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Guitar Center
4.3 ★★★★☆ 1,303 Google reviews · Guitar & music store in San Francisco, California
Chain selling guitars and other musical instruments. Customers can try out the gear.
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 (415) 409-0350
- 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
“Acoustics are really my thing and there is a whole selection.”
“Lots of guitars and basses, but as a drummer, it's great to have the entire 2nd floor dedicated to drums!”
“Lots of amps, pedals, and other essential gear.”
“I bought a focusrite 3rd gen 2i2 interface for around 40$ with a microphone trade in and it works great.”
“I had so many questions and needed extra an lesson on how to connect speakers+ mics they were super patient and provided their best recommendations.”
“Lots of guitars and basses, but as a drummer, it's great to have the entire 2nd floor dedicated to drums!”
Brands they deal
What players say again and again
“In addition he is equipped with an exceptional amount of knowledge and experience especially in the category of high end guitars .”
“There are also surprisingly good deals in the drum dept.”
From the reviews
Fernando, Sean and Ed were all very helpful when it came to my rental. I had so many questions and needed extra an lesson on how to connect speakers+ mics they were super patient and provided their best recommendations.
Very passionate, knowledgeable and friendly staff. Incredible patience in helping us find our dream guitar!
Huge inventory. Mellow vibe. Drums and repairs upstairs. Plenty of room for folks using mobility aids.
Always like dropping in when I am here. Got lucky parking just around the corner. Lots of guitars and basses, but as a drummer, it's great to have the entire 2nd floor dedicated to drums! Unfortunately, it seems like nobody is ever working up there to help out. I had some Q's about a few snare but it was a ghost town.
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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