or you could do another obivous choice which im surprised that no one mentioned, is getting the standard fender or the mexican fender. I have one. Its no american fender but it is a good guitar and can do any job you want, from learning to playing gigs. Its cheaper then the epiphone by about one hundred canadian dollars. If you like fender go with the mexican, if your rich and like fender go with the american.

as far as epiphone goes, i hear good things and want to get one. However with out trying to be bias ive heard that the mexican is better quality all around then epiphone as a buddy tried them both out as i watched and the mexican deffently sounded better. but the trick is that with mid ringe factory built guitars, you can get a good one or sometimes one thats bad.

i suggest play them both. either way your not gonna be sorry cuz there both good, but you have to take into consideration: look, feel, playability, amp, skill, and exp type of music you want to play