Latest news with #GuitarCenter
Business Wire
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Guitar Center Announces Comprehensive Agreement to Extend Debt Maturity
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Guitar Center, Inc. (together with its affiliates, 'Guitar Center,' or the 'Company') today announced that it has entered into an agreement with an ad hoc group of investors representing more than 70% of its outstanding 8.50% Senior Secured Notes due January 2026 (the 'Senior Secured Notes') to implement a transaction to exchange such notes for new first-lien senior secured notes due January 2029 (such exchange, the 'Senior Secured Notes Exchange'). The three-year maturity extension of the Senior Secured Notes is designed to extend the Company's liquidity runway and provide the time necessary to deliver on its business plan. The Company has separately announced today that it has commenced an exchange offer and consent solicitation to all holders of its Senior Secured Notes to effectuate the Senior Secured Notes Exchange. The Company expects the Senior Secured Notes Exchange to close in August 2025, subject to the terms and conditions thereof. Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Guggenheim Securities, LLC served as legal and financial advisors to Guitar Center. Paul Hastings LLP and Houlihan Lokey, Inc. served as legal and financial advisors to certain investors. About Guitar Center Guitar Center is the leading retailer of musical instruments, lessons, repairs and rentals in the U.S. With more than 300 stores across the U.S. and one of the top direct sales websites in the industry, Guitar Center has helped people make music for more than 60 years. Guitar Center also provides customers with various musician-based services, including Guitar Center Lessons, where musicians of all ages and skill levels can learn to play a variety of instruments in many music genres, GC Repairs, an on-site maintenance and repairs service, and GC Rentals, a program offering easy rentals of instruments and other sound reinforcement gear. Additionally, Guitar Center's sister brands include Music & Arts, which operates more than 250 stores specializing in band & orchestral instruments for sale and rental, serving teachers, band directors, college professors, parents and students, and Musician's Friend, a leading direct marketer of musical instruments in the United States. For more information about Guitar Center, please visit Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain 'forward-looking statements,' including, without limitation, statements regarding the consummation of the Senior Secured Notes Exchange and related transactions and the implementation of our business plan. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of words such as 'anticipate,' 'believe,' 'continue,' 'could,' 'estimate,' 'expect,' 'forecast,' 'intend,' 'may,' 'plan,' 'project,' 'potential,' 'seek,' 'should,' 'think,' 'will,' 'would' and similar expressions, or they may use future dates. All of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are subject to assumptions, risks and uncertainties that may change at any time, including, without limitation, our ability to obtain the required participation from noteholders in the Senior Secured Notes Exchange and satisfaction of terms and conditions thereof, our ability to consummate the Senior Secured Notes Exchange and related transactions, general market and economic conditions and impact of any new tariffs on goods that we import. Readers are therefore cautioned that actual results could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. We base these forward-looking statements on our current expectations, plans and assumptions that we have made in light of our experience in the industry, as well as our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as expressly required by law. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. This press release is not intended to and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to subscribe for or buy, or an invitation to purchase or subscribe for, any securities, or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction in connection with the Senior Secured Notes Exchange or otherwise, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law.
Tom's Guide
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
If I started playing guitar from scratch again this is the electo-acoustic guitar I'd buy right now — and it's 10% off at Guitar Center
My first memory of playing a guitar was sat on some steps near school trying (and failing) to learn the synth line from the Eurythmics classic Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). I fumbled about and hit the strings in a way that made some kind of sound. Fortunately, you don't have to make the same public embarrassment of yourself as I did, because the Lava Music Me Play acoustic guitar has a small smart display that acts as a tuner, tutor and recording studio and it's down to just $359 at Guitar Center. It looks like a slightly quirkier version of an electro-acoustic guitar (since that's what it is), so you don't need an amp to get started, but can plug it in if you want to turn up the volume. This is handy, since the body has an all-weather design so you can play it outside in summer sun without lugging equipment around. The Lava Music Me Play is easily one of the greatest guitars for beginners. It's portable, has a built-in digital tuner and metronome, and has effects, drum loops and a recorder all easily accessible, even when unplugged. It's aimed at new players, but also makes an excellent travel companion for all guitarists. As much as I'd normally say 'smart' things are usually a way to make you spend more on a product you'd need to upgrade pretty quickly (a standard acoustic guitar from 50 years ago can still play just as well today if taken care of, for example), I think there's a good reason to still put the Lava Music Me Play in your basket. The touchscreen display gives you access to a built-in digital tuner — I really hate needing to tune the guitar, so anything to make it easier is a plus in my book. But there are plenty of cheap tuners you can buy, so the real reason to pick up the Me Play is the effects and recording tools. The Lava Music Me Play uses the rear of the guitar as a speaker, so it can add effects even when you're playing on the go without any amplification. You can program drum loops, start a metronome so you can keep time, but the most interesting is the effects. Normally, you'd need a separate powered effects peddle, which means no interesting sounds while playing unplugged (plus, extra expense to buy the effects pedal). The Lava Music Me Play uses the rear of the guitar as a speaker, so it can add effects even when you're playing on the go without any amplification. It's an impressive feature, and means that you can loop parts, add effects and create beats to play a song, even when all you have is your acoustic guitar. GuitarZero2Hero described it as a "travel guitar" in their review, so if you're after something you can take around with you without compromising on sound and effects, you'll definitely want to check out the Lava Me Play, especially if you want to celebrate the reunion of 90s heroes Oasis by screaming your heart out playing Wonderwall.