Guitar and 6 year old's fickleness

[lonegirl]

My 6 year old has expressed interest in a guitar for two years now. We want to buy him one that is affordable ($50 or less), but somewhat quality in case he truly wants to take lessons, I do not want to have to purchase another one. Amazon reviews for the cheaper ones talk about guitars not being in tune, but $150 for a good one that he may or may not touch????
We just went through this with golf lessons--luckily we had the foresight to borrow the clubs and not purchase, since after the 6 week lesson period he plans to never play again.
We cannot borrow a guitar, though! Should I just get the $30 First Act one from Toys R Us? anyone own one?

 

[finz2left]

If you buy a First Act guitar, I can promise he will never play! The strings are horrible and make guitar a pain! My DH says cheap guitars are very hard to "fret." You can buy a decent kid guitar for 50 to 100 bucks and if he doesn't like it, ebay it for 1/2 your money back and still get the same price as a FA piece of junk

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?N=100001+709733 here are some decent options, but our local guitar store had several for 50 dollars that were "teacher approved" guitars. Our guitar player is a lefty, so we had to restring one, but we got a great Ibanez, and now he's on to electric! (a lefty 3/4 is almost impossible to find) , but we got a great deal on ebay

Actually, I just found this one, too http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Rogue-Starter-Acoustic-Guitar?sku=519266 and overall the reviews are pretty good!

 

[minniebeth]

I would definately get a guitar that is of better quality used at a second hand music store. We have found some great deals for my DS at one of these types of stores. You can find some really nice instruments.
That way, when interest wanes or you are ready to upgrade, you can resell it back as well.

I'm all for encouraging kids to try new things, you never know what they will enjoy or be good at, but work within a budget.

Good luck!

 

[Mrs D]

Are you looking for an acoustic or electric guitar? A six year old will not fit a full size acoustic guitar. And anything less than $100 isn't worth paying for (an really like $150 for either acoustic or electric is minimum entry level). I'd recommend taking him to a local music store where they offer lessons. They usually do instrument rentals there. I'd say doing a rental for a year to see if he really wants to play, is willing to practice is a better investment than buying him a clunker.
Also the instruments sold at TRU are not real instruments - they are toys and would make learning more difficult.

Feel to free to ask anymore questions. DH is a multi-instrumentalist and I can get detailed answers from him!

HTH!

Also, wanted to add the link to this website Music for Little People. I have not seen them guitars in person so can;t vouch for the quality, but they look like an entry level option.

 

[libinatorsmom]

My 6 year old daughter twoo expressed interest and we bought her a Fender Mini Strat! you can find them used at music stores everywhere for about $100 - $150. She is taking lessons and her instructor said its a GREAT one to start on and easier to learn to and play. Dont cheep out too much because they need to be able to hear themselves play and succeed or they will get discourged...

 

[krcit]

If you buy a First Act guitar, I can promise he will never play! The strings are horrible and make guitar a pain! My DH says cheap guitars are very hard to "fret." You can buy a decent kid guitar for 50 to 100 bucks and if he doesn't like it, ebay it for 1/2 your money back and still get the same price as a FA piece of junk

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?N=100001+709733 here are some decent options, but our local guitar store had several for 50 dollars that were "teacher approved" guitars. Our guitar player is a lefty, so we had to restring one, but we got a great Ibanez, and now he's on to electric! (a lefty 3/4 is almost impossible to find) , but we got a great deal on ebay

Actually, I just found this one, too http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Rogue-Starter-Acoustic-Guitar?sku=519266 and overall the reviews are pretty good!

I just bought that one in blue for my 12 year old. It got some really good reviews and the price was right, lol. I'm getting her lessons for Christmas and I fugure if she actually sticks with it, then I will get her a better one.

 

[cole6179]

It must be the age. My dd is 7 and has been begging for a guitar. I've actually been eyeing that Rogue Starter for about 2 weeks as it has good reviews everywhere.

 

[krcit]

It must be the age. My dd is 7 and has been begging for a guitar. I've actually been eyeing that Rogue Starter for about 2 weeks as it has good reviews everywhere.

I ordered mine and got it within a few days. I also found a coupon code somewhere so if you are going to order it, look around for a code.

 

[mjkacmom]

I think 6 is too early for learning to play the guitar. DH has been playing for over 30 years, we have a bunch in the house, and he didn't start teaching ds12 until he was around 10, because he didn't want him to get frustrated early on. If you are not going to get him lessons, I'd just get him a toy one, and wait until he was older to buy a nicer one, if he is still interested in learning to play.

