Bought this as my 9 year old was showing interest in playing my dreadnought but found my guitar too big to reach around and the steel strings very painful. This guitar was just the job.
I was tempted by various blue painted or more rock styled children's guitars but none seemed to feature any decent wood at all so I doubted their tonal qualities. This guitar is admittedly laminated of course but it is spruce which for the price is incredible.
As others have said it takes a while to get in tune but if you spend the time stretching the strings and even leaving it tuned a tone sharp for the weekend it does settle down and keeps in tune. This is a scaled down version of a cheap Classical guitar that I already own with the usual high action and quite slack string tension which means it doesn't play like a rocker's guitar especially further up the neck where the high action really starts to tell. And don't even think about string bends up there unless you want to watch your fingers disappear under all the other strings.
But that's not what this guitar is for. I love playing it. It's tone is not at all shrill or dull and is pleasing to play and listen to whether strummed flamenco or folk style or when applying some Pink Floyd arpeggios. Just as important it is great to look at too in a sophisticated way, all deep conker browns and tobaccoey yellows with lots of lacquer, so that my son wants to pick it up whenever he walks past it, and that was it's intention.
I added a couple of black metal strap buttons at the base and heel and threw in a black strap too which really set it off so that he can do some rock poses for a while until he settles down to realising that the playing's the thing. Think he's just found a new best friend. Get this guitar if you want your under 11 to fall in love with a lifetime of guitar playing. It ticks every box.
<OCTOBER 2015 UPDATE> Just as an update, I spent last night with this child's guitar altering the ending to David Gilmour's new album, Rattle That Lock, because I didn't like the way it ended with yet another fade out, a hoot and then some indeterminate cracking and thumping noises that sound like a German Shepherd dog running in panic away from an angry Little Owl in the rain. I can confirm that by playing along with old David's nylon stung guitar and then carrying on a bit to a proper conclusion then adding some eq and reverb this simple, cheap nylon strung kids' music box sounds pretty equal to David's. Can he REALLY own one too?
| Product Dimensions | 7.49 x 50.01 x 75.01 cm; 2 kg |
|---|---|
| Item model number | 3101C |
| Back Material | Basswood |
| Body Material | Plastic |
| Colour | Nickel |
| Fretboard Material | Rosewood |
| String Material | Nylon |
| Top Material | Spruce Wood |
| Neck Material Type | Basswood |
| Number of Strings | 6 |
| Guitar Bridge System | Adjustable |
| Size | Three-Quarter size |
| Proficiency Level | Beginner |
| Item Weight | 2 kg |
