Every instrument must be tested in the heat of battle to know if it's good for playing at high levels. I can pick up any guitar from a wall and tell if it's good to play in 30 seconds, yet I can only tell if it's suitable for recording or a big gig after I have tested it. As I learned from Nashville's guitar whisperer, Tom Bukovac, I give a new guitar two sessions in the studio - if it fails both times, I either take it back to the shop or find a new use for it.