Guitar1969
Little Hot Wing
I have been teaching my 10 year old son guitar seriously for about a year now. He is using a 3/4 size Jay Turser guitar(kind of a cheapo, not full sounding, and not acoustic/electric), but holds tuning, as well as has my old Kraemer Strat Clone and a old modeling Amp I had. He knows the common open chords, 6th string power chords, and right now we have been focused on full barre chords. He knows that its harder to learn on an acoustic but wants to make sure he develops those skills, therefore wanting to continue to learn on an acoustic and not take the easy way out on the electric. He's a pretty good singer and we are working on him doing both at the same time, as he performs at our church for worship(just singing at this point, but will add guitar later).
His B-day is coming up and he wants a new acoustic. It needs to be an acoustic/electric but sound good unplugged, something he can play for quite awhile and budget at this point is under $350(At least in my mind), which is more than what I spent on my acoustic(more of an electric guy). He is also a bit small for an 11 year old. He will be performing with this guitar at our church - will probably play more acoustic than electric when he is singing as well
I having been checking out the smaller scale acoustics like the baby taylors, and am fascinated by the Martin LX1e which is a 23" scale, has fishman electronics, gotah tuners, but laminate. It gets pretty good reviews for what it is and it looks like alot of musicians play it as a travel guitar and sometimes even perform with it and say its pretty good for that(but it is usually a secondary guitar), but unplugged is a bit weak. Because it is laminate(I believe the top is Sprouce but the back and sides are laminate) I am not sure if its the best value for the money since MArtins are a bit overpriced for what they are.
My real question is, as my son's primary acoustic, should I go this route, or would he be better served with a full size guitar/scale at his age and skills development, but maybe a thinner body because he is smaller, but will be growing in the next few years.
It sounds like the Martin LX1e is a fun little guitar and he would probably hold onto later in life, but I don't see him getting another acoustic any time soon so I am wondering if I should go full size but find something easy to handle. I plan on taking him to GC in the next few weeks to play some guitars(But I wont buy from them as I cant stand GC)
So at the age of 11 and beyond the basics, what would you recommend - one of the minis, or a full size but thinner body Electric Acoustic - Any recommendations.
Thanks,
Michael
His B-day is coming up and he wants a new acoustic. It needs to be an acoustic/electric but sound good unplugged, something he can play for quite awhile and budget at this point is under $350(At least in my mind), which is more than what I spent on my acoustic(more of an electric guy). He is also a bit small for an 11 year old. He will be performing with this guitar at our church - will probably play more acoustic than electric when he is singing as well
I having been checking out the smaller scale acoustics like the baby taylors, and am fascinated by the Martin LX1e which is a 23" scale, has fishman electronics, gotah tuners, but laminate. It gets pretty good reviews for what it is and it looks like alot of musicians play it as a travel guitar and sometimes even perform with it and say its pretty good for that(but it is usually a secondary guitar), but unplugged is a bit weak. Because it is laminate(I believe the top is Sprouce but the back and sides are laminate) I am not sure if its the best value for the money since MArtins are a bit overpriced for what they are.
My real question is, as my son's primary acoustic, should I go this route, or would he be better served with a full size guitar/scale at his age and skills development, but maybe a thinner body because he is smaller, but will be growing in the next few years.
It sounds like the Martin LX1e is a fun little guitar and he would probably hold onto later in life, but I don't see him getting another acoustic any time soon so I am wondering if I should go full size but find something easy to handle. I plan on taking him to GC in the next few weeks to play some guitars(But I wont buy from them as I cant stand GC)
So at the age of 11 and beyond the basics, what would you recommend - one of the minis, or a full size but thinner body Electric Acoustic - Any recommendations.
Thanks,
Michael