To be honest, short of the last purchase I made, the ONLY purpose GC has served for me is as a test center for things I might want to buy. However, literally no store carried the amplifier I have now in the configuration I wanted. Everyone only had the combo version if even that so there's really no way I could've tested it without just buying it. I took a chance and while it has its nits that I could pick, it's been a great platform choice overall. Even one of the guitars I picked up recently had to be special ordered as, once again, not a single Fender dealer in California, large or small, had it in stock as was confirmed by hours of phone calls and website checks. Indeed, it's just like buying a Japanese motorcycle...you're almost never going to get a chance to demo it before you buy it so the reality is you're likely just going to have to bite the bullet. I'm not a fan of most traditional amplifiers and guitars and tend to want models that are harder to locate, even though they're not necessarily expensive or high-end models.
I have a Funky-Metal (hate the genre name) project that I'm starting with some pretty seasoned pros. We just write and jam for fun, and will do some clubs next year.
