when browsing online shops-what kind of info do you like

[darylcrisp]

Maury was asking a question along this line a week or so back on the AGF, and i've thought of this thing more than a couple times when i'm surfing the net checking out guitars.

the things that most appeal to me are:

1) pictures of the actual guitar for sale-if i know its a generic picture of a model of that guitar i usually don't look which means i'm not going to be interested.

to take this a little further-the type of pictures i like to see are:
a)sharp and infocus
b)upclose with good lighting detail
c)an upclose very in focus picture of the headstock including the nut and down to about the second fret(why? to see how well the strings are spaced, and the inboard set distance of both E strings-this makes a huge difference for me as it means the difference of whether i'll need to recut and replace a new nut or not. and it shows me that the low E is not too close to the fretend for my style of playing,especially regarding hammer-ons and pulloffs)  *for me, GuitarRodeo does this shot perfect-thats how i like it*
d)good picture of the front and rear body
e)and its neat to see a good side angle view of either or both sides-but not necessary with me, but it does give a much better view of how the binding all ties in


2)soundclips:
i like the same song played on the different guitars. i don't have the option of a nearby dealer. my most close "local" dealer is 1.25 hours away, the next one is over 2 hours away. so i spend a lot of time browsing the net when the GAS pains hit. i like how the Podium uses gives a fingerstyle song, then some strumming, then some chords-next up i like Gryphon, although they use different songs per guitar, it still gives you a good sound of that exact guitar. and give me more than 30 seconds, let me here at least 2 minutes so i get a good feel of that guitars music

shops that offer good soundclips:
*the Podium
*Gryphon
*Artisans
*GuitarGallery

3)actual cost posted-doesn't matter to me as i will be emailing or calling to work a deal as best as possible.

4)actual specs: nut width, saddle string spacing, scale length, neck profile

these are the things that will catch my eye, my ears, my senses, and after i play that soundclip a dozen times, i might be emailing to see how much this is going to cost me..............

d

[michaelw]

hey d,
out of all the sites you listed, i preferred the podium the best overall -
i like the fact that they provide the same high quality & detailed pics &
sound clips for their guitars, whether it is a $300 or $18000 model

for Taylor specific pics, i'd also check out wildwood guitars & dave's guitar shop

for me, a list price (MSRP) is nice, especially on non-standard models,
as are specs, if they vary considerably from a standard model as well

also, to have non-stock pics & sound clips, a dealer needs to have the guitar in stock,
which is another thing i like about the dealers that have made appearance known here

... now, now about that 516

[Ed422]

Decent pics of the actual guitar, specs, shipping and return policies. 

It does me no good to hear a recording which is almost always a very specialized fingerstyle player (about as far from how I play as it is possible to get) and may or may not be tweaked and had effects added and has (typically) been converted to mp3 and playing back on whatever computer speakers I have hooked up.

For the most part, it does me little good to (and I rarely) look online for standard easily accessible guitars.  Without hesitation, I'd rather buy a guitar I can play first at a local shop, even GC, than to take the chance on a guitar that has to be shipped, no matter how great the deal or dealer.

Ed