If you want to play only metal, don't play a Fender. If you want to play many styles and metal is only one of them, then STILL don't buy a Fender. Get a Les Paul or something. I've played tons of Fenders and I still can't understand what the big deal is over them. I don't like how they play, their action is shit, the neck is really short, the frets are really small, and they just aren't made for distortion. They are great for blues, pop, etc....but IMO, not metal. Even if you put a humbucker in the bridge, it still doesn't have a great sound compared to other "metal" guitars. You may have seen some bands play them like Entombed, but you have to realize that those are MODIFIED Fenders...not store-bought. If you want to play metal and are just starting out, buy this:
Guitar - Ibanez - any between the 300-600 dollar range is fine for starting. They last long, their sound is quite good even with stock pickups, and they're tough.
Amp - Peavey 5150 or 6505 or 6505+...get them used for around 8-900, even cheaper some places. These are all-tube heads that have tone, gain, and enough crunch to render your entire family sterile. Loud, tough, and great tone.
Amp Cab - Get a used Marshall 1960AV cab with vintage 30s for about 4-500 dollars. New for about 6-700.
Effects - I had the Digitech RP300 as my first...it's decent, but nothing to write home about. The T.C. Electronic G Major is a great, great rack-mounted effects unit which I have as well and will cost you about 300 bucks...HOWEVER, you're gonna have to buy the midi switchboard to go along with it, which is another 150 bucks, 100 or so used. So, instead of dumping 450 bucks on the G-Major, which by the way doesn't have any distortion, only effects (although THE BEST effects), get a Boss GT-8 for about $450. It does everything the G-Major does, has amp modeling, you can invent your own effects, tweak effects, distortion, etc. however the hell you want...you can even meld TWO different distortions if you want. I mixed a 5150 with a Hughes and Kettner Triamp sound that had enough balls to cause an earthquake. However, if you have the Peavey 5150 or 6505 (which are the same amps, the 5150 has been discontinued and the 6505 is it's replacement), you won't need amp simulators. You can program your own effects chain too. I use a tubescreamer setting to boost just a tad the amp's distortion, and I have all the effects I will ever need at my disposal. You can even go online and download patches to your computer, and then upload them to your GT-8. If you want more information, go to
Boss GT Central. If you're just starting out, the GT-8 has more effects, amp simulators, stompbox settings, and technology that you'll ever need. Use the 4 cable method and you can use your amp's distortion coupled with effects, stompboxes, etc from the GT-8, and switch to a clean patch and it can override the amp's clean and give you whatever clean sound you want from the GT-8...I use a JC-120 sound. With the 4 cable method, you give the BOSS preamp a straight shot to your amp's poweramp, bypassing your amp's preamp running straight off the GT-8. Basically, you can turn your amp's sound on and off via the GT-8, and use different effects from the GT-8 instead of having to tapdance all over stomboxes and effects chains.
So, to re-cap:
Ibanez guitar...take your pick.
Peavey 6505 or 6505+ used for about 800 bucks...new for about 1100.
Used Marshall 1960 cab for about 4-500...new for about 650.
Boss GT-8 multiFX board for between 4-450, depending on where you buy it.
Trust me.
