# Guitar Center wants your hands on its secret guitar

> The retailer built a guitar from player feedback, and now it needs testers who will leave their phones at the door.
- Title: Guitar Center wants your hands on its secret guitar | Shortify
- Summary: The retailer built a guitar from player feedback, and now it needs testers who will leave their phones at the door. Guitar Center is crowdsourcing its first…
- Keywords: guitar center, guitar labs, prototypes, nda, gear, Guitar, Center, wants, hands, secret, Guitar World
- Source: Guitar World — https://guitarworld.com/gear/electric-guitars/guitar-center-guitar-prototype-testing-call
- Published: 2026-09-10T12:45:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: guitar center, guitar labs, prototypes, nda, gear
## An open call with strings
Guitar Center is asking players to come test the first prototype of its own electric guitar. There are conditions attached.
## A year in the works
The retailer has been quietly building its own guitar brand for nearly a year, well before the project went public in April. It still has no name.
## Built from player feedback
Guitar Center gathered ideas and wishes from guitarists on social media, then designed around them instead of starting in a boardroom.

> 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
## Prototypes have landed
CEO Gabe Dalporto says physical prototypes are now arriving at the office, and the company wants real players to judge them.

> We are now at the point where we're getting prototypes into our office and we want real-world feedback
## LA only, late September
Testing runs at Guitar Center's Westlake Village office in late September and early October. Interested players email info@GCPLB.com with their background and playing style.
## Phone outside, NDA signed
Rich Thrush, who leads Guitar Labs, laid out the rules on Reddit: leave your phone outside the room and sign a non-disclosure agreement first.

> We're looking for genuine players who are willing to share honest opinions.
## Influencers to the back
If you mainly make content or represent a brand, say so. Guitar Center still wants to talk, but later in the project.
## Not another copycat
Dalporto says the point is to avoid the usual retailer playbook. The project sits inside a years-long rebuild of Guitar Center's business after its restructure.

> Most retailers simply make copycat products and charge a little less. That's completely uninteresting to me.
## Key takeaway

Guitar Center is crowdsourcing its first in-house electric, but testing it means an NDA, no phone, and a trip to Westlake Village.