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My soon to be 13 year old son would like an electric guitar for his birthday. I know nothing about them. He's 150cm tall so I'm wondering if he needs a small one or not. I have seen some 3/4 size LA guitars + amps on the internet for less than £100, seems reasonable but I really am clueless in this area, any advice appreciated. thanks!
Get him a full size one unless he’s got particularly small hands. A used Squier of some kind is your best bet.
I’ve got trade accounts for Fender and some other brands, but when I’ve looked for friends the wholesale price has been pretty much the same as the cheapest online price, so there are also some new bargains out there too.
JP
Squier Mustang is a good shout.
https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/180207322473008--squier-bullet-mustang-hh-imperial-blue-il
Full size, but actually slightly smaller than a strat or Tele.
Also has a shorter scale length so suitable for smaller hands, though at 13 he may be a fully grown man already.
What kind of music/bands does he like?
Thanks both for the tips. He's definitely not full grown yet but that's coming soon so a full size would definitely be a better long term bet. It's quite nice to investigate purchase of something and find they are quite a lot cheaper than you were expecting too.
As for bands, he seems to be into Gorillaz a lot at the moment, he's arty too so the Jamie Hewlett angle interests him. And last weekend I played him some old Senser tracks which he seemed to like!
When I was 12 my parents bought my a Made in Mexico Fender Strat second hand. I still have that guitar 23 years later. Nowadays I think the higher tier Squier models (classic vibe?) are probably the equivalent.
I don’t know what the point of this story was really.
Guitars are a bit like bikes - it’s often worth paying a bit more than the bottom rung. You wouldn’t advise starting MTB on a £150 BSO.
Guitars are a bit like bikes – it’s often worth paying a bit more than the bottom rung. You wouldn’t advise starting MTB on a £150 BSO.
Very much this. Nice stuff is nice.
full size, not too cheap so you can sell it if he loses interest, something that can do everything, so...Squire telecaster. No frills, and built to survive the zombie apocalypse. Let him choose the colour...
Whilst I totally agree that full size is the way to go; I'd be tempted to go for a gibson-stlye guitar for someone that age; they are slightly smaller scale.
the mustang as above is a VERY good shout, don't discount Epiphone either - the really cheap ones (SL with the two small pickups) aren't that great but the SG is a decent guitar
if the budget allows, get a second hand Boss Katana 50 (mk1 is perfectly good) instead of the squier packages. you would end up with a nicer package with one of these amps and the mustang compared to a posher guitar through one of those tiny amps
Slightly ot, wasn’t
but when I’ve looked for friends the wholesale price has been pretty much the same as the cheapest online price, so
Because of massive illegal market manipulation
by fender leading to massive fines in the UK, £4.5m?
Yamaha Pacifica.
Squier Bullet Mustang. Short scale, thin neck, light. Amazing Value.
Also try and find a cheap amp with digital modeling on it (i.e. different guitar effects). Having a standard cheap amp sound is quite demotivating for a beginner as everything sounds a bit rubbish compared to the records you are trying to copy.
Or if you have an ipad you can play it through an app like Tonebridge and get loads of fun guitar sounds / effects for free. You just need to spend about £25 on an irig to plug guitar straight into ipad
Just bought a Ibanez Paul Gilbert Mikro for my youngest. A whole £145 from GAK. It's great! I've been playing it to *ahem* settle the strings down. The short scale makes me feel like Ygnvie Malmsteen(sp)!
Anyway,she loves it too through a little Blackstar amp.
My mate's just picked up a Cort G80 (Strat style) and amp for £45 from the YMCA charity shop in Clitheroe.
I spotted it first, then Mrs Spanner tried it and pronounced it Kosher, but we let him have it as he's skint. 🙂
He's set it up with 10's and it's spot on.
I've played loads of Corts now and not found a duff one yet.
Biggest guitar manufacturer in the world, their own brand stuff is stupid value.
Can't recommend them highly enough.
Tbh it's very hard to find really duff guitars over £150 if you stick to the big names.
thanks again, I need to find some time to make sense of all this over the weekend and get something ordered. cheers.
Good point from Rusty - although the Cash Converters aren't quite the bargain joylands they used to be (because they have the internet too 🙂 ) you get some good deals from there and the charity shops.
My lad got one of these from the local instrument shop. He's a tall 12 year old and the size is OK.
Washburn WIN Std. £50 second hand with warranty.
Disagree with the 'cheap guitar = BSO' style comments.
A couple of years ago my 14 y/o daughter wanted a guitar and decided on Strat style. After trying a few we ended up buying the Squier Bullet from local music shop for about £125. It plays perfectly well and sounds good enough. An important consideration was that the basswood body makes it noticeably lighter than the more expensive models.
Sure you can pick holes if you like but it's miles better than any of the cheap guitars I played when I was younger. Plenty of time for the kid to get upgrade-itis.
Squiet affinity strat would be worather a look, the body is a little thinner than the bullet range and the neck is a bit narrower too. Around £180 new
Squier Mustang... cheap as chips...cool as ****. Shorter scale length than a Tele or Strat so good for the young 'uns but not a childs 3/4 guitar.
Disagree with the ‘cheap guitar = BSO’ style comments.
It is true but only if the price is down to the £50 mark. I bought a Bullet a few years ago and it was great for the money - got it for £99 (the hardtail probably makes more sense as the budget trem may not be a good idea)
It helps if you learn about some basics such as truss rod, string heigh, intonation etc,. so you can get the guitar to your liking but that is all very basic stuff.
I mainly play bass and like most guitar and bass players I have owned A LOT of different guitars over the last 20 years ranging from £100 to £800. Currently playing a bass which I love and it consists of a used Squier P Bass, a used Fender pickup and a £40 new Jazz neck from eBay. Total cost just over £100 and plays and sounds exactly as I want.
Squier Mustang… cheap as chips…cool as ****.
Just over a week 'till my Mustang bass arrives. Been waiting 4 months nearly. They are cool as - and because I'm going to be playing one that makes me C.A.F too?
