My first guitars were gifts: a Harmony...something...that a high school friend gave me, and a Les Paul Standard that my parents bought me for graduation. The Harmony was regifted to another friend, and I kept the Les Paul.

Fast forward a few years. Still had the Gibson, but I couldn't resist a beautiful, eminently playable Hamer FM Special, which I loved and which became numero uno almost immediately. It takes quite an axe to usurp a 1980 Les Paul Standard, but the Hamer did it. I think they're one of the most underrated guitar makers out there.

Some years later, while I was at work one night, some burglars decided that they wanted those guitars more than I did. (They also helped themselves to my television, computer, lots of personal documents, my son's Jazz Bass, and a few other things. I don't who they are--they've never been caught--but rest assured, I hate them.)

In all honesty, by that time I was working long, odd hours, and hadn't been playing regularly for years. For all I know the burglars did use them more than I had been. Thus began a time of not owning any instruments at all, and letting whatever skillset I had dissolve.

Fast forward a few more years. I decided to stop by the local Guitar Center, just to see what they had. You know...browse, not buy anything.

Ha. I walked out with a butterscotch blonde Telecaster. I'd always wanted one...and now I have it. And now I'm using it every day as I start my guitar playing days over again, starting with Guitar Fundamentals 1 here and working back into it.

I agree with Tomas and manXcat. Tomas bought his guitars because they felt good in his hands and he was comfortable with them--for my money, perhaps the most important reason to choose one guitar over another. That's the reason I bought mine. Each of them felt great. The new Tele is no exception.

And I agree with manX when he says it depends on where you are in life. The Les Paul and the Hamer were heavy guitars with fire-breathing humbuckers, and all I wanted from them was tons of gain and loads of crunch. I was a high school kid in the eighties, and it was all about metal.

Now I'm north of fifty. I still enjoy listening to metal guitar, and I'm always impressed by its speed and power. I have no interest in playing metal at all. Now, as I rebuild my chops and knowledge, I'm far more enthused about other guitar styles, and want to work on them. Blues and jazz are what excite me now.

So I bought my Telecaster because it felt great in my hands--I knew within five minutes of picking it up that it was leaving the store with me. And I bought it because it offers amazing tonal range, so I can play thick blues lines and clean country licks with it, but I can still crank it up and have it scream if I ever get the urge again. So I also bought it because of where I am in life and where I want to go with my playing.

And that's my story...