Re: what do you look for in buying a guitar..
 

only one reason i'd have to buy a new guitar from a store, and that is just so i could play it before i bought it, as far as buying one online sight unseen brand new i don't think i would, i'd prefer to buy one used from the net you can get a little more accurate description from a guy than a sales person that isn't even in the same state as the guitar they are trying to sell :-)

Re: what do you look for in buying a guitar..
 

While feel is important, I always want to make sure that my guitar is versatile. It has to play and sound nice for a variety of styles, because I really like to mix things up in my music, using different things like really punchy funk, smooth arpeggios, and overdriven lead playing. When I bought my last guitar I wanted to make sure it was something that would last me no matter what I decided to play.

However, that said I still want a hollowbody in addition to my main guitar for jazz stuff.

Re: what do you look for in buying a guitar..
 

To be brutally honest, the first hurdle is looks. Because even if it sounds fantatstic, if it looks like shite, to me, I will not play it. And there's not much to be done with the way a guitar looks, other than changing the color.

Once I have a guitar that looks OK, next consideraton is sound. Frankly, for me it'd better sound damn good stock, becaue i"m no modder. So if it sounds crappy, odds are I'd just as soon ditch it as mod it. In fact, odds are much more in favor of ditching. I am not a modder.

After looks and sound come playability and price. As far as playability, I'm fairly liberal. Most guitars nowadays can be set up to acceptable limits. As far as price goes, I'm a cheap bastard. I won't bore anyone with my formulae for determining a good deal, but suffice it to say such formulae do indeed exist and are rarely (if ever) departed from.