When I test drive a guitar for purchase, which I am currently doing, my criteria is first and foremost the neck and how it plays. I usually try to choose guitars with nearly dead strings on them. I find it is easier to judge how well a guitar sounds and plays that way.

I usually don't even consider the name of the guitar. There are so many things that are reaaly importanat that the name is only secondary when determining a purchase.

As for sound, I am deaf in one ear and what I actually hear as I play isn't what someone else hears. I always have someone play it for me, so I can sit infront of it rather than behind it, and hear as true a sound as is possible with one dead ear.

Don