Good Lead Guitar... Please Help

[PonyOne]

I'm in the market for a good guitar for playing lead; solos, bridges, you know, uhm, LEAD guitar.
I want to keep the price range around $500 or less, and don't have any brand loyalty to bow down to, I'm pretty much open to anything.
I have a few ones i've been mulling over in my head. I've been thinking of a Fat Strat, or one of the Kramer Focus knockoffs (mainly because they're CHEAP), an ESP of some type, a Jackson, Fernandes Revolver Pro (never tried but looks cool), Hamer, anything really. I just need a serious lead sound that's good for screaming.
As you may have noticed from my posting, I'm quite the gearhead and have tried a lot of stuff, but that's the problem... as Blur said, I've seen so much I'm going blind.

[overdrive]

You can get a Epiphone SG for that price. I've played both Gibson SG and Epiphone SG and they feel and sound very alike. If I was to get a cheap axe it would be the Epiphone SG or even the Flying V.

[PonyOne]

I already have an SG, Tele and a 12-string hollowbody.

[Burnt_Toast]

Look into Yamaha guitars. For around the price, they are awesome. Some of them stink, but most are good. Other than that, I'll I can say is play everything.

Steve

[Raskolnikov]

Any guitar can be a lead guitar, just look at the greats: SRV, Jimi, Malmstein- Strats; Iommi, Angus- SG's; Slash, Joe Walsh, Paige, etc, etc, etc- Les Pauls (though Walsh has been seen playing leads on just about everything); Hammett- ESP's and I can keep going- we all can.

I think what you need to think about is "what guitar am I most comfortable on?" and "does my amp and fx fit the bill?" I have two basses, a strat and a tele, and I play solos on all of them. It's all a matter of using the right guitar for the right song and making sure that you've got enough of a boost to cut through. Other than that, you can do just anything.

[Riffs]

The manufacturer is Vaccaro Guitar Company.
Vaccaro electric guitars are a hybrid design combining wood and aluminum.
The X-Ray is my favorite Vaccaro guitar. It's an excellent instrument.

Vaccaro guitars can be purchased for an affordable price, and you can order from Vaccaro direct.
http://www.vaccaroguitars.com

Eddie Van Halen's Wolfgang Series Guitars

http://www.peavey.com/mi/wg_features.html
http://www.peavey.com/mi/evh_wolfgang.html
http://www.peavey.com/mi/wolfgang_series.html

EVH Wolfgang and Wolfgang Special employ a Fully adjustable non-tremolo bridge with stop tailpiece for those who prefer this system.
http://www.peavey.com/mi/evh_wolfgang_special.html
http://www.peavey.com/mi/evhwolfgangstoption.html
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One Good Amp, One Good Cord, One Good Guitar and Two Very Good Hands!

Riffs :)






[Edited by Riffs on 06-11-2001 at 06:05 PM]