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REVEALED: Guitar center - The Real Truth

“We are about to do something insane… and you're the designer!”: Guitar Center is launching its own guitar brand and it wants players’ input with its design

CEO Gabe Dalporto wants to build a “a revolutionary guitar” and would like you to slide into his sub-Reddit with some ideas

MusicRadar

“Guitars haven’t changed that much in the last 50 years. We’re about to change that”: Guitar Center is setting up its own in-house guitar brand – and it’s asking players for their help

Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto says the retailer is going to build “the best guitar that has ever been made”

Guitar World

“I can't walk away, so I've come back to do the thing I know how to do best, which is play”: Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival announces 2026 lineup

Now in its seventh edition, the festival is set to take place in Austin, Texas – and features Buddy Guy, Joe Bonamassa, and John Mayer, while Trey Anastasio, Tommy Emmanuel, Julian Lage and Pete Townshend are all making their Crossroads debut

Guitar World

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“I walked into a Guitar Center one day and took it off the wall. It launched 1,000 ships of people chasing that sound”: The guitar that changed Billy Corgan’s life

It soundtracked two of the biggest alt-rock albums of all time, but as the Smashing Pumpkins leader remembers, the guitar itself was far from expensive

Guitar World

“He said the first guitar was an accident of God. By the fifth one he said, ‘OK, you’re a guitar maker’”: Carlos Santana was one of Paul Reed Smith’s earliest champions – but he thought his first guitars were too good to be true

Smith looks back on his early partnership with Santana in Guitar Center CEO's new 'Inside the Noise with Gabe Dalporto' podcast

Guitar World

“I showed up on the first day of shooting, saying, ‘This is a guitar I bought at Guitar Center. I want to use my guitar in the movie’”: Jack Black reveals he still owns the Gibson SG that characterized School of Rock

The off-the-shelf guitar became a piece of cinematic history in 2003 when it was featured in the once-in-a-generation movie

Guitar World

“They called the police and said, ‘This is Mark Tremonti’s guitar’”: Mark Tremonti once had one of his earliest PRS guitars stolen – but a fan bought it back for him from a Guitar Center parking lot

The gorgeous single-cut was thought to be lost forever, until one eagle-eyed fan saved the day

Guitar World

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“It must be hard to be a guitar god, because a bunch of people fancy themselves guitar gods and are annoying about it. But she actually is”: Lucy Dacus joins John Mayer in singing the praises of this emerging guitar genius

Forget sweep-picking and next-gen percussive acoustic fingerstyle guitar, Dacus says it's all about the bravery to play something different

Guitar World

“Time to add a 5th JHS pedal to my rig? With 25% off this just-launched distortion, it’s hard to resist”: All the guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including the unmissable Black Friday gear discounts I’m eyeing up

The Kilt celebrates its 10th birthday, Fractal goes up against IK Multimedia and Line 6, and Tom DeLonge reaches for the stars (literally)

Guitar World

Every year, Rob Scallon and Andrew Huang write and record an album in a day. For 2025, they did it in an open Guitar Center – and used any gear they wanted

The two YouTubers have taken their First of October recording project to the public domain

Guitar World

“No, that doesn’t sound right”: Robert Trujillo gatecrashes group Enter Sandman lesson at Guitar Center

He then joined in with Dave Kushner, Senior Director of Music Education at Guitar Center, and Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto to play the riff with the students

Guitar World

“It’s like, which kid do you love more? It’s really hard to say”: Guitar Center CEO reveals his favorite guitars he owns

Gabe Dalporto is a keen collector and player, as well as the CEO of the retail giant – and he’s got quite the collection

Guitar World

"This is every last plugin we've ever made": Purafied Audio puts $473 plugin bundle up for $2.38 in response to Guitar Center pricing error

That's a 99% discount

MusicRadar

“Paul Reed Smith sent me two amazing guitars because I lost all but one of my PRSs. That’s been one of the upsides”: Larry LaLonde lost his home in the LA wildfires, but Primus' new drummer, and two new PRSs, are keeping him focused

As a player who always wanted to be weird, LaLonde is in the right band. Recent adventures include saving the guitar Alex Lifeson gave him from a wildfire, dealing with 7,000 drummer applications, and raiding a Guitar Center when Primus' gear got stuck in snow

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“We read all the complaints. We’re far from perfect, but we’re moving very quickly to get a lot better”: Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto is on a mission to win back guitar players’ trust

These are uncertain times for brick-and-mortar guitar stores, but Dalporto is leading the fight back against unprecedented competition for guitar stores – and he thinks he’s found a winning formula

Guitar World

“I went to Guitar Center and saw this Iceman sitting there and I was like, ‘You know, that’s a guitar that not too many people use’”: How the Ibanez Iceman became System of a Down’s Daron Malakian’s go-to guitar – and why he initially didn’t play it live

The System of a Down guitarist even got his own limited-edition signature version in 2004

Guitar World

“I’m sure I’m not the only one they scammed. They’re hunting people like this”: Fake Guitar Center websites set up to scam players are on the rise – here’s what you need to look out for

A player was recently scammed out of $1,000 after falling prey to a scam website – and the retailer’s CEO has shared the red flags you need to be mindful of

Guitar World

“I compared the two and the $140 Squier Telecaster, to me, sounded better”: Why Skunk Baxter chose to buy a beginner guitar over a “bazillion” dollar vintage Telecaster

Baxter pitted the two guitars against each other during a trip to Guitar Center – and there was a clear winner

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Guitar World

Guitar Center secures three-year debt extension to ensure it can deliver on its business plan

The announcement comes amid increasing challenges for brick-and-mortar guitar stores and ongoing changes at Guitar Center to battle competition from digital retailers

Guitar World

“Like having a professional gear consultant in the palm of your hand”: Guitar Center introduces Rig Advisor, the guitar world’s first-ever AI shopping assistant

Rig Advisor leverages artificial intelligence in a bid to enhance the in-store shopping experience

Guitar World

“I said, ‘Give me a mop and some cleaning supplies.’ I scrubbed that bathroom and I made it spotless”: Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto is on a mission to raise store standards – and says he’s not above scrubbing restrooms

Dalporto took a trip to assess the on-scene situation at one of his stores – and ended up getting hands-on with the cleaning

Guitar World

“We worked at Guitar Center – There’s an air about people who tell you about their glory days. They’ll play the most expensive guitar for hours, then leave without buying anything!”: The Callous Daoboys on calculated chaos, and their secret “horrid” pedal

Maddie Caffrey and Daniel Hodsdon say they’ve outgrown “knockoff Dillinger Escape Plan” comparisons as they discuss the tonal delights of their new album, I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven

Guitar World

“Nike tried to go direct and pull back from retailers. It got crushed”: Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto may be facing new competition from Fender and Gibson in the retail space – but it isn’t fazing him

New Gibson and Fender stores on three continents present fresh challenges for the store, but Dalporto says “bring the competition on”

Guitar World

I’ve been watching acoustic guitar prices all year and Guitar Center's up to 35% off sale is the best I’ve seen – especially if you want an A-list model

Get your hands a top-level acoustic guitar for less with this awesome sale over at Guitar Center

Guitar World

“I talk a lot about ‘the serious musician,’ and that's our opportunity to create the next generation of serious musicians”: Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto lays out one of the store's next biggest priorities for 2025 – and it isn’t selling gear

Dalporto has already discussed his desire to improve the quality of gear that Guitar Center stocks – but he's also got his eye on avenue for growth

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