Hi David

For the money you are spending, you should be able to find the guitar youare looking for. Although
you did not mention if you are looking for new or used. You have the right idea in first thinking
about what type of stuff you are going to be playing. You should decide if you want a guitar
with single coils or humbucking pickups. Humbuckers are less noisy and can give you more
output (and more crunch if you use a dirty tone) and single coils are brighter and ‘jangly’ (think strat).

For a brand recomendation, I recommend Hamer Guitars. In your price range you can easily
get a used model. They are great for everything. I have 4 Hamers from a LesPaul style, to
an 80’s Metal Type to a strat. All are versitile and great values for the money. They do have
an import line that isn’t as nice. You can tell the difference by looking for a small USA near the
Logo on the readstock. New USA hamers are out of your proce range but used they are an even
better value. I am so confident in their brand that I bought 2 of mine through the internet
without even playing them. They are solid.

Gibsons are going to be out of your price range unless you go used also. They can be junky.
Check out the little things like fretwork and finish to see what I mean. Because they crank out
so many of them quality control suffers. Same with Fender.

It all comes down to what you feel comfortable with. Check out this website:
http://www.kamanmusic.com for hamer info. There is a forum called hamer freaks there where you can
always find a good used hamer for sale.