well i wouldn't worry about WHAT guitar to play right now. any guitar will do for you at this point. i would focus more on playing than the equipment. a good amp with some decent distortion is what you are probably wanting first. as far as playing, concentrate on 2 or 3 finger power chords up and down the neck. learn where and WHAT each position is.(E,F,F#,G,G#,A,A#,B,C,C#,D,D#and back to E) have an understanding of what a flat(b) and a sharp(#) is. practice palm muting. and try to learn as many songs as possible by EAR without any use of tabs. you will want to develop your ear. it can be a tedious process but it is crucial to being a better player.

bachmirage is right on man your gear doesn't matter if you don't have the skiz to back it up

my gear is x10000000 my skill I got carried away with a 4 year G.A.S attack that I still haven't got over but only a year of that was practiced playing
and in a way i regret that dearly because instead of helping my playing it hurt it badly it was a distraction not a tool

my skills with the amount of equipment i have is like a baby trying to fly a space craft next to the sun while eating ice cream it just doesn't work

so what I'm saying is stay on the road to guitar greatness and don't get of task... i got out the door and smelled some pretty little flowers for four years



also try and play all different types of music and try and master all techniques and try and make your own music allot it helps

try and figure out how everything on your guitar works and what defines sound, quality, and what is what too

yeah dude the gear dont matter right now while your learnin the basics. just keep on practicing those chords and notes, then when you think your ready, practice some scales. Try to bring your chops up some more before you start thinking about gear
-XxTheAlchemistxX

What amp do you use?
If the distortion sucks but the clean channel is good get a distortion pedal (Metal Zone is a good one).
My amp is a Marshall MG15CDR with a really nice clean channel, that plays really loud without getting cranky.
But the overdrive REALLY sucks...
So, I got a processor.
My guitar is a Rocket Special (HSS).

well you probably definately want to learn tabs. but are you planning on writing music or what?

Yea I would like to be able to write music at some point. I want to learn to play lead but I know thats like REALLY hard for someone who is self taught, though it is possible. And I can read tabs, but does playing tabs of songs actually help you or is it kind of like cheating and just knowing where to put our fingers? Oh and thanks for the advice so far guys.