The most frequently asked question concerning the choosing of ones guitar has been this; "How do you know if it's the right guitar for me?" Our standard answer for this is a relatively complex one. There are several aspects worthy of your consideration when shopping for a guitar and as an experienced player I can certainly provide you with the two most important - #1 SOUND or tone, balance, projection, and/or volume (Does it sound good?) #2 FEEL or playability (How good does it play?).
When you go out to find your first guitar your motivations can really be quite simple. #1 LOOKS and #2 COMFORT. These may be more important than you think, after all you're not so sure how it's supposed to sound or feel at this point and you may simply be making a modest investment in yourself just to see if you'll stick with it.
I'm more concerned with sound than playability and that is simply because you can make most guitars play good with a decent set up, however if a guitar feels fine and is set up in proper working order yet it still sounds bad then I am going to ask myself...What is wrong? First of all... are the strings any good? If they look good and feel alright than maybe the saddle has been filed down too far, look for some height in the saddle 1/8 " or a little higher is great. The neck could have a slight reverse bow causing the strings to buzz here and there. It could have dead sounding notes usually caused by lifting frets. These things are all easily remedied with a proper set up but often missed in a quick overview. If it's all good then chances are the guitar just doesn't sound good to me and I'll move onto another.
All the guitars here at Lightning Joe's have been professionally set up and put into good working order by Lightning Joe himself. With a proven set of techniques and a progressive approach to the specifications used by manufacturers, a guitar set up by Lightnin' feels like a million bucks. Whether it's $50.00 or $5,000.00 This is by no means true of all stores, nor is it true of the so called "wholesale" catalogs. It's certainly not the case with most online purchases, guitars sold on television, and most definitely not in the big box stores.
This may all seem dandy but what if you're a beginner and this is your first guitar? Maybe you can't tell the difference between a good sound and a bad sound and you probably wouldn't recognize a properly set up guitar if you held it in your hands. So what should you do? If you shop here your safe because we set up all the guitars and we really do care about you and what goes on with you after you've made your purchase. You could have a friend who plays guitar lend you a hand, however they should help you more with the feel not so much the sound. After all you're the one who will be waking up in the morning with your new guitar so be sure you like the sound.
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