thought you already had a geetar.. last year i bought a new strat, 4 months later I sold it.. $400.00 guitars just dont go well with friends and or my temper with equipment failures..
Went to a pawn shop and they had 5 or 6 strats a ,schecter and several others that I wasn't familiar with.They seemed about half to 3/4 price to me.Probably something to be said about buying new and getting a guarantee though.
I don't really like SG's. I didn't mind it, but I could never get the right feel for it. As for strats, I do it. Not the best guitar, but definitely a dependable one. I had my eyes on a melody maker the other day. Saw a nice Joan Jett model too.