and in comes alucard to dampen our spirits and make us feel like our opinions don't matter...

but, his advice is good advice. I would play around with anything and everything in all price ranges, and choose what you like from them. however, not all of us have this luxury of having a guitar store nearby that stocks tons of different brands... most of the shops around me only stock 1 or 2 different brands. I can find a good shop if I drive out to the guitar center in san fransisco. but that's about an hour and a half away from me. and I don't always have that much time (or gas) to blow.