Charles,
have him do a kit, I have my son building kits and I must say the performance can be amazing compared to the price.
Going for a Neurochrome kit next and a EAR 834P kit as well
lot of fun and pretty cheap and you can customize with the resistors and caps you want.
Chassis canbe had for cheap at PArmetal in NJ, if they don't come with a chassis
The Bottlehead stuff is pretty great too.
Mike