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Guitar Center
4.4 ★★★★☆ 834 Google reviews · Guitar & music store in Rockford, Illinois
Well-stocked music store offering a range of gear (including used models) 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 (815) 399-7240
- 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
“Came interested in buying fender jazz bass for country music.”
“I am in another state, so I had to call and speak with a staff member regarding an amp which is always a bit scary lol.”
“Gage my guitar instructor and Doug a tech pro are what keeps people like me coming back.”
“They’re knowledgeable about music and they do offer lessons regularly for guitar and I think piano as well.”
Brands they deal
What players say again and again
“I have to say, Griffon was a HUGE help navigating through the different styles and absolutely could not have made an educated decision without his expertise.”
“Daughter got her first guitar.”
From the reviews
We walked in for the first time ever yesterday. My son just began playing the guitar. He needed a new string and a cord for his amp. We both felt a little bit silly because we had never been there and didn't really know what we were doing. I was enormously impressed with the staff. They were so welcoming and helpful.
Took my step son Joey for new guitar 🎸 strings on a newly acquired second hand guitar and wanted to see if the guitar he acquired works as well as the amp/receiver sounds maker was a awesome experience and they played a funny frff for me and we all had the hole store laughing in our bonding of music 🎶 it was true…
I've been to 3 different Guitar Centers and The Chicago Music Exchange and this is by far THE place to go! Our family is new to guitars and my son was looking to buy an electric guitar to add to his acoustic. He had no idea what to be looking for and the selection was quite overwhelming.
This is definitely one of the good guitar centers. They’re knowledgeable about music and they do offer lessons regularly for guitar and I think piano as well. They have a decent selection of music equipment, but it feels a bit small in there and somewhat overcrowded at times.
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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