1st guitar for a 10 year old

[Tiggsy]

Sons birthday soon (10) and he's wanted an acoustic guitar for ages (couple of years) so I'm giving in....few questions:

He's not small and growing fast (will be way over 6ft in 5 or 6 years) so can i just get a full size one that he can keep longer?

What should i spend - i was think £100ish but if that's going to be a bit of junk I'll spend more (daughters piano was thousands and that just sits in the lounge gathering dust!)

He's left handed (freak).....i assume i get a left handed guitar? or do i restring a right handed one (hendrix style?)

Anything else i should be aware of?

[bigTee]

I have a full size one you can have if you want it ??????

[Reload]

You'll need to get him a left handed one. The bridge is angled a certain way and on most acoustics this can't be adjusted. The pick guard is also below the strings, so would be the wrong way round if you just flipped the guitar over.

[Dam0ZR]

Get him a fender cd60 i think it is. Good quality guitar and perfect for starting out.

Think they go for round the 100 mark aswell, no doubt available in left handed

[Tom_C76]

I got a full-size guitar for my 11th birthday, but that was an electric. Some styles of acoustic might be a bit unwieldy at first for a 10 year old.

Consider a bowl back though, that would be a easier size to start with. Something like a Celebrity, the budget end of the Ovation range. Or get him an electric guitar, as that'll probably be what he wants in a couple of months anyway, can always give him headphones too...

[Tiggsy]

Got his heart set on acoustic.... Want's to be able to play knocking on heavens door but he's more Bob Dylan than Slash!

[bigbadbikercats]

Taylor Baby or Big Baby?

Rather more expensive than the £100 you mention (~£250 for the basic Baby IIRC) but they're very serious instruments with a real pedigree and were designed as travel guitars for adult musicians to sling on the plane/tourbus/whatever for practice/rehearsal/writing or to carry on backpacking trips and the like rather than being aimed at children so (in spite of the cutesy dimensions) not something a child would grow out of.

Failing that I'd say the main thing is to avoid "Dreadnought" style guitars (the big squared off looking ones, which as a rather too fully grown adult I find akin to trying to play a wardrobe) in favour of smaller bodied "Concert" instruments. Loads of nice stuff in that style available for £150-ish. As for specific brands Yamaha are always a "safe" purchase, and I've played some jolly nice instruments from both Crafter, Tanglewood, and LAG (youngest son has a lovely LAG but it's a Dreadnought so there's no point my reccomending the specific model, it looks ridiculously large and uncomfortable in the hands of a lanky 15 year-old, let alone a 10 year-old!).

For me, the best advice is to find a good local independent shop, go in when they're quiet, and talk to people, my experience is that people who work in specialist guitar shops are in general enthusiastic, helpful people who want to see happy customers coming back for a steady supply of strings, accessories, and (eventually) more expensive guitars

--
Jonathon.

[Ranger 6]

Our daughter is 10 too and we picked one up from Aldi for her - £20 with a book to help her start - and as she's taking lessons at school once she gets good we'll get her a 'proper' one. If after 6 months her interest fades we haven't lost anything.

[tankplanker]

Ranger 6 said:

Our daughter is 10 too and we picked one up from Aldi for her - £20 with a book to help her start - and as she's taking lessons at school once she gets good we'll get her a 'proper' one. If after 6 months her interest fades we haven't lost anything.

+1

We did the same, budget guitar (£20 from Amazon) with the promise of a decent acoustic on the return of regular practice and good feedback from his guitar teacher that hes been making progress. Hes now moving up to an electric with the promise of effects pedals.

Edit: Money for guitar lessons will go far further than money spent on guitars at this stage as well.

Edited by tankplanker on Friday 16th July 14:17

[Tiggsy]

Thanks for advice...off to guitar shop. Found a local one that sell Yamahas (Piano is a Yamha and that was lovely...and my R1 was fast!)

While i appreciate the concept i'm not sure i'd buy any instrument for £20 (maybe a tamborine?)

[Dam0ZR]

Still got my first electric guitar which is a yamaha pacifica. Well built and sounds great. Cost just shy of 200 i think about 3 years ago. But as said you want an acoustic

[kiteless]

This will sound a bit daft, but if your lad is on the skinny side and has long fingers get him a full size Spanish classical guitar. My step-brother was 16 when my mum re-married and he was a dazzling classical guitar player who started out when he was 8. Painfully thin, with long spidery fingers he had no problem whatsoever with his guitar (a Spanish-sized classic guitar made in Finland of all places; the action on it was incredibly light).

I, on the other hand, being more portly with shorter fingers struggled with the fret and string spacing. I moved quickly to electric guitars.

Maybe ask your lad to try a flamenco guitar? Same as a Spanish classical guitar, but less bulky.

[davepoth]

I bought a guitar in Index many years ago that only cost £30. It actually works properly (stays in tune, notes in the right place on the neck etc.). It's only a 3/4 size but I can still play it fine. A full sized acoustic may be a bit big so a parlour guitar may be a good idea.