Well he came to my house yesterday. He is going to up the budget and buy a decent Ibanez hsh with floyd. I own 4 ibanez guitars: a jem7v, a js1200, a preium with hh and fixed bridge and an older rg450L. I told him the pros and cons. Told him to look at other brands too but he was adamant. I am a leftie, so letting him really test something at my place wasn’t really happening. There is an Ibanez dealer at a 10min drive so that is where he will go as soon as they open. Ampwise I told him to look at a katana or rolad cube. I owned acube once so I could say something sensible about that. He did ask me if my axe was for sale. I advised against it. I do think the katana will be complex to start with, but a normal amp will make him have to (want to) buy effects too. My final advise was: buy a good guitar and ampwise: test, test, test and only buy when you are content with the sound as it is. Do not buy and think you will tweak it later to your liking. He will let me know if he needs more advice or when he bought something. All you folks thanks for the input.
Harm