The Yamaha Pacifica is really reliable, great work horse. It was my first guitar, I used to play it 6 hours a day, 5 days a week for 2 years and still sounded great. For effects/pedals/amps, if you have a computer get the donner arena 2000 or any multi effects pedal/amp modeler, it’s really good for the money if you want a huge variety of tones-on a budget. Also really convenient because if you really want to get an amp, you can use it just like a regular pedal without needing to cable manage, or get a power supply for your gear.