Tell Me Which Guitar to Buy

I had typed up a much longer-winded post than this one, but the forum daemons realized how turgid it was and swallowed it up before I could submit it.

Basically, i've decided to give away my toy acoustic (Con Esteban, yes from the infomercials on TV) and get a proper electric. I've narrowed my personal favorites down to three, though I'd like to get recommendations from proper guitarists (unlike me).

• Fender Telecaster, '72 thinline ideally

• Fender Jaguar, I like the strangle switch

• Ibanez Artcore AK85 Nice, pretty, and rosewood, though i've heard the typical semi-hollowbody feedback horror stories.

PS: Any amp recommendations? My roomie last year sported a Gibson SG Jr. hooked up to a Vox Valvetronix (he had never heard of New Order, go figure). The sound was boss and all those reverb, delay, and echo effects built into it sounded convincing.

I've got a Fender Telecaster (a new mexican one, but the sound of the American one is just the same, only the latter is twice as expensive).

It sounds great for blues, but don't try to play hard rock with it: the sound is rather messy when saturated (unlike, e.g., what you would get with a Gibbson Les Paul) which, again, is OK for playing the (old dirty) blues. Also, the range of sounds you can get from it is very limited (there are only 2 mics with 3 possible combinations and one tonality control), contrary to, e.g., a Fender Stratocaster or a Gibbson Les Paul.

But it's definitely a must-have.