The company was founded in Hollywood in 1959 as The Organ Center, a retailer of electronic organs for home and church use, by Wayne Mitchell. In 1964, after one of his suppliers informed him that in order to continue receiving organs he would also have to carry Voxguitar amplifiers, Mitchell added the amps and changed the store's name to The Vox Center, capitalizing on the popularity of the Beatles and their association with the Vox brand. Toward the end of the 1960s, as other brands like Marshall rose in popularity, Mitchell changed the name again to Guitar Center.[2][3]
By 1972, Guitar Center had expanded to eight locations and eventually opened stores in San Francisco, San Diego and suburbs of Los Angeles. The company was purchased from Mitchell in the late 1970s[4] by Ray Scherr, the General Manager of the San Francisco store.
The 1980s "guitar rock" revival, led by Van Halen and an influx of Japanese-produced instruments, brought guitar sales to unprecedented levels, and Guitar Center expanded across the United States to become the largest musical instrument retailer in the country.[5]
Scherr sold the company in 1996. The following year, with 30 stores on the West Coast and in Michigan, Ohio, and Florida, Guitar Center made an initial public offering of stock and opened more new locations.[6][7]
In 2000, Guitar Center acquired mail order and e-commerce retailer Musician's Friend[8] for $50 million, and said the merged company was the world's largest seller of musical instruments.[9] Musician's Friend became a wholly owned subsidiary, with its headquarters remaining in Medford, Oregon.
In 2005, Guitar Center Inc. acquired Music & Arts, the largest band and orchestra dealer in the United States, and merged it with their American Music Group chain of band and orchestral stores. The company was renamed Music & Arts.[10] The same year, Guitar Center, Inc., started The Fender Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supported music education.[11]
In 2006, Guitar Center acquired four stores in Texas from the South Texas and Central/South American company, Hermes.[12] In the same year, Activision partnered with Guitar Center, and all purchases made during game play of Guitar Hero, beginning with the second installment, were made in a virtual Guitar Center store.
In February 2007, the Musician's Friend division acquired assets of the Indiana-based company Dennis Bamber, Inc., which included band and orchestra retailer Woodwind & Brasswind, plus Music 123 and Lyons Music.
In June 2007, Guitar Center agreed to a $1.9 billion buyout from Bain Capital, totaling $2.1 billion including debt. The deal was led by Goldman Sachs and amounted to a per-share price of $63, or a 26% premium on the June 26 closing price. The deal was approved by shareholders on September 18, 2007, and closed October 9, 2007.[13]
In mid-2009, Guitar Center opened its first rehearsal and lessons studio facility in Woodland Hills, California, consisting of eight studios with backline, ranging in size from 350–550 square feet (33–51m2).
In 2011, Musician's Friend's headquarters operations were moved to Guitar Center's facilities in Westlake Village, California.[14] In the same year, Guitar Center began offering equipment rentals in one of their San Diego stores. Rental departments were extended to ten other locations, with plans to offer rentals across the country.
In May 2013, Standard & Poor's cut its debt rating on Bain Capital-owned Guitar Center Holdings Inc. to "junk bond" status, citing struggles with "weak operating trends." The corporate credit rating on the company dropped from B to 'CCC+'.[15]
In April 2014, Ares Management took a controlling stake in Guitar Center. Bain Capital, Guitar Center's former owner, retained partial ownership of the company, along with representation on the board. According to Mike Pratt, the retailer's previous chief executive, the deal would reduce Guitar Center's total debt and provide it with the resources to expand and invest in its business.[16]
In April, 2017, Moody's Investors Service revised the outlook on Guitar Center's B2 rating to negative. In the face of flat sales in the musical instrument industry as a whole, Guitar Center became overwhelmed by its $1 billion debt. [21]
Guitar Center filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and the Times Square location was closed. On November 13, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Guitar Center announced that it planned to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after negotiating a debt-cutting deal with key investors and lenders. Guitar Center said it had received up to $165 million in new equity, and lenders agreed to reduce its debt by around $800 million.[22][23][24] The company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 23, 2020, after a reorganization deal added additional equity and debt capital.[25]
Clapton's cherry red Gibson 335 was used to record Cream’s versions of "Badge" and "Crossroads (from their final live performance in November 1968), and other historical performances over 40 years. Steve Ray Vaughan’s "Lenny" was used to record his classic love songs, including "Lenny" and "Riviera Paradise". The Edge's cream-colored 1975 Les Paul Custom, faded from its original white, had been used for U2's stage and studio performances. All the proceeds from the sale of these guitars went to Clapton’s Crossroads Center charity.
In 2005, the Edge, producer Bob Ezrin, Gibson, and the Guitar Center Music Foundation (now known as the Fender Music Foundation) established Music Rising, a charity to benefit musicians whose lives had been disrupted by Hurricane Katrina. In 2007 The Edge donated his guitar to be auctioned for the charity and It was sold for $240,000 to Guitar Center ($288,000 including Buyer's Premium).[29]
Guitar Center's Drum-Off
From 1988 through 2016, Guitar Center conducted an annual search for the next great undiscovered drummer. Developed to spotlight the drumming community, the Drum-Off was the music retailer’s longest running artist-discovery program.[30]
The process of Guitar Center’s Drum-Off[31] began with three rounds of preliminary competitions at each of Guitar Center's 250+ locations nationwide, with each contestant allowed five minutes of set up time and three minutes to perform. One winner from each store final competition advanced to one of 30 quarterfinal competitions, and one winner from each quarterfinal competition advanced to one of five semifinal competitions, during which contestants were allowed five minutes to perform. The winners from each of these five semifinal competitions qualified to compete in front of a live audience and a panel of celebrity judges at Guitar Center's Drum-Off finals in Los Angeles, California.
