It's been about five years since I've played. I had an Epiphone SG that I got when I was in high school. This was around 1991 or so. I taught myself to play and messed around on, but I sold it about five years ago. I've regretted it ever since I sold it.
So just a few weeks ago, I stopped by the Guitar Center store out in Robinson Towne Center. WOW. I can't believe how much stuff has changed since the last time I was in a guitar shop. I walked in to look around and ended up being there for more than an hour messing around with different guitars.
I grew up a HUGE Guns N' Roses fan (just ask Spoon), and my two favorite guitartists were Izzy Stradlin and Slash. I've always wanted a Les Paul but obviously price was an issue, and it still is. I'd love to get an authentic Les, but I just can't justify spending upwards of $1000 on a guitar that I'm just going to play when I'm kicking around the house.
Fortunately, for those of us who probably never find themselves on a large stage but still would like to hear the quality of a decent guitar, Epiphone has begun making Les Pauls. Guitar Center had a beeeeeautiful Les Paul Standard made by Epiphone for about $400 or something like that.
http://www.epiphone.com/default.asp?Pro ... ectionID=6
I plugged it in and played it. A more accomplished musician would've definitely detected differences in the sound quality as opposed to an authentic, but honestly, I'm not that good that it mattered to me. I fell in love with the thing.
So now comes the conundrum. I've always wanted a Telecaster, too. I taught myself mostly the rhythm parts of songs, and Telecasters make fantastic rhythm guitars. They're also more affordable than the Epiphone Les Paul that I was looking at, and I love the sound, too. So now I'm stuck.
I'm definitely going to get one of them. I'm just not sure which and I don't know when. My wife and I have some other things that we'd like to do to the house, but I'd like to get one before the end of the year.