Best electric guitar for a 16 year old...

what kind of music does he like to play?

a used mexican fender tele is a great first all around guitar

Squier by Fender. Let him pick his favorite body style.

He didn’t say he wanted to punish his son

Ibanez AX120 - a little over $200

If you want to spend a little more...
The Squier Classic Vibe series - I'd get a Tele either the 50's or 70's Thinline both about the $350 range (at ~$100 discount) on Sweetwater for the next week.

It’s amazing what you can get now a days for the price. It used to be that anything under $500 was basically junk but not anymore.

You do still get what you pay for to a point. I would say that point is roughly $1500, with a few exceptions.
For a “teenage first guitar” price point you cannot go wrong with a Yamaha in the Pacifica line. Even a middle of the road one is not that expensive and is a fine well made instrument.

The MIM strats are generally very good with few exceptions. Fender’s Squire line can sometimes be a better value for the same money or less.

For PRS’s import guitars are top of the heap as far as the far-east made guitars and rival some that are made in the USA for under $2500. Above that price point you’re getting into a whole other realm of instruments that most teen agers won’t see the value of.

TLDR: sub $500 I would choose Yamaha or Squire
$500-700 I would choose Yamaha again or Fender
And $700+ I’d be looking at a PRS import or a MIA Fender like the Performer line or a nice Player strat.

quote:

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a used mexican fender tele is a great first all around guitar

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This is usually my response as well.

You can cover a lot of ground with a Tele and a Boss Katana.

Agree with all the others about getting a telly. For a 16 year old, they might prefer the Offset Telly shape.
LINK

Any of the Classic Vibes or Paranormals HERE would be a good choice.

It would need a good set-up to optimize it's playability, but it's well worth it.

Tons tons tons of options now compared to 10-20 years ago

Squier - used to be known as starter guitar but some are borderline quite nice now
Ibanez - AZE series or others, versatlie
Yamaha Pacifica
Harley Benton - made in China but good value for money with reviews to back up

Anything decent used on Reverb
If you're in BR and in the $800 range I have a Charvel DK24 that is amazing for everything...

OP never replied with what kind of music the 16-year old leans toward, or if a specific guitar by name or notable artist is on the wish list.

When I taught guitar in college, I saw far, far too many kids who wanted an electric guitar but were handed an acoustic first, or who wanted a pointy 7-string doom generator but were handed a hillbilly plank butterscotch blackguard. Kid didn't want to play it, limited progress, to case queen under the bed, to pissed off kid AND parents whose instrument buy produced zero ROI.

I was exactly the same way. My first actual guitar, a loaner Alvarez acoustic, sat under a bed for a year because I was an early to mid 1980s MTV metalhead and the guitar I got wasn't a Floyded superstrat. When I finally got what I wanted, I played no less than four hours daily. Even though it was the affordable import version. I knew I'd get better when I got better. And exactly that happened.

If we know what the 16-year old likes, I can make incredible suggestions in a sea of budget/value categories. I do it multiple times daily this time of year.