Big fan of Gibsons here. I have an '83 Les Paul (that badly needs new frets set) that mostly sits in its case under my bed. Dream one day of owning an SG, an Explorer, and a Flying V. HUGE Flying V fan but I gotta have a real Gibson V (I'd settle for a Jackson Rhoads). I also love the Gibson RD (it's what the Ghost guitarists play) but I don't think you can get them for under $2500. My Iceman (below) is about as close to an RD as I'll ever get. However, I somehow became brand loyal to Ibanez at some point. My main guitar is a HEAVILY customized Iceman. Bigsby roller bridge, DiMarzio pickups, killswitch. The tuning machines are even custom. It's nuts. It cost me practically nothing. The bridge alone costs about what I paid for the whole guitar. It's awesome. Plays like crazy. I also have an Ibanez acoustic for when I don't feel like plugging in. I'm primarily a bass player, though. I play an Ibanez BTB. It's a Mark 1 from forever ago. I don't think they make this thing in a 4-string anymore and it came with the stock Ibanez pickups. I guess the later models shipped with Bartolini pickups. If I can scrape the cash together for a set of those bars, I'd like to replace my pickups with Bartolinis.