i took him to a local store last night under the guise of getting his sister interested. the store carries alvarez, ibanez, yamaha, and taylor guitars. they only had about 10 acoustics in his price range and half of those were cheap beginner guitars around 120 dollars. they had a solid top alvarez and a solid top ibanez in his price range, he did'nt seem to like either one much. granted the local store is a little pricy compared to guitar centers online prices. he did throw me a curve ball though, he flip flopped from acoustic to electric, go figure. either way i go i have an idea of the styles he likes. so saturday i will hit the city and probably spend more than i had planned, but hey it's about the kids right. thanks for the help guys, and when i make the purchase i will let you know what he is getting.