In a perfect world you could take home instruments and play them in youre own time but we all know nobody is going to lend you a PRS or a Tom Anderson guitar for a few days, just think of the damage that could be caused.....ooohh

I my self have never sat in a shop and felt anywhere near comfortable, hands get sweaty, back gets sweaty and conscious of the guitar god staff that surround you and are dick of hearing people playing the same old toss all day.

Fender blues had what I consider a great point about playing guitars that friends own but every one would own a strat or a les paul. Maybe just beleiving all you read in a magazine can be occasionally fruitless, because then you are depending on the opinion of someone else.

So really youre best option is to get over the shop phobias and pretences, relax and take youre time and keep trying until oyu are completely satisfied.

Or you could save a lot of time and just buy a Parker FLY