if ya gonna play metal kind of songs with solos i wouldnt go for the tele despite a really nice sound and playability its generally recognised as a rythm guitar. and it lacks the right kind of pickups to be able to really knock out the true classic rock sound. i went from a tele to a Les Paul an ya can really feel an hear the difference that the hum buckers give it, just play a tele for a bit then move to sometin with hubuckers an you'll hear the difference. for the versaitility which you seem to be going for i would suggest an SG good alround sound both clean and distorted.