feel bad about going into my local guitar store

[pdidmh1]

I just spent $1000 at my local music store. Very happy with my purchase.

[DrJamie]

Sometimes we might see a winner at a local store. Common sense would tell me to check pricing on the same model elsewhere, and return to negotiate. I'm always willing to pay a bit more locally, especially when acoustic guitars can feel, and sound so different between the same models. A fine sounding bird in the hand...

[AHill]

I have 4 guitars. Two bought online. One from Sweetwater and one from one of our forum sponsors. They both sound great. Of the two brick and mortar purchases, one was from Sam Ash. In that particular case, I got a limited edition model Taylor which I would never have considered had I not played it in person. The other I bought from an independent store. I probably would not buy from Sweetwater again, since their discount really isn't all that great, and they tend to be fairly aggressive with post-sales marketing and phone calls from my sales rep. With part of the money I saved buying from a forum sponsor, I had them upgrade the case and install a pickup. Probably would not have done that had I purchased locally. There is value in having options. In most cases, my local shops don't stock the models I'd really be interested in.