Hi I am buying a skateboard for my son and wondered if there were any makes that were better than others, also with the wheels, bearings and trucks? I am clueless so any help would be great.

Woo! A good Dad! I LIKE YOU YOU FUNNY! Haha sorry... anyways all decks are different and its really based on personal experience/taste/feel for the board. Either take him to a skate shop and let him try a board out and find which one best fits him or find out which kind of board suits him yourself. If he's a big kid get him a bigger deck if you want it to last longer. Although some big kids like really little decks. Its all personal preference.
And if all else fails...
Some good companies:
Almost
Enjoi
Girl
Element (Good for starters if he's never skated before)
Plan B

Here I'll make a nice board for you:
Almost Impact Deck
Spitfire 51mm Wheels
Lucky Abec 7 Bearings
Royal Trucks

for trucks there almost all the same price so you want to probly get krux or silvers because there the lightest, wheels either autobaun or spitfire, bearing anything abec 5 or above, for the deck just dont get toy machine because they are heavy and also dont get a blind because they are made out of cheap chinese wood

loose bolts ,,,,blinds are made of canadian maple.

get him anything ,, when you start off it barely matters.

Some good boards are: Almost, Plan B, Baker
Some good trucks are: Independant, Krux, Tensor
Some good bearings are: BONES BONES BONES. Just buy bones reds. Nothing beats em for the price.

and for wheels you're best off getting blanks.

seriously if hes jsut a beginner

wheels blanks
bearings it doesn't matter too much, if you want cheap (ish) but quality bearings go for Bones reds.
trucks. something on the cheaper side like silvers should do.
Deck: i personally prefer girl, chocolate, zero, mystery. and tend to keep away from dwindle dist. boards like almost and enjoi as they aren't too strong and lost pop pretty quickly.

Or, instead of spending $100+ you could just go to www.ccs.com and pick up a complete CCS everything board for i think around $80. Your a cool dad =]].

Just out of curiosity.... why are you buying him it?

alien workshop are good for beginers and experts. id get him one of those.

i recomend:

board:blacklabel
trucks:venture or independent
wheels:zero
bearings:lucky abec 7's

loose bolts ,,,,blinds are made of canadian maple.

get him anything ,, when you start off it barely matters.

for rezeal, i guess they do that now, but they use to make them out of cheap chinese wood

Deck: chocolate/girl they last a long time and barely loose their pop (ability to ollie)

Trucks: Independent. Life-time guarantee. Best trucks around + they've been in business for a looong time (about 25 years).

Bearings: Bones reds. Best bang for the buck for any bearings. Bones is known for making great bearings.

Wheels: Doesn't matter, they are all polyurethane. 52mm is a good starting size.

Idk how old your son is but I'd say if his shoe size is smaller than an 8 i'd get a 7.5 deck (7.5 inches in width). If it's bigger just estimate between 7.5 and 8.

just buy him a cool looking complete

his first board dosnent need to be really nice

after his first board he will have a better understanding of what he likes in a skateboard

for trucks there almost all the same price so you want to probly get krux or silvers because there the lightest, wheels either autobaun or spitfire, bearing anything abec 5 or above, for the deck just dont get toy machine because they are heavy and also dont get a blind because they are made out of cheap chinese wood

Silver trucks? They have worse kingpens then Grind King. Blind made out of cheap Chinese wood? They are made by the same company that makes Almost, Darkstar, and Enjoi. You my friend, are retarded.

Thanks everyone for the advice... he has a skateboard already but it was just a cheap one.... he would really like a new one for his birthday, he was looking at an almost board just wanted to make sure it was a decent make before buying it... (I am his mum by the way not dad)