Spoke with him today, he's given up on getting one for now. For some reason he chose to gun shop NOW of all times I'll keep asking around, there's quite a few players I know around here Depending on how big of a bass amp you want, but I'd keep it to a 12" or less since he's just starting out. Headphones for the small amp would help him get a better sound without loudly polluting your home Solid state amps are cheaper, but dont give you as much bang for your buck. Tube amps are the way to go for richer, cleaner tone, and more volume from smaller wattage but you will pay quite a bit more. If he has a decent stereo/bookshelf system in his room, you can just buy him a pedal ( around $60-$70 pending the brand and features ) to preamp the signal right into an auxillary channel of the stereo. Really simple, and I used to do it as a teen learning to play guitar....sounded very rich through 3-way speakers. If your dead set on a bigger better amp, North Holmsteads Guitar Center shows a cheap used 15w Sammick bass combo amp for $50 - but not much of an upgrade so you may as well get him into a 20-30 watt 8" or 10" speaker for his satisfaction. Craigslist may have some good, used deals locally to ya. Hit me up if you have any questions, I dont want to jack up Goalies thread too much