If I may i'll give my opinion about the Viper-50 which was my 1st electric.
Sub has posted a real good review of it in the review section for guitars go look at it.
My opinion...
I paid $350 for it and it is well worth the money. The paint job is good and the guitar was set-up very well right out of the factory - just a few intonation problems but that's quite insignificant. It feels very good to play and sounds good clean when coupled with a good amp. I can't comment much on distortion cuz i dun realli use it much but its not bad :wink:
the only major problem i found is that its neck heavy which means if you play with a strap, find the neck tilting downwards which is quite annoying cuz it puts a lot of weight on one shoulder :?
oh btw... no offence to Epiphone LP owners but since your close to the Epi LP price range i warn you dun buy it cuz imo there are better guitars out there for the price.
the RG321 lists for $600 (as per review stated), do note that 'list' pricing is before disct. if memory serves me right, the prices you pay over the counter is GST inclusive, unlike the figures quoted @ the swee lee website.