I've been looking into it for awhile and have decided it is something I really want to do. I've been looking at some starter packages, but I'm not exactly sure what I should get.

Ibanez
http://www.activemusician.com/item--EM.IJX20BKN

Squier
http://www.activemusician.com/item--EM.030-1600-032

Same price but I'm not sure if there is specific differences in them that I should know about.
Also if you can find something similar in price or cheaper that you feel is better it will be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

At this point, those packs are so similar and subjective that you should probably just make the decision based on which one you think looks "cooler". They are both good packs for starters which are basically the same thing. The main difference between the two is the Ibanez has humbucker pickups, while the Squier has single-coil pickups. Those are the things beneath the strings that pick up the vibrations and convert it to an electrical signal to be amplified. There are slight tonal differences between humbuckers and single-coils, some guitarists prefer the sound of single-coil, some prefer the sound of humbuckers, and until you have played guitar for awhile you will probably not be in the position to decide this yet. In addition to that, single-coil pickups were the earlier technology, and they are known to pickup certain radio frequencies (in other words they will pick up waves in the air other than the strings vibrations and it will add some hum to what comes out of your amplifier), while humbuckers (the newer technology) were designed to pick up less of these radio waves (though don't think that they will produce no hum whatsoever). With guitars of this quality (beginner's guitars), the pickups in them are not going to be the greatest in the world, and I'd say it's safe to assume that both guitars will have their fair share of hum coming out of the amplifier. It is because of these points that I think that, out of these two choices, you really ought to just decide based on what you think looks better (:

This post was edited by PSPZorZ on Feb 4 2010 11:28pm

He is right, construction wise and sound wise neither is any better than the other, so you might as well pick which one you think is cooler.

On the other hand MY personal preference would be the ibanez, the humbucking pickups I believe will you give you better performance overall, also I HATE squier with a passion for some reason, I just think they are such shoddy instruments (def the affinity series) that it makes me kind of pissed off when I play them, plus I hate how people try to say that their squiers are fenders lol

I recommend starting with an acoustic guitar and some piano lessons. If you insist on playing an electric straight away, pick something in your price range that you think feels nice in your hands

If you ask someone for a recommendation on a brand of guitar, they won't tell you the "best" guitar, they will tell you what their favorite is, and that's something you more or less need to decide for yourself based on feel and the tone you like.

Well, a good way to start is getting calasis(<-How ever you spell it), the way I got mine is I scrubbed sand paper across my fingers nearly everyday, as well you can get them along with playing.

Basic Chords
Tuning a Guitar
Learning a Few Basic songs
Start learning your Basic Scales.
Start learning Arpeggios.
Then learn Harmonics.

That is in no real order.

any decent guitar player will tell you. ANY...
Study Your Scales.

google the major/minor penatonic scale. youll be ripping in months, mildly speaking.

dont get an ibanez or a squire strat, especially the squire strat.

look up PRS. maybe a nice Greg bennet.

I have not played a Squire, but I recommend Ibanez. I have never had a problem with their guitars.

Thanks for all of the replies. I believe I will be ordering the Ibanez pack tomorrow.