Squier Mini Strat?

Neil

My six year old Grandson has taken a liking to playing (?) the guitar and whenever he comes round he wants me to plug one of my guitars into "the thing" (amp) so he can makes some awful noise.... but his face lights up!

My full sized electric guitars are too big and heavy for him, plus I squirm when he waves my guitars around    so I was thinking of buying him a Squier Mini which looks like would do the trick. Apparently it has to be red.

I've never even seen one in the flesh, are they any good?

Neil

Also if anyone has a red Mini Strat going cheap? 

DrBob

Having been through this about six years ago I would say that the Squier Mini and the Ibanez Grx ? (Not sure of the model) are the best of the mini guitars.
That said what about a used Squier Bullet Mustang ?

hassleham

They are great!

Funkfingers

Jackson Minion and Ibanez Mikro models also exist. Paul Gilbert uses his signature model Mikro onstage.

robgilmo

They arnt the cheapest, if its something only for making noise with why not just buy a mini beater like an Encore? I got an encore mini strat for my daughter, she lost intrest now my two year old son plays ""with"" it.

robgilmo

And the fender 10 watt practice amps cant be given away, cheap as chips and make pleanty of noise.

Funkfingers

If the six year old is genuinely interested in taking up a stringed musical instrument, the obvious self-contained choice would be a ukulele.

designerseye88

I think there is one for sale on the Gardiner Houlgate auction site? 
I have actually played one ( best friend bought one for his son but doesn't use it anymore - and it's red!) and they are surprisingly good. Even though they are aimed at children their is no difference in quality than a standard squire. 

DulcetJones

I'm in Canada, but there is a red one in the store I teach at, it is a good guitar.  In my experience with teaching kids  I have come to the conclusion that age 9 is about the lowest age that formal lessons work out, and that's only with a small percentage.  I've read that we don't develop all of the motor skills in our hands until around that age and, my own observation also shows that attention span is a bigger issue.  There are exceptions but I think a few informal sessions to see if they can  play a few fretted notes and concentrate    on what the pick hand is doing might be a better way to start.

Neil

DrBob said:

Having been through this about six years ago I would say that the Squier Mini and the Ibanez Grx ? (Not sure of the model) are the best of the mini guitars.
That said what about a used Squier Bullet Mustang ?

I'd love to get him something like the Mustang as it is much better value for money but it would be too big for him which is why I am looking at the Mini Strat with its small body and shorter scale.

xscaramanga

My neice has one. Her mum ordered it from Amazon. I saw it the immediately after Christmas. The high E string saddle needed adjusting but otherwise the setup was useable. It was difficult to get it to stay in tune, but after much string stretching it seemed to settle down a bit. That was December. I haven't seen it since to see if it's been reliable since then. But yeah, that aside it seemed fine and my neice (8) was happy. 

redrighthand

The little Harley Bentons on Thomann are very cheap. Have been tempted to buy one “for my son”. Think there was a thread on here some time back where someone modded a couple of little Harley Bentons quite considerably .

robgilmo

If the little ones are going to be learning on one of these mini guitars they need really heavy strings on them, also the nut width and neck profile isnt scaled down so small hands will have problems reaching around.

Neil

redrighthand said:

The little Harley Bentons on Thomann are very cheap. Have been tempted to buy one “for my son”. Think there was a thread on here some time back where someone modded a couple of little Harley Bentons quite considerably .

That could be a good shout. I've heard good things about HB. 

Neil

robgilmo said:

If the little ones are going to be learning on one of these mini guitars they need really heavy strings on them, also the nut width and neck profile isnt scaled down so small hands will have problems reaching around.

It's really just to make a noise on, surprisingly my 6 year old Grandson is a Gary Moore fan, no doubt encouraged by his dad.