Guitar Center has issued an open call for guitar players to test its new in-house electric guitar, but it comes with a few conditions.
The retail giant has been busy working on its own guitar brand for almost a year now, long before the project was publicly announced back in April.
For the as-yet-unnamed venture, Guitar Center asked players for their help, inviting ideas and feedback on social media platforms in an ambitious attempt to bring something new to the market. Now they’ve entered the next stage of development.
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“We’ve been building and creating a new guitar line from scratch, and that new guitar line has been based on interactions with you and your feedback,” Dalporto says on Instagram. “You guys have been giving us tons of feedback on your aspirations and dreams and hopes of what you would like to see in a new guitar.
“We are now at the point where we’re getting prototypes into our office and we want real-world feedback – feedback from you.”
The call has been issued to those in the LA area. Testing will take place at Guitar Center’s office in Westlake Village, CA, in late September and early October. Those wanting to get involved can email info@GCPLB.com with some background information on you and your playing style.
However, there are a few things to note. Rich Thrush, lead on the Guitar Labs project, laid out the terms for getting hands-on with the prototype in a Reddit post.
“You’ll need to visit our Westlake Village, CA office in early October, leave your phone outside the testing area, and sign a Non Disclosure Agreement before participating,” the post reads. “We’re looking for genuine players who are willing to share honest opinions.
“If you’re primarily an influencer or represent a brand, please let us know when you reach out. We’d still love to connect, but we’ll likely involve you at a later stage of the project.”
@guitarcenter It’s time to throw out the rule book and build a new guitar with no constraints, and you’re the designer! Follow @ gdalporto on Instagram to stay tuned in the guitar building journey, and join the subthread, r/GuitarLab, on Reddit to see the whole conversation unfold—link in bio. ——— By submitting your idea, design, suggestion or feedback (collectively, “Idea”), you affirm that your Idea is your original creation, and that any Idea submitted by you is wholly original and owned by you, and cleared for use by Guitar Center, Inc. (“Guitar Center”) without the need for additional licensing. By submitting your Idea, you assign, transfer, give and relinquish to Guitar Center all right, title and interest in and to the Idea or any material based upon or derived therefrom for no consideration. Guitar Center may use and exploit, without any payment or attribution obligation of any kind, any Idea you provide to Guitar Center. You waive any moral and similar rights you may have in such Idea. If requested by Guitar Center, you agree to execute and deliver all documents needed to confirm the assignment and transfer of your Idea to Guitar Center.
Some guitarists were skeptical when the Guitar Labs project was announced, which CEO Gabe Dalporto directly addressed in an interview with Guitar World.
“Most retailers simply make copycat products and charge a little less,” he said earlier this summer. That’s completely uninteresting to me.”
The Guitar Labs project comes amid a years-long overhaul of Guitar Center’s business model. Guitar World sat down with Dalporto to discuss his plans for the retailer last year, discussing fan concerns in the process.
Recently, we asked you whether you thought Guitar Center had shown any signs of improvement following the chain’s restructure.
Head over to Guitar Center’s Guitar Labs Sub-Reddit for more information.
