First Electric guitar, any Ideas?

[skater]

alright as you might have guessed from the title I am looking at a first electric, been playing acoustic for nearly a year and a half.

I play mostly blues and rock namely, led zep, pink floyd, guns n roses, red hot chili peppers you get the idea.

I have been looking around at electrics but I am still not sure what I am after.

budget is $700 so far but could go up a fair bit, I was thinking maybe a strat or tele.

I am going to throw an amp in as well with that money so any other seggestions here?

thanks in advance

and if it helps I live in the ACT

[Dogil]

Hi Skater - I'm no expert, but having bought and sold a few over the years I suggest buying used. Kind of like cars, the moment you walk out of the shop with the brand new axe the funny sound you hear is the value of the guitar crashing!! Be patient, check out all sorts and see what feels right for you, what sounds right for you and as you have noted, what fits your budget! Everyone you talk to (including in here!) has their own fav's, so listen to people and hear what they say, but just remember that may not be right for you. You mention strat's and tele's - my bias leans towards G&L strats. I bought one last year, after having hacked my way through 4 other brands/types and just couldn't get the right feel/sound. Played the G&L and the rest is history. You can pick them up 2nd hand for around what you are looking at.

Amps are a whole other thing depending what you want to do with them, and what sound you want. If you sniff around you can find some good deals where someone has to sell the lot to get a handful of quick cash.

Most music stores do amp/guitar packs for pretty cheap; have a look at them by all means, but in my opinion you get what you pay for, and the guitars are usually pretty flimsy and prone to problems.

I am a big Ebay user, and if you look there you can get an idea of prices and what is around. It is a buyers market, but the usual CAVEAT EMPTOR (let the buyer beware!) certainly applies there.

Hope my rambling has been of some assistance.