new guitar - little help!

I'm not a musician, I wish I was.
I had a guitar in my teens, played with gut strings. I doubt I'll ever play with anything else. I play for my own entertainment only.

I have really small hands so I need a guitar with a narrow neck - my first guitar had this and also sounded good without steel strings on it. Acoustic guitar. Wondering if anyone can give a recommendation for the type of guitar to look for - I don't intend to spend a lot. Possibly one of the cheap kids' guitars in Smyths even. Just a neck that my tiny hands can do an F on, plus plyaing with gut strings. Thanks!

il gatto

budgese wrote: »

I'm not a musician, I wish I was.
I had a guitar in my teens, played with gut strings. I doubt I'll ever play with anything else. I play for my own entertainment only.

I have really small hands so I need a guitar with a narrow neck - my first guitar had this and also sounded good without steel strings on it. Acoustic guitar. Wondering if anyone can give a recommendation for the type of guitar to look for - I don't intend to spend a lot. Possibly one of the cheap kids' guitars in Smyths even. Just a neck that my tiny hands can do an F on, plus plyaing with gut strings. Thanks!

I've seen seven year olds playing Sweet Child of Mine and those freaky Korean kids on YouTube. You're hands may be small but it's lack of practice that make you think they are "too" small.
Stay away from kids guitars in toy shops. They really are just toys.
Acoustics tend to have fat necks and tighter strings (steel strung ones anyway). Maybe go for an electric. Easier to manage with smaller hands due to slimmer necks, slacker string tension and lower action. Look on Thomann and you can pick up a beginners set with an amp very cheaply.
If you really want a nylon strung, they have them from as little as €35. Spend more than that if you can though.

darrenw5094

Check this out. Guitar is probably as big as her.

Gregor Samsa

If you're set on gut (or nylon strings), you're talking about a classical guitar or Spanish guitar, and by their nature, they're going to have wide nuts. Looking at Thomann's list of full size Classical guitars, (http://www.thomann.de/ie/4-4_size_classical_guitars.html), the narrowest nut seems to be a single model with 44.45 mm (and that guitar is 925 euro), with all the rest with 50mm or above. For reference, both my electrics have 42mm nuts, and you can get narrower if want.

I have long fingers, and I have trouble playing an F chord. It's really more about practice than hand size.

Stay away from guitars in Smiths. They won't stay in tune - they're not designed to be playable instruments. If you think having trouble getting your fingers into the F position is bad, imagine how worse it would be for you to do it, but for the sound not to be F at all.

languagenerd

Yeah, don't buy a guitar in a toy shop. They won't be set up to be playable - the strings are often miles off the fret-board and make it very hard to hold them down - and in most cases, the staff there won't be able to adjust them if needed.

Classical guitars (nylon strings) have wider necks than steel-string acoustics, so won't necessarily be easier for those with smaller hands. You can get custom necks that are slimmer but they can be quite expensive. Might be worth looking at travel guitars or guitaleles? A lot of them will have smaller necks.

Honestly though, the best thing to do is to go into a few guitar shops if you can and test out a few guitars. Sit down with them and find one that's comfortable. If you buy something that's not playable, it'll just put you off learning as you'll feel you're not getting anywhere with it.

Jackie3horn

I agree trying a few guitars is the only thing that I would recommend also. I would also recommend the steel over the nylon strings for the reasons formerly mentioned. I had an acoustic guitar that I didn't like to play for years because it made my hands tired fairly quickly. I switched to lighter strings and it improved the guitar greatly.

Also second hand music stores are a good place to look. I once picked up a guitar with a slightly curved fretboard which was fairly slim also and it was one of the nicest playing guitars I have ever played. Pretty good for an accidental find who knows you might bump into something that surprises you.

The electric guitar argument is also valid, plus price doesn't necessarily mean anything. I have a Japanese Stratocaster from the period when they were hyped for their quality parts and workmanship. It sounds great but plays a bit difficult. My cheap epiphone SG however is the most beautifully playing guitar I ever owned. The fretboard is really smooth and the strings just sound on the frets without any nasty by-noises etc.

But I wouldn't take recommendations for certain types if I was you as every guitar even from the same batch plays slightly different..

trying before buying and practice is probably the best advice people have given here...