spacey
Karyn I left so I could think about it and give you the best answer I could come up with.
 
I had to put a price limit so I thought between 2500- $3,000.00.
It had to be special for a very special person.
 
I thought;
Imagine if I could get one that was made by a luthier that was raised under the wings of the luthiers that designed and built the first electric guitars that will be known for all time. Had spent his life building and then overseeing the best luthiers for custom shop builds and now builds with his name attached. A true living legend in electric guitar luthiery.
Well that is very possible and I can not think of a more fabulous gift for someone special.
 
Here.
 
There isn't a question about guitars that can't be answered a phone call away.
He also takes time to answer emails as if he'd known you for years.
I admire him. He is a credit to the guitar world.
 
Whatever you do...all the best.
Michael 

Michael, those are indeed beautiful looking instruments.  However he does state that he intends to limit his builds to 12 a year...
 
I'll have to do more thinking.

Karyn,
 
I'm not a guitar player (REALLY??!!??) and so I'm not really fussy about guitars; I likes my Line 6 JTV. The acoustics in it alone are worth the price (to me). I don't have to own a lot of acoustics to get what I want, which saves on floor space.
 
It plays pretty good, IMO.
 

Or, again on the less expensive side, if you want an LP-type guitar, Agile's and Tokai's are awesome there too.

bapu
Karyn,
 
I'm not a guitar player (REALLY??!!??) and so I'm not really fussy about guitars; I likes my Line 6 JTV. The acoustics in it alone are worth the price (to me). I don't have to own a lot of acoustics to get what I want, which saves on floor space.
 
It plays pretty good, IMO.
 

I'm with the Ba Pu on this one. (or am I?)
Since she has the basics covered (with those guitars) the JTV would bring a huge "something else" factor to her guitar collection. 
 
My though of the JTV:
The acoustics are good (the banjo and dobro's does it for me ) and I'm also absolutely loving the jazzbox guitars (ES-175). 
I already have a custom built Tele, but I actually prefer the Tele sound of the JTV when I play that ol'school Jimmi Nolan (James Brown) funky stuff. 
 
I have the butt-ugly shredder style JTV-89. (because of the price, which was about 600$, and also I only use it in my studio) 
But the JTV also exist in Strat styles (JTV-69) and a Les Paul style (JTV-59). 
And the butt-ugly (IMHO) JTV-89 and 89F with floyd rose.

No Pedro,  you are helping.   You're exactly right, an expert player should get a good noise out of the worst of instruments, but a beginner/improving player will gain more from a good one than a bad one. 
 
She says she wants a custom guitar. LP shape...  But I know Michael only makes flat tops (and I still want one) so I'm leaning towards a JTV-59.  It might not be a custom, but the range of sounds should keep her happy for a few weeks

Karyn

spaceythe day I have a guitar with circuit boards and switches so I can sound like a frog bumpin' his ass...you know I'll have a car with goats cruisin' around with me.

I understand what you're saying hon, really I do.  Even my Dark Fire still uses the pickups to generate the sound, the electrics are just pre-set tone settings.
 
 
But think of the advantages....    All the milk you can drink, free garbage disposal, free cheese....    

LOL !
 
But not for long...remember, I asked if anybody ever say me in that way to shoot me in the head!
 
Hey, I see people with cars that when they stop the wheels keep going around and the wheels and tires are so big the car could drive over a small rock band and never crash a cymbal....
 
What can you do with a guitar just doesn't mean what it use to...
 
Tell Line 6 you want a custom one that will play drum loops too. :)

Gibson is starting to put out some entry level instruments that are pretty descent.  I have always been a fan of Epi's and then changing out the pickups to Gibson pickups.  However, if some of these newer entry models had been around years ago, I probably would have just gone for them with the pickups already in place.  Aso, by the time you put 2 new Gibson pickups in and Epi, your about at the same price as the Studio.
 
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LPJ14F2SC-14/
 
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LPST14D5CH-14/

Karyn
A niceish acoustic.
A sh1tty strat copy.
An Emperor Swingster (in wine red)
A cheap LP copy (in pieces, she wants it sprayed green...  I told her she has to do it)
2 or 3 ukeleleleles (assorted sizes)
Jazz bass (copy)

I'd say get her a brand name guitar: a Gibson, a Martin, a Fender (anything but acoustic), a Rickenbacker... Something of good quality.
 
I think it's like diet foods. You eat some diet food, but you still have cravings because you didn't eat what you actually wanted (fat or sugar, usually). So you have some more diet food, but that's not satisfying either and so you continue until you're feeling terrible, you're overweight and you never feel satisfied. But if you have a damn doughnut, a real one made with lard and sugar and all that crap... you feel great, you feel satisfied. And you can wait until next week to have another.
 
So get her a real guitar and she'll stop craving the also-rans.

