Recently we wrote a guide to ½ sized left handed guitars for kids after receiving several emails from parents with lefty children. As we revealed in that article there are very few lefty guitars which fall into that size bracket, so this week we’ll take a look at ¾ sized guitars where we’ll find a much larger number of lefty options to choose from.
Take a look back at the half sized left handed guitars article for tips on how to search Google and eBay for the best results. Obviously this time we’ll need to change ‘1/2’ for ‘3/4’ but everything else will remain the same.
Three-quarter sized guitars will open up a much wider assortment of guitars including some from a handful of very big names, although again these will be mainly in the form of acoustics rather than electric guitars.
Let’s dive right in and take a look at a few good examples… Mouse over the images to see which is which!
¾ Sized Acoustic Guitars
Taylor Baby – Taylor Taylor Swift Baby – Washburn Oscar Schmidt OG1 - Daisy Rock Debutante Jr. Miss – Daisy Rock Wildwood – Daisy Rock Pixie – Martin LX1 Little Martin – Crafter Travel Guitar – Vintage VTG100 – Luna Aurora Faerie – Luna Aurora Imagine
¾ Sized Electric Guitars
Axl Headliner SRO - Daisy Rock Debutante Star / Heartbreaker / Daisy / Butterfly / Rock Candy / Rock Candy Petite – Ibanez GRGM21 – SX Short Scale Strat Style – Jay Turser JT-30 – SX Furrian Tele Style
Any of those should make an ideal first guitar. Some of the models I listed are not strictly ¾ sized – some are simply shorter scale-length guitars which basically means the same thing. The listed models are what I chose personally as the ‘cream of the crop’ but there are plenty of other cheaper options that could absolutely make a great guitar for your child. See what you can find.
If you are looking at acoustics, the absolute best guitar you could buy would be either the Taylor or the Martin as these brands just do not make bad guitars. It may be difficult to justify the $300 outlay, but keep in mind that these guitars will hold their value very well and if you find one second hand you will get all of your money back when your child outgrows it and sells it on.
The electric options are all very similarly priced but the two big names that cropped up were Ibanez and Daisy Rock. Whilst primarily aimed at girls, Daisy Rock do produce some great guitars that are available in colors other than pink so they are perfectly suitable for the boys too! It may also be worth noting that the Ibanez has an almost full size neck with the body being a little smaller than usual. Pick the guitar that suits the style of music your kids are into, there’s not a lot of difference here.
Lefty Travel Guitars
It may also be worthwhile having a look into left handed travel guitars if you can’t find anything to your liking from the ¾ sized market. Travel guitars are designed to be mobile (duh!) and as such they may turn out to be a good smaller guitar for your kids.
As A Last Resort
If all else fails buy a right handed instrument and string it left handed. As we mentioned in our guide to restringing a right handed guitar upside down this isn’t the best route to take, but if no other options are available it may be a necessary evil until your child can handle a full sized guitar.
The List is Ever Expanding
As time goes by we will keep adding to the list as more models become available, so check back from time to time. If you’re having trouble finding any of these models let us know and we’ll try to help out.
I hope you found some of this information useful. Let us know if there are any others I should add to the list!
Just wanted to thank you for taking the time to write about not just left handers but also kids. My son Adam is a super keen budding guitarist (7 yrs old) but we are struggling to get him a real left handed electric. It looks as though I’ll have to get him one from the USA as Australia has virtually no options for lefty kids – think I’ll go with the Ibanez Mikro. I’m right handed but have two left handed guitarists as sons (who incidentally are right handed at everything else!!).
Cheers,
Alex.
Hi Alex. PK’s music in Perth has a 3/4 sized Axl in stock, http://www.pksmusic.com.au/showProduct/Guitars/Electric+Guitars/AXL+Jnr/AXL+3+4+Electric+Guitar
I know things in Australia are a little tougher. When I was there doing some travelling I had to make do with a 3/4 sized righty acoustic which I strung upside down. Wasn’t great, but it kept me going
Luckily you’ve got PKs over in Perth, so it’s not all bad!
Hi Neal,
What a coincidence! After I posted my note I got onto an Ibanez distributor who couldn’t help me out with a lefty Mikro but did recommend PK’s. I followed up and was able to order exactly the guitar you refer to. Fingers crossed the AXL is ok – have done a little research on them and it sounds as though they are quite a solid beginner to intermediate guitar. Thank you for taking the time to reply and pass on the information – Adam is very excited about getting his first real guitar!
Excellent, hope he likes the Axl! The problem with the Mikro is that they’re very hard to find outside of the States.