ 461 Google reviews · Guitar & music store in Highland Park, Illinois
Retail musical instrument chain selling guitars amps, drums, keyboards and DJ equipment.
Plan your visit
- Repairs & setups a repair bench comes up in reviews and the store's own info — call ahead for turnaround, since good techs run a queue
- Buys & trades used gear they buy, trade, or consign used instruments — bring the case and any original parts, and expect trade credit to beat the cash offer
- Lessons lessons come up in reviews and the store's own info — call about openings, instruments taught, and rates before the first visit
- Instrument rentals rentals mentioned — the usual route for band & orchestra season; ask about rent-to-own credit
- Today see hours ·
- Phone (847) 579-1830
- Website stores.guitarcenter.com
Hours
| Monday | 11 AM–9 PM |
| Tuesday | 11 AM–9 PM |
| Wednesday | 11 AM–9 PM |
| Thursday | 11 AM–9 PM |
| Friday | 11 AM–9 PM |
| Saturday | 10 AM–9 PM |
| Sunday | 11 AM–7 PM |
What's on the wall
“When I bought my new electric guitar awhile back, Steve made the whole process seamless and helped with any issues that came up.”
“I saw something that SURPRISED me at Guitar Center, Highland Park, -- a used Casio keyboard 61 keys.”
“Had to repair an older guitar and it came back fixed but not what I was expecting as this was my daughter's guitar that I messed up.”
“I saw something that SURPRISED me at Guitar Center, Highland Park, -- a used Casio keyboard 61 keys.”
Brands they deal
What players say again and again
“When I bought my new electric guitar awhile back, Steve made the whole process seamless and helped with any issues that came up.”
“The guitar tech here really knows his stuff from Metallica tones to different tunings and playing styles.”
From the reviews
Had a great experience at Guitar Center. The guitar tech here really knows his stuff from Metallica tones to different tunings and playing styles. He adjusted the neck, set the intonation, installed new strings, and now my guitar plays and sounds amazing.
This review is long overdue, but I wanted to give a shout out to Steve and the other employees at this location. I have been buying equipment from them for the last couple years and they have always been accommodating.
Had to repair an older guitar and it came back fixed but not what I was expecting as this was my daughter's guitar that I messed up. The manager Luke took great care of me and I brought my daughter back a few weeks later and she picked out a new guitar.
After graduating from boot camp, my son was desperate to play a guitar. The staff at this store were amazing. They were so welcoming to my son and a couple of other new sailors.
Selling or trading gear at Guitar Center
Guitar Center comes up for buying and trading used gear — confirmed on their own site. Two things make the trip go better. First, bring the whole package: the case or gig bag, the original tremolo arm or bridge parts, the paperwork if you have it — a complete rig is worth real money more than a bare instrument, and it saves the back-and-forth of "can you bring the case in?" Second, know that trade credit almost always beats the cash offer, usually by a healthy margin — if you're upgrading anyway, price your old gear as a trade against the new one before you take cash. Either way, expect the offer to be below what the gear sells for on the wall; the gap is the store's margin for setup, warranty, and sitting on it until the right buyer walks in.
Lessons at Guitar Center
Reviews and the store's own info mention lessons at Guitar Center. If you're signing up a beginner (or restarting yourself), a quick call ahead answers the three things that matter: which instruments they teach, whether the schedule has openings at the time you actually need, and what a first lesson costs. There's no wrong first guitar — a good teacher will happily work with whatever you walk in with, and a shop that teaches usually keeps affordable starter instruments and rentals on hand for exactly this reason.
