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[MetalMac]

Hey guys!! I thought I'd see if you fellow guitar freaks can help me out on this one.  I have been looking into buying a new guitar.  I have a fund started already to purchase a new one.  The best electric guitar I have right now is an Epiphone Les Paul Custom that has Grovers on it, and '57 Classic and Classic Plus Gibson pups in it.  It also has a tune-o-matic bridge and some nice aesthetics.  I am trying to find a guitar that will suit my needs, as I only am using two humbuckers and I'm looking for a more versatile tone.  I want to be able to go from a  tone to a country tone if that is at all possible.  This community rocks, so I will thank you guys in advance for your help!! I have looked at telecasters, mustangs, RG's, SG's, I just don't have a clue in what direction to go!   

[floydmoline]

personally I'd say a telecaster, or maybe a P-90 SG,  humbuckers are definitely not a country sounding pickup, you'd be quite pressed to get country twang or honk from a LP, a telecaster can obviously do twang, but is also suitable for getting LP type tones, it's obviously not going to sound exactly like a LP, but far closer than any other single coil guitar.

[characterzero]

I agree with the telecaster suggestion, especially if you want to be able to nail that country tone.  As you know the "country tone" is a thinner twangier sound usually from single-coil pickups.  One thing you could look into is a 2 humbucker guitar with the pickups wired to have the ability to parallel two single coils.  My guitar does this, and while it's not great for country, it does give a nice funk-oriented tone. 

Also one of my friends just wired his Gibson LP Studio to be able to be inverted phase.  I found that in that setting, his 2 humbucker guitar has a punchier tone.  (That's mostly if you're looking just to mod your current setup instead of buying a new guitar) 

Hope this at least gives you a few different ideas...

[Brian Krashpad]

I'll echo the Tele votes.

For more versatility and to do more heavy music you can always get a "fat" Tele with A HB in the neck slot.  I have a Tex-Mex that has a standard HB in the neck, with coil-splitting and a 5-way switch, that's very versatile.

[matt31]

That is one beautiful tele man

[Brian Krashpad]

That is one beautiful tele man

Thanks.  Even better, I picked it up for very little dosh.  Seller originally tried to misrepresent it and I walked.  Called him back a few weeks later and it still hadn't sold, so I told him $125, take it or leave it.

He needed money badly (not something he should've admitted to me), and voila!

[characterzero]

Wow, that's a great deal.  Money well spent considering when I paid that much for a guitar I got a Squier Strat!

My friend just bought a Tex-Mex Tele and he is absolutely loving it.

[Brian Krashpad]

Wow, that's a great deal.  Money well spent considering when I paid that much for a guitar I got a Squier Strat!

My friend just bought a Tex-Mex Tele and he is absolutely loving it.

Yeah, they're very nice.  That deal was the direct result of karma biting the seller in the ass.  That's the only time in all my years of guitar buying and selling where I actually took a fairly adversarial stance with my opposite number.  Usually I'm a nice, reasonable guy.  But when somebody tries to cheat me, all bets are off!   

I'm in the process of getting a Squier Bullet Strat that's been modded (2 GFS P-90's and new scratchplate, switch, and pots, plus the old single-HB scratchplate still wired up), and though I got it for just over a Benjamin (SleazeBay), with shipping it's over what I paid for that Tex-Mex, so I know what you mean about the enormity of that deal!