Ah, the troubles of selecting what guitar to go with!
If you're keen on sticking with guitar then you will definitely be better off going with the 400 for this sole reason:
Pickups: Seymour Duncan JB (B) / '59 set
The 400 has Seymour Duncan pickups and this is where you will get most of your sound from. The quality of the body will give you good sustain and increase the fullness of the sound, the quality and shape of the neck will enhance playing comfort (based only playing style and preference) etc etc. At the end of the day it's the pick-ups that give you much of your tone and if you want a decent humbucking sound... Seymour Duncan make fine pickups.
My brother is currently using one for his bridge pickup in his Epiphone Les Paul and it has a very impressive all around tone quality. It covers many styles nicely, giving a good rock, jazz, blues and even heavy metal sound when required (in combination with the quality of the amp you're using and any effects you might be using).
My theory on most purchases is to put the right money down first and get a quality product as opposed to paying less and upgrading later.
Having said all of that... You could have the greatest guitar in the world and it wouldn't matter one little bit if you're playing it through a piece of watermelon amp.
I would recommend spending the extra cash and getting the guitar with the better pickups provided you have (or plan on getting) a decent amp.
One thing I will say is that all cheap guitars are pretty much the same... the thing that truly sets them apart is the pickups. A good pickup selection will make a cheap guitar sound much better and give you more versatility with your sound.... which is always important for a beginner.
I currently use the following for live performances and recordings:
Guitars:
BC Rich Ironbird (Platinum Series)
Fender Telecaster
Effects:
BOSS ME-50 Guitar Effects pedal. (Good selection of distortion, effects and delay with a master control pedal and in-built silent tuner)
Amp:
Laney VH 100R head (all tube, made in England)
Marshall 4x speaker cab.
The amp in particular is a bit pricey... It's a real monster but both guitars were under $1000 and the effects pedal was under $200.
You can pick up much cheaper effects pedals but the ME-50 has a good selection of things you need, which saves you potato peeling about on stage with 5 different pedals.
Also... I didn't buy a chitty, cheap guitar when I started playing. I knew I wanted to play guitar and I knew what guitar I wanted. I saved my cash (I was still in school at the time) and went out and bought the exact guitar that I wanted, which cost me $1000. An expensive first guitar, to be sure, but I loved it from the moment I got it and I still love it to this day. It is still my main guitar and it has served me faithfully and reliably over the years. Don't be affraid of splashing the cash and getting what you want right out of the gate. If you know your heart is in it, hold off for a couple of months or whatever you need to do and get the guitar that will make you happy.
Money = quality and quality = sound so my advice would be to get the better guitar.
If nothing else it will have a higher re-sale value if you quit.
Good luck mate
<S>
-Arch
