*20% off a single-item purchase of new equipment. Trade-in must be an American-made guitar or bass. Maximum discount of $500. Credit must be redeemed during same transaction. Not to be used in conjunction with other coupons, promotions or offers. Excludes discounted and clearance items, price matches, used/vintage equipment, tax/shipping charges, gift cards, scratch and dent, and musician services (Pro Coverage, Guitar Center Repairs, Guitar Center Rentals and Guitar Center Lessons).
Why Trade or Sell With Us?
If you're looking to sell your gear, Guitar Center makes it safe and easy. Our team of experts will evaluate your gear, make you an offer on qualifying items and pay you same-day.
We’ll Pay up to $1,000 in Cash*
*Excludes the following: Special orders, gift cards, Guitar Center Rentals, Guitar Center Lessons, Guitar Center Repairs, used items, vintage items, open-box items, clearance items and any purchase where a manual discount is taken at register. Qualifying purchase amount must be on one receipt and cannot be combined with promotional coupons. No interest will be charged and equal monthly payments are required on promo purchase until it is paid in full. The payments equal the amount financed divided by the number of months in the promo period, rounded up to the next whole dollar. These payments may be higher than the payments that would be required if this purchase was a non-promo purchase. During the last month(s) of the promo period the required monthly payment may be reduced due to the prior months’ rounding. Regular account terms apply to non-promo purchases. For New Accounts as of 7/31/2025: Purchase APR is 34.99%. Penalty APR 39.99%. Min Interest Charge $2. Existing cardholders: See your credit card agreement terms. Subject to credit approval. Offer available 12/4-12/24/2025.
Same-Day, Hassle-Free
When You Sell With Guitar Center
Plus, Save 10% on Something New
when you trade in your gear for a trade credit
***View Exclusions and Limitations Below
Due to legal restrictions, cash payment is not available at these stores: Greensboro, NC; Rockville, MD; and Saginaw, MI.
How It Works
1. Get Your Gear Ready
Before you bring you gear in, give it a good clean and make sure you have all of the parts gathered and ready to go.
2. Bring in Your Gear
Next, you’ll come into your local store so we can get a closer look at your gear. We’ll give it an expert evaluation, then potentially make you an offer on qualifying items.
3. Get Paid
We’ll pay you for your gear same-day. Depending on your location, you’ll get either cash, check, prepaid card or trade-in credit. Make sure to bring a valid ID, too.
Frequently Asked Questions
We buy used guitars, basses, drums, amps, keys and MIDI, folk and traditional instruments, recording gear,
effect pedals, DJ gear, live sound equipment and more.
However, the following items do not qualify for trade-in:
Acoustic pianos, instrument cables, power cords, custom-built cables or snakes, copyrighted material
(software, books, videos and DVDs), computers and consumer electronics, snakes and switching systems, analog
tape recorders, wireless units, guitar parts, strings, drum sticks and drum heads, upright acoustic basses,
large recording and live sound mixers, studio furniture, lighting gear, drum hardware (low end), turntables
(other than Technics), stand-alone digital hard disk recorders, DAT and CD recorders, and band and orchestra
instruments.
Guitar Center has decades of experience fairly evaluating used and vintage gear for purchase. When you bring
your instrument in, an associate will evaluate the piece based on several factors, including condition,
historical sales data, market desirability and current stock levels.
For vintage gear, we have a dedicated group of experts who are available during all Guitar Center open hours to
assist in evaluations. We take pride in our acquisition process and are firmly committed to making fair market
wholesale offers.
All payments for gear sold at Guitar Center are made same-day. We pay up to $1,000 in cash* for used and vintage gear. Transactions totalling over $1,000 are paid fully via check.
Yes, Guitar Center pays up to $1,000 in cash* for used and vintage gear. However, because of legal restrictions, these stores do not pay out cash: Greensboro, NC; Rockville, MD; and Saginaw, MI.
You’ll get paid on the same day that you sell your gear. You can also apply your trade-in credit to upgrade to something new.
Unfortunately, Guitar Center does not buy gear without an in-hand inspection at one of our locations.
Once you’re at the store, an associate will evaluate your gear and assess the item(s) based on condition of the piece, historical sales data, market desirability and current stock levels. If we make an offer and you accept it, we’ll pay for your gear same-day.
Yes, if you want to trade in your gear for something else, you can use the credit toward your purchase.
***View Exclusions and Limitations Below
Products from the following manufacturers are excluded from discount offer: A Designs, ADAM, ADAM Audio, Aguilar, Allen & Heath, Alvarez, Ampeg, Antelope Audio, Apogee, Apple, Arturia, Ashdown, Ashly Audio, Avantone, Avid, BAE, Barefoot Sound, Beetronics FX, Blackstar, Bose, Boss, Burl Audio, Caparison Guitars, Catalinbread, Chapman, Crate, Cusack Music, D'Angelico, D.W. Fearn, Dangerous Music, Dean Markley, Deering, Duesenberg USA, Earthquaker Devices, Earthworks, Electro-Harmonix, Elysia, Empress Effects, Epiphone, Ernie Ball Music Man, EVH, Fender, Fender Custom Shop, FOCAL, Focusrite, Fostex, Friedman, Fulltone, Fulltone Custom Shop, Gallien-Krueger, Gibson, Gibson Custom, Godin, Golden Age Project, GoPro, HeadRush, Heritage Audio, iConnectivity, ISP Technologies, iZotope, JHS Pedals, Johnson, Keeley, Kemper, Korg, Kramer, Kurzweil, Kush Audio, LaChapell Audio, Lag Guitars, Lakland, Lauten Audio, Lewitt Audio Microphones, Lindell Audio, Lucida, Mackie, Manley, Marshall, Martin, Meris, METRIC HALO, Millennia, Milkman Sound, Mojave Audio, Moog, MOTU, Native Instruments, Neumann, Nord, Novation, Orange Amplifiers, Paiste, Pettyjohn Electronics, Phoenix Audio, Primacoustic, PRS, Palatino, QSC, Radial Engineering, Randall, Rane, Reloop, Reverend, RME, Rockett Pedals, Roland, Roland Cloud, Royer, Ruach Music, S.E. Shires, Savannah, se Electronics, Seagull, Sennheiser, Sequential, SERATO, Shure, SKB, Slate Digital, Slate Pro Audio, Slate Media Technology, Softube, Soundbrenner, Source Audio, Spector, Squier, Steinberger, Steven Slate Drums, Strandberg, Studiologic, Supro, Suzuki, Taylor, Teenage Engineering, Telefunken, Teletronix, The Loar, Toft Audio Designs, Tone King, Tube-Tech, VHT, Voodoo Lab, Vox, Walrus Audio, Wampler, Warm Audio, WESTONE, Xotic Effects, Yamaha, ZT, Zvex.
Our product catalog varies by country due to manufacturer restrictions. If you change the Ship-To country, some or all of the items in your cart may not ship to the new destination.