Originally Posted by
Groundrush
I agree with Neil.C, buy the best you can afford. And while the Mexican Fenders are good, I think G&L Tribute series guitars are better for about the same money.
If you want a Les Paul and can't stretch to Gibson Money (a S/H Studio would be £500-750ish, S/H standards £1000+) you could look into Tokai, Burny, Greco, Edwards or if you can find one, an Orville (a Gibson made in Japan).
But the one piece of advice I would give is not to skimp on the amp. You don't need more than about 5W for home use and even that will have the neighbours complaining if you aren't careful, so don't go buying that 100W Marshall stack. Cheap options could be a Roland Cube which are generally well regarded, and I quite like Blackstar amps for the money but my all time favourite low power amp is the Cornford Harlequin.
You could get a S/H Gibson LP Studio and a Harlequin for about a grand and I don't think money can buy a better sound than that.