What makes an electric guitar sound the clearest?

I've been playing an epiphone les paul special which isnt a very good guitar. I need something with a better tone, something clearer. I wanted to know when I look for a clear guitar what should I look for? Is it the pickups? The amount of knobs? Does a guitar with two humbuckers sound better than one with three single pickups? Will a guitar with two humbuckers and a single pickup sound better? What guitar would you recommend for around $200? ThanksWhat makes an electric guitar sound the clearest?
Around $200 aint gonna get ya anything better than your epiphone. You could maybe bargain at a pawn shop. You could pick up a new Squier or if you can scroungue up about $100 extra you could go with a decent greg bennett. As for the pickup issue, humbuckers are great if you want heavier deeper tone but the single coils will provide clear pickup. I'd say get a DECENT strat copy that has a humbucker and two single coils.