[Helm]

I used to play aforementioned cheap ibanez but now I play Gibson Les Paul and I can't see any reason to touch any other guitar. Sometimes I record rhythm guitars with my guitarist/singer's ESP Explorer and hey, it's made for that sort of thing.

But I've played all sorts of guitars and yeah, if you want teh methul, I suggest either ESP, Jackson or even a good BCrich model. For more varied stuff you could always try the newer Ibanez models, but they are malfunction-prone, as were all Ibanez models before them. And always, always, you simply cannot go wrong with Gibson Les Paul (not epiphone variants and general knock-offs, the real thing)

But basically, any guitar you get, as long as it's got some good pickups, and you run it through a few select pedals and a proper amp, it's going to sound decent. I suggest EMG pickups although I do not use them myself due to liking my Gibson sounding like a Gibson instead of sounding like Zakk Wylde.