Coming in very late here, but thought I'd add my tuppence worth. For the last 13 years I have been gigging with a guitar I made myself with an ESP rosewood neck, Kahler trem and DiMarzio humbuckers - it is probably the fastest guitar I have ever played, and I have the humbuckers wired in so as well as being able to switch pickups out of the loop it is also possible to phase shift one of a pair to get some interesting cancellation effects - one of which gives a very fat sound with sparkly treble.

For basic jamming I have a Charvel Predator (about 10 years old now) which has a very bluesy sound, but when ramped up high is excellent for heavy metal stuff.

A nice all round guitar is my Ibanez JS100, which is mellow and has pretty good sustain for a Floyd Rose trem.

And for any fixed bridge work I use a cheap (sub £500) copy of a Les Paul. It has no 9th fret due to an accident, but it is useful for practicing different shapes and patterns.

For lighter work I have an old Epiphone acoustic and an ancient 12 string - which both sound fine through a cheap mic setup.

For home practicing I hook everything up through a Zoom 4040 (yes I know...but it does do some things very well), and some older stuff (original CryBaby and some nice early DOD pedals) into a Marshall and a Gorilla.

I do find that for everything from Flamenco and Classical through Rock and Roll to Thrash and Metal they give a wide enough range.

Anybody want a jam....?