[starsailor]

I don't know a lot about the BC guitars, it has some good reviews and some not so good reviews but I agree with Allthumbs about the price, that's quite a good deal, there's one on Ebay at the moment with a couple of dents in it with a starting price of £99 and a buy it now of £200 so your friend is offering a fair price, I steer clear of ones with damage as you don't really know how it's happened or how hard they've been banged. Check your mates guitar over and ask him about the set up if you're interested in buying it and get him to play it for you. Also have a go yourself and see if it feels right for you, it is always preferable to try guitars out if you can especially when you're starting out, it's no fun having a guitar you can't get on with it can turn the whole learning process into a bit of a nightmare so it's important to make sure it's the right one for you, If you've got an Ibanez dealer near you or any guitar store it's always worth going along to try a few other guitars out you might find the perfect guitar for you and it's not always the one you went in to look at.

There are members here such as hermanli_ibanezshredder who know a lot about Ibanez guitars who will be able to advise you on the Ibanez guitar, it would probably suit you if you want to play metal as it's aimed at that type of player, it really depends on how much cash you want to spend. If you buy the Ibanez you'll have to buy an amp but you might have to buy one if you buy the BC so there probably won't be a big difference in the amount you have to spend.