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Guitar Center
4.2 ★★★★☆ 970 Google reviews · Guitar & music store in Lake Forest, California
Musical instrument store showcasing brands such as Fender, Gibson, Cordoba and Fender, offering used 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 (949) 609-0055
- 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
“No pressure, just music: I told the salesperson I needed an acoustic guitar because years ago my ex-girlfriend stole mine and it was time for me to pick up where I left off.”
“Bought a sick Les Paul, didn’t take a long time to check out.”
“I have taken two of my guitars to this location to have work done, one was a set up on my acoustic and the other was a fretless conversion to my bass.”
“Was given a great price at Reno store and Years later my son who's now in his 30s have used that keyboard to become a 8 time Grammy Award winning producer 👏.”
“They had an incredible range of musical instruments, DJ setups, and microphones available for testing, which made the experience both enjoyable and convenient.”
“They also have a banjo room, which is a cool and unexpected feature, along with a solid guitar section.”
“As a thriller author who also runs guitar, piano, and violin YouTube channels, I always enjoy visiting music stores, and the Lake Forest Guitar Center is a great location.”
“As a thriller author who also runs guitar, piano, and violin YouTube channels, I always enjoy visiting music stores, and the Lake Forest Guitar Center is a great location.”
Brands they deal
“Husband took in his Epiphone 335 for a tune up and luckily he got to meet a service tech named Ralph.”
What players say again and again
“They had an incredible range of musical instruments, DJ setups, and microphones available for testing, which made the experience both enjoyable and convenient.”
“He immediately put his expertise to use and surmised something was a little off about my acoustic.”
“Was given a great price at Reno store and Years later my son who's now in his 30s have used that keyboard to become a 8 time Grammy Award winning producer 👏.”
“I got got my first guitar at age 58 for Christmas.”
From the reviews
No pressure, just music: I told the salesperson I needed an acoustic guitar because years ago my ex-girlfriend stole mine and it was time for me to pick up where I left off. I said I wanted one with a tuning device built in and I was hoping to spend like $250 to $500 on it.
Ralph is a guitar magician. What I thought was going to be a long a tedious job, I walked in and he got it done in less than an hour. Absolutely excellent service. Ralph was also able to answer every question I had with detail. His attention to detail was amazing, measuring everything.
As a thriller author who also runs guitar, piano, and violin YouTube channels, I always enjoy visiting music stores, and the Lake Forest Guitar Center is a great location. There’s plenty of parking, which makes it easy to get in and out. Inside, the store has a strong layout with a wide range of gear to explore.
I bought a new Fender American Jazz bass guitar. When I received it, I checked with someone about setting it up, but they thought it was set up just right. While it played decently, I still felt it could be better. I decided to check again at Guitar Center at Lake Forest and I met Ralph.
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.
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