I gotta jump in on this one... As they said, either is good but definetly try it before you buy it. I have a Mexi fat strat and I love it. But I will tell you that they had another in the store when I went to try an amp out and it didn't play ANYTHING at all like mine. A friend said the same of the tele's. The beautiful thing about them is that they are so versitale. You can play just about anything with them.

About the Gibsons. I do like them but some of the epi's, which are IN my price range, (another point) feel like plastic. Not all of them, mind you. I don't wanna go pissing off the Gibson crowd. They've got a good thing going on. But if I was to get a Gibson, I'd have to save and get the real thing. They're sooooo worth it.