In the finals, each contestant was required to perform on a 5-piece acoustic drum kit complete with hardware, cymbals, cowbell, throne and the option to incorporate a Roland SPD-30 Octapad (the SPD-30 was not included in 2016). Contestants were evaluated by a panel of independent and credible judges on the following criteria: skills & technique, groove, originality, stage presence, and overall performance.
Guitar Center discontinued their sponsorship of the annual contest in 2017.[citation needed]
Connections Made by Guitar Center, a collaboration between 88.5 KCSNLos Angeles and Guitar Center, was a weekly one-hour radio program hosted by radio host Nic Harcourt featuring new music from both signed and unsigned artists from across the globe and musical spectrum.[38]
Eric Patrick Clapton is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. He ranked second in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". In 2023, Rolling Stone named Clapton the 35th best guitarist of all time. He was also named number five in Time magazine's list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009.
Borders Group, Inc. was an American multinational book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. In its final year, the company employed about 19,500 people throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders and Waldenbooks stores.
Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began as a mail ordering catalog company migrating to opening retail locations in 1925, the first in Chicago. In 2005, the company was bought by the management of the American big box discount chain Kmart, which upon completion of the merger, formed Sears Holdings. Through the 1980s, Sears was the largest retailer in the United States. In 2018, it was the 31st-largest. After several years of declining sales, Sears's parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 15, 2018. It announced on January 16, 2019, that it had won its bankruptcy auction, and that a reduced number of 425 stores would remain open, including 223 Sears stores.
Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is an American department store chain that operates 663 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Men's, Women's, Boys', Girls', Baby, Bedding, Home, Fine Jewelry, Shoes, Lingerie, JCPenney Salon, JCPenney Beauty, as well as leased departments such as Seattle's Best Coffee, US Vision optical centers, and Lifetouch portrait studios.
Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids and various others. The company was founded in 1948; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters located in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area.
Claire's is an American retailer of accessories, jewelry, and toys primarily aimed toward tween and teen girls. It was founded in 1961 and is based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The company is primarily owned by Elliott Management and Monarch Alternative Capital, but, in 2022, announced plans to go public with an initial public offering.
Circuit City Corporation, Inc., formerly Circuit City Stores, Inc., was an American consumer electronics retail company, which was founded in 1949 by Samuel Wurtzel as the Wards Company, operated stores across the United States, and pioneered the electronics superstore format in the 1970s. After multiple purchases and a successful run on the NYSE, it changed its name to Circuit City Stores Inc.
The Crossroads Guitar Festival is a series of music festivals and benefit concerts founded by Eric Clapton. The festivals benefit the Crossroads Centre founded by Eric Clapton, a drug treatment center in Antigua. The concerts showcase a variety of guitarists, selected by Eric Clapton personally. To the 2007 audience, Clapton declared that each performer was one of the very best, and had earned his personal respect.
Tower Records is an international retail franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Records filed for bankruptcy and liquidation. Tower Records was purchased by a separate entity and was not affected by the retail store closings.
Barneys New York is an American department store chain founded in 1923 by Barney Pressman. The company operated full-line department stores in the United States from 1923 until 2020. Authentic Brands Group acquired Barneys' intellectual property in 2019, and has licensed the brand to Saks Fifth Avenue for specialty departments within its flagship stores since 2021.
Blackie is the nickname given by Eric Clapton to his favorite Fender Stratocaster.
Fortunoff is a New York–based retailer of outdoor furniture and jewelry.
Jo-Ann Stores, LLC, more commonly known as Jo-Ann, is an American haberdashery and mercery based in Hudson, Ohio. It operates the retail chains JOANN Fabrics and Crafts and Jo-Ann Etc. The headquarters of the company is located in the former General Motors Terex plant.
Hastings Entertainment was an American retail chain that sold books, movies, music, and video games and functioned as a video rental shop. As of 2016 it had 126 superstores, which were mainly located in the South Central United States, Rocky Mountain States, and in parts of the Great Plains and Midwestern states. Hastings Entertainment stores were also located in many college towns in the U.S. Hastings Entertainment was headquartered in Amarillo, Texas.
Woodwind & Brasswind is the largest online retailer of band and orchestra instruments in the United States. Formerly based in South Bend, Indiana, the company today serves customers exclusively through their website and call center.
"Call Me the Breeze" is a rock song by J. J. Cale. It first appeared on his 1972 debut album, Naturally, as the opening track. The song consists of a 12-bar blues guitar shuffle and features the early use of a drum machine.
Live from Madison Square Garden is a double CD and DVD live album by Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood, which was released on 19 May 2009 by Duck / Reprise Records. The album is made up of recordings from Clapton and Winwood's performances at Madison Square Garden in February 2008. It is Clapton's ninth live album and Winwood's first live album as a solo artist.
The NAMM Oral History Program is an oral history project and archive of recordings of interviews with people from all aspects of the music products industry, including music instrument retailers, musical instrument and product creators, suppliers and sales representatives, music educators and advocates, publishers, live sound and recording pioneers, innovators, founders, and musicians.
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$2.14 billion