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis to Receive Vanguard Award at The Guitar Center Music Foundation Gala & Benefit Concert
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis will receive the Vanguard Award at The Guitar Center Music Foundation's fourth annual Gala and Benefit Concert, which will take place on Sept. 11 at The Maybourne Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. The pair, who have written and produced dozens of hits for such artists as Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey, have won five Grammy Awards, including producer of the year (non-classical) in 1987. They will be honored for their support of music education. The gala will also honor sound mixer John McBride with the Lifetime Achievement Award. McBride is the owner of Blackbird Studio, just outside of Nashville, which he opened in 2002, and institutional director of The Blackbird Academy, which he opened in 2013. John is married to, and works with, country star Martina McBride, a four-time winner of the CMA Award for female vocalist of the year. More from Billboard Lessons From the Best: What Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Have Learned Through 40 Years in the Biz Shakira Announces Two More Dates in Mexico, Extending Record to 28 Bruce Springsteen Reflects on 'Painful Days' Depicted in Upcoming Biopic 'Deliver Me From Nowhere' The gala aims to raise awareness and funds for the foundation's mission to support musicians and music education. In addition, the event will honor firefighters and first responders who battled the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year. Additional efforts will be made to fund the Guitar Center Music Foundation Disaster Relief Program which aids musicians impacted by the L.A. wildfires to assist in replacing instruments and gear, and offers resources. Adam Blackstone will serve as musical supervisor for the event. Blackstone won a Primetime Emmy in 2022 as music director of The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent. He won a Grammy earlier this year for his work on Alicia Keys' Hell's Kitchen, which was voted best musical theater album. The event is produced by the Guitar Center Music Foundation board of directors with Angelia Shepperd from ABS Collective, and with technical production by Nick Urbom from Big Push Media Group. For more information on the organization, visit the Guitar Center Foundation's site. To buy tickets, which start at $500, go here. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto is facing new competition from brands in the retail space – but it isn't phasing him
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Having recently discussed how he plans to restructure the Guitar Center business model to compete with the burgeoning online gear market, the retailer's CEO Gabe Dalporto has now made his feelings known regarding new brand-backed retail rivals in the form Fender and Gibson. Over the past few years, Guitar Center has had to cope against the backdrop of an online retailer boom, with digital giants and direct-from-factory producers such as Amazon all posing new competition to physical brick-and-mortar stores. Not only that, Guitar Center is now also being forced to compete in the physical store space against the likes of Fender, Gibson, Yamaha and other big-name brands, all of whom have launched flagship stores in huge cities across the globe. There are now Gibson Garages in Nashville and London, and Fender even launched a futuristic location in Japan. Speaking exclusively to Guitar World in a new interview, Dalporto has now offered his own thoughts on such brands entering Guitar Center's ring. 'This is a competitive market. It always has been. We welcome it,' he says. 'I think if we give an amazing experience, we win.' In his response, Dalporto also draws similarities between Fender and Gibson's strategic moves to those seen in the sports market – moves that weren't especially successful. 'Nike tried to go direct and tried to pull back from retailers,' he explains, 'and Nike got crushed. It's important, if you are a brand, to have those relationships with your vendors, but bring the competition on. I just think we have a much larger, more integrated experience. You can experience all the products, not just one.' That mindset explains Dalporto's decision to pivot towards 'high-quality, premium product where experience matters', while firms like Amazon establish a stronghold on the budget end of the scale. He accepts Guitar Center needs to cede ground in one place to make gains in another. Having said that, the increased retail space competition from Gibson and Fender hasn't stopped Guitar Center's collaborations with the two American guitar-building heavyweights. In recent months, it's dropped exclusive Gretsch Streamliner builds, a lunar-inspired finish for Fender favorites, and brought a highly illusive Gibson colorway to the Widow Les Paul. That's helped cement its relationship with the firms, even if they are rivals elsewhere. 'These Epiphone Widows are the hottest thing ever,' Dalporto continues, 'and they are only at Guitar Center. Hats off to our team and the team over at Gibson for coming up with something really unique. That's absolutely part of our strategy: only at Guitar Center.' Elsewhere in his Guitar World interview, Dalporto also reveals Guitar Center has identified another new priority for 2025: lessons. 'One of our priorities is lessons,' he reveals. 'I talk a lot about 'the serious musician' and that's our opportunity to create the next generation of serious musicians. 'One of the biggest challenges we have as an industry is, if someone picks up a guitar for the first time, for every 10 people who start playing guitar, a year later, one person is playing, and nine are not. 'What can we do to change that ratio? How do we connect with people early in their music career and really get them deeply embedded so they're going to be in it for the long term.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Yahoo
