What guitar from $450- $700 should I get?

Question

I'm trying to decide between either a PRS (Paul Reed Smith) SE Custom, PRS SE Singlecut, Fender Deluxe Player's Strat, or an Epiphone Les Paul Standard. I play rock and blues and pretty much love any blues influenced rock like Clapton and Led Zeppelin. Other suggestions are also more than welcome.

Answer 1

Get the SE custom my friend. You wont be disappointed.

Answer 2

www.carvin.com before I made any decisions, your line of thinking is good.

Answer 3

have a look at the styles that the musicians use....

i have a fender which i love... but the thing is, you will need to hold and play the guitar to see what sounds and feels better to you.

also look to see if you can package it - amps, tuners, strings, straps, cases etc.

the other thing is to look at the specs of each, and from that see what features you may need.

also see what guitars get better sounding with age - mine is a solid top which develops a better sound the more that i play because of that feature...

you will find that people will just suggest their fave brand.

i strongly recommend you talk to the guitar shop...

otherwise didnt jimmy page play les paul???

Answer 4

Well, Clapton plays a Strat and Page plays a Gibson Les Paul. PRS is an excellent guitar. One thing about them is that the frets are placed perfectly with a computer and laser and they come perfectly intoned from the factory which makes them easy to tune and every note or chord has the correct pitch. Santana plays one.

Still, you can't beat the way Clapton can make his Strat talk or the way Page can manage the sound of his Les Paul and make the speed and intracacies of his riffs seem so easy. Try to stay away from the Epiphone. There's a reason they cost less than the real thing. I like a Strat with it's lighter weight and more simple sound so that you can really put part of yourself into the music. A Les Paul is heavy with more sustain and those humbuckers. Never played a PRS but i don't think you could go wrong with one. You know what I prefer but what you get is up to you. Good luck.

Answer 5

try a b.c. rich warlock that's my favorite or a dean but they could be in the thousands

i'd go for a les paul

Answer 6

Well dude judging from the styles you like, I would say go for the Fender or the PRS. My favorite guitar is hands down the strat! But I love the Telecaster also. I mean I love the fender instruments. Alright PRS is a high quality brand and all, but you know they have an enormous quality gap. The Prs's gap is about 700$-2000$ so you are probably not going to get PRS quality. The funny thing is I was deciding between the same guitars as you were, but with the addition of the telecaster. I think you should look through the telecaster through guitar center's site and find one that suites you. But I'll go ahead and tell you do not buy the epiphone!!!!!!! Epiphone and even Gibson nowadays have poor quality control. So getting a good guitar is

like entering a raffle. If I were you I would definitely go with a fender instrument. But the PRS deserves a chance i guess.

Keep in mind-

Jimi Hendrix preffered a Statocaster

Eric Clapton prefers a Stratocaster

And Jimi Page (Led Zeppelin) Played a Telecaster on the first three

Zeppelin albums.

Also try out instruments at your local music store.

Answer 7

You're definitely looking at the right kind of guitars.  I wouldn't recommend anything else, but I would say that any PRS that's less than a thousand dollars and/or a bolt-on isn't worth it.  They make excellent instruments in the $1-3,000 range.  I'd say the same about the Les Paul.  While the Epiphone is a nice guitar, you probably already have a "nice" guitar.  You want something truly better than what you have now, right?  A $700 Stratocaster would be an awesome guitar, and probably the best you could get for the money.  

Answer 8

Get the PRS SE custom.  I bought one last year and have been VERY pleased and suprised.  The stock pickups were not bad, but I put a Seymour Duncan JB humbucker in the bridge and WOW...  Sounds just as great as my Gibsons and other high end guitars. I'm considering buying another, the singlecut version.