Guitar first, then amp. In truth, though, none of the equipment matters if you don't know how to use it.
However, don't invest in a really expensive guitar until you really know what you want to play. You may think you know now, but keep practicing with what you have and try out some different genres. You may find something you like. If you go for the Satriani guitar right now and find out later that you'd prefer to play death metal or jazz or anything, you may regret it.
Another thing along those lines is that even if you know the general direction you're aiming for, buying something like a Satriani when what you're really aiming for is to play like Gibli (who uses a $2500 Jackson) could cause some unhappiness. Those little differences can be a big difference in sound and playing style. My philosophy is that when you invest in an instrument, you should want to unlock all of the possibilities it has; going for something big and shiny early on and then finding out you don't want it anymore later means you won't want to do that. Most players figure this out through years of honing their playing style and zeroing in on a specific genre or two (or a specific player
).
There's nothing wrong with going for a good all-around midrange-priced guitar, though. People say Les Pauls are overrated, but they really are pretty good for playing a little bit of everything (be aware that there's a difference in the way an Epiphone and a real Gibson sound, though). Ibanez makes good midrange-priced guitars, too, but they lean more towards the metal side, so that may be what you want. I don't have much experience with the specific models, though, so I'll wait for Rad to talk about that.
