i first got the yamaha starter pack. came with the eg112 which i thought is a very good starter guitar (although i cant say ive played other starter guitars), a little practice amp which isnt good (you can get an ok clean sound but the distorsion sucks, but its really small and w/ a distorsion pedal its good for college use), a set of strings, some picks, a strap, soft case, a crappy cable, and a book. the book i thought was good because it thought you how to actually read sheet music and play individual notes which complements most other beginner books which deal strickly w/ chords. it was about $150 i think. i ended up getting a new amp and guitar about 4 months later, but i could have used the starter pack stuff longer.