Best advice I can give you is go to the store and find something that "speaks" to you. I don't know about you guys but for me, when I see a guitar and play it, it either speaks to me or it doesn't.. hard to explain but it's how I've gone about looking for each guitar I've ever owned.

As for amps, don't settle. Get exactly what you want. I liken buying an amp to buying a monitor for your computer.. you can upgrade the **** out of your pc but the monitor is the one thing that stays with you.

Think about the uses that you'd have...
do you need it to be portable? you don't wanna lug a cabinet and head around to practice...
Do you wanna wake the neighbors and shake the house down?
there are soooooo many choices out there for amps it'll give you a headache by looking at them all - define what you "think" you need and want and go from there...

hope this helps ya!