My trip to GC over lunch today...

[seesound]

I've always enjoyed reading these kinds of "hands-on" posts so...

Spent a good 30 minutes in the acoustic room today playing all kinds of guitars ranging from $299 up to $3999 or so. Some of them were a pleasant surprise and some were disappointing...I have no bias toward any brand, american, chinese, etc. Keep in mind I tuned them all before playing (most were severely out of tune), some had new strings and some didn't but none of them were very old. Please don't take offense if my musical taste doesn't match what yours may be :-)

The not as good =some of the Martin acoustic electrics with cutaways- with model numbers similar to GPCXA!XXXXXXX, I could never remember these kinds of model #'s. Anyways one in particular was 2999 and sounded Flat, dead, boring to my ears.

The good=

Taylor 614ce with the darker back-what an unreal guitar.The sound jumped out of it, not bright at all but clear and involving. I could see owning this one.

Taylor 714ce with Lutz spruce top, warm, inviting, organic sound.

Gibson j45 standard, all around good guitar.

Martin 000-15m, for a small body it really enjoyed this one.

Taylor 114ce, dollar for dollar these are really good.

Yamaha F800 dred, way good for $299

Anyways I now have severe GAS pains...................

[rokdog49]

Sounds like you had a good time and it's always great to do that once in a while.
Those Taylor 114's are really something aren't they!

[TokyoNeko]

Funny, I did the same at a local GC today. I was thinking of starting a thread, but I might as well add to this one.

I mainly focused on a red Yamaha FS-TA that was in the showroom. In typical GC fashion, the strings were rusty and dull, so the guitar (without the TransAcoustic effects on) sounded like crap. But as I'm already familiar with the FS series and know how they sound when equipped with right strings in good condition, I wasn't about to knock the guitar for being neglected by the store staff.

The main things I wanted to try were the TransAcoustic effects. I recall that many AGFers who played the TA guitars preferred the reverb effects over the chorus. I found myself favoring the chorus. I was left with the impression that the guitar, with the fresh set of quality strings, could mimic a 12-string guitar fairly well. As I sometimes think about incorporating a 12-string to my stable, but don't want to worry about a wide nut width, a large body size, and keeping a stock of different sets of strings, this one might be a good compromise to consider in the future. And oh, I don't dislike the reverb at all; it was fun to play around with the room/hall effects as well. Bottom line: I think the FS-TA has potential, without the high costs (and the redundant Engelmann/EIR combination) of the LS-TA. I can't afford to buy another guitar right now, but it's definitely on my radar now.

BTW, GC, what's up with leaving ladders right in the middle of the showroom? It was no trivial task to manuever inside the room without knocking down the guitars. *SMH*

[Sagebrush Tom]

After playing all those guitars, did you buy anything? Maybe a set of strings or something.

[Kupuna50]

I have always found it fun to go to a Guitar Center store. Lots of fun and different things to look at and try out.
As to the guitars, each store is distinctly different - some stock lots of one brand at the expense of others. I know of one store that has a large room dedicated to Taylor (yes, it is the closest store to the Taylor factory!)
Others share equally between Martin, Taylor and Gibson.

One lesson I learned early on was to bring a tuner with me. Most of the guitars are woefully out of tune (some need new strings) Often times, one an find a worker has a tuner or can get one for you, not always though.
GC gets bashed a lot on AGF and I think it is not justified: I can think of NO STORE where EVERY experience is great. IMHO, those complaining are crybabies (I'm sure THAT comment will generate some 'colorful' feedback!)

Just my comments, for whatever it is worth.

[L20A]

Did anyone try the Alvarez, Ibanez, Fender, Epiphone or Washburn guitars?

I find some real nice sleeper guitar with these lines.

[seesound]

I didn't buy anything, only had 30 minutes or so to kill.
They sometimes get really interesting used guitars and I have snagged a great deal out of there on a j45 and a k26ce in the past.
So they have a Taylor 514ce limited , maybe a 2016 with a florentine cutaway I think it's called. Great guitar but looked like previous owner tried to change out the nut, but failed! Completely trashed that area of the wood neck. Maybe tried to use a hammer😂🤣

[seesound]

Oh forgot to mention, I wanted to play a Martin 00-18 and a Taylor 214ce deluxe, but none in stock. They also had a limited full gloss Taylor 414ce that was incredible. But 2499$