{tongueInCheek}
Michael, why you have that Spectrasonics schtuff? You know that's not real, dontchya?
{/tongueInCheek}
 

bapu
{tongueInCheek}
Michael, why you have that Spectrasonics schtuff? You know that's not real, dontchya?
{/tongueInCheek}
 

I think that is a good question Ed.
The reason is because they make sounds that a guitar can't. I can use a guitar to trigger.
I did get the bass software before I bought the Geddy Lee. I bought the bass so I wouldn't need the software and haven't used Specs bass since.
 
But to have a guitar so it can sound like other guitars?
 
I love not only the sound of different guitars but the feel....feeling is so much a part of playing one.
 
I may have to fake the drums and synths but I'll be damned if I'm going to fake an instrument I can play.
Besides all that....Line 6 screwed me out of money. They wouldn't communicate with me about the problem and left me holding the bag. The last Line 6 bag I'll ever be left holding. If they were the last company on the planet that I could guitar from I'd take up building guitars......oh......step ahead of those bastards. LOL.
 
 

Hmm. Interesting thread.
I personally have my sights set on one of these:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/G5622TCBRR
I don't have anything in my arsenal quite like that yet.
But that's not really a suggestion. As you are well aware, instruments can be a very personal thing.
You say she is away at college. Will she be coming home for her birthday?
If so, would it be possible for the two of you to go on a mission to a local music store to acquire her new guitar?
A few years back, I set out on such a mission, accompanied by my wife, Donna.
I spent four of five hours in the acoustic room, with mild intervention from the attending salesman who realized that we were on a mission. Donna handed my selections to me as I played them in A/B comparisons. We whittled the field down to this one guitar that I kept coming back to. I did have a self imposed hard ceiling on the price.
I walked out with a guitar that I love, Donna helped select it, and we have the memory of some quality time spent finding something important to me, and vicariously to her.
I'm sure a similar event would mean a lot to a budding 18 year old guitarist.
That aside, I rather like the idea of the Variax. While I can understand Spacey's disdain(criminy, the man builds gorgeous instruments and winds his own pickups!), the Variax offers more sound flexibility than any one guitar.
It may not be the most premium instrument, but could be invaluable in finding that sound she wants to make hers, and ultimately get the premium guitar that is that sound.
Just some thoughts. hth.

OK,  I think I've found the solution.
 
I'll get the JTV-59,  (It's LesPaul(ish) shape like she wanted.)
I'll rip out all the electrics from inside and send the wood off to Michael to build a real custom guitar for her.
 
 
I got that right didn't I?
 
 
Something looks wrong.
 
 
Oh well,  off to the store...

Karyn
I'll rip out all the electrics

I really did enjoy that part! lol
 
I appreciate the support of my building but as I told Karyn...it's not a real good thing to get one from me.
Dollar for dollar I can't touch many of the guitars that are offered.
I enjoy talking, ribbing and "window" shopping about them though. Sure glad we have so many choices now. I remember when it wasn't like that..now very good guitars can be had for a few hundred dollars...well, very good for beginners and those that want toys. (lol had to throw that out there:)

Karyn
 
I didn't start out as a guitar player but now I have three and one of them is a JTV 69, so I guess I'm a guitarish player :") .....Those guitars all have pickups in them  so they can be played like any other guitar. I don't have the american version so the fit of my guitar probably isn't as good as the american. The JTV 59 is a nice instrument built a lot like a LP. Same scales I think. 
 
From my limited experience with guitars and JTVs in particular I think a player needs to fall in love with the instrument. That never really happened with the JTV 69. It makes killer recordings of many different guitars but something about that guitar just isn't me, know what I mean? When I look at it I look at something totally utilitarian. I never really melded with it completely, maybe that's just me and you were looking at the 59 which is different but has the same insides. I think she should at least try it to see if it works for her IMHO.
 
The pros are- Can be made to sound like pretty much any guitar. Has a set of stock pickups in it as well. For the price it can't be beat in what it does.The software that comes with it lets you basically build your own guitar how you want it to sound. The guitar gives the player a good idea of which guitars have what sounds.
 
The cons- The cheaper 59/69/89 ships with only one battery. If she has any line 6 pod HD then it will power the guitar . The battery can go dead if you don't keep it in the charger. There is a small learning curve using this guitar compared to a regular guitar. Some players didn't like the neck on the 69 and it looks like the 59 has a fairly wide neck as well.Not huge but a few mm might make a difference.
 
Still to have this in her collection would give her a lot of capability.
 
Line 6 like to continually make changes to their products. I bought the HD500 and now not much later they come out with the HD500x...so there is a good chance that in the near future there might be a company announcment that the JTV is no longer supported and they came out with the JTX or something. That doesn't change her still having a nice guitar but there might be something else coming out.