Which 3/4 size “starter” guitar is best for a 9-10 year old?

[charleydelta]

I’m trying to decide which acoustic “starter” guitar to buy for my 9 year old grandaughter, who wants to learn to play guitar. I’m a Martin guy, but I’m impressed by the “Baby Taylor” guitar. I’ve winnowed it down to between the Martin LX1RE Little Martin and the “Baby Taylor” acoustics. Does anyone have any experience with either or both? Any recommendations? Thanks, CharleyDelta

[sunjamr]

Both my grandkids got Taylor Babys at about age 6. Now they are 11 and 13, and they still play them all the time. The cool thing about the Taylor Baby is it has no framework in the back piece of the body, thus making it louder and lighter. It gets by without framework because the back has a slight concave shape to it, making it stiff and strong. BTW, the founders and owners of Taylor are former Martin employees who felt they could build a better guitar. I myself have a Taylor Baby, and I play it every day. Using a high-tech sound recording device, I have measured the volume of my 5 acoustic guitars, and the Taylor Baby is the loudest. Therefore, I and my grandkids are able to use Elixir Nanoweb Extra Light (010s) strings. That makes it easier for kids to do bar chords and bend notes. But I’m sure the Little Martin would do the job just fine also. I played one once and it seemed OK.

Sunjamr Steve

[GnLguy]

I would suggest that you consider starting her with a decent quality Ukulele = smaller neck for smaller hands. See if she will stick with it and if so, buy a good starter guitar in a couple of years

[sunjamr]

GnLguy wrote:

I would suggest that you consider starting her with a decent quality Ukulele = smaller neck for smaller hands. See if she will stick with it and if so, buy a good starter guitar in a couple of years

I bought a baritone ukulele for my grandkids, because it is tuned just like the top 4 strings of a guitar, and only slightly larger than a regular ukulele. Regular ukuleles have different chord structures from guitars, so what you learn is not easily transferable. But BTW, they were burned out on the ukulele after a couple of months and lost interest in it. That’s when I got them the Taylor Baby guitars, and they have held their interest ever since. So now I have a nice baritone uke which I play now and again.

Sunjamr Steve

[charleydelta]

Thanks, Sunjamr Steve and GnLguy – for the good advice. I’m looking seriously at buying my granddaughter a Cordoba 4-String baritone ukulele (Model 21B). Are there any good online (free or subscription) internet web sites (e.g., YouTube) that would introduce a young novice to playing a ukulele?

[GnLguy]

charleydelta wrote:

Thanks, Sunjamr Steve and GnLguy – for the good advice. I’m looking seriously at buying my granddaughter a Cordoba 4-String baritone ukulele (Model 21B). Are there any good online (free or subscription) internet web sites (e.g., YouTube) that would introduce a young novice to playing a ukulele?

I’m amazed at the number of ukes that are available these days – from cheap to expensive.

I’m a fanatic for Breedlove acoustic guitars and Breedlove has recently released a line of ukuleles made mainly with Myrtlewood but some have spruce tops. I’m sure that the quality of these instruments compare to their guitars and we might be surprised how well they sound
https://breedlovemusic.com/instruments/ukuleles

[John R]

If you daughter wants to learn to play guitar, why not get her an electric guitar?

Easier to learn on, because is is much easier to fret than an acoustic guitar.

Also, if she wants to learn guitar why side track her with an ukulele?

[Author]

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