With a 400 budget I'd halve it between the guitar and amp, tbh.
generally i would too, but at £400 total, £200 will rarely buy you a great guitar... while if he's only playing stuff like hendrix and knopfler, something like a peavey valveking royal 8, or vox valvetronix would be good enough, i'd say.
could be the difference between getting one cool piece of kit and one ok, and two mediocre.
Blade, they are awesome for the money and have a twist with that active preamp!
yeah, they're very nice, but you're struggling to get the blade strat for under £400 here. :)
I've found a few Fender Japan and 80s Tokai Japan Strats that look good for around the £300 mark - I've emailed them to my mate at work.
He's set on a Strat, but I keep telling him to get an Epi Japan Les Paul junior - mine is fantastic.
I can see why so many beginners like Strats - lots of bells & whistles.
if he's set on the strat, i'd let him get the strat.
a one-pickup guitar, in my opinion, is a bit like an epiphone valve junior- it's nice if it's not your only guitar/amp. but if you need any versatility at all, i'd look elsewhere for a first purchase.
i was even concerned with suggesting the royal 8, but if he only plays hendrix and knopfler, it'll be cool, and it's the "real thing". if he needs more versatility, the valvetronix would be cool... isn't the spider more aimed at higher gain stuff?
I'd say, when you're starting, you want access to as many different tones as possible, unless you know you only play the one style. :)
