I'd like to take another tack entirely here...I learned to play on cheap guitars almost exclusively, mostly on a Harmony Stella. If you can make a mediocre instrument sound good, you can make anything sound good. And there's something to be said for the funky sound you get out of cheaper instruments. I say don't invest too much in a guitar that your kid may play a week or so and then put down forever; get something adequate but cheap. If he really wants to play, he'll figure out how to get the best out of it, and once he's committed, you can look at getting him something of a higher quality. Just my two cents. (I still have a Harmony Stella...my neighbor got it out of a dumpster and gave it to me. I also have a hand-made Tim White, which is much nicer than I deserve.)