| Choosing an electric guitar for your child. | | | | |
| | | | The thinnest string on a light gauge set of |
| The description usually assigned to kids | | | | guitar strings would have a thickness of |
| electric guitars is "Short scale or 3/4 | | | | 0.010 of an inch. |
| sized". | | | | |
| | | | What ages are kids electric guitars good for? |
| But this description, while fairly accurate, | | | | |
| isn't quite the whole story. Some short scale | | | | I think for a six year old, up till about |
| electrics are longer than others, so it's | | | | ten, a short scale guitar with a 22.2 or 22.7 |
| necessary to look at the specific scale | | | | inch scale length will work quite nicely. |
| length, and whether that's right for your | | | | |
| young one. | | | | One has to look at just how big a ten year |
| | | | old we're talking about though. Perhaps for a |
| A three quarter sized scale length for a kids | | | | 10 year old, a 24 inch scale length will work |
| guitar can be anything from a 22.2 inch scale | | | | out just fine. |
| length to a 24 inch scale length. This may be | | | | |
| different for acoustics, but having decided | | | | For kids around 12 years old, I don't think |
| on an electric is definitely a plus in my | | | | it's all that necessary to think in terms of |
| book. | | | | kids electric guitars anymore. |
| | | | |
| Scale length is defined as the distance from | | | | From my own experience as a youngster, about |
| the bridge of the guitar to the nut, so a | | | | 30 odd years ago, at 14 years old I was |
| kids electric guitar with a short scale | | | | playing quite comfortably on a Fender scale |
| length means that the frets on the guitar are | | | | length. |
| closer together, making it easier for small | | | | |
| hands to reach across more frets. | | | | A fender scale length is about the longest |
| | | | scale length, at 25.5 inches, and I'm not |
| A less obvious advantage to learning on a | | | | really such a big fellow. |
| kids electric guitar | | | | |
| | | | To be on the safe side, for a 12 year old I |
| One extra advantage to learning how to play | | | | would say buy something with a Gibson scale |
| electric guitar on a short scale length, is | | | | length, which is 24.75 inches. |
| that the strings need a lot less tension to | | | | |
| be tuned up to pitch, making it so much | | | | How long will a kids electric guitar last? |
| easier to press chords and notes. | | | | |
| | | | The thing is to see a kids guitar as not just |
| You may want to put some slightly heavier | | | | something that'll work as a guitar up till a |
| gauge strings on the guitar, especially the | | | | certain age and then be useless. |
| very short ones. | | | | |
| | | | Kids electric guitars make excellent travel |
| A good gauge of electric steel string for a 3 | | | | guitars, and they're also fun to have around |
| 4 short scale electric guitar would still be | | | | when visitors say "Gee! Look how small that |
| classed as light gauge. | | | | guitar is! |