Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi y'all....

I have glued up a top and back for a guitar for my 5 year old son. Our 7 year old son takes violin lessons and the younger fella wants to start guitar lessons. So I want to make him like a 3/4 scale guitar or something. Not full size but something that will actually sound like a guitar and not a cardboard box like the small $90 unit that we bought for him a couple of years ago. So, any ideas about scale length for a kids guitar? I will likely draw up a shape but body dimensions would be welcomed as well. This will be a steel string with light strings.

Thanks

Shane

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Canada

Shane I am building one for my 9 year old daughter -- not totally anologous to your situation. I am building a classic Martin O shape, 24.9" scale and with a nut width of 1-5/8". You can tune it down and capo the guitar. Your young lad will be a teenager before you know it.

My 11 year old has a Karol small bodied parlor with about a 24-inch scale length and a 1-5/8" nut width. It's just over 12" at the lower bout.... Guitar is an absolute cannon in sound.

Shane, my 8 year old has been playing about 11 months and has a 3/4 size guitar that is perfect for him. The scale length is approx 24 inches. The nut is 1-3/4 and string spacing at the saddle is 2-1/8. The lower bout is 13" and the upper bout is 10".

For a childs guitar, I would urge you to consider a nylon string guitar for several reasons. First the string tension is much lower and a LOT easier on little fingers. Second, the nut is slightly wider which is actually an advantage for a child until they can manipulate their fingers well enough to avoid muting other strings. Third, I think it's easier to get a better tone on a small scale nylon than SS guitar. For a 5 year old, I think you might want to consider a 1/2 size guitar. There is a huge difference at that age when it comes to hand size. Also, it will be difficult for a 5 year old to develop calluses while a nylon string will be much easier. Usually pain=no practice at that age.

Here's a short video of my 8 year old and his 3/4 size guitar (you can tell he's thrilled to be playing the guitar for the forum) .

   
3/4 size guitar

Cheers!

John

Shane, you can also consider a size 5 instrument which is a great size for a learning child.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

John, please tell your son thank you for performing for us. I was impressed by his playing and I appreciate seeing how he and the guitar "fit" together. I know things like that are embarrassing, but he did a wonderful job.

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Aoibeann

John, your son did a great job, very impressive.
Will he give me lessons?Shane let us know how this project goes.Someday I`ll be building a guitar for my grandaughter so this is something I`ll be checking into in the future.
                        James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

Hi Shane,

Another thought might be a small-bodied guitar, 12 fret to the body, using a scale somewhere in the 25.4 range. Then, put a capo on the 2nd fret, and leave it there.

That would allow little hands to make the stretch for chords (it would effectively be about a 21.6" scale), and would also be an instrument he could "grow into."

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

You might also want to consider making the neck much thinner. I see many children's guitars with shorter necks, and narrower necks, but still just as thick, which is also difficult for some small hands.

John said what I was going to say, my advice would be to start with a nylon string guitar for a small child. Building up calluses for steel string is a long and painful process, something that can put a child off for good.

In a number of out primary schools (5-11years) the musical instrument of choice that has taken over from the recorder is the ukelele, easier for small hands to master and get a tune out of. Have you considered this for a couple of years? That would be my choice, ukelele then 3/4 nylon before graduating to a steel string, or maybe just staying nylon who knows.


Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

John, tell Shane thanks for playing for us, old Henry VIII would be proud that his tune is in such good hands! Next stop the Gran Jota!

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Thanks for the all of the input, and John, please do thank John junior for us! I had Leith and my wife, Val, watch it and they both had large smiles throughout his performance! The guitar we now have for him is nylon stringed and I agree that it would be easier on him and it is also the standard for learning on. Maybe I will make him one of each....

What length of body are these small guitars. I think I will search out a size 5 for dimensions as well (thanks Don!)

Shane

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Canada