Testing a new guitar

When you pick up a guitar whether it is yours or someone elses, you no doubt have a set of a few chords or riffs you run through.  They are stuck deep in your subconcious and before you even realize it, you are wailing away on the selected guitar without effort.

Here are a few of my favorite things I like to do when trying out a new guitar.

1. Big A chord at the 2nd fret.  Nothing says rock and roll like the kick in the gut from a loud A chord.This gives me a good feel for the natural resonance of the guitar.
2. D chord in the first position moving up the neck until you reach the 14th fret.  I usually play the D, then slide up to the fith fret holding the D chord pattern. I then silde up to the 9th fret and finally up to the 14th so I am playing the D an octave higher. This gives me a good sense of the intonation of the guitar.
3. Big open G chord.  This will let you hear the guitar ring. 
4. Major scale starting at the fifth fret. Then at the 7th, 9th,12th and 17th.  This really helps me identify any intonation issues.  You can also quickly pick out any dead spots on the fretboard.
5. Finally, a progression of E to G to D to A.  This gives me an idea for how the feel is when moving between chords.

These are some of my go to riffs for checking out a new guitar.  What are yours?  Leave a comment and let us know.