I'm buying a new guitar and am looking at price range between £400-£500 (that's about $950 in dollars).

I loved Prince's funk guitar playing in the early eighties... on songs like Controversy, Lady Cab Driver, Head, Sexuality etc.

Which modern-day model would re-create that sound (keeping in mind my price-range)?

Also, I've never really known, what's the difference between a strat and a telecaster?

http://www.musiciansfrien...sku=516035

You want a Tele if you're looking for the Dirty Mind, Controversy sound.

I'd say pretty much any decent strat or tele would do the job for you. For the budget you have, you could go for a real Fender. Merchant City music do lots for very good prices: http://www.guitar.co.uk/g...0&x=53&y=9 Also none of the pain that you might expect from buying online - they set up guitars beautifully before dispatch.

GuitarAmpKeyboard now stock Levinson Blade, who also make some excellent instruments in that price bracket: http://www.guitarampkeybo...=&x=37&y=8 Really nice instruments, built with the pro player in mind.

With regards to the differences between teles and strats, best to look at wikipedia - a lot quicker and clearer than attempting to explain it here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...ratocaster
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...Telecaster

You'll get a Princely tone out of either instrument.

For that price, you maybe able to look on Ebay for an Hohner Telecaster copy, the same model Prince used and still uses.

Which is best to solo with out of the strat or the tele?

MattyJam said:

Either's fine - the differences playability-wise between the two of them are minimal. In terms of tones, the Strat will give you a few more options.

It might be an idea to go to your local shop and try a few out - see what works best for you.

Rowdy said:

+1. The main thing that will be an impact on playability, is the neck. And generally on Fender a lot of the neck are the same thickness and shape so it shouldn't be a problem

The tone is really in your hands. You can get funk out of any guitar so the best advice is to find a music store and play a few instruments in your price range.

The strat is a little more flexible with the tones it can give you since the Tele only has 2 pickups and a 3 way pick up switch.

Once you've played a few, get the one that "speaks" to you, the one that feels right, sounds good and that you can't put down (or seem to keep coming back to).

Good luck!