Brett

I take it monkey business is long gone.

John McGeogh and Steve Rothery always springs to mind when this topic comes up.

If it's of any help, I had a farida telecaster. I choose it over squier classic vibe cv50 as I really struggled to see how the price difference was justifiable.
Farida were tied in with Dawsons, still are I think but are now only producing accoustics.

http://www.dawsons.co.uk/blog/who-exactly-are-farida-guitars

Always loved John McGeoghs playing in the Banshees and I'm pretty certain it was the solo from Shot by both sides that grabbed peoples attention.

https://youtu.be/TCULiAKoDcM

There's not much that the Steve n Seagulls do wrong imo

https://youtu.be/YzduoBPDRMk

Always enjoyed this interpretation of wuthering heights

https://youtu.be/MZtL5LRka80

You could be quite correct in that assumption, just can't think of much else that fits the s/s and semi description.
Maybe a used one and put the saved money into pick up rewind ?

Pretty sure there's something in the ibanez artcore range that may fit the bill.

https://www.gak.co.uk/en/ibanez-agbv200a-tcl-tobacco-burst-low-gloss/128530?gclid=Cj0KCQjw24nNBRChARIsALldLD13iV-GY6Io32LkgBO0Qy9w27gfQSyiyHGanjCeYajNPUd3EdyGumMaAj92EALw_wcB