That's a tough question. Ultimately you have to look out for yourself...it's your hard earned money you are investing.

You may very well find what you want at GC and in the end buy there...you can't predict what will happen. 9 times out of 10, when going instrument/gear shopping, I walk out the door with something different than what I expected.

I had an opposite experience to what you are describing...I was browsing a local shop and my experience in there led me to place an order online. The local shop had a guitar I liked but not in the color I wanted. I was wandering around and the sales guy (a friend of mine) put a guitar in my had to try and I was impressed...but it was expensive and not in my first choice of color. Once I decided to buy, he did some research and found it would be up to a 2 month lead time to get the color I wanted...with 1/2 the money up front. I was just not comfortable with this arrangment.

Online, I found the guitar in a color I didn't even know existed and was able to get a better deal money-wise. I was conflicted about it, but in the end I had to do right by me. I came clean to my salesman friend and he was not happy with me, but he'll get over it. When I go in there, it's become a bit of a running joke. I've spent money in that store before and after this "incident" so I don't feel bad.