Does guitar fascinate your kids? Yes, I know our kids love music and musical instruments. If your kids are older than 5 or 6 years, then probably it is the time to get them a guitar. Let’s assume you have never purchased a guitar before, so you are a newcomer in this. And since there are a lot of guitars available you will get confused easily and might end up choosing the wrong guitar.
We love classical guitar, and it’s better for kid’s to start with classical guitar. Electric guitars are also great to start. Classical guitars come with nylon strings which are way too softer than the metal strings. Because of the softness kids will be able to hold the chords easily and it will make them comfortable to start practicing.
So in order to save you from wasting your hard-earned money on an overhyped guitar, we have designed a guide on how to get the best classical guitar for your kids. It’s a five-minute read and you will surely thank us later.
Factory Produced or Handmade?
How the guitar is constructed that plays a great role in overall guitar performance. Classical guitars could be factory made or it can be handmade as well. What is the difference in these both? The price and performance, both differ in these.
Factory-made classical guitars are constructed in the production line and at a time couple of guitar gets constructed in factories. And the price is also lower compared to the handmade guitars.
On the other hand, handmade guitars are constructed by a professional individual who chooses the top-notch wood and constructs the guitar with care. And these guitars expensive, plus they perform well than the factory-made guitars.
Things to Consider for Getting the Best Classical Guitar for your Kids
Soundboard
This is one of the most important parts of the guitar. And in case you don’t know, the soundboard is the larger part of a guitar where the strings get played. When the strings are played the soundboard vibrates and creates the sound of the music. So you can guess, how important it to choose a good soundboard. If the soundboard is low-quality doesn’t matter how expensive your guitar is it will sound cheap.
There are two types of woods used in the soundboard section, plywood, and solid wood. And how good your soundboard will perform depends on the wood. Three thin wood layers glued with each other create a plywood soundboard. Though the top layer of the wood is solid and fine-grained but the lower layers are low quality.
And the sound in plywood soundboard is a little dull, you won’t get to feel that if you don’t use a solid wood soundboard. The second type of soundboard is solid wood constructed soundboard. And this is what you should choose, telling you why!
Solid wood soundboards are also a combination of two single thicker wood slabs. Normally, one wood is spruce and another is cedar, and both of them are glued together. Both of these woods give different sounds. With the spruce wood, you will get crispier and brighter sound. Plus, they are inflexible and hard. On the other hand, cedar woods give a softer and calmer sound.
That being said, both of these woods deliver better sound than the plywood soundboard. Solid wood soundboards are expensive but they deliver great value for the money.
Fretboard
Fretboards are also known as fingerboards, this is the part where the user is supposed to hold cords with the finger. There are a couple of woods that are used in the fretboard construction but you should go for the fretboard that is constructed with Indian rosewood.
Most of the time fretboards with rosewood are stained to black which looks like ebony. These kinds of guitars could be a little expensive but they are too much wear-resistant.
String action
String actions are the span between the fretboard and the strings. High action guitar means, the strings have big spans or higher from the fretboard. High action strings will give you nice and loud sound but it could be difficult to play. So it is not recommended for your kid.
Go for a low action guitar which has very little span between the fretboard and the strings. It will be very easier for your kid to learn to hold the cords. And when you see the kid has already progressed a lot, then you can change it to high action.
String spacing
When you are checking the string action, you have to check the string spacing as well. Make sure you pick a guitar which strings are strung with equal spacing. There are a couple of guitars which comes with wider spacing and some come with narrower spacing. Which one you should go with it depends on your own preference, but you got to make sure that you have a guitar with equal string spacing.
Guitar pick up
Your kid will surely want to play guitar connecting on the AMP (Amplifier). And not every classical guitar will offer that. There are some guitars which come with built-in pick-up and some don’t. If you think that your kid will be capable of playing on the amp or in front of the audience soon, then choose a guitar that comes with a built-in pick-up. Otherwise, leave that, classical guitars without pick up come at less price and also sounds little better.
Saddle and Nut
These are the parts where strings are positioned. Saddle and nut play a little role in the overall guitar sound. In cheaper classical guitars, nuts and saddles are made of plastic which will cause string slippage and also will vibrate less which will cause bad sound. In expensive classical guitars, these parts are made of metal which prevents string slipping and also gives great sound.
Conclusion
Done reading the entire guide? Now you are ready to get the best classical guitar for your kid. Hope this article helped and if there is any confusion, don’t hesitate to let us know!
by Ryan Lewis