First, the GC dude was very helpful.. I explained that I saw the sale and what I wanted.. he handed me the sparkly red Squire HH and it was very light and I noticed that the edges of the frets were not rounded... it was like grabbing a piece of wood wrapped in barb-wire. I said it felt like shit and he said 'its a Squire... that happens'. I looked over the other parts of the guitar and even though some people are giving the Squire good reviews the first one I ever held was a POS and I would not have paid $50 for it.. sparkly red paint or not. So the cool GC dude ask me a few questions and I said the biggest complaint was the neck was to thin... like on my MIM Strat... it feels like I am grabbing a twig, the neck doesn't fit my hand well... I also said that I am not looking for new or over $200 and I wanted dual humbuckers (I have a no-name Les Paul clone with HH's and its sounds and feels great to me. He asked the brand and I told him that there is just an 'S' on the head... so it's a brand 'S' guitar)... so we went to the used section and started playing the Epiphones, Yamaha and a few that I don't remember. I plugged into a Peavy Vyper and trying to ignore all the guitar store hero's blazing away I tuned up and strummed some chords. The one I wanted was a Schechter Damian 6 but at $249 it was over my $200 limit and they would not budge (if a guitar is on the rack for more than 60-90 days they will drop the price... but it was only there for 21 days.. so full price or GTFO).
So I picked my #2... a Goth Les Paul Studio for $199:
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Felt good in my hands, great neck, nice warm/dark tones. The only thing I have to get used to is the pup switch is on the upper part of the body, by the strap button. I also don't like the jack on the very bottom.... but I have cables with a 90deg plug.
Took it home and lowered the action, tuned it up and played for about an hour... felt really good and sounded great through the Vyper VIP II. If you play it right it sounds like cows moo-ing. Hilarious.
What's the point?
First, never overlook used gear. The guitar lists for $549 new, GC sells them new for $349, I got it used for $199 in new condition.
Second, PLAY THE FUCKING GUITAR. I could have had the sparkly red Squire mailed to me... and gotten a shitty guitar that I would have been unhappy with. But in less than an hour I played 8 guitars, and picked the best of the bunch.
Third, ignore all the douche-bags that are whaling on the guitars at the music store.. they ain't buying and I guess they want to impress the sales people. I think music stores should require a $100 deposit to get a cable otherwise you play the guitar unamplified. Fucking d-bags go home.. you ain't buying anything.
Lastly, Squires are shit. Of the 4 I played they all had issues. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. Shitty frets, string tree made of old bottle caps, single ply pick guard that makes an otherwise good guitar look like shit, tremolo so poorly plated that it looked like they rolled it in dirt then spray painted it silver-y. If you don't get excited to pick up the guitar cause it's a POS, then you won't practice on it.
So now I have 3 guitars... Brand 'S', Epiphone and a Fender Strat. I have to say that the Strat is probably the one I like the least... well.. I LIKE them all.. they all sound and play well... but the neck on the strat is made for 6 year olds.
