I need something that is extremely versatile. I need a guitar that will allow me to play slow soulful blues as well as shred some insane metal riffs. I am not looking for a single tone unfortunately, as I consistently listen to everything from Van Halen to Clapton, from The Beatles to punk, from Cat Stevens (who I know plays acoustic :)) to the Deftones. Maybe I could modify the pickups on the new guitar to make this work a little better. I know no one guitar will have that diverse a tone but... a man can always hope. I'm definitely guitar market/gear illiterate... but I can play pretty good. :)
If I can sell my Fender James Burton Standard Tele for $400 (please tell me if it's worth more than that! :P), my price range would have to be somewhere around $700 or less.
Thank you for reading this and please reply.
-Nick Shifley