So, for a Christmas present my friends (they are the parents) have a son that is 14 yrs old who loves to play the guitar.

I thought a great idea would be to get a year subscription to a magazine that has TAB's. He loves classic rock as well as some current rock.

I would basically buy the current issue with a note that he will receive it for the next year. When I was a kid Guitar For the Practicing Musician was my choice but I have no idea about today.

Which would you recommend?

I think your choices now are Guitar World and... that's it.

Guitar: FTPM became just Guitar but then it went under. Guitar World had some spinoffs Guitar One and Guitar World Acoustic, but both of those folded and now have some columns in GW.

Honestly? If he loves classic rock, I'd go to ultimate-guitar.com and print out copies of his favorite songs based on ratings. Guitar is a terrible mix of horrible modern songs and songs tabbed out long ago.

OR...go to eBay and buy him a lot of back issues. They go for dirt cheap, and he'll have songs right away.

I can see that re: the tabs/song selection - but long ago for you and I is not the same to a 14 yr old and he may like some of the modern songs.

Also at least with the magazine you can get a bit more due to music/gear/instructinal columns etc. At least that was what these magazines used to be like.

Plus I believe it's not a big deal (cost) and would be kind of cool to get something each month that you can at least get some interest in - better than giving him a TShirt. Sort of a supplement rather than a replacement for any other avenues he may choose.

I hate to be "that guy", but

You might consider getting him started with lessons. They will help develop his ear in addition to his technique, so he'd be able to figure out songs himself, at least with time and practice.

Well that made it easy (as I am definitely not paying for lessons). I guess he gets a Tshirt from my recent trip.

Another alternative to the subscription route would be to get a couple of tablature books from bands or artists that you know he likes. There are also several books that feature various artists of a particular genre (metal, pop, classic rock, etc.).

I still think that getting a lot of back issues from eBay will be a great gift. Seriously, they go for super cheap.

Could do that too - easy to find out.

Also, I will look around ebay etc. for either.

The great thing about eBay is the resale value of these things is like nil.