UPS told California man his son's guitar was destroyed in a wildfire — and then he found it for sale online
Tony Diaz purchased a rare guitar for his son, but when the package never arrived and UPS claimed it was lost, Diaz wasn't buying it. UPS actually offered several explanations for why the guitar didn't arrive, including a claim that it was destroyed in the recent Southern California wildfires, but Diaz was unconvinced. Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 6 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10) "I just had an intuition that the guitar was stolen and that it wasn't damaged and destroyed," Diaz, who lives in Hayward, California, shared with ABC7 News. His hunch paid off. After searching online, Diaz spotted the exact guitar for sale on Guitar Center's website, identified by its unique serial number. Adam Hulsey, who sold the guitar to Diaz, immediately 'snatched it up' before Diaz made the roughly seven-hour round trip to Bakersfield to retrieve it. "It was 3.5 hours to get up there and it was 4 hours to get back," said Diaz. 'Was it worth it? Yeah, it was absolutely worth it.' When this dedicated dad couldn't get UPS to own up to its mistake, Hulsey and Diaz contacted ABC7's investigative unit, 7 On Your Side. Reporter Melanie Woodrow reached out to a UPS security supervisor, who claimed the guitar had been stolen but said the company couldn't reimburse Hulsey for more than the insured value. After additional conversations, UPS eventually agreed to revisit the case. Diaz ordered the Dean Dime Slime guitar — a signature model from 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott, former guitar player for the metal band Pantera — from Hulsey, who manages a small shop called Adam's Guitar Addict in Denison, Texas. Hulsey reportedly shipped three guitars that Diaz had purchased at the same time, but only two arrived. When Hulsey contacted UPS to track down the missing guitar, he got a series of conflicting stories. "Burned up in a California wildfire, fell off a truck, fell off a train. So many different stories," said Hulsey. UPS eventually told Hulsey the package was severely damaged during shipping and was discarded. The shipping company did send Hulsey some compensation, but only based on the declared value at the time of shipping, which wasn't enough. After recovering the guitar, which now has a dent and a visible scratch on the back, Diaz and Hulsey filed a police report and contacted UPS again, but the call reportedly didn't go well. "UPS was kind of — 'hey why are you calling with this tracking number, this is already a closed case. The guitar was damaged and destroyed,' and I told them on the phone — well, that's so funny that the guitar was damaged and destroyed because I just bought it from Guitar Center and I have it in my car with me,' said Diaz. Now, with the help of 7 On Your Side, the lime green electric guitar is where it belongs — in the hands of Damian Diaz, Tony's 16-year-old son. "It's a nice guitar. I like its tone a lot," said the boy as he played his new guitar in front of the ABC7 camera crew. In a statement to ABC7, a UPS representative said, "We strive to provide excellent service. We've been in contact with the customer and have resolved the situation." Hulsey and Diaz confirmed that they received a larger refund and were finally satisfied with UPS' response. But the question remains: why were Hulsey and Diaz given so many different explanations? According to UPS, a 'casualty code' was assigned to the shipment and it's possible that customer service representatives didn't understand what the code meant. Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says — and that 'anyone' can do it When a package goes missing during shipping, who's on the hook depends on the situation and whether the item was insured. In general: The shipper (in this case, Hulsey) is responsible for getting the item to the buyer. If a package is lost or damaged in transit, the seller typically must refund or replace it, regardless of whether the loss was their fault. The carrier (like UPS) is liable up to the amount declared or insured at shipping time. If the item wasn't properly insured, reimbursement may be limited. This means the buyer may be out of luck when packages are lost or stolen, unless the item is insured or purchased through a platform with strong buyer protections. So, what can you do to protect yourself when making expensive purchases online? Here are a few tips to safeguard your valuable items, as well as your wallet: Insure high-value items for their full replacement cost. Don't underreport the value just to save on shipping. Pay attention to your package's tracking. If the tracking stops or the status seems stuck, contact the seller immediately. The seller can then contact the shipper to get to the bottom of the delayed or missing shipment. Save receipts and documentation. If you need to report a missing package, you'll need proof of value and proof of shipping. Make sure you buy through reputable platforms that offer protection if something goes wrong during shipment. When shipping, request a signature confirmation on expensive items to prevent theft after delivery. For Diaz and Hulsey, it took persistence, a long road trip and an investigative news team to resolve what should have been a routine delivery. And while they're happy the guitar has been given to its rightful owner — blemishes and all — this story is a cautionary tale for anyone shipping or receiving valuable items. Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead How much cash do you plan to keep on hand after you retire? Here are 3 of the biggest reasons you'll need a substantial stash of savings in retirement Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? Like what you read? Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise straight to your inbox every week. This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
