First of all, that's quite a good deal on a new American strat, I think they usually go for about $600-700, though I've never bought one so i might be wrong. As for the pedals, sure you can use them, what he probably meant was that there is no effects loop, that doesn't matter though, you can plug the pedal directly into the input of the amp, and the guitar into the pedal. You probably won't need a pedal for distortion, i'm sure its built into the amp. Wah can be fun to. Congrats on your first electric. I mostly play acoustic (archtop acoustic) and whenever I play my strat, while I don't like the sound as much, i must say it is a lot easier to play. Strings are so light and bendy.