Went to my local #GuitarCenter to try out some #Epiphone Les Pauls and SGs. Every fret board felt super dry and the strings all felt nasty. Both fixable things .. but still makes it hard to be excited about any of them. Definitely prefer the thinner SG necks these days. And the position of the pickup switch, too. Though the cable jack location was not very practical with the Mustang Micro I was playing through. And I have to say, bringing a headphone amp with a couple of signal chains saved and a suite of songs to play is a great way to compare guitars. Certainly easier than lugging my whole pedal board and hoping the have my same amp! And with headphones on I'm zoned into myself in spite of all the other customers cranking amps in the store.
Managed to find a shop 90 minutes away that has the Guild Polara Deluxe, so I'll be making that drive on Saturday.