Just as a follow up, I’ve been quietly researching and finally decided on this guitar. After all the discussions I was going to go ahead and get a Highway 1 Strat, but I never really felt good about it. Then I picked up my Bass player’s Carvin bass and I was hooked. It played great, looked great, and sounded fantastic. So I went to the Carvin website and started picking out my dream guitar. Then I found a guitar on Ebay that was the exact model I wanted with the exact options I wanted. It just felt right so I bid on it and picked it up at about 60% of the retail price. It was a risk (since I didn’t get to play it first), but one that paid off. I can’t believe how perfect it feels and sounds. The fretboard seems so long compared to the Mexican Strat I’ve been borrowing for the last few months, even though it only has three more frets. The Ebony fretboard is nice, and what I’m used to because of my HD-28. And the wood finish is gorgeous. Before I bought I would have said that looks don’t really matter to me, but now I’m not so sure!

Because I bought the guitar on Ebay I got a pretty good deal on it, saving about $400 off what it would have cost new, but if I’d have had the cash I would have easily paid $1,000 for it new. I’ve play tested so many guitars I can hardly keep them straight anymore, but this guitar sounds and plays better than any of them, including a vintage Les Paul, an American Strat, a Highway 1 Strat, the Japanese Wolfgang, and a Parker Fly (which is actually probably a better guitar, I just didn’t like it for what I’m doing). The tone is fantastic, especially with the humbucker on. I’ll be able to do some really great clean stuff or rock out as necessary.

So thanks for all the help here. You guys all gave me quite a head start in learning about electric guitars and what things I needed to keep in mind as I went searching. I can’t wait for our next gig.