It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:31 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 8 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: Best accoustic for beginner with small hands?
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 10:45 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 7:34 am
Posts: 20
Location: League City, Texas U.S.A.
My wife wants to learn guitar. Specifically, accoustic guitar. She is a small woman with small hands. Her brother has a couple of Yamahas at the house, but the neck width and profile on those is a bit big for her to fumble around with... And at 5' she's not exactly super tall either...

What does Fender have to offer for a beginner with small hands? Would a shorter scale guitar work better for her?

She keeps hinting every time that Keith Urban Player Guitar set infomercial comes on, I would much rather get her a "real" guitar than some infomercial junker...

_________________
2014 Fender Rumble 500 Combo, 2015 Fender Rumble 210 cab, Fender Single Button footswitch.
Don't take my word for it. Audition one!


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Best accoustic for beginner with small hands?
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 2:37 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:53 am
Posts: 4240
Actually, I should recommend a nylon string acoustic because they're lighter to play, but
I don't like them myself,
many (most) of them have a wide (tradition...) neck, and
it might be chauvinistic to assume 'small' means 'weak', not to mention the nylon associations. :wink:

But how about a parlor sized guitar, like the Ron Emory model (check the product pages)?
And, ever since the sixties Fender has made acoustic guitars with necks thin like in electric guitars - the California series for instance.

Short scale translates to lower string tension - but if that's needed, thinner strings and/or tuning down a half step go a long way.

Oh, if she secretly loves electric guitars, there are the short scale Teles, which also would keep Keith Urban in the 'hood.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best accoustic for beginner with small hands?
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 1:40 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:31 am
Posts: 14045
Location: Province de Québec, Canada
You wife need a good quality guitar to be easy to play . Good guitar have low action . Beginner guitar may have higher action .

Good small scale guitar are rare , you are better to look for a smaller body , normal scale . Not jumbo body .

Look for a Taylor Mini guitar, these are very good quality ;

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/ ... tar/h79621


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best accoustic for beginner with small hands?
Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 8:38 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2007 12:20 pm
Posts: 496
Ovation. Played alot of them and liked them all. Action is already set low so don't have to take in for a setup and my kids with small hands can work with the neck. The shallow bowl model is great for short arms and can get a used one for about $150. It doesn't sound as good as my Taylor but they sound better than any beginner's guitar I've played from Fender or Yamaha and easier to play too.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best accoustic for beginner with small hands?
Posted: Sat May 02, 2015 12:51 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Sat Aug 23, 2008 2:01 pm
Posts: 1598
I would probably have to second Ovation...as far as acoustics go, they have some of the thinnest necks around.

That said...if your wife is having problems with the width and profile (I'm assuming neck profile?) of a Yamaha, chances are she's gonna have problems with MOST guitars. Even in the case of a short scale instrument, the neck width and thickness are typically pretty equivalent to most average instruments...they're just shorter with less space between the frets. There are some that are thinner or narrower (Rickenbacker comes to mind) but in broad general terms, the majority of guitar necks out there are pretty comparable regarding physical size.

I would suggest one of two things... 1.) Take her to a "real" music store (not associated with infomercials) and let her play around with as many guitars as she can (regardless of brand) that are in your price range to see if there's one she's going to be comfortable with. 2.) If you can't find a neck width she likes, she may need to be prepared to alter how she plays so she can just use a more traditional neck (i.e. not keeping her thumb behind the neck and such)...it's doable, but it requires a greater degree of patience and persistence. For an example of this, look for a few vids of 8 string bass players...no way they can wrap their hands around such a wide neck, so watch how they handle it.

Just as a matter of curiosity...what brand was advertised in the infomercial?


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best accoustic for beginner with small hands?
Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 3:45 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2007 12:20 pm
Posts: 496
The Daisy Rock guitars are made with small girl hands in mind. Haven't tried their acoustics but got my daughter an electric and is a very easy neck to play.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best accoustic for beginner with small hands?
Posted: Wed May 13, 2015 8:00 am
Offline
Roadie
Roadie

Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2007 9:10 am
Posts: 210
I have a Breedlove C25/CRH that has a narrow, flatter electric guitar style neck. This was their under $1,000 entry level US-made at the time (about 7 years ago), so you might find used now. As I recall, the C series (acoustic-electric) models in general had thinner necks.

I've seen recent ads for a Cordoba (nylon string) model with a narrower than traditional neck they're targeting at electric players. I don't recall the model, but do believe they too were under $1,000 new.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best accoustic for beginner with small hands?
Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 2:34 pm
Offline
Amateur
Amateur
User avatar

Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 8:37 am
Posts: 140
Location: !!!BEHIND YOU!!!
I can really recommend the Fender parlour guitars, great tone and great to play. My campingfire guitar :wink:

_________________
"There's no point in living if you can't feel alive" - Electra King in "The World is not enought"


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 8 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: