It looks too yellow- like they were playing the guitar while getting a spray fake tan... thats a bad looking tint for sure!!

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Just a though, but I wonder if some people don't ask for help in verifying a guitar BEFORE they buy/trade out of fear that someone on the board might swoop in an steal it out from under them.

Situations like this are why I won't buy any instrument sight unseen.

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It's partly that reason for me as well, and maybe I'm missing out on some sweet deals--oh well.

The main reason why I don't buy an instrument sight unseen is that I need to bond with a guitar on some level first. It has to speak to me. The feel has to be right.

I can change most other things on the guitar, but the feel is the feel, what can be done.

I'm not referring to changing the action, or adjusting the relief, or the frets or shaving the neck. Those things change how a guitar feels to some degree, but that's more playability than feel to me. Each guitar has a certain feel to it--that you can tell, even if it needs adjustment.

If it doesn't do it for me--I don't buy it.

It really helps with GAS--sometimes.

But it also helps against this--although you can still buy a fake in person--I've seen them in stores.

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.

Dude, I could not agree more with what you said here. That is exactly how I shop for an instrument as well. Something about it will "speak" to me. I can pick up lots of guitars with great specs and looks in the store, but within a few minutes of playing I put them down. Sometimes, I pick it up and I know within 30 seconds that it's mine.

I certainly don't end up reselling almost anything I buy this way!

And yes, it absolutely can kill your GAS when something you've been drooling over online does absolutely nothing for you when you get it in your hands at a physical store.

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I spent almost 10 months looking for a guitar before I bought my last one.
One day I tried over 30 guitars in one store alone, and walked out without buying any of them. Although I did end up buying my guitar from the same store about a month later--it was one I didn't try that day.

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.

My Jazz Bass just about jumped off the rack at me. I knew the second I picked it up and put my hands around the neck that I was going to buy it.

When I my Highway One Strat came in at the store, I went in to give it a spin before finalizing the sale. The setup guy wasn't in yet but he'd been working on it the night before (I'd asked them to change the strings to 10's and deck the trem). I had it plugged in and was playing, and I was ready to take it home when the tech came in, looked at me, and said "Uh, you know I haven't even finished setting it up right?" He'd put the new strings on it and had left the guitar overnight to let the neck settle before he did the final setup. I loved it from the start, but needless to say, it was even better with the setup done - hahaha!

I was just in a store last week and tried out half the Fenders on their wall. Nothing spoke to me. Not even a twinge.

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As a long time Fender fan(got my first Fender electric new in 1979), I know it just takes time, patience and a familiarity with Fenders to spot the real deal. There are many small things that can be found that will tell you if it is a REAL Fender. A few places that I look are without taking it apart;
Headstock, has to have the right shape, truss rod access, tuners, string tree, and Fender logo, and ALL Fenders have a serial # somewhere on the headstock or neckplate
Neck heel, this is a place where fakes usually don't get it right. The curvature of the joint, the way the body meets the neck, the shape of the neck where it meets the body
Body, the contours of a Strat are something you get used to after seeing many examples. If the body doesn't look right to me, I can tell.
It seems the big problem is spotting a guitar that is 100% Fender parts, but is not original(assembled from Fender parts). It is easy to get Custom Shop parts online to make your plain Jane Strat SEEM like a higher end model. It does take a keen eye to spot the Partsocasters.
If I ever feel like something is just not right, I ask to remove the strings, and then the pickguard and neck. I do it in the presence of the owner, with permission. I offer a new set of strings for the trouble. if they refuse, MOVE ON!!! A true guitar guy knows that this may be the best way to authenticate his axe, and should have no trouble allowing it.
As always; Buyer Beware!!