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My favorite guitar sound (and style) is the David Gilmour Pink Floyd style stuff. I know they have a lot of equipment and I don't expect miracles, but it'd be nice if the sound was closer to that

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Well, you could buy a John Suhr strat ($3k), Mesa Boogie Mark IV ($2k), and throw in a TC Electronic G-force ($2k), and you will have great tone, but you will still sound like [censored].

Basically, there's no way around it; you have to put in the time- it's not the gear, it's the player. Just get a package deal (yamaha,fender,washburn) and get started. In my opinion, the Yamaha (package) has the better playing guitar.