You might also consider a Helix HX Stomp made by Line 6.

It's not an amp, rather, it's a small pedal that does amp modeling and also has quite a few built in effects.

I recently purchased one and have had a good time playing with it. Your son would have to go through a speaker of some sort (for example a computer speaker, or other loudspeaker), but you can achieve quite a wide range of sounds with it.

It also interfaces with a computer via USB which makes changing the presents and designing your own sounds a bit easier than doing so on the unit itself.

Retail price is between $500-$599.

Fender Acoustasonic amps are fairly reputable for the acoustic and not super expensive.

I'd go with something else for the regular electric such as a current Fender Mustang - not because it is a best, but because it is incredibly versatile. It can be made to sound like most anything.

I started my journey with a solid state 50W amp. It didn’t take long to ditch that amp and go to something smaller and more manageable.

I really like Fender tube amps. Out of the four that I own, I tend to spend most of my time playing my 5W 1970 Fender Champ. I could get by with this amp and a couple of pedals for almost any situation that I would find myself in. It’s so simple, yet sounds so great around 4-6 on the volume knob. My favorite amp is my Fender Princeton Reverb, but you’re looking at spending above your limit.

If I were looking at new amps, I would take a hard look at the Marshall Origin series. I haven't spent more than a few minutes checking one out, so I can’t give it a real recommendation, but you may want to check them out.

A digital/modeling amp can be a lot of fun, but can also be overwhelming with too many choices. If your son likes to tinker, this may be a good option.

Good luck with your search!

For the money, and the features, you can't beat a Boss Katana
Katana

You're likely to find them used a little cheaper.

It has some very cool features:
Headphone out
Aux line in (for jamming along to songs)
Built-in fx
footswitch controll
USB out for direct recording

Seriously, I would have killed for this as a kid just starting out.

My first amp when starting out was a Marshall Lead 20. It could hang at band practice in high school and I later got a 4x12 I could power with it. I sold the Marshall to fund my GK 250ML, which I still play regularly.

Just got some new/used speakers for one of my 4x12s today and tried them out with my Marshall 1987xl at full tilt for a few minutes. Glorious tone.

Thanks for all the replies guys....I’m gonna take my son down the road to our local guitar center and have him play on a few and see what he likes. BTW just saw in the news that guitar center has filed chapter 11 unfortunately....but that means pretty good sales to follow soon.
My daughter also pulled up that Facebook marketplace thing and there are a lot of guitar related things for sale...including amps that have been mentioned in this thread.

quote:

Originally posted by cgode:
BTW just saw in the news that guitar center has filed chapter 11 unfortunately....but that means pretty good sales to follow soon.

They're not going out of business. They will restructure as that's the point of chapter 11. Manufacturers such as Gibson and Fender have too much skin in the GC game to let them go under. Likely see a closing of the less profitable stores.

Guys who are expecting to buy a Gibson Les Paul for $300 on blowout are going to be waiting quite a while.

Let's back up a bit.

Acoustic guitars that have pickups are designed to amplify the natural acoustic sound. They can be plugged into a P.A. system or into a full-range combo (all in one) amplifier that is intended for this purpose.

Electric guitars with magnetic pickups are an entirely different animal. While the original purpose was to simply amplify a guitar sound, guitarists found pretty quickly that turning up a 50's or 60's vacuum tube amplifier all the way resulted in an aggressive and distorted blues or rock and roll tone.

So now, an amp is as much an instrument as the guitar. Over the years, most of the design effort has been focused on getting the "cranked up loud" amp sound at lower volumes.

Vacuum tube amps sound awesome, I have a a few, but they really need to be played loud to sound right. Master volume and high gain preamps are nice, but nothing sounds the same as power tubes running into saturation, and the ability to go from clean to distorted simply by changing the guitar volume or even picking technique. Interestingly, Eddie Van Halen was a master at this, along with Jimi Hendrix and others.

But most of my amps are hand wired like the old days. Inexpensive PC Board based tube amps have various reliability issues (MESA Boogie tends to do PCB amps right though).

Depending on what tones your son is interested in for electric guitar - such as AC/DC, Van Halen, SRV, Metallica, or modern metal - the amp choice should follow. Line6 digital modeling amps can simulate various classic amps and provide a lot of different tones at a reasonable price, and from there he can decide what amps he likes when moving to the "real thing".

I agree with the poster above me, you need to understand the difference between acoustic amplifiers and electric amplifiers.

Good explanation lefty Sig....thank you, clears up some of my confusion for me. My son has a fairly wide range of likes so nothing will be perfect but I’ll try and achieve some sort of middle ground he can play with. I used to have a Peavy classic that I enjoyed but unfortunately that got sold by a nephew that lived with us after his father passed. I remember being able to get some nice warm tones from it as well as the chunky/distortion for AC/DC. I’m sure he’ll be happy with anything I end up with, he’s really a great kid that never asks for anything .... which just makes me more determined to find something he’ll not just like but love!
I’m already very happy I introduced him to something I know will bring him pleasure for a lifetime....that is very satisfying personally for me.