Guitar Question

A cheap squire or g&l strat is probably exactly what you need. Just make sure you get it set up by a pro after you buy it.

Do squires sound the best or have the best tuning stability for 3hr gigs? No, but you don’t need that. They’re perfectly capable guitars, and if you really love it and get good enough to want to play live, you can upgrade the pickups and tuners down the road.

You can find used squires from $100-$200. You can find new squires from $200-$300, often including a cheap amp with them. Fender frontman amps are awful, as are line 6 spiders, but they’re practically a right of passage for every new learner.

Amp > guitar for the tone. I recommend a solid state combo amp like a boss katana or fender mustang. They can sound great through headphones and you can download different amp tones from your computer through a usb. Orange also has a relatively inexpensive solid state amp combo that sounds pretty decent. Expect to pay $200-$350 for a decent amp that’s versatile and sounds good at both high and low volume.

Yes, but I recommend one of those solid states because you can easily listen to them through headphones. You will learn A LOT about picking and technique from playing amplified as how you strum and fret makes a BIG difference in the sound of notes under amplification.

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Someone gave me (which I learned) a cheap classical acoustic guitar years ago, which I never could get along with.

I always felt like it was so difficult to get chords down and hold them. I've been told that classical guitars have high action, and that's the reason. I also had issues keeping it in tune, which I was told this is because of the nylon strings.

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You had trouble with it because it was cheap. With that said I have a cheap, $200 Yamaha Classical that I love. Its pretty much all I want to play now. Action is good, stays in tune, although it took a week of playing it for the new strings to settle in. Now the neck is much wider on a classical so if you have small hands that might be an issue. Its funny, now when I pick up a steel string, the neck feels like a toothpick in my hands.

I have a very good suggestion: Buy one of these tomorrow
LINK

I traded for one of these a few weeks ago, and can't believe how much I like it.
It plays very well and easy and is very versatile. It's very light and comfortable in your hands, and is a good mix between acoustic and electric.
Unplugged, you can hear it well enough to play by yourself. It has an acoustic bridge with a Piezo pickup underneath the saddle and 2 pretty good electric single coil pickups. A 5 way selector switch that give a good selection of tones if you want to plug into an amp.
I have quite a few guitars, but this one is getting a lot of playing time. I highly recommend these for a first guitar.
You'll get better ones later, but you'll enjoy this one until then. I think that's a fantastic price for that guitar too. I mean really fantastic.

I've checked out the 40th anniversary Squier models, all in all, I put them on the same level as the Classic Vibe models which are pretty damn good.
They just have some different features.

Buy used and upgrade once you figure out your preference(s). And as long as you didn't overpay the money will likely be a wash.

( word of warning I'm up to about eight - since I just gave away one )

Grab a used Squier or Epiphone off FB marketplace. You should be able to find a decent guitar for less than $200. The key is having it professionally set up. I gigged with an $85 Squier Strat for a couple years, sold it to a bandmate, he's still using it. Setup is 100% the key to a playable instrument.

A used Classic Vibe Squire would be what I would look for. I bought my nephew a new regular squier a couple years ago and while it sounded good, it felt horrible to play. You can get a used Classic vibe Strat for about 200 used and they play and feel excellent.

Here's a great deal on the 40th anniversary telly in Dakota red. $250.00
LINK

If you are close to Baton Rouge schedule a setup with TheFretShack, or as he calls it, a “spa day.” A good setup will do wonders. You won’t find a nicer or more knowledgeable tech than FretShack in the BR area. I’ve had two guitars setup by Fret and they made my cowboy/powerchord strumming so much more enjoyable. Plus, Fret will walk you through the work he did and do a play through his 2x12 stack…gotta love hearing a great player play your guitar to show it off!