The right tool for the job.
 

Hi there,

After playing for about 40 years, here's my advice.
First. How much can you afford to spend? Most folks learn to play on a fairly cheap guitar which in most cases don't feel too good and maybe don't sound too good either. Lay out as much as you can afford and you will notice a huge difference in your playing on a better guitar. It's a bit like learning to drive in an old broken down car then when you get your first decent car, WOW, so that's how it's meant to be.

Next. Forget about how you sound now but think about how you want to sound in maybe 2 or three years time, have a target style to aim at roughly. This will then narrow down the type of instrument you will be test driving. When you walk into a music store, you wanna be able to ignore most of the stuff and home in on the narrow area that you need to sound the way or play the style of music you are aiming for. You wouldn't be knocking a nail in with a screw driver and it's real hard to screw with a hammer, (I guess, ha,ha,). You know what I mean.

Narrow the type of guitar down as much as possible, spend as much as you can afford without going over and really, forget about the name on the guitar. Buy the one that plays nice and sounds good, whatever label is stuck on it.

Good luck and all the best with your search, Gordon.:)

It's not the scale length that's the problem, it's the string spacing, that's why the bridge parts aren't interchangeable, which is the really annoying part. The screws and allen bolts are all slightly different too (which means if you lose your american allen key/whammy bar a mexican one won't fit.) It kinda makes you feel like fender don't want you just upgrading their mexis, they want you to shell out for the American version. Check the Callaham website if you don't believe me. (or you could try adjusting an American bridge with a Mexican allen key because you've lost the one that came with your bridge...)

The reason I don't think it's fair is part of the reason the Mexis are cheaper is because mexican labour is cheaper than American, so Fender deliberately limit the quality of their Mexican guitars, so that they can continue to justify charging customers more for an American made guitar. So the customer pays more, and the Mexican labourers are earn less for doing the same job. Fender are basically taking the p*** out of their customers and out of Mexican labourers.

I would go with the strat. If you pick up a good one, you can't really beat it as far as action and playability go in that price range.

I've never been a huge fan of Gibsons. Something about the high bridge, I didn't really like.

By all means get a Telecaster or a Strat. Gibsons are cool bujt EXPENSIVE. There's a cheap Telecaster floating around on the internet that people like Jimmy Page, and Other big names have said is better or equal to their $5000 one. I can't remember the name but if you search you'll find it. I think it's like $400. I would get it myself but I don't have the money.