Greetings everyone, first time poster and newbie-to-guitar extraordinaire, here.
I've had a guitar for about 6 months now, but haven't gotten to play nearly as much as I would have liked to, due to work and school hogging 70% of my time (guitar, friends, games, and sleep are all fighting for the remaining 30%!).
In that regard, I'm very much a beginner, but know some of the basics and can play a few decent song segments here and there (parts from Come Clarity by In Flames, the opening to Master of Puppets, the guitar solo from More Than a Feeling, to name a few). Granted I cannot play these perfectly, but I can play them adequately. I'm starting to see improvements in my speed and alternate picking, as well, but I obviously strive to keep improving every chance I get.
Now, onto the crux of this post. I have a fairly lousy ibanez starter guitar. I'm unfamiliar with the model at the moment (since I'm at work and can't check), but it came with a 10 watt amp, bag, tuner, and a few other items. The whole package was $299, so maybe that price will ring a bell to someone. In any event, lately I feel as though I need to buy a shiny new guitar for myself. The ibanez has some string rattle on the low-E, lackluster pickups, poorly-finished frets that are sharp and stick out off the edge of the fretboard, and other little miscellaneous details that make it an annoyance to use. Also, I want to buy a present for myself, since I hardly ever buy anything for me!
Now, I mostly am into playing rock/metal, but also enjoy the clean acoustic-sounding parts that come with those genres. I've been eyeing up 3 guitars for a while now, and was hoping to get some opinions on them. They are as follows:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Limited-Edition-Les-Paul-Custom?sku=519391 (Epi Limited Edition Les Paul Custom)
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-SG-CustomEX-with-EMG-8185-Pickups-Electric-Guitar?sku=515622 (Epi SG Prophecy EX, active 81/85 pickups)
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Schecter-C1-Hellraiser-Electric-Guitar?sku=518451 (Schecter C-1 Hellraiser)
Also of note on that Schecter, I notice it has XL-Jumbo frets. I've only ever seen one guitar that simply had Jumbo frets, and it didn't feel too awkward. However, I hear with XL-Jumbos that slides become a little more annoying to perform, and that notes could end up too sharp if I put too much pressure on the string. Are these concerns valid? Does anyone have experience with XL-Jumbo frets that they could share?
If anyone has any experience with the above listed guitars (or jumbo frets and active pickups, as I've heard actives sound wonderful for metal), I would love to hear from you. Thanks in advance for any advice that you guys/girls can offer.
