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Guitar Center
4.2 ★★★★☆ 294 Google reviews · Guitar & music store in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Chain carrying electric and acoustic instruments from top brands, along with lessons.
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 (603) 431-3248
- Website stores.guitarcenter.com
Hours
| Monday | 11 AM–7 PM |
| Tuesday | 11 AM–7 PM |
| Wednesday | 11 AM–7 PM |
| Thursday | 11 AM–7 PM |
| Friday | 11 AM–7 PM |
| Saturday | 11 AM–8 PM |
| Sunday | 11 AM–7 PM |
What's on the wall
“I am a guitar collector and have over 30 guitars in my collection and I buy them all the time .”
“They have both new and used drum sets that are very nice as well as beautiful new and used guitars, bases and other instruments”
“Went in here to buy my kid a pair of drumsticks for her drums.”
Brands they deal
What players say again and again
“I traded in some old equipment and received a fair price, plus if you spent what you sold today, you received 15% off.”
“Friendly and helpful staff guided us on the purchase of my sons first digital piano.”
From the reviews
I have updated my review for 1 star to 5 stars because of the professionalizm of Cory the District Manager / Leader . He was very responsive and took the time to converse with me . He was also very accessible even to his Staff .
Friendly and helpful staff guided us on the purchase of my sons first digital piano. Store was busy but they handled it very professionally!
Let me tell you about this gem! I walked into the store hoping to get a $219.00 Fender Squire P Bass. Right in front of me was the bass I wanted but it was $150.00!! The store salesman John was awesome and helped me out by adjusting the neck before I spent even a buck, just so I could be happy trying it out.
Went it to buy a Truss rod wrench for a Martin Guitar, they didn’t have one but the guitar tech (wish I remembered his name) told me a regular Allen wrench would reach and just use a standard nut driver on the end for leverage. Such a simple solution that I didn’t even think of doing. Worked great!!
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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