What I would suggest is if you can get ahold of the Guitar you Mentioned, play it a little, see if it feels right.. If it does, I would go for it, and after the pickups the next things I would replace are the tuners unless they are adequate and the nut... then you may be in like flin.. I have a Knock off that sounds incredible and feels great, it has a set neck, good pick-ups, plays fantastic but it needs tuners. It goes out after about 3 songs, probably not enough to hear while in a band playing but enough to tell a lil bit when you are alone...I am searching for tuners right now on Ebay. not sure if I want Grovers or the original stlyes... Have fun...Oh yea, probably one more thing to check, which could be important is the shielding, nothin worse then the constant Bzzzzzzzzzzz or Hmmmmmmmmmmm... Of course this can be fixed to with a lil work..I think a big difference between the Gibsons and some of these knock-offs is that the Gibsons spend more time in teh shop before they hit the store, as in getting set to go so you can pretty much play em outta the box...Its all what your lookin for, about anything can sound good with the proper effects and such..

[Edited by Rainy River Madman on 01-11-2004 at 02:32 PM]