After getting the guitar in tune, I usually play some scales, some open and barre chords, and then snippets of "Walk Don't Run" or "Hawaii Five-O." If it's an acoustic, I usually play "Wish You Were Here" or "Malagueña."

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I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm.

my local guitare store here loan me a guitar to test for 2 days with contract (1 page). that's good to test at home over my amps.

i test it unplugged, on amp clean, overdrive, distortion. i have no special song to test a guitar. i play everything.

cheers

sincerely i don't now... i play a piece of a lot of song... i usually play knocking on heavens door ( GnR version), little wnig... stairway to heaven and a blues scale, sometimes something of SRV...

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Excuseme for the mistakes but i'm Italian...

It really depends on what gear that I'm trying out.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

I'll usually play Reggae rhythms. I like to see if the guitar can handle a good skank.

I play my own music which is metal and blues music. I don't get messed with when I play my metal stuff, but when I break into the blues, somebody always asks me what song I am playing. Since I have no name for it, I tell them I am not sure yet.

RK

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

Well Im not the best player, and am quite self conscious so i try to play things that are simple, that I cant screw up, plus the little riffs and licks are very familiar to my ear.

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

First, I use a tube amp at least vaguely similar to what I have at home (an SCXD and a Super 210). Solid state, a Marshall stack or a 5W travel amp won't give me a good idea of what I'm getting.

Second (at GC anyway), I have them let me use the more exclusive room. That cuts down on the sounds I have to mentally filter out. There's no guarantee that someone won't walk in, crank the loudest amp in the room and play a really bad "Smoke on the Water" ... but at least the odds are in your favor.

(That's especially true if go in on a Monday or Tuesday morning ... no kids and not too many others in a GC then as long as it's not a holiday.)

As for what I play -- I try a few scales, some jazz runs and some riffs from favorites (e.g., "Alfie", maybe something by Kenny Burrell, etc.) and a few stock blues runs.

I use volume similar to at home (volume roughly around 3 - 4) and try to get tone as neutral as I can get it in the store. Since I rarely use FX or distortion, I have them turned off when trying the guitar. To be honest, I'd have them off anyway even if I used them more if the idea was to find out what the guitar sounds like.

I don't allow any particular time limit, but usually I can tell in a few minutes if I'm interested in playing a particular one more or nothing about it hits me.

When trying out a different guitar, used to, I'd just head right for the distortion channel. Ever since a little...incident however (with some "metal shredder expert" in guitar class...)...I have been staying away from distortion (except for the Tubescreamer sound).

Any more though, I try my hand at some blues, acoustic worship, rock, etc. I have to admit, thinking outside of the ol' "metal-only-zone" really did me much good...

+1

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I Can't Explain

No amp..........I play the intro to Bob Seger's "Night Moves". If the guitar sounds good without electric, chances are it will "git-r-done" when you plug it in.