Got the acoustic bridge I made finally on the Graphtec Piezo only guitar I'm building. It took a lot of work to make sure the saddle height and intonation were going to be good right off the bat. It would have been immensely easier just to do a Graphtec hardtail bridge that was adjustable and my home made macassar ebony acoustic bridge has it's issues, but I wanted an all wood look. The Camphor Laurel top is finished with a natural oil finish and next to the green sides it looks awesome. The green freaking glows. So happy with that part. Should be playable in a couple of weeks.

I can provide a few notes:

• Always buy used, if you can. I don't buy a single piece of equipment, new. Guitars, amps, pedals, etc. Search for them here: https://reverb.com/. Search for what he wants and search for a great deal.
• The Boss Katana is a practice level amp with many of those modulation features built in. I would recommend holding off on the Big Muff or any other overdrive pedal until you settle on an amp. Every amp interacts with pedals in different ways. There is a term used all the time in the industry: Pedal Platform. There are amps out there that are considered great pedal platforms. That means they work very well when you stack overdrive and distortion pedals. I'm not a fan of modeling amps and therefore don't have much experience with them, so I couldn't tell you how any of those pedals would sound on the Katana. I honestly don't see the need for an overdrive pedal on an amp like the Katana. You can get plenty of overdrive from the amp, itself.
• Delay Pedal: You listed the MXR Carbon Copy. This is a great little pedal and one I used to have. However, I wish someone had stopped me from buying it and instead saved a little more for the Carbon Copy Deluxe. The problem with Delay pedals is you want them to act in sync with the song you are currently playing. The only way to dial that in on the Carbon Copy is to bend down and tweak the knobs in a trial/error fashion, until you hit the correct BPM. I believe the Katana has this level of delay already built in. The Carbon Copy Deluxe has the second 'Tap' button on it, like all good delay pedals. This 'Tap' button allows you to tap the rhythm with your foot, so you can quickly set the delay timing.

If it were my kid and we were only looking at the stuff you linked, I would go with the Amp, Loop Pedal, and Delay pedal. The Wah is the outlier because it's adding a lot more cost to the total and it's a very niche pedal. Most likely he wants it to play 1 or 2 songs that feature it, but that's your call. Learning how to truly use a Wah pedal is like learning a new instrument.

Once you get at least 3-4 pedals, it's also time for a pedal board. You need to think about where you put these pedals, how you power these pedals, and how do you transport these pedals. Building a pedal board is the way this is done. There are many sizes of pedal boards out there and you will most likely need a pedal board power supply. Otherwise, every single pedal will need it's dedicated outlet or you can quickly burn through AA batteries.

I recently posted a picture of my pedal board a page or two back, if you've never seen what that could look like.

Holy ****, you don't come with easy questions, do you?

As a lover of our American classic brands, I'm sure there will be a lot of back and forth on this. Also, I've already begun my evening toking, so hopefully I don't just go on and on about nothing. I'm going to kind of address a few of your questions/points.

Fender Thinline vs Gibson SG - Umm... you don't even compare the two. They are so freaking different in just about every way. Tell your son he needs to play both and pick one. Go to Guitar Center and play a few thinlines and a few SG's. This is not a question anyone can answer for you. It is based on personal preference, and both are fantastic instruments.

On the two thinline Tele's you posted:

• Fender Vintera II - Made in Mexico
• American Vintage - Made in the USA

That's the reason for the price difference. However, the two guitars are also very different in other ways.

• Both seem to be made of Ash. However, weight of ash can range.
• The Vintera has a poly gloss finish while the AVRI has a nitro lacquer. The poly gloss is cheaper to apply whereas the nitro lacquer is closer to how they finished guitars back in the day. All custom shop guitars and most higher end guitars usually use some form of nitro finish. They tend to age over time and wear in, which many guitarists love. Others believe nitro guitars sound better. This is all just general discussions out there.
• The Vintera has the standard Tele bridge and neck pickup setup whereas the AVRI has the fender wide range humbuckers. I'm a Tele purists, so don't get me on my soapbox about putting humbuckers in a Tele. Suffice it to say, those two pickup options give you COMPLETELY different sounds. He needs to play a Tele with each type to know which he wants. If he wants a Tele because he wants to do that "Tele thing", then you need the classic setup with the single coils. If not the Vintera, then whichever other model. Granted, the single coil pickups in the Vintera are going to be of lower quality, due to the MIM. But those can always be replaced in the future.

