Musician's Friend Reviews 

I have been a Musician's Friend customer for over a decade and probably longer in an order database. My main reason I usually choose MF as my first choice is due to their Reward Point system and free delivery.

What would benefit MF for purchases and for their customers is if they added a search feature in past purchases on their website. I sometimes want to know what I have ordered in the past, when, cost or if in fact I already have an item.

I would recommend MF reviews how Amazon does this and how it increased their purchasing income. A large percentage of my latest orders, from Amazon, were made possible by searching through my past orders.

This modification to the MF past orders page would not be difficult for the programmer of the website.

The instruments are kind of nice but they over promote their technology in the chat then sell me something that 1. I don't need. 2. Is really expensive. 3. Has poor sound quality. 4. Returns are almost impossible. 5. Is too bulky. 6. Has a better replacement somewhere else that happens to be 10 times less cost.

I did like the instruments just not the tech. Their tech is terrible, overpriced, and they have no idea what they are selling.

unstoppable spam marketing, I have never subscribed to any newsletter of this "company" or have done any business with these .... yet I am getting daily harassed with their unstoppable, blocks out ruling, spam marketing. Update: Nothing have changed.Daily spam continues and to repeat myself I have NEVER done any business with you, or have visited your website or whatever biz you are running or have subscribed to any marketing or communation. Your illegal emails out rule spam filter on purpose. Should this not stop, I will take legal actions.

Sold me an amp online, confirmed it. I called representative asked about accessories it didn’t come with. I bought a cover and footswitch locally. Two hours after talking to their rep I got an email saying my order was canceled with no explanation. Poor customer service all around, after years of my patronage. Goodby
Order date- 8/30/2026 order #MFW8335026542

I ordered a set of green base strings. They sent me 3 green and 1 pink. Can't get them to send me the one string. Repeatably sent pictures like they ask and just get the runaround. Dishonest people

I bought a line 6 amp and when they shipped it they broke one of the knobs off when I asked for a refund they made me do all the leg work so I said forget it. Do yourself a favor if you're a musician don't use these guys you sweetwater.com these guys are a joke. I can tell you right now I will never be going through you guys ever again go F@$& yourselves

I am extremely disappointed with my experience.

I purchased what I was told was a display model guitar. I agreed because I was assured it was in excellent condition and believed I would still be protected by the store’s return policy if the instrument wasn’t the right fit for me.

I owned the guitar for less than a month. During that time, I used it only four times for guitar lessons and three times at home. I never dropped it, scratched it, or damaged it in any way.

When I decided the guitar simply wasn’t right for me and requested an exchange within the return period, the store suddenly refused. Even worse, they sent me photos of the same cosmetic imperfections that already existed when I received the display model and tried to use them against me as a reason to deny my return.

In other words, they acknowledged they sold me a display unit with existing wear, but when I exercised my right to exchange it, they blamed me for those same imperfections.

I trusted this store and expected honesty and fair customer service. Instead, I felt completely ignored and treated as though my concerns didn’t matter. Rather than standing behind the product they sold me, they chose to deny responsibility.

If you’re considering buying a display model here, be very careful. Take detailed photos of every inch of the instrument before leaving the store, because if you have a problem later, you may be held responsible for pre-existing wear.

This experience has been incredibly frustrating and disappointing. I cannot recommend this store based on how they handled my case.

receieved wrong item, customer support refused to refund and ended up closing my chat before i was done.

With Friends like these, who needs enemies?

I purchased a brand new $900 synthesizer from Musician’s Friend. I paid full retail price. This was not a discounted item.

The instrument I received came from Guitar Center. It was scuffed and clearly used. It came with none of the original packaging or manuals. When I contacted Musician’s Friend, they said it is an “open box customer return, but it’s brand new.”

If someone opened it, used it, scuffed it up and returned it with no packaging or manuals, it’s USED. Calling it “brand new” is a lie and charging full retail price is unethical.

I now know that Guitar Center owns Musician’ Friend, but if it’s more than just a subsidiary. The orders are fulfilled by Guitar Center. Musician”s Friend is literally just a different website interface for Guitar Center.

