Originally Posted by: ar_cee_el

The closest place to me that sells guitars is Guitar Center, which has a large selection. There are a couple of independent shops, not too far away, that have much smaller selections (and each have their own brands in which they specialize). Both of those have good reviews on Yelp and the people there seem to know their stuff. I would prefer to buy from one of the smaller shops, but the Guitar Center would be a great place to first compare a variety of types. But, to be honest, I would feel kind of guilty about going there and doing that when I have no intention of making a purchase there. Am I wrong in this? I realize that there are people that go there to just play the guitars and GC is probably accustomed to this.

Remember that your first goal is to get a guitar that meets your wants/desires/needs. This includes configurations of pickups etc to matcfh the kind of music you are playing. Do the small shops have guitars that meet those needs and have quality instruments?

Ok, they're still in the game them.

You also need to have a guitar that is playable to you. Does it feel good? That kind of thing. If the local stores have gear for that, still in the game.

If so, then first shop the small shops. My thought. If you don't find what you want, then move to GC.

The important thing is to be honest with all of them. Every person that has ever worked in a guitar store has been told that the shopper is just looking around and playing equipment to see what sticks. Remember, that person helping you had to buy their forst guitar too and how a guitar feels is subjective and the sales person knows this. Just be honest and let them know you really just want to try stuff for now until you have a sense of what works for you. Still, be honest. If they know that you are 'wasting their time' because you were honest, they're more likely to help anyway.