Haven't posted in a long time, but was looking for some opinions on buying a guitar. I've played guitar a long time, but never seriously and never as more than a hobby. I just have an acoustic, and lately I've been wishing I had an electric as well. I don't want just a cheap starter guitar, but I don't want to spend thousands and thousands either. I like all kinds of music, but would like something that can sound a little meaner if needed for punk and metal stuff.
I went to Guitar Center and it was a little overwhelming, but the ones that felt best to me were a Gibson SG, a slightly cheaper version of a Les Paul, and a used Paul Reed Smith. The problem is the SG they had was the slightly more expensive one:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gibson/2016-SG-Standard-T-Electric-Guitar.gcnot the slightly cheaper one that I'd probably buy:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gibson/2017-SG-Faded-T-Electric-Guitar.gcThis is the Les Paul:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gibson/2016-Les-Paul-Studio-Faded-Series-T-Electric-Guitar.gcThe used PRS was beat to shit and there's no guarantee it'll be there when I actually want it. This seems like it would be closest, but a bit on the higher end of what I wanted to spend (like the SG Standard T):
http://www.guitarcenter.com/PRS/S2-Standard-24-Ivoroid-Dots-Inlays-J27505.gcAny opinions? I know it's just a matter of taste and these are fairly different guitars. The Les Paul isn't as heavy as the higher end Les Pauls they had, which I kind of liked, though the SG was even lighter than that. All of these felt pretty easy to play. Am I better off just going for the pricier SG that I really liked and skimping on the amp for now?