[Nathans_Dad]

Well of course part of the reason for the thread is I am looking for my next guitar to add to the collection.

Currently I have:

2007 Fender Highway 1 American Strat with a humbucker at the bridge (not crazy about that humbucker, btw) --Purchased new at Guitar Center for $600
2001 Fender American Standard Telecaster --Purchased "used" but actually never played (tags still on the neck) off ebay for $650--SCORE
Epiphone Masterbilt Acoustic --Purchased used but minty fresh off craigslist locally for $350...really like this guitar. It's all solid wood, top, back and sides and sounds as good as my uncle's $1000 Martin but for much less.

So, I figure a Les Paul is probably the next choice. I have tried archtops and semi-hollows at Guitar Center but for some reason they just don't work for me, as much as I want to like them. I played a few LPs and liked the sounds coming out of the amp much better.

My budget is probably $1k tops so that rules out Gibsons unless I do a studio model and even then it would probably have to be used. I can get a nice Epiphone LP for anywhere from $500-$800. I was looking at the Epiphone Les Paul Ultra II which looks like a pretty nice guitar for the money.