What guitar should I buy for playing Metal?

Like the title suggests, I play a lot of Metal. Examples of bands would be:

Megadeth, Iced Earth, Symphony X, Children of Bodom, Rammstein, Eisbrecher, Metallica, Helloween, ect. A lot of thrash, power, and progressive metal.

All I have is my Fender Strat that I play through my Peavey Valveking 212, but that doesn't quite cut it for me. I want a better guitar for this type of music but don't know where to begin looking. Any suggestions?

Don't want to go over $1,000

anyone? :confused:

given your music preferences there are a few suggestions id make:

ibanez 7 string or other strat copy (go with humbuckers)

jackson makes a very some very nice metal axes with floyd rose copies on them (after you buy you can change it out for a real floyd rose)

if you want something more traditional you might consider an epiphone les paul or sg. a new set of pickups can boost the tone of them with only another 200 or 300 on a 500 buy. they also have a few models with active pickups in them. the biggest advantage in going this way is a set neck is almost a standard option.

schlector makes makes a few that are pretty good so does esp and LTD.

the best advice i can give is to head over to your local shop (guitar center if one is near by) and try every guitar you can get your hands on. if you can find an amp like yours its even better because you can figure out how itll sound at home.

a fender strat is still a pretty good axe for metal you can also try a new fx pedal or a compressor/sustainer, or a pickup job on your fender. convering it to a fat strat or adding some ducan hot rails can change the over all tone of your current axe. before you buy anything do your reserch on it and if you can try it out.

I have a few suggestions....

Ibanez RG 1550M Prestige
Ibanez RG 1570 Prestige

Also for under 600 bucks check out the Sterling JP50(musiciansfriend). Buy this and then drop in whatever pickups you prefer with the money you saved. My friend has this guitar and he just raves about the quality. I have the Ibanez RG 1550M that I mentioned and it rocks!

Any guitar with a flatter fretboard radius would probably work really well for you. Most of the bands that you listed ususally use guitars like this. They are a bit easier for playing FAST lead or rhythm stuff!

When you ask 'What kind of guitar for Metal'. What is your concern with that question?

If tone : I'd be willing to throw out that you can get probably just about any tone you want or close too with any guitar using FX.

If playability : Probably something with a thin neck. My Jackson has a thin neck. I really like it. But, that's really just preference.

I dunno man.. It's all about preference, what style of guitar feels good to you. There really is no right or wrong. You could probably use a Les Paul if you wanted. Again... All about the preference and what feels/sounds good to you.

It's all subjective.

I take the "Guitar-Whisperer" approach to new instruments. Sit down and try different guitars. Don't sit down and play "Stairway to Heaven" (a sin according to the 11th commandment) or your favorite metal song... play whatever comes to you... let the guitar "tell" you what to play. Buy the one that makes the horns pop out of your head and makes you want to crush something.

For a more helpful suggestion... humbuckers are better than single-coil for metal (my opinion)... thin neck, low buzz-free action, etc. I don't know if this was mentioned, but pay close attention the the finish in the neck... go with whatever gives you the lowest friction as you move your fret hand up and down the neck... this is really a matter of preference and playing style.

-Ryan