I have no problem buying from big chain guitar stores. They have great prices, great return policies and a lot of choices in the guitars I like. I tried one of the forum sponsors a few months ago, and went there intending to buy one of the two models I'd picked out prior to my contacting them. I don't know if my expectations were too high or they didn't think I was serious, but we couldn't make a deal. I ended up buying what I wanted from one of the big internet dealers instead. I've never received a new guitar from one of them that showed signs of being stored improperly or abused. With millions of $ in inventory I doubt the biggies would store their guitars haphazardly.
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Tom
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