[Nathans_Dad]

First, no the investment value of the guitar doesn't really matter to me. I buy guitars to play them and enjoy them. I have 3 kids with another one on the way and I don't want to have to worry about where my guitars are with the kids around. Honestly, if I had a $4000 guitar I think I would be afraid to take it out of the case.

As far as why a Les Paul, yes they are heavy. The Epiphone Ultra and Ultra II are chambered though and weigh significantly less. Basically looking at the "iconic" guitars, I think most people start with a Strat, Tele and Les Paul. Rickenbacker makes some very nice guitars too, but again those are not within my budget.

I started out thinking I wanted a 335 copy. You tube has some very nice stuff with people playing 335s or Epiphone Dots/Casinos/Sheratons. I went into GC and played a bunch of semi-hollow bodies and just wasn't blown away. Yes they have great tone and I may well still get a semi-hollow next but something about the size of the guitar didn't feel quite right (and I'm a 6'5" guy...).

Like I said, I was only at GC for about 45 minutes and was just fooling around. I'm sure there will be multiple trips back before I decide on a new guitar.

One thing I did notice, though is that except for the finish looking a little different, I couldn't tell a difference (to my ear anyhow) between a Gibson LP and a higher end (i.e. $600) Epiphone LP.