 

[ProudMommyof2]

My DH has taught private guitar lessons >25 years. He will not start a child before 8 years old. Guitar can hurt your fingers and is not an easy first instrument- you do not get the instant "correct" or expected sound like you do with the piano or drums. Young kids get frustrated and rarely continue on.

However, you would definitely want a student size acoustic with nylon strings. I would not suggest TRU instruments. Most local music stores will have a "Starter Set" with student size acoustic, bag, tuner and maybe even music stand for less than $100.

 

[3boymthr]

We have the FA acoustic and can I tell you it's fine for kids who want to pretend they're playing guitar - like my younger DSs who like to pretend they're in a band, but if he's remotely serious about learning how to play guitar I would skip it and go with something else. It makes sound, it strums but thats about it. If he's interested in guitar lessons and learning to play I'd go with something of much higher quality. The strings are junk (break really easily) and the tuning pegs don't hold the strings in tune. The sound is not even remotely of the quality of the guitars owned by my Oldest DS (he has 3) and his guitars cost @ $200/ea used, which while of a decent quality for a teenager are not even remotely high end especially considering you can pay upwards of $4,000 for a "good" new guitar .

 

[Iwant2BAprincess]

Yup-must be that age range. My DS who is almost 9 has bee pointing them out. I caved and bought an inexpensive starter (tranlation if it just looks cool in the corner I won't stroke about it). Truthfully I don't think he will do much-he is all sports all the time but in that same thought exposing him to somehthing different isn't a bad idea. Bring on the earplugs!

 

[debsays]

Toys R Us has some in their flyer this weekend for $29.99. Also had a couple w/Disney characters on them.

 

[quentina]

My 6 year old has expressed interest in a guitar for two years now. We want to buy him one that is affordable ($50 or less), but somewhat quality in case he truly wants to take lessons, I do not want to have to purchase another one. Amazon reviews for the cheaper ones talk about guitars not being in tune, but $150 for a good one that he may or may not touch????
We just went through this with golf lessons--luckily we had the foresight to borrow the clubs and not purchase, since after the 6 week lesson period he plans to never play again.
We cannot borrow a guitar, though! Should I just get the $30 First Act one from Toys R Us? anyone own one?

Does he need a full size guitar or a smaller version?

 

[d96j97]

This probably won't help you a bit, but my husband and I were just getting ready to sell our son's guitars. They are Squire mini strats which are 3/4 regular size electric guitars. My boys are now 13 and 14 and they just don't play them anymore. We were going to include the guitar, case and a Marshall MG10 CD Combo Amp. We bought them for the boys when they were around 7/8. Neither one of them ever really played. We tried lessons and they both dropped them because they were much too involved in sports. Anyhow, they are in great condition if anyone is interested. One is Torino Red and the other is Black. We were asking $100 for them, but you would have to pay for shipping.

 

[torinsmom]

Musician's Friend has a whole section of junior guitars if you click on Kids. FWIW, my son has several guitars. His favorite is a Rogue acoustic electric from MF. It was less than $100, but is very rarely out of tune and it sounds amazing! I know some say that brand is not good, but DS is a real player, and he loves it.

 

[IDoDis]

This probably won't help you a bit, but my husband and I were just getting ready to sell our son's guitars. They are Squire mini strats which are 3/4 regular size electric guitars. My boys are now 13 and 14 and they just don't play them anymore. We were going to include the guitar, case and a Marshall MG10 CD Combo Amp. We bought them for the boys when they were around 7/8. Neither one of them ever really played. We tried lessons and they both dropped them because they were much too involved in sports. Anyhow, they are in great condition if anyone is interested. One is Torino Red and the other is Black. We were asking $100 for them, but you would have to pay for shipping.

I'm sure you are just trying to be helpful here, but selling items on The Dis is strictly prohibited. You might want to delete your post before someone nasty reports you.

As far as the guitar goes, to the OP, I also suggest going to a music store and talking to someone there. DO NOT buy something at Toys-r-Us or Target/Wal-mart. I don't get how people want to buy some real cheap instrument, but then shell out 1/2 of the cost of the instrument for one lesson. Why pay for the lessons if your child is learning on a piece of junk?

My theory is, go for something of good quality. You'll spend more, but if it doesn't work out, you can sell the instrument. And by good quality, for a child, I'm thinking of the Baby Taylor acustic guitar which runs around $300, or the Big Baby Taylor for $450 for a little older child (8 or 9 years old). Taylor guitars truly hold their value. If your child does not stick with it, you can get most of your money back by reselling it. However, a cheapy instrument won't retain it's value. If your child wants an electric guitar, check out the ESP brand. They have wonderful starter guitars that are made a little better than the basic boxed packages.