How do you deal with playing in a guitar store?

Don't worry so much about impressing anyone. I just mess around with some pentatonic scales and open chords and I've got a few Zeppelin riffs I like to play. The important thing to do isn't to play some kickass lead line, but to listen to the tone of whatever it is you're trying out. It'll be harder to do that if you're concentrating on playing flawlessly than what whatever you're demoing is sounding like. Play whatever you can do without thinking.

It's a shame we've gotten to this point, but it's true. So many times I'll see a dude sit down with a guitar and just shred for 20 minutes, and it turns out he's generally not even interested in the guitar, just wanking.

Guitar stores aren't a showcase, they're a place to find the musical gear that suits you. Ignore the wankers.

just what the heck is a wanker? It isn't in the dictionary and a guy on the local news channel used it, but he didn't know what it meant either

What are you saying.. All my practice is dedicated to being "that guy" at the music store.

Seriously.. when say not have the chops what do you mean?? You want to try out the guitar .. try it out. Definitely, just play a few open chords, a basic I VI V progression. Don't be intimidated. Just remember, those guys whar are shedding in the next aisle over are there to show off, that's what they are into.

I usually sit down with the guitar - unplugged - and mess around with a few chromatic scales, to find any fret buzzing or dead spots. I do some scales, a few hammer ons and pull offs to get a feel for the neck and frets. I'll probably play a bit of whatever it is that I'm currently learning.
If I'm seriously interested in the guitar, I'll plug it in and find out what it sounds like.

Why unplugged? - 90% of a guitar is the neck. Playing unplugged allows me to concentrate on how the guitar feels, without the distraction of playing with pickup switches and tone controls.

just what the heck is a wanker? It isn't in the dictionary and a guy on the local news channel used it, but he didn't know what it meant either

Brit slang for one who masterbates.
Why unplugged? - 90% of a guitar is the neck. Playing unplugged allows me to concentrate on how the guitar feels, without the distraction of playing with pickup switches and tone controls.

I'll give you 50 or 60% on the neck, but the unplugged tone of the guitar is also strongly indicative of the starting point for the instrument's timbre, and can tell one something about its potential for clean tone. When unplugged, the native harmonic content, resonance and sustain can be heard clearly without interaction from the pups or amplification. Why is this important? Because one can always changes the pups or amp, but the fundamental nature of the guitar is pretty difficult to alter. My best sounding electrics have very nice, resonant unplugged tones, and I often practice with them that way.

AFA auditioning a guitar or an amp, not only will I play it, but I will ask the sales person (assuming he/she can) to give it a shot so I can hear the tone without the distraction of having to "perform." This is especially important for acoustic guitars, where one should listen to the tone delivered out front to the audience. Tone has a lot to do with the player, but if someone else can elicit a pretty good sound, then the guitar has the capability.

just what the heck is a wanker? It isn't in the dictionary and a guy on the local news channel used it, but he didn't know what it meant either

I read an interview in Total Guitar not so long back - can't remember who it was but he was American and he used "wank" to mean "shred".

At this point, I'll quote Winston Churchill, who said that Britain and America were "two nations, divided by a common language" and suggest we kill that bit of the conversation.

As my answer to the original question - I just sit down and play something I know I can play well. It doesn't have to be anything particularly legendary, and the performance is going to suffer from lack of warmup, but you're only testing out the kit; it's not a paying gig

Best,

A :-)

I'll give you 50 or 60% on the neck

I was talking much more about the feel of the guitar ("Playing unplugged allows me to concentrate on how the guitar feels..."), rather than it's sound, sustain or whatever - no matter how good a guitar sounds, if it has a crappy neck, that's a pain to play, you're never going to get on with it

As far as the neck importance goes, I just had it work the other way. A friend of mine has an epiphone G-400 custom(white SG w/3 pickups). I've played the thing a few times before, and neck is absolutely beautiful. Last night, however, I borrowed it and tried it out in a jam. The thing plays great, but the sound just didn't cut through with my normal amp setup. It was okay for playing rhythm, but it just had no life in the leads. It definately didn't compare to my 335.
So I guess it just goes to show you, while the neck is the most important thing, the other stuff matters too...

i go jimi hendrix on the thing, humping the amps with it, lighting it on fire, that sort of thing. i have to make sure it's roadworthy.

I play smoke on the water really, really loud and then I finish up with Cocaine by Eric Clapton, with maybe one bar of Stairway to heaven thrown in for good measure...

On serious note, to evaluate an amp you need to know how it sounds with different settings and at different volumes. Basic power chords are the best thing to play along with a few bends...these two let you hear all of the notes an "A" chord is often what I play to hear how the amp sounds with differnet settings...

me too, i always practice with smells like teen spirit and eruption on full volume, then after Im warned up, I break out smoke on the water. Thats the way to do it.... :roll:

Usually, I go to the guitar store with my friend that im in a "band" with and we jsut play riffs, I try out the clean and dirty channels, as well as some built in effects if there are any. Sometimes, my friend will play the vocals to black dog, and I play the riff, making cool faces the whole time. seriously, i also check out possible guitars in my price range as well.

There are two guitar shops I regularly visit, just a few hundred yards apart....one is owned by a guy who's getting on a bit, but has a real love of all things musical....the other is part of a major chain of music stores, but both shops seem to go out of their way to help....in fact one of the guys in the chain-store actually asked if I knew stairway when I was trying out a hollow-body, said it's the best song he knows for trying one out....

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that if they care about more than taking your money, they'll offer you more than just a guitar.....

Vic

in fact one of the guys in the chain-store actually asked if I knew stairway when I was trying out a hollow-body, said it's the best song he knows for trying one out

I hope hope you did not listen to that nutty salesman...that's some serious hogwash there....and I hope you did not :? believe him...holy cow that's about craziest thing I think I have heard a music store salesman say... :roll: