Aon Warranty Group and Guitar Center Partner to Offer Performance Guarantee.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 2004

Aon Warranty Group, a unit of Aon Corporation (NYSE:AOC), and Guitar Center, Inc. (Nasdaq:GTRC) today announced a joint warranty protection plan initiative, The Performance Guarantee (PG) Program, based on the resounding success of their initial program.

Under the Aon Warranty Group administered plan, the Performance Guarantee Program extends product coverage 1-2 years, depending on the warranty, and provides added service features such as unlimited repairs, free shipping, online repair authorizations, full replacement on specific gear models and more. It also doubles Guitar Center's return policy and price guarantee.

"We began beta-testing the Performance Guarantee plan in targeted locations in Chicago and Northern California," said Doug Nunes, Aon Account Manager. "The test results surpassed our initial expectations, and we agreed with Guitar Center to expand the program to all remaining locations across the country. Results for the first year of the program were nothing short of spectacular, and we're very excited about the prospects for 2004."

"This is a mutually-advantageous enterprise," said Paul Swenson, an Aon Warranty Group executive. "Aon Warranty Group's unrivaled warranty product and service administration together with Guitar Center's vast product selection and brand reputation offers customers peace of mind for their purchases and raises GC's already high level of service and product protection."

Andy Heyneman, Guitar Center Senior Vice President in charge of the program, said, "We worked very hard with Aon to insure that this is a product built from the ground up designed specifically for musicians. The Performance Guarantee gives Guitar Center a unique opportunity to offer substantive added value to enthusiast and professional level clientele, alike, while providing a significant profit center that our sales associates can feel good about selling. It's a definite win-win, and we're very pleased with the results so far."

About Aon Warranty Group

Aon Warranty Group is a world leader in sales, service and underwriting of mechanical repair agreements. Aon Corporation (www.aon.com) is a holding company comprised of a family of insurance brokerage, consulting and insurance underwriting subsidiaries with annual revenues in excess of $9 billion and over 55,000 employees in 125 countries worldwide.

About Guitar Center

Guitar Center (www.guitarcenter.com) is the nation's leading retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards and pro-audio and recording equipment. We presently operate 123 Guitar Center stores, with 108 stores in 46 major markets and 15 stores in secondary markets across the U.S. In addition, the American Music division operates 19 family music stores specializing in band instruments for sale and rental, serving thousands of teachers, band directors, college professors and students. Guitar Center is also the largest direct response retailer of musical instruments in the U.S. through our wholly owned subsidiary, Musician's Friend, Inc., and its catalog and web site, www.musiciansfriend.com. More information on Guitar Center can be found by visiting the Company's web site at www.guitarcenter.com.

This press release contains certain statements relating to future results, which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from either historical or anticipated results, depending on a variety of factors. Potential factors that could impact results include the general economic conditions in different countries around the world, fluctuations in global equity and fixed income markets, exchange rates, rating agency actions, pension funding, changes in commercial property and casualty markets and commercial premium rates, the competitive environment, the actual costs of resolution of contingent liabilities and other loss contingencies, the heightened level of potential errors and omissions liability arising from placements of complex policies and sophisticated reinsurance arrangements in an insurance market in which insurer reserves are under pressure, and the timing and resolution of related insurance and reinsurance issues relating to the events of September 11, 2001.

Further information concerning the Company and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect the Company's financial results, are contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.