we bought my nine year old daughter a Yamaha 3/4 classical which i was pleased with. She is Autistic so i ended up tuning it to an open tuning so if turns into a stimming object, at least she is playing a chord over and over. Hoping at least one of my other daughters takes an interest in the guitar so i have a jamming buddy.

Best of luck to you.

Hi straycat113,

Thanks. We saw those mini guitars at the store, and I think they are only around 60 bucks. Since you say it is good, we should be buying it for David.

Thanks everyone for your help.



Michelle

I grabbed a Squier MiniStrat for my nephew, and ended up snagging another at a yard sale, to keep for myself.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

I would definitely suggest a used acoustic guitar. This way if he decides he wants to be a marine biologist tomorrow you went the path of least resistance from your wallet.

A cheap starter will be fine for him,Any of the ones suggested will be fine, He will play on it happily for a couple of years hopefully but when he gets obsessed as im sure he will You WILL have to look into a proper Guitar for him, but that is another conversation for the future Best wishes to all of you trying to help your kids! this is superb Hopefully when im a Rock star I shall Buy everyone the guitars they want haha

As a good answer to your electric Vs Acoustic Question is you can make an Electric sound like an Acoustic but no the other way round...

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A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence. ~Leopold Stokowski~

Right okay...Major Typo Issues for me...I'm English,I live in England,Yet i still bugger up when i use it!

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A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence. ~Leopold Stokowski~

I started at age 5 with a Fender Squire Bullet (Strat style) and a Peavy 15 watt solid state amp. The amp is gone now,but 8 yrs later, I still have the Squier (updated with new locking tuners and Seymour duncan pickups) which I use for practice. The Fender Squiers are the minimum you should consider, they are reliable, usable for any style of music, and upgradable. I'd go with light strings ( 9's).

The real cost will not be the guitar, but weekly PRIVATE lessons for years, if he is serious about learning.

See my website and You-tube videos if you want to see what my lowly Squire guitar helped me achieve.

www.mikeimbasciani.com
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'10 Fender American Select Mahogany HSS Strat
'07 Fender Custom Shop Vintage Heavy Relic HB Tele
Gibson ES-345 RI
Gibson Les Paul Studio
Schecter California Custom Hellcat
Squier Bullet/Seymour Duncan HB/LockingTuners
Breedlove AD25/SR Plus Acoustic
Hohner ECA 612 12-String Acoustic

I learned to play on a cheap, old classical. When I reached the point where it became clear that I was interested in continuing to learn and could play all of the major/minor chords, my dad bought me a proper acoustic. I played that for five years or so before ever touching an electric.

I would recommend that all new players start on an acoustic. It was suggested to me that those who play acoustic guitar have no trouble switching to electric, while those players who have played nothing but electric tend to struggle when, inevitably, they get an acoustic. It's good that acoustics are harder to play: if you are dedicated, you will learn just as fast and be a more versatile player because of it.

As for a guitar, I would buy used and spend as much money as you can afford. The instruments in starter packs are often inferior and can actually inhibit learning because they are, in many cases, very difficult to play. For $200 you can get a decent used acoustic guitar that will obviate the need to upgrade immediately and will retain some value if it turns out he decided not to pursue it.