SOFTMC wrote:Hey thanks for the Florida suggestions guys I am planning a Vacation there in July 
so that gives me somewhere to visit , must admit last time I visited Guitar Centre in Florida Was little bit disappointed with the staffs knowledge of what they had in stock I was looking for a JB sig goldtop and they said they never had any thn after having a look myself around the store found one hanging up the top of a couple of R8s 
I bought my Les Paul at a smaller chain called George's Music - there's one off of I-Drive and one on 17-92, north of Maitland. It's a really good "mainstream" shop if if you're not looking for oddball or vintage stuff. Nice staff, knowledgeable and helpful without being pushy. I must have tried 20+ guitars over the course of several visits and six months before buying my Les Paul. They even got the ladder out and pulled their 50th anniversary Flying V off the top row for me to try and I never got the "are you serious about buying it" crap you get at GC. The one on I-Drive has a good selection of LPs, strats and teles. If you're visiting Orlando and in the I-Drive area anyways, it's worth a stop. Doesn't have the vibe of Guitar Den, but it's a good shop for "players' instruments" and the staff is good.
When I lived in Chicago, I really liked Midwest Buy & Sell (bought my National Tricone there) and Musician's Network on Clark street (bought several acoustic there). The former was great for used/vintage stuff, the latter for day-to-day players stuff.
