I've talked to a few people in the industry that tell me that, in most cases, I can get more guitar for the money by purchasing a lesser known guitar than a name brand.  The argument is that the companies that manufacture these lesser known instruments offer better quality for the price to try to help gain a share of the market for themselves.  I think in some cases this may, in fact, be true.  I found a site that has some really good prices on a lot of gear.  A lot of it is the lesser know brands, but it's worth checking out:  http://musiciansdiscountclub.com