I had an extremely disappointing experience with Musician’s Friend and UPS.
My package was misdelivered by UPS to an “AMAZON Dock” location instead of my address. The UPS driver later acknowledged the delivery error and stated that the person who received the package refused to return it.
Despite the Proof of Delivery clearly showing that the shipment was delivered to the wrong location, I was ultimately told by Musician’s Friend that the issue was no longer their responsibility and that I would need to pursue UPS myself.
I never received the item or a proper resolution after multiple follow-ups. Very frustrating experience, especially for an expensive instrument purchase.

Horrible company. I bought a Fender stool. It came with missing screws. There were some screws but they were the wrong size. I called for them just to send the screes. I was told I had to re-pack the stool and return it. I asked them just to send the screws. That’s not their policy I was told. I’ll never buy from them again. Sweeteater is a much better option with outstanding customer service.

The company can improve by hiring competent people. Many customer service reps have attitudes and are very unprofessional and lack knowledge of product and company policy.

I ordered a PRS SE Studio Standard guitar, which on the Musicians Friend website and all their associated ads, showed a gray guitar with black pickguard. When I received the guitar, it had a white pickguard so I called and they said they would send me the correct guitar. The second guitar was exactly like the first -- clearly they had not even bothered to check if was the correct guitar or not. DO BETTER.

I appreciate the ease of problem resolution that was given by John when I called about my issue. I purchased a brand new Boss Katana Artist Gen 3, what I ended up with was obviously a floor model. When I called about it I was refunded what I felt was a fair amount for an excellent amp. Many thanks and cheers to John for making me feel appreciated as a customer of Musicians Friend.

Pure trash customer service. And management is horrible also. Worst company out there

So I'm not denying that this company does some things well, pricing and product range tend to be good, and the ability to earn credit towards future purchases through memebership points is nice. But after my latest incident (and in seeing from other reviews that this kind of occurence is not that unusual) there was no way I could go above 2 stars. To recap, they had an open box special on a Squier bass I was interested in. Seeing that the price was so attractive, I jumped on it right away, buying it immediately and feeling really good about the purchase. Then a week passes by and don't hear anything from them. Then another and I get a message apologizing for the delay but saying the item has been backordered (I knew right then the shennanigans were coming). A few days later I'm told by them sorry, you "stumped us," we don't have this item anymore, we'll be returning your money. They included a phone # for a customer service person to call if I wanted to discuss further. Well of course I did, I was aggravated as hell and wanted some satisfaction for the nonsense they pulled on me. But from the 1st moment I started the call I could tell this guy had gone thru the most basic "dealing with clients 101" training, expressing lots of pretend empathy and understanding, always staying calm and pretend friendly, but doing nothing for me in reality. You would think that given how they screwed me out of a legal purchase I made, how they kept my money for a few weeks, denying me the opportunity to purchase the same instrument or something similar from someone else during this time period, that they might've thrown me a bone in compensation, a gift card maybe or at least a % off a future purchase coupon. But no, nothing. Instead what I got was the CSR's sales training from MF kicking in and him pushing other basses they have in stock on me (none of them being on special like the previous one mind you). He even offered me the opportunity to buy it right there and then from him on the phone using my cc, how lucky for me!!! Such absolute crap. I'm sure they either had some favored customer jump the line ahead of me to get the bass I bought, or maybe someone from the company saw what a good deal it was and took it themselves, or it's possible it was simply a bait and switch scheme along and they never actually had the item but used it to lure suckers like me in. Whatever the case, it's a gross way to do business. Cutthroat practices like that are ruining the retail sector and they didn't even have the decency to try and make things right with me, just pushed the hard sell instead. So if you've transacted with them and never encountered this situation, God bless you, I can understand your having mostly postive feelings. But me, I can't pretend this never happened and will be looking to purchase my musical equipment elsewhere. I may not always love Guitar Center, but they never F'ed me over like this.

Gear Advisor Karl Simons was outstanding! Very knowledgeable, good listener and patient.
This guy deserves a raise!

Sales representatives are top-notch. Diligent, accommodating and service-oriented.

