Guitar Center
Latest Guitar Center guitar news, new electric and acoustic guitars, signature models, artist collaborations, and releases tracked by Guitar Radar.
Guitar Radar follows Guitar Center through 3 stories, covering new gear, launches and company news as they happen. Most of it sits under industry and gear. The most recent story, from Sep 28, 2026, is “Ashdown makes Guitar Center and Musician's Friend its exclusive U.S. retail partners”. Coverage here goes back to Aug 30, 2026.
About Guitar Center
Guitar Center is the largest musical-instrument retailer in the United States. It began in Hollywood in 1959 as The Organ Center, selling electronic organs, then became The Vox Center in 1964 when it added Vox amplifiers, before settling on the name Guitar Center. Under Ray Scherr it expanded from a single store into a national chain, and it went public in 1997.
The company also runs Musician's Friend and Music & Arts, and has been closely tied to guitar culture, for example through the Rock Walk on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, which honors musicians with handprints. It is headquartered in Westlake Village, California.
Because Guitar Center is a retailer rather than a maker, Guitar Radar follows it for industry news, store and ownership changes, and exclusive products.
Sources: Wikipedia: Guitar Center · NAMM Oral History: Ray Scherr
Stories
Ashdown makes Guitar Center and Musician's Friend its exclusive U.S. retail partners
The British amp maker says the deal puts its widest American range yet into 300 Guitar Center stores and online through Musician's Friend.
Sep 28, 2026
Guitar Center opens prototype testing for its new in-house guitar brand
Players near Los Angeles can apply to test early Guitar Labs prototypes under NDA as the retailer moves its house-brand project into hands-on R&D.
Sep 12, 2026
Guitar Center's 2026 Crossroads collection revives Clapton's Blind Faith Tele and a 70-piece Mayer Silver Sky
The charity run, timed to this year's Crossroads Guitar Festival, spans Clapton signature Martins, a Fender Custom Shop recreation of his 1969 Telecaster and a limited PRS Silver Sky finished for John Mayer.
Aug 30, 2026