Aside from those differences, I couldn't tell you without holding them. Both postings say "C" shape, but there are different types of "C" shaped necks. They are generally on the thinner side. Some people like chunky necks, some like thin necks, and many of us like necks somewhere in between. That's all a personal choice.

The posting also shows the Vintera has the more old school 7.25" fretboard radius vs the 9.5" of the AVRI. Again, that's personal preference. I will say, the more more extreme the radius, the more likely the guitar is to fret out when you bend a string. The likelihood of fretting out could come down to the quality control of the guitar itself. I personally love the 9.5" radius Fender uses for their re-issues, these days. But most guitars range from 7.25"-12" radiuses. Everyone has their own preference and they all feel VERY different.

If you can post the serial number of his current Fender, I could look it up and get the specs on that. Based on the specs of his current guitar, you could then ask him what he likes about it and what things he would prefer different. For example, if he loves the neck shape and has spent the last 3-4 years getting very used to it, then let's try to get a similar neck shape in the new guitar.

As for the Gibson SG's, COMPLETELY different style of guitar and sounds completely different. Those are both Gibson SG Standards, so both are made in the USA and basically have all the same specs.

If it were me, I would buy the Pelham Blue one, if he wants an SG. First of all, that's a premium color to get in an SG. Second, it comes with the Gibson hardcase. Third, that one comes with the Classic '57 pickups, which are MUCH better than the trashy 490R and 490T pickups in the other one. I think those are the worst Gibson manufactured pickups and would rip them out the moment I bought that guitar. The Classic '57s are much more vintage voiced for classic rock.

But, my recommendation is to first make him make the choice between a thinline Tele and an SG. If he chooses the Thinline, come back and post the serial number of his guitar. If he chooses the SG, snag that Pelham blue one.

I guess, what i'm trying to really pound home is how personal this decision is. The first guitar was one thing. You bought him a guitar that he can use for the rest of his life. That American Standard Strat is just a great guitar.

As he gets older and starts to love collecting guitars, he should have a clearer idea of what he wants in a guitar. At this point, it sounds like he hasn't played too many different guitars. He simply has either heard or seen both of these guitars being played by bands or on YouTube, and he has GAS.

Totally get it. We all live that life and understand that. But he needs to provide more detailed input on what he's looking for.

I could link you 10 different Fender Thinline Telecasters right now. All at price points from $600-$4,000. With each one, let's say there are 12-15 aspects of each guitar that would be different from the other. Anything from the specs on the neck I've already posted, the finish, the color, the pickups, the tuners, etc.

Obviously, just like last time, giving the budget is the starting place. Then we look within that budget for the specs he wants.

If he wants to stick with a branded "Fender", then you are looking at either the Fender USA lines or Fender Made in Mexico lines. This is where I would even use ChatGPT to list all the Fender USA and Fender MIM Thinline tele models in the last 15 years. I would research each production model as well as several artist series to find the one that meets what I'm looking for both spec-wise and aesthetically.

For both lines, MIA and MIM, you will have Tiers of "quality" that increase price. Within those tiers, you will usually have models that are "modern" and models that are more "vintage" inspired. Most "Modern" models will have poly gloss finish whereas most "vintage" inspired models will be nitro. Most "modern" styles have flatter fretboards and most "vintage" inspired have rounder fretboards. Most "modern" Fenders have satin finishes on the neck and most "vintage" inspired have the standard lacquered finish on the back of the neck which can get sticky.

Hopefully I've illustrated how difficult this is to simply tell you which one to buy without input from your son.