I ordered an Epiphone Les Paul Standard '60s Quilt Top Limited-Edition - Translucent Blue guitar. I am in Costa Rica, so I told them to package it accordingly as it was going through a 3rd party. It arrived at the 3rd party on 2/12/2026. I received it 2½ weeks later which in normal. The packaging was terrible. The guitar was in it's box and it was placed inside another box with one piece of paper for packing. It arrived with a broken E string, and the B string was moved over one notch, and a little nick on the top of the headstock. The color was nowhere near what it was advertised as. It is an aquamarine instead of blue. I told them repeatedly to email me and not to use the telephone number provided as it is my son's that I use. They continued to try to call my son. I put the guitar in it's case (that I bought) and it has remained there until today. I decided I should at least try it out and try and get used to the color as I cannot afford to buy another guitar. I took it out of the case and noticed the head stock is starting to crack. Probably due to the non existent packaging. The 45 day window is passed, and I could not return it anyway because of the shipping charges I would incur. To say I am dissatisfied and extremely angry is an understatement. I will never do business with this company again, and I urge anyone else to do the same. They do not listen to instructions. They are not user friendly. They are, IMHO, a company who cares only about the sale and nothing more.

I'm pretty suprised at how bad Musicians Friend and it's co-company guitar center have fallen from grace. This used to be where you went to get the gear you needed and trust the source. Putting a studio together in the late 90s early 2000 wouldn't have been possible without these companies and their knowledgeable staff.
This my friends is not the same trusted expertise we once knew.
I ordered a gretsch guitar from Guitar Center end of February. It arrived quickly but to my supeise it was definitely not a new in box Gretsch. In fact it was in a make shift box that at least the top half was clearly labeled Yamaha.
To my suprise this guitar had a very visible Crack in the neck. You couldn't miss this sad sight. I paid the new price not the floor model price. I call them up and the best they can help is for me to go to the closet store to return it. Just makes the whole process easier on them, you know. Wouldn't want anyone to check into why a cracked necked used floor model guitar shipped in a weird hodgepodge box was sent to a customer who just paid $700ish for a new guitar.
I return it at the store in webster. Shoot out to the staff at the Webster store in Texas. Solid staff. Had my return processed and on my way.
Now I'm on the hunt for my guitar again and Musicians Friend says they have one, new, in stock, ready to ship today!
Man, I wish i would have read some reviews instead of trusting this once trusted company.
I talk to a sales person who totally lied in my face. I told him I wanted to verify if they had a new Gretsch, in stock ready to ship. Explained what just went down with their other company and he assures me that yes they do have it, yes in stock, new, ready to ship he'll even help me get it ordered. Emailed me the secure payment process, took my 800 bucks with a flat out dumb lie after another. Like why?
I'm thinking all is well and decided to check on the shipping since it's been 3 days since. What? No shipping info? Guitar is back ordered? Live chat please. Live chat lies like a dog too. Oh we do have one; it is new; it's coming from our store in Ohio; let me call then now they are just so busy hold on. Ok they have it ready to ship out in the morning 1st thing you'll have it by Friday. Yeah right!
Thursday I check still expecting my guitar and nope no shipping info at all. Like what? I forgot to mention that last guy gave me a free shipping upgrade guaranteed for Friday. Lol
Ok back to live chat, this guy is straight up rude. Looks it up and proceeds to pull the same excat lines from yesterday's live chat dude. Verbatim. I said this is what I was told yesterday. You're just telling me the same lines. Its in Ohio they will ship first thing in the morning just got off the phone with them. Then tells me I can call Ohio myself. No thank you, I've had enough lies for the day.
Come Saturday no guitar no shipping or tracking back to live chat. This time I get some honesty. This time I'm chatting with a lady who informed me that I was getting a floor model from Ohio. Im like excuse me? That can't be. I definitely checked and double checked and paid for a new in box ready to ship guitar. She said she was sorry and not alot she could do but help cancel it.
And thats what I did.
Luckily, after all that ridiculous circus, I found one on reverb from a local seller that arrived Sunday.
If you made it this far, the morel of the story is don't even think about doing business with this fallen flat company.