Electric Guitars

AF's thread reminded me I should find out a bit about electric guitars seeing as I kinda wanna buy one.

Okayyyy... Soooo... About how much is a crappy electric, a mediocre elec, an okay one, and a good one? And how much are amps? Like how much, on average, are ones with one channel, two channels, and varying on quality.

Basically any recommendations on brands would be nice that are pretty cheap (since I own neither an electric nor an amp) since buying both will be quite a... hit to the wallet. If you have any specific models of a certain brand, even cooler :3

cheap guitars are like walmart sub-100$
you can get a decent guitar for 300$ - 700$
you can get a great guitar for about 700$+

My Ibanez was a solid $200 with a special at Guitar Center. It was my first guitar, and I am still in love with it today after four years. Pewter color, two pickups, no whammy bar or anything like that.

my opinion isn't really fair since the other guitars I've played are >25% the cost of mine BUT in terms of brand, I have to recommend bc rich. ;p
I've played on a gibson and ibanez but I stick with my stealth.  .

Fender is for people who play punk, ska, some rock, and in the case of telecasters, music like shoegaze and such.
Gibson is for new school punk and a lot of hardcore/metal.
Ibanez is for nu metal and radio rock.
BC Rich is for people who can't play guitar, but want something that they think looks cool.

Thanks for all the help so far, guys. :3

@Holk: Is that just a stereotype or for real? >_>

Also, amp recommendations aren't necessary but about how much are they?

It's just a stereotype, but it's what I've seen from playing with a lot of bands.

bc rich has been played by greats (besides having the best looking guitars)

of course minus kerry king who makes it suck hard now.

bc rich has been played by greats (besides having the best looking guitars)

of course minus kerry king who makes it suck hard now.

MY GUITAR LOOKS LIKE A SPIDER, BITCHIN GUYS!
True beauty is like a lady, curvy and soft colors.

Just get a piece of shit to learn on. By the time you're any good you'll have messed up and worn down whatever you have. Once you can actually play well, then think about getting a decent one. Unless you're just in it for the hipster trendiness, in which case get a fancy one and pretend you're any good.

I have a cheap encore electric (dunno if you guys get them in the US) but it's basically a strat clone.

i got an ibanez acoustic-electric at the local guitar shop for 225 used. awesome condition, fishman pickup, nice color too =P it's not incredible (the strings are kind of high up on the fretboard, which can be a pain for riffs at times) but i love it.

but this is my second guitar. i practiced on a 30 year old piece of shit my grandpa pulled out of his attic. took an hour to tune the damn thing (and even then the neck was warped so it had horrible intonation issues), the sound was really twangy, and the strings were so high off the fretboard i could easily slide a pencil underneath them. but i practiced on it. like roph said, you don't need anything spectacular. learn how to play it first, then worry about the sound quality of what you're playing.

Yeah, don't buy something expensive to start with, buy something cheap and when you get better, have enough saved up and if you really like it, buy the better guitar. I would go for an Ibanez since they're pretty cheap. (I haven't been in a guitar store in a while, so don't quote me on that!)
Brand is something (generally quality), but don't buy a Gibson because someone told you to, buy what sounds the best and feels the best to you. Take your time, make sure the neck isn't too wide (although that's almost never a problem on electrics or steel strings unless your hands are tiny) and if you're planning on finger picking sometime in the future make sure the spaces between strings is good. That's all very import, don't go buy a corvette when you just get your learners permit and don't buy a Prius because you like the statement. =)
If you're going to invest a hundreds of dollars make sure you like it, it's a big investment. ~.~

I'd also suggest taking some theory classes (like at a community college or something) if you haven't already, it helps to know theory a lot. Especially if you're going to be playing a lot of different types of music or go into it as a career. Sight reading is a big plus too, better than just knowing tabs.

If you're looking for cheap and crappy I highly recommend the generic walmart electric guitar. It's bland, it breaks, it sounds AWFUL. If you're looking for a guitar that will crap out on you at any given moment after you buy it then go to walmart and buy on of their guitars.
For a decent, good, or great guitar I recommend local music stores. In town we have MusicMasters and GuitarCenter. A really good guitar runs from about $600 and up. Anything between $300 and $600 is generally pretty good. I've been looking at this Epiphone for a few weeks now, great guitar, fantastic sound. The guitar's only $375. So you could get some pretty good deals but generally the really good guitars are expensive.

Don't buy online. Go out to a guitar store and actually play their guitars. Buy one that feels right, and is affordable. Most guitar stores carry a very wide range of guitars, with a very wide range of prices, usually from about $200 to unimaginable.

Also, talk to people there. Some people here might disagree because everybody's snotty when it comes to music, especially with guitars, but people that work in those stores generally know what they're talking about. Tell them what you're looking for, and then mess around. You're allowed to play the guitars in the stores, so go for it.

If my acoutic-electric being over-used or whatever is the cause of my strings breaking pre-maturely, then this thread is all for naught because it'll be another year or two before I get enough money.