Personally, I love where the volume control is on a strat, and I wish more of my guitars had it close to the bridge like that. It makes volume swells so much easier.

I agree, I love messing around with that. I wish I had a pedal for it, but since I don't the knob is located conveniently enough for me to pull it off well enough.

I always love the gibson SG, but nowadays I have nothing :(

I don't think I could pick any guitar company without shooting myself in the foot with some imperfections. I've played an Epiphone for about 5 or so years and I've grown quite accustomed to the way the way it feels. Same thing with Gibson, but ever since the new CEO change a few years back, the quality there dropped so far down. I've heard a lot about people having problems with the company with parts and mediocre craftsmanship. My friend but a lower end LP but it was missing the switch knob. He called the company and they said they would send a new one. It took 9 months for them to ship it, and bam... they sent one that didn't fit. It's been almost a year and he still just has the short nub of the switch. No company should be so half-assed as to miss a black switch knob on a red guitar then so inefficient with the compensation for it. I still love the guitars they make (Gibson and Epi.) but the its way harder to get the quality you should get of the former. I really like how some Fenders feel but i hate the volume knob position and the whammy bar. I have an old Jackson dinky with the Floyd Rose system and I greatly prefer that (tuning is a nightmare though). Also, the volume knob is still in the way (especially when palm muting) but I'm starting to re-train myself to pick a bit differently with that guitar. The neck is sweet, ultra thin, its feels nice. So overall, I guess I would stick with the Gibso.n/Epiphone but I do really like Fender, Ibanez, Gretsch, and a well made handcrafted guitar, not like the Companies (although nothing wrong with them) but like the guy that has that little guitar shop in Eastbum Feck that happens to make his own guitars. Props to those guys.

Holy whut...a newbie that understands the concept of different guitars requiring different technique? Congrats dude, you'll go far with that attitude. 90% of people just expect every guitar to feel the same.

Thanks GB

About Gibson: Sure they may have terrible quality control but as a halfway intelligent musician one should look at and play there instrument thoroughly before buying it. I would never buy an expensive guitar online.

About the knob: Was he not aware of the fact that he could get an even higher quality knob than the original (or the original for that matter) for under 10 bucks? Seems like a pretty absurd problem.

I agree that you should always try out things before you buy. But my friend and I live in eastbumfeck and you can't even buy a guitar string without making a road trip. So extensive testing on different guitars is out of the question. It simply can't happen. Next, the getting a new knob is not a problem, they cost a $1.31. (And as a side, you can't really get a "higher" quality nob, its a 1/2 inch piece of plastic that covers the toggle switch.) Its the principle that a well respected company can let such an obvious thing slide and fail to properly correct their mistake. It shouldn't happen especially when your paying $800 for a guitar and about around $200 or maybe more is just for the brand name that reached its status by providing excellent quality guitars in tandem with great service for years and now ironically can't get a feckin knob right.

volume pedals are awesome and if you go for the plastic alternative (as opposed to the all metal Dunlops) you should be able to score one for about $40.

Fender's new Fuzz Wah's are real cool. The pedal can control both at the same time with I find helpful. Sadly they are 200 bucks so I dont have one.