Would this be an appropriate place to discuss music gear?

Guess not

Get a good amp, the best guitar in the world will sound like shite through a crappy amp. As far as guitars go to the store try out all the ones you like, preferably hooked up to the amp you are going to buy. Then go home. Think about it, go back in a few days play the one you want again and then buy it. Get the store to put on a set of strings you like and to do a setup

You can get USA made versions of that strat

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Most of what I'm interested in playing is hard rock, metal, and blues if that helps any.

I like the Les Paul body style but I don't know if I want a Gibson. I was thinking maybe a PRS or ESP with a similar body style. Any suggestions?

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the name gibson is pretty overrated these days, with the exception of their finishes. THE absolute best finishes on any electric guitars. the quality of the "crappy" and lower tier instruments around the industry has risen dramatically and for what you used to pay 1500-2000 for, you can get for 400-700. you can get an esp ltd eclipse, les paul shape, carved top, jb-59 duncans, tunomatic pro locking bridge, ebony fingerboards with binding, gotoh locking tuners, set neck full mohagony for 500-850 depending on the deal and finish. thats a third to half of what gibson charges for their version of that same guitar. the cheapest humbucker, non studio les paul is 999 and has no carved top, no binding, gibson brand tuners, and a very thin body.

vs

the one exception is their sg faded line which can be bought for 500 if you catch it at the right time. its not the greatest guitar, but if you just want to say you own a gibson, its just about the most inexpensive way to do it.

if you go prs se, you have a lot of options, the terero is a superstrat 80's style with floyd rose and emgs, the tremonti has a les paul style setup. most of the se's can be nabbed for 500-800 depending on the deal. check hello music, daily to find insane deals.

sound gearz has esp/ltd gear with b grades, factory returns, and nick scratch items for fractions of the cost.

You will pay a lot of money for a good American strat. Mexican-made strats are good and a lot cheaper.

And it would be a shame to get a guitar like that and have a crappy amp.

Went with Music 123. They will bargain with you a little. Got a Fender Twin Reverb from them and found a sweet Fender Telecaster Thinline (with humbucker pickups) on EBay for a good price. Yes, do get a good amp. Fender, Peavey, Acoustic are all hard to go wrong with. Take a loan if you have to, but a crappy amp will make a guitar sound crappy. On the other hand, I still have my first guitar I bought almost 50 years ago. It's a little garbage ax, but they make those better back then, and the Fender Twin Reverb really does it more justice than it probably deserves.

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you can get an esp ltd eclipse

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Yes I could


Picked up one of the higher end ones last night for 850

Amp is nothing too special. Got an Orange Crush CR35LDX

Definitely enough for what I'm using it for. I might consider getting some sort of pedal but they have some nice built in effects.

The case was extra but not too bad (110)

It's a les paul case but it fits