To me the biggest change has been to amplifiers. Mid range practice amps now sound passible. Digital modelling is pretty good, and helps keep the volume down. That wasn't true before, most practice amps made guitars sound horrible. I always recommend people spend more on the amp than the guitar. I have a motley collection of cheap guitars and they all sound preety good into my Fender Twin... my Classic Vibe strat (as another commenter said) sounds perfect, as does my homemade Tele with homemade pickups.
Digital Modelling is a game changer. I've got a Helix Stomp XL, and it's replaced every pedal and amp in my house for guitar & bass, _and_ it's smaller than a pedalboard.
Even the Pod Go (which I had before this) is completely usable up to a level where you can absolutely afford to replace it with a helix.
I have an HX Stomp as well, but I'm doing most of my practice lately with a Tonex One, which I got for €150 brand new, and sounds amazing. It's incredible how far we come.
