“Guitars haven’t changed that much in the last 50 years. We’re about to change that”: Guitar Center is setting up its own in-house guitar brand – and it’s asking players for their help

Guitar Center has made the surprise announcement that it is setting up its own in-house guitar brand, and it’s asked players for their input.

The retailer’s CEO, Gabe Dalporto, revealed the news in a social media post last month, during which he laid down the company’s ambitious plans to start up a guitar brand that would push the instrument into unexplored territory.

“We are about to do something insane,” Dalporto says in a TikTok video. “We are going to build a revolutionary guitar and guitar brand from the ground up. Guitars haven’t changed that much in the last 50 years, and we’re about to change that.

“We have something that nobody else has: a relationship with you,” he continues. “Our customers are incredible musicians. And we’re going to work with you in public, out loud, and share our designs, take your feedback, iterate, and make the best guitar that has ever been made.”

It’s certainly a novel concept, and it’s fair to say that it’s generated a sizable amount of interest. While some appreciate Guitar Center’s desire to include players in its guitar-designing process, others are a bit more skeptical about the project.

Indeed, some commenters have questioned the process of asking fans to submit ideas and input for free, all for a project that will no doubt be sold in the future for profit.

And, to remove any potential issues that would no doubt have arisen from such a novel brand-customer relationship, Guitar Center has already comprehensively covered itself from a legal standpoint in a statement included on the TikTok video.

“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,” it reads.

“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.”

A sub-Reddit – r/GuitarLab – has been set up by Dalporto, and it’s here that early ideas are starting to be floated.

In a post from five days ago, Dalporto asks about pickups, as the un-named guitar brand looks to start chipping away its un-named guitar design by landing on an electronics base. Another post asked fans about vibrato systems.

It’s not uncommon for retailers to dip their toes into the guitar brand world in this capacity. Thomann has its own Harley Benton range of guitars, and Andertons markets EastCoast Guitars.

But to see a gear seller the size of Guitar Center go out on its own to produce a fully fledged, proprietary in-house guitar brand is still a major swing. We’re curious to see where the retailer takes – and, indeed, what it calls – the range.

Head over to the GuitarLab sub-Reddit or Guitar Center TikTok pages to keep up to date with the design.