[Jeff Hail]

I have owned a ***** load of guitars over the years. Fender Strats, Tele's, Carvins, G&L, LP's, Epiphone, Yamaha.

I am not impressed with new Fenders any more. The new US builts are fantastic and over priced. $1900 will get you a nice guitar if you don't mind paying a premium for the name have at it. The Squires are cheap with even cheaper parts, cruddy electronics and really poor necks. The made in Mexico classic 50's (reissue) from the 90's are very good for the price. If you are dead set on a Fender go with a good MIM Classic 50's reissue. Many of the MIM Classic 50s guitars have US made necks. Value wise they are very good bang for the buck around 350-600. Japanese made are also very good as most of the hardware and necks were supplied from the US. Fender has gone through periods over the years. Quality went up, down and up again reminding me of those AMF years Harley Davidson went through.

If you want an excellent Stat copy, fantastic finish work and the best necks in the industry get a Carvin Bolt. Used they are very reasonable around 500-800. Same company is now called Kiesel Guitars. They have been around a long long time. Built in San Diego California. Custom guitars for half the cost of a high end US Fender Strat and quality that far exceeds.

G&L is also excellent. Heck its Leo Fenders company that he started after he left Fender. G&L offers lower priced guitars like Fenders made somewhere else versions. The G&L legacy models are ok, step up from the Squire. Start midway and work your way up in the lineup. Cant go wrong here.

Ibanez has some nice guitars in the S model line. New are 600-900 range. Used about half that.

Pawn shops are good places to look for a used USA made Fender Strats. Pawn shops also know they can get a premium for Strats.

You Tube has some great learning videos. Half a dozen lessons with a guitar teacher would get him up and playing quickly so he doesn't lose interest or get frustrated.

Good amps for the money is a Fender Champion or an Orange Micro Terror. Good power and sound. The Champion is solid state, will last and has nice clean and dirty channels. Throw in an Ibanez tube screamer pedal and make some noise. The Orange Micro Terror is a hybrid with a tube pre and solid state output. Fun bedroom amp with a nice growl and still reliable.

For a beginner I would stay away from tube amps. All tube amps have nuances (or issues) that a beginner may not understand.

Keep it fun.

Reverb.com is a good place to window shop, see whats out there and market prices are usually reasonable.