@Musician - it's probably down to personal preference. My choice these days is the Telecaster, although it doesn't have to be a Fender (my favourites are my Warmouth and G&L). Hmmm, but it's probably only a matter of time now before Fender start suing the shit out of everyone who copied the Tele as well, haha.

@Musician - I’ve only really played a Les Paul, and like it. Have you ever played a Firebird?

@Musician each has its own features that make it suitable for different applications. So I own several of both, thought I do tend to gravitate to the Variax models for convenience when just messing around.

@Musician I switch between a Gibson 335 and a choice of Fender Telecasters. I like them both. Tele maybe a little bit more flexible from a sound perspective, but to me the 335 is the best looking of the lot. I also have a Rickenbacker 330 which is fantastically easy to play.