advice for a guitar, and advice for Epiphone lespaul standard pro / 60's or Widow ?

Ok, this is a gift for my son, we are in Canada, and he is practising really seriously since 1 and a half year, he is learning alone on a base squier strato with buzzing sound coupled with a mustang LT50. He is soon 13 years old and play a lot on his knee or sit down.

He has made tremendous progress and did a little concert where he was great, with little errors but he did not feel like it. The mustang LT50 is great for experiment with effects, because he has no real pedal.

I want to make him happy and make him feel the next level, because i feel it is a bit difficult for him, the base strato squier seems a bit limiting right now. He's going through a bit of a rough patch too, and music is a way to rise above those kinds of moments.

He really like the lespaul guitar, so i want to surprise him with a good looking guitar that invite him to play, that with blow his mind when he is playing.

His favorite group are Alice in chains, Deftones and red hot, and some metal bands in general.

I'll probably take him to a store so he can try on a few pairs.
In the beginning i was digging for the epiphone DC pro 2019 because of a deal, and her versatily (24 fret, light, quality) and beauty. But now i think maybe a lespaul is the safest choice. I know Lespaul are a bit on the heavier side, but he is gonna play a lot sit down or on his knee, so i think it would not be a problem.

1/ My first question is what would you recommend ? I don't want to go overboard either and spoil his fun of buying his own guitars later on. My budget will be max 1300$ CAD with tax, but this would be for an incredible guitar, i prefer to stay low if i can, like a lot of us i imagine.

2/ i have access to some used Epiphone widow, 60's, and standard pro in my aera, and i wouldn't really be able to tell them apart from a technical and practical standpoint when it comes to the use for my son. The widow seems beautiful.

Thanks in advance for your response.