When it comes to choosing the best electric guitar, many considerations come into play. The best guitar for me may, for a variety of reasons, not be the best guitar for you. Why is that? For the simple reason that we are not all built the same way and neither are guitars.

When evaluating guitars, price is usually a major concern. Most of us are operating within a budget and a Gibson Les Paul Custom, even a used one on Amazon is going to set you back a cool. You can still find excellent guitars available for less than $200, so don't think that just because a guitar is expensive that it's going to be right for you. My advice is to find the best instrument for you and then save up your money if necessary.

Probably the most important features of a guitar are tone and playability. These two factors vary widely from instrument to instrument. A single-coil Fender Stratocaster made from an alder is going to sound different from a mahogany-bodied Gibson Les Paul equipped with humbucking pickups. The single-coil pickups will give it a sweet, pure, rich tone. Great for playing the blues. The humbuckers will be more suitable for the rock or metal music genres (although one can certainly play blues with them as well).

Alder wood gives a brighter tone than mahogany which is deep and rich. Guitars made from basswood are a bit lighter sounding than alder, not quite as solid sounding. This is highly subjective of course. Many great guitarists like Joe Satriani have favored basswood guitars for years. Basswood is lighter than alder which is much lighter than mahogany. Pete Townshend gave up playing his Gibson Les Paul on stage for 2 hours every night because the thing was so heavy (typically about 11 pounds). He switched to a Gibson SG which is far more comfortable to play although it has a different tone due to its smaller mahogany body.

Playability refers to how your hands fit around the neck, the smoothness of the neck, its width and radius. Some guitars fit your hand like a glove and others make playing them a chore. Everybody's hands are different, some with longer fingers or smaller hands, so playability is very much an individual thing. But it is a hugely important thing because you will be playing that guitar a LOT if you are at all serious. The best necks I have ever played were on an Ernie Ball JP6 and a Charvel So-Cal. The worst was on a Gibson Les Paul Custom that has a painted neck and was tacky (sticky) when your hands perspired even a little bit).

So for these reasons, it is wise to never buy an electric guitar online just because it looks cool or because your favorite guitarist plays it. It's fine to shop online and pick out a few models that you like, but always go to a local music store and actually play them before you buy. Hear the differences in tone. Notice how the neck feels in your hand. It doesn't matter if you can't play yet. Let the sales clerk plug you into an amp and just strum a few easy chords. Notice how wide is the neck? How thick is the neck? Some are like a baseball bat and others are flat and built for shredding.

Here are some of my favorites:

For a guitar under $200 you can pick up a good used Mexican Strat off eBay. These guitars are built very nearly as well as the American Strats except they are built just across the border in Mexico. Excellent value for money and a well-made guitar that almost anybody will love. But again, always play one first and make sure it feels good to you. Then go shopping for a price.

For the blues, you can't beat an American Fender Stratocaster. These run about $1200 brand new but you can always find a cheaper used one on eBay. They come with a variety of pickup configurations so you can get a humbucker if you want one to play slightly more raunchy numbers. But the single coils sound so pure and heavenly (especially the 1969 reissue pickups) that they're perfect for the blues.

I have always been partial to Gibsons, both the Les Paul and the SG models. Great for blues as well but also excellent for rock, especially the SG. These guitars are typically played with some degree of distortion, so if you're into rock or metal then these are always a good choice. I don't like the painted necks however for the reason mentioned above.

Ibanez makes a huge line of guitars covering almost every style of playing. They are known for being well-made and relatively inexpensive when compared with Fender or Gibson. They cater to shredders and metal players so many of their necks will be flatter and thinner as compared with other makes. Because of their low cost, they make good first guitar choices. But again, always try before you buy.