+1

i couldn't agree more. concerning guitars AND bikes. someone here recently said something to the effect of "a crappy guitar through a good amp will sound better than a nice guitar through a crappy amp"

i thought that was an important statement to understand. you'll always have the sweet amp, but learning on an epi or a squier, you can learn your preference and upgrade later when it will make the most difference, and allow you to begin shaping your individual tonal preference. besides, at least as far as epiphone is concerned, some of them are nearly as good as the real deal.

understanding the music your trying too play will help your guitar sound ten fold les paul or strat dont matter its in the hands not ears

Agreed! I love both rock and country and so an American Standard Telecaster fits me perfect.

Tele's sound way too thin for me to use them as a rock guitar, to be honest. I love how they sound clean, though.

Agree on the branding bias front. I've been playing for just under 20 years now and have been through a whole bunch of budget to pro guitars. Where a lot of people are anti squier and epiphone, then don't really understand that you're getting mostly the same instrument, built with largely comparable materials but in countries where the labour is so much cheaper.

I used to play an squier as a boy, the intonation was a bit off, but I was too young to adjust it - I learned my technique on that and a Jackson PS2 (which again was strat-like but with different pickups again). I now play a Parkery Niteflym - as its gorgeous to play, and is about half the weight of a Les Paul - so perfect for moving around the stage with! :yeah:

Also, will add that I believe your tone is mostly down to two things - your technique/ability, and your amp. I've heard a cheap squier played through an Orange Thunderverb head on tour, and it sounded gorgeous - the guitars are made to a standard, unless you spend sub 100 pounds here, you should be able to aquire an acceptable sounding and playing instrument. In the same way, I sometimes play my Parker through an old Line6 combo and the sound is barely acceptable (Im due an amp upgrade!)...

I personally would go with a Les Paul I love mine and would not be without it even if it is just an epiphone Zakk Wylde custom it still sounds amazing although I think it would be way to heavy for what you want it for.

Agreed, Les Paul's are very versatile guitars and sound great.

But, like anything else, it is all dependent on the make and the year. I mean most upper-end LP's have solid tone, but there are duds....and I have bought a few duds over the years. You're almost better off going with an Epiphone. Most Epiphone LP's have comparable tone for literally half the price.

I've always loved the classic Strat tone though. But when you're buying Fender products, you're taking a bigger risk than if you went with Gibson anymore....which really pisses me off.

If you get a Strat (which I highly reccomend you at least consider) make sure you buy American. The imports are extremely overpriced these days and the quality has been severly lacking over the last few years.

Also, Reverend Guitars is making some sweet stuff ....pretty evenly priced with killer tone to boot. I'd check them out.

i just need to get this off my chest because it just annoys the crap out of me

an epiphone les paul is NOT the same as a gibson les paul. would you let someone who drives a chevrolet cavalier call it a corvette because they're both 'sports' cars made by chevrolet? hell no.

while there are duds that get through gibson's QA, if you're really to the point of actually needing a gibson you 'should' be able to spot the duds before dropping the dollars.