Best starter guitar for cheap

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Wed May 30, 2007 4:12 am

I found out yesterday that my little brother told my mom he wanted to learn guitar. He's 7, and he's still pretty tiny. He wears out his clothes before he out grows them.

I told my mom to get him a squier mini just to try out incase he quits. I'm just wondering what you guys think.

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Wed May 30, 2007 5:11 am

It has to be something he will want to pick up. If you can dig through and find a nice one, it should do fine. The biggest mistake would be to get him a nylon string acoutstic. YUK! No kid is gonna wanna mess with that, but a lot start out with it!

sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Wed May 30, 2007 5:24 am

325, duh.

I agree with Charly, forget about those 3/4 size nylon string acoustics. Just not inspiring for anybody, let alone a 7 year old. An electric guitar will most certainly be more fun.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:18 am

epiphone sg ... they have a starter pack with a guitar and amp ...

octagon · Post by **octagon** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:23 am

How about one of these Ibanez Micro's Nate.It has a 22.2 in. scale neck and a small body.I think it is the only mini with a 24 fret neck.I hear that they are pretty nice and some adults use them as travel guitars.Price is $129.95:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ibanez-?

phlemmy · Post by **phlemmy** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:27 am

The problem I have found with the starter packs is that the guitars don't stay in tune very easily. I'd look for a used mexi-Fender.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:34 am

Um, what about size?

A 25.5" scale anything is tough for little hands (says this ex toy-designer with of lots of time in the kiddy lab, observing play patterns).

Also, kids have short attention spans and tend to give things up quickly, It's when they come back to them the second or third time, that they seem to stick better.

So, something cheap and short scale. I first bought a nice ES-16 for my little girl, but it turned out to be TOO nice. A new Squire Mini (22.5" scale), refinished in powder pearl pink, fit the bill, and she still plays it occasionally a year and a half later.

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Wed May 30, 2007 7:31 am

Yeah, that's what I'm talkin bout......

squirefan01 · Post by **squirefan01** » Wed May 30, 2007 7:52 am

"kids have short attention spans and tend to give things up quickly"

You said it Paul.

My son wants to take guitar lessons. He's 10 now. We're going to start him this summer with the same teacher that taught him piano, then saxaphone. He dropped them both and tends to want to quit early on things, and doesn't like to practice. It's not the teacher, who is excellent and also teaches my daughter piano (my daughter kicks *** on the piano, and she's only

.

Anyways, I have a Fender acoustic that I bought a few years ago but played just briefly. I told my son that he could start with that (nylon strings and all), and if he kept up the lessons through the summer and still wanted to keep playing, I'd get him an electric before he goes back to school in the fall. I hope I am right, but I seriously doubt that it electric vs. acoustic will make a difference in how hard he wants to work at it, as he just begins this phase.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed May 30, 2007 7:59 am

Yeah, except kids (especially little boys) like things SHINY and LOUD, and the motivation of an electric might justbe enough to keep him interested in that acoustic for long enough to learn some power chords...

Then...look out! It's Marshall stacks from then on!

teeder · Post by **teeder** » Wed May 30, 2007 8:32 am

For reference, my son will be 8 in July, and is on the small side. I put together a Fender Duo-Sonic from parts on Ebay for this past Christmas (1963 neck, 1961 body). It fits him very well, but is good enough that I can play it with no problems.
I agree with the shiny / electric thing! Maybe even something with flames would help!
I went with Sonic(?) Blue because he liked the Strat in the Beatle Gear book.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed May 30, 2007 8:52 am

These are terrific guitars! I have a '59 replica that I built out of Ebay parts (MIM body--altered, original bridge, reworked MIM neck; MIM harness, replica guard, etc.) and an original '56 beater that I'm restoring. They are sweet players and have great tone.

Your son's a lucky li'l guy!

teeder · Post by **teeder** » Wed May 30, 2007 8:59 am

Thanks! This thing screams with the Duncan Strat pu's and the switch that runs them in series! What a tone!

admin · Post by **admin** » Wed May 30, 2007 9:10 am

Your son's a lucky li'l guy!

And from the photo so is his dad.

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Wed May 30, 2007 9:29 am

Thanks for the replies guys. My bro's really small too. Not only is he 7, but he's tiny. My sisters short too, just look at the pic.

Here are the brats... she's tiny.

Maybe the Squier mini then. It's cheap enough. I'll check out that SG though, it's a starter pack, so maybe my mom will be more inclined to get it.