How to Choose the Right Kid's Guitar

A simple buyers guide to finding the right kid's guitar

Earlier this year, visitors have been coming to StrumViews.com looking for honest reviews for a kid's guitar, and we have received some feedback and requests to develop a thorough guide in helping people find the right guitar for a child or student.  After children have had some school guitar lessons, they may be ready for their own personal guitar for them to use at home.  And in response to many inquiries on our site, we decided to put on our "review cap" and go to work to help you in this search.

There are 6 categories to consider when searching for the right kid's guitar 

Choosing the right guitar for a kid should start with an honest assessment of the purpose for buying an acoustic or electric guitar - or toy guitar for that matter.  There are also 2 major considerations when looking to buy a guitar for a child or student:  

• the size of the child or student and
• the kind (or playing style) of guitar desired.  

In listening to what people are searching for, people looking for a "kids" guitar are generally going to end up in 1 of  the 6 following categories.  

The following 6 categories considers both the size of the child or student as well as the style of guitar that the child desires to play (or learn).

Which one best suits your search?

1)  Smaller Electric Guitars - Looking for an smaller scale electric guitar for a kid with smaller hands

2)  Smaller Acoustic Guitars - Searching for a smaller acoustic guitar for a smaller person (fits most playing styles)

3)  Smaller Classical Guitars - Looking for a smaller scaled classical guitar for classical finger style learning (for kids)

4)  Student Electric Guitar - Pre-teen or teenager full-size student electric guitar.

5)  Student Acoustic Guitar - Pre-teen or teenager full-size student acoustic guitar.

6)  Student Classical Guitar -Pre-teen or teenager 3/4 size student classical guitar.

I have personally reviewed numerous guitars in each of these 6 categories, and have given full reviews on the model that I believe to be the very best guitar model for each of these 6 categories, at an affordable price.

#1 Smaller 3/4 size Electric Guitar - Squier MINI by Fender -

If you are looking for a reliable, affordable electric guitar for a child or smaller student, then the Squier Mini electric guitar (made by Fender guitars) would be ideal.  Instead of focusing strictly on the age of the guitar player (which is important and plays a role in their ability to learn, take lessons and acquire gutiar skills), consider getting a quality electric guitar that fits his or her body size.  

This Squier Mini guitar is a 3/4 size version (with a 22.75 inch scale length) of the full size electric Squier Bullet by Fender.  Fender has been a leader in electric guitar manufacturing, and with other competing 3/4 size electric guitars on the market in the same price range, the Squier Mini electric guitar not only receives great reviews from hundreds of owners, but will set up and play much better than other competing brands in this price range for mini electric guitars.

This guitar is not a toy.  While many kid's gutiar models struggle to hold strings in tune and can be disappointing (even frustrating) for kids or young students to learn on, the Squier Mini electric guitar will not disappoint the child, student or the pocketbook.  Don't worry about a newer guitar keeping proper pitch for strings (as all new strings need a little time to stretch and "break in" in ordert to keep a consistent pitch or tuning).  

This Squier MINI also makes a decent travel electric guitar for a budget player looking for a 3/4 size electric guitar to take as a traveling companion.

As a complete electric guitar (at 3/4 size), it has 3 standard fender Stratocaster coil pickups, a 5 way switch to alter between combinations of these 3 coil pickups for 5 basic different tone outputs, and 2 knobs for controlling the master volume and the tone.   The bridge is fixed (so no real working "whammy" or tremolo bar), but this will actually result in keeping the guitar in tune more consistently for a beginning player or student.  

The Squier Mini Electric comes in 3 different colors:

• Squier Mini Black
  
  
   
• Squier Mini Torino Red
  
  
   
•  Squier Mini Pink
  
  
   

Here are some additional factory specifications on the Squier Mini Electric Guitar by Fender:

• Bridge Pickup: Standard Single-Coil Strat® Bridge Pickup
• Middle Pickup: Standard Single-Coil Strat® Middle Pickup
• Neck Pickup: Standard Single-Coil Strat® Neck Pickup

5-Position Pickup Switch:

• Position 1. Bridge Pickup,
• Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup,
• Position 3. Middle Pickup,
• Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup,
• Position 5. Neck Pickup

2 Knob Controls:

• Master Volume,
• Master Tone

Hardware

• All Chrome Hardware
• Bridge: Hard-tail (non-tremolo) 6-Saddle Bridge
• Tuning Machines: Covered Tuners
• String Nut: Synthetic Bone (polymer)
• Switch Tip: White Switch Tip

This guitar, being an electric guitar, will need a shoulder strap, amplifier, and 1/4 inch guitar cable for plugging into an amp in order to get electric guitar sound from it.  (playing an electric guitar unplugged is very quiet and might be disappointing for a player looking for an electric guitar sound).

As you can see, the Squier Mini Electric guitar packs a lot of quality characteristics for electric guitar playing that will perform far beyond a toy guitar at a very affordable price.   Though the Manufacturer (Fender) lists the MSRP at $179.99, it can be found for about $99 at Amazon with great shipping rates, delivery and guarantees.  If I were looking to find a quality electric gutiar for a kid or a smaller student, I would not hesistate to start him or her on the Squier MINI Electric Guitar by Fender.

 #1 Smaller (3/4) Mini Acoustic Guitar - Baby Taylor Acoustic Guitar 

If you want to set up your child or student with the best chance for success, it's best not to skimp on quality in a first guitar for a child or small player.  If a child is serious enough to practice regularly and is perhaps ready for lessons, but still requires a 3 /4 scale guitar because of his or her size, hands, build and reach, these 2 guitars are going to give the best sound quality and playability now, as well as a better resale value down the road in the event that the child continues to study guitar and outgrows the 3/4 guitar size.  Additionally, the Baby Taylor Acoustic Guitar makes a great traveling companion for any guitar player.

Our pick for the best kids' 3/4 size quality acoustic guitar is the Baby Taylor Series, hands down.

Read our full Baby Taylor Acoustic Guitar Review here.