Are you talking about the Ken Lawrence Explorer? That is one shekshy beast!! He's quite limited with what songs he can play on it though, I think it only has one active pickup, or only one pickup or something strange like that so he only uses it for like Sanitarium and Fade to Black, the lighter stuff, not a very metal guitar. I wanted one for years but they're all hand made and cost quite a price.

I quite like Fender Strats but I never got one as I like heavy crunchy tones and I understand you can't quite get that real metal sound off a Fender. I could be talking out of my arse here but that's what I've heard. If I got into blues, which is where I'm wanting to go next, I'd probably pick one up or even a cheaper copy. I played one in a shop before and they're surprisingly easy to play, I thought the neck would be too big for my teeny hands but it was grand.

I have to say I've been through some shite gear before I ended up with the setup I have now. A Yamaha first guitar starter pack from Argos, a Westtone Mockingbird (yeah no one else has ever heard of "westtone" either) and some crappy acoustics where the strings where about a foot away from the fretboard.