A GASeous question.

One word for you drewsdad....AGILE! I think these are the best LP copies out right now (and yes even better than Epiphone!). I had mine for a few weeks now and can't put it down! Click the Guitar Gallery link in my signature to see pictures of my guitar (in the Photo Album section) or you can go to the source HERE.

I have heard mixed reviews on the SX guitars and thought of getting one of the Tele copies...Check out the reviews at Harmony Central.

Thanks for the reply Mikespe, yes I have looked at the Agiles and they do look great. If I decide against going with more of a "beater" type guitar, they will definitely be in consideration.

I have been happy with my Samick AV3. Real nice guitar for the money.

Thanks for the reply Mikespe, yes I have looked at the Agiles and they do look great. If I decide against going with more of a "beater" type guitar, they will definitely be in consideration.

what do you mean by that?

Thanks for the response JosephLefty, I think I saw your posting when you got it and it's a beauty. What I was really looking for is something relatively inexpensive that would be a good platform for experimenting with different mod's. If I move up to a nicer level of finish on it, I'll probably be a bit more hesitant to "play". I was hoping that members could elaborate on (any of) their experiences with cheaper LP copies (and I've already been through the reviews at Harmony Central).

blackzerogsh - did my reply to mikespe answer your question?

Thumbs up for the Dean. If I would have to start over again with a tight budget I would go for the Dean. It doesn't have really powerfull buckers and I could see it being more suited towards blues then doommetal, very mellow instead of 'fierce'. I played a bunch and they were usually set up pretty well, with amazingly low action and proper intonation. The tuners hold up to some pretty heavy bending but like with any guitar this price you souldn't expect it to stay in tune a whole set of heavy playing. Fretwork was decent, nothing to complain abotu but nothing spectacul either. Finish is very good and some sites like MF even advertised it as full mahony. It is just a basswood body with a tiny layer of 'some' mahony, which should be pretty obvious once you pick it up: it is one of the lighest LP-clones I've ever seen.

All in all a very good guitar for it's price. It's body and pups do give it a different tone then you'd expect from a LP. Mellower, calmer and almost friendlier, if you know what I'm saying. It's still a $99 guitar and the $350 Dean Evo Special is superior in every possible way, but for the price you pay you get a very playable and usefull guitar instead of the toy you'd get from companies like Squier and Epiphone.

Arjen, thanks for the great summary on the Dean, that's exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for. I've always liked the Dean, but I haven't been too sure how durable the basswood body would be. The cheap tuners don't put me off because everything I have (Yamaha Pacifica and AXL-hybrid), except for my Seagull, has cheap tuners and I haven't had any real problems, even with a fair amount of trem usage. I've also looked at the EVO TEVO because it's all mahogany with a set neck but I'm not real sure of the bridge on it.

drewsdad........what sort of mods are you looking to play with?

Can't do much with a set neck guitar.

If you want to 'play', buy a hammered and well used guitar for cheap. I bought a cheap strat for the same purpose. Cheap old Cort from the 80's. Bought a new neck with medium jumbo frets and maple fretboard, custom pickguard with graphics, grover tuners, twin blade hum pups for mid and neck (I don't use bridge), I am rewiring everything and shielding the new pickguard.....not much left to the original guitar other than the body and pots.

Look for a used bargain that really needs some work and you won't mind playing around with it. If it is sufficiently beat up, then anything you do will be an improvement and not something just for the sake of change. 8)

JosephLefty......I agree with you on the set necks, that's why all the low end stuff I have been looking at comes with bolt-on's.

The mod's I'm considering would be different combinations of pickups and wiring setups, possibly different nuts. I don't think you can get into a whole lot of variation with bridge hardware on cheaper imports (I could be wrong).

I've already gone the route of modding my AXL single coil strat to a fat strat config. I rerouted the body and hand-fit the pickguard which has two Fender tex-mex's and a SD humbucker at the bridge. After I got it assembled, I realized that the tex-mex's were bastardized from something else because they were designed for wider string spacing, but it still sounds fine - much fuller than the original pickups, and hey, it only cost me twenty bucks. The cheap tuners hold fine for now, maybe replace those later and add a graphite nut. Of course, then there's the Fender Lace Sensor and the two Carvin AP11's I got awhile back for ten bucks, hmmmm. I friend of mine has also offered to machine out a carbon steel block for the bridge to see if it makes any noticeable improvement (paying $60 for one of these seems outrageous).

Yes, I do like to experiment with change for the sake of change just to add to my enjoyment of playing. I probably suffer from a bit of late on-set ADD and this actually helps me maintain my focus while I'm juggling work and family related responsibilities as well as squeezing guitar in on the side.

Hopefully, this rambling discourse somewhat explains why I'm interested in doing this. Thanks.

blackzerogsh - did my reply to mikespe answer your question?

yes, perfectly