I bought both my guitars online. A Fender Strat American Standard and a Taylor Mini GS as weel as an amp. These are very popular guitars and I had no problems trying them out at stores. I buy my stuff at Sweetwater online. They set up the guitars nicely, are very friendly and their return policy is excellant. I found going to Guitar Center type stores to be the opposite. I tried them twice and they just wanted to sell me the guitar in a box and not do any adjustments. Also, the sales pressure and lack of knowledge sucked. I say either order from Sweetwater or spend the extra money and go to a private luthier or small independant store.