I know we all like to bag on Guitar Center (and mostly rightfully so), but sometimes other music stores besides GC have there share of Fail going on there as well....
So a couple weekends ago I visited my favorite local guitar shop just to browse, window-shop, and generaly kill some time. It was a nice day and I needed to get some Wind Therapy on the motorcycle anyway before the season ends. They had a nice used Dunlop Crybaby 535 wah with a very attractive (read: cheap) price on it. Salesdude comes over and asks if I want to try it out. "Sure, I'd like that" I said. My Love/Hate relationship with my Morley Tremonti wah goaded me into checking out alternatives. So salesdude asks what kind of guitar I want to use. I didn't care so long as it had humbuckers, and he picked out a pretty nice MIM Fender Fat Strat for me to use. He took me over to a Supro combo amp (didn't catch which model but it was a single channel amp) and plugged everything in for me and let me go with it.
No strap.
Now tell me, just HOW was I supposed to demo a wah pedal while trying to hold a guitar....and on a Clean channel? I tried to get his attention, but no luck. I just had to sit there trying to keep the guitar from sliding off my leg and onto the floor (I tried standing too and that was worse) and make stupid little noises because I couldn't actually play
anything like that. I could've just dimed the amp for some kind of useful overdrive sound but after a few minutes of meedling like an eediot I gave up trying to hold the guitar and play at the same time and unplugged everything and shut it down. I hung the Strat up with a bunch of acoustics, took the pedal up to the counter and paid for it. I told the guy a strap would've been nice and helpful and he just rolled his eyes.....lol