Hi there!
I am considering buying an electric guitar and am thinking of buying the Squier Stratocaster pack or the Squier affinity series Stratocaster pack. Are these any good or should I look for something else?
The Affinity is better but you can usually do better by picking specific items.
Also of course there is used gear which would be even better if bought wisely!
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I recently bought the Squier Stratocaster pack, to supplement my learning of the (acoustic) guitar (currently working on grade 2, module 11).
An electric guitar helps me to focus on fingering for certain chords (especially bar chords) without the need to press too hard on the strings. So for my situation it was a good buy.
If a Squier is what fits your budget, then go for it. I have a Squier Strat and I love it. You may want something more expensive in the future once you’re good enough to know the difference, but I bet it would serve you well for years to come.
No links?
I have a Squier Affinity strat and like it. There was a pack at the store though that had a rubbish amp, so no pack for me. Got a different amp.
Hello @MaximeR and welcome to the community.
The general consensus is to avoid ‘packs’ as they load them with less than good items.
The guitar itself may be a poor example of its model, the amp is likely not so good, some of the loaded accessories are possibly cheap & not-so-cheerful.
If you fancy a Squier Stratocaster of some kind then buy one individually, then buy an amp individually, then buy cables, strap etc individually.
Work to your budget and your needs and seek advice here.
Cheers
Richard
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I agree on buying seperate. Packs are moneygrabs to target the lower segment that satisfy their “I want to play guitar” impulse for an interesting price. Though the amps that come with are sub par.
Buy seperate.
Consider a 2nd hand amp, even guitar if that doesn’t bother you.
The sum of the parts might be a bit higher but not having to play through a boxy amp with a 3” speaker really makes a difference 
You could always select the individual items you want to purchase and ask the store if they would be able to do a package deal for you.
Hi Maxime,
Welcome and you get the best advise here already. 
So stick around and ask your questions and find what you need to find on the site… have fun
And Yordi @Froodooo ,
Jij ook welkom hier…I wish you a lot of fun and if you think it would be nice to stay here for a while, look for the other nice topics in the community … an introduction of yourself and if you want to make it completely daring you can take a look at the video of yourself section and speed up your learning process with big steps … anyway, have fun and hope to see you more often,
Groeten ,Rogier
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Hello everyone!
I am thinking of buying an electric guitar and amp but don’t really know what kind of amp I should buy. I would only use it at home. Any advice?
A bit more information needed really, your budget, your constraints to do with noise and how much room you’ve got to use. From there it’s going to be a lot easier to give advice.
I’m a big fan of Boss Katana 100 MKII. I don’t think I will ever outgrow it! Highly recommended and it has a gigantic community support so finding a sound you’re after is easy. I don’t think there has ever been a guitar amplifier series that sold in higher numbers. If you can stretch the budget to circa £330 you’re all set. Invest in Xsonic Airstep Kat a few months later and you will have everything you could wish for as a new player.
Perfect set up for home practice.
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I’m still studying so not too expensive. I still live at home so maybe not too noisy.
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If you’re on a budget and want to stay quiet I would highly recommend looking at multi FX pedals and a nice pair of headphones.
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As others said, buy a Katana MKII 50 or 100W edition. Then buy a Xsonic Airstep and join this group to download soundprofiles(patches):Boss Katana Patch Central | Facebook
I got katana MKII 50 watts set 0.5 for playing and thats more than loud enought. My peakes are around 75 Decibels and avg arround 60-65 or so.
I think that given that situation you would find it hard to get anything better value for the price of this one. Behringer HA-10G – Thomann UK
It’s a simple 2 channel amp with a Clean and Distortion channel with a decent quality speaker and it’s fairly inexpensive.
My opinion is that when you’re learning with your first electric guitar you don’t need a load of effects to play with, they’ll distract you from your learning path. When you know how to use the amp properly then you can add a multi fx unit.
If you’re still looking for a guitar then I would suggest this, if you decided to go with the amp then getting the guitar as well would save you a bit on shipping costs. They are very nice and usually play well out of the box. Harley Benton CST-24T Paradise Flame – Thomann UK
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If you’re on a tight budget, you could have a go at a second hand model.
I had so far, a Marshall (small one, can,'t remember what model) which i sold on, and atm i have a Roland cube 30 (love it), and a Fender champion.
No tube amps yet, but i’m going tot buy one later on.
Eventhough they’re pretty expensive, i don’t think there’s a replacement for the sound they provide, judging on what i hear, when i hear them going.
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Hello @MaximeR
The better you can describe your budget, your tastes and your aesthetic the better we can advise.
Aeesthetically, do any of these shapes / styles / colours attract you?
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Hi,
my guitar journey started two years ago with the very same question. I picked an Epiphone Les Paul junior (which came in a bundle with a really cheap fender amp I hated from day one and which I had to replace. It is so bad you barely can resell it… ) and the Spark Amp. Both work great for me - the Spark Amp is a great practice amp if you have some kind of tablet to manage the amp settings. You can play along YouTube videos via the amp and can get tons of tones dialed in.
Now - as many mentioned by many already I would probably go with a Boss Katana - mainly because the Spark speaker is so limited (but way good enough for bedroom / couch practicing).
Andreas
I did have a vox lil night train, was a well suited home practice amp.
The little 10 inch speaker sounded a lot like a 10 inch speaker. Would be alot better with a bit bigger cab.
Was a bit of a no thrill amp, I mean not even a reverb knob!
But took to pedals well.
As said above the Boss seems to be a very good choice, well it is a Boss and they don’t do things wrong.
Was thinking lil night train as when selling mine they was going for £110, now can’t find one under £200! Guess it that time of the year.
Andertons got a YouTube vid on it, maybe worth a watch, think they plug it into a 4x12 cab