The guitar is one of the most popular instruments in the western world. But some people find the instrument too big for them to get the most out of, especially when they’re starting. A half-size guitar is a good option for people who may have smaller hands, or for children who want to learn the guitar. Just because an instrument is small and suitable for children, however, doesn’t mean it’s a toy. Learning on a cheap instrument that more resembles a toy than a real instrument won’t give the prospective student a feel of what the instrument is all about. Also it won’t sound good, and will most likely lead to the learner losing interest before you know it.
Let’s Look At Some Of The Best ½ Size Guitars On The Market.
- Best Overall ½ Size Guitar – Cordoba Mini II FMH, Flamed Mahogany – A solid mahogany ½ size guitar that sounds almost like a full-size instrument. Suitable for beginners.
- Best Beginners ½ Size Guitar – Pyle Beginners 30” – A solid wood-made guitar with a nice birchwood headstock. Includes everything you need to start playing.
- Best Steel String Acoustic ½ Size Guitar – Strong Winds 30″ Beginner Acoustic Guitar, Steel Strings – Made from selected basswood, this ½ size guitar offers a decent size and comes with a gigbag.
- Best Budget ½ Size Guitar – Music Alley (MA34-N) Nylon – A lightweight, budget-friendly guitar with a solid construction that’s suitable for children. Metal tuning pegs help you stay in tune longer.
- Best ½ Size Electric Guitar – WINZZ 30 Inches Real Kids Electric Guitar – Choose from a range of different colors for the solid body of this ½ size guitar. Comes with everything you need to start playing.
- Best ½ Size Guitar For Children – Stagg C510 PK 1/2 Classical Guitar – Choose a design to suit your tastes. Also comes with a rare lifetime warranty.
6 Best ½ size guitars reviewed
Best Overall ½ Size Guitar – Cordoba Mini II FMH, Flamed Mahogany
For anyone starting with the guitar, the Cordoba Mini II FMH is a superb choice of instrument. The small ½ size nylon-string instrument is easy to play and hold. It’s also made, with a complete mahogany construction, including the soundboard, back, and sides. There’s also the option of other tonewoods, should you not fancy a mahogany guitar. The neck is comfortable on the hand’s thanks to the c-profile.
Whilst some smaller scale instruments can sound more ukulele than guitar, the Cordoba Mini II stays firmly in the guitar territory, thanks to its warm and full tone that is close to a full-size nylon guitar. Its small size makes it perfect to take with you on your travels.
Pros
- All mahogany construction.
- Good for beginners.
- Sounds close to a full-size nylon guitar.
Cons
- There are some complaints with the finish on the guitar.
- It isn’t well set up.
Best Beginners ½ Size Guitar – Pyle Beginners 30”
Many people looking to buy a ½ size guitar will be beginners. Yet, many of the models on the market don’t ship with any of the accessories necessary for when you’re staying from zero. The Pyle Beginners 30’ is a ½ size guitar that comes with all you could need to begin learning the guitar. In the long run, this will save you a lot of time and money buying these things individually.
Included is a shoulder strap, spare strings, gig bag, picks, a cleaning cloth, and a digital tuner. The top and back are linden wood (aka basswood). The neck and fretboard are dyed hardwood. The body is polished for a glossy finish and the tuning pegs are chrome for a professional look.
Pros
- Solid wood construction.
- Comes with all the accessories a beginner needs to begin.
- Easy to play.
- Attractive birchwood headstock.
Cons
- May prove too small for some adult players.
- There are some issues reported with quality control.
Best Steel String Acoustic ½ Size Guitar – Strong Winds 30″ Beginner Acoustic Guitar, Steel Strings.
The Strong Winds 30” Beginner acoustic guitar is a solid basswood dreadnaught-shaped guitar suited to young learners, travelers, or small-handed people who want to play guitar. It’s no great secret that better guitars are made from better woods. The solid basswood top, back, and sides produce a smooth, full, and rich sound. The tops are hand-selected from quarter-sawn wood.
The guitar is 30” long with 18 frets. The guitar is ultra-transportable due to its lightweight design and shape. This makes it perfect to take along with you to the beach, to a party, or along with you when you travel.
Pros
- Solid basswood construction.
- Made from hand-selected woods.
- Good sound.
- Very portable due to its dimension and includes a gig bag.
Cons
- Some people mention problems with intonation.
- The action is very high out the box.
Best Budget ½ Size Guitar – Music Alley (MA34-N) Nylon
A budget-friendly ½ size guitar that is best suited to young students looking for their first entryway into the world of the guitar. The metal tuning pegs on this guitar are also a surprising and welcome feature on this guitar, as they are rarely found in this price bracket. The top is ash, the neck and sides are basswood, and the fretboard is maple.
The lightweight construction of the linden (basswood) body makes it suitable for young children or beginners. This is because it allows you to play for longer periods without fatigue. The nylon strings also help in this regard, as they are more forgiving to young children or beginner fingers who have yet to callous.
Pros
- Budget-friendly.
- Wood construction.
- Lightweight makes it suitable for children and those learning to play.
- Metal tuning pegs help keep the guitar in tune longer.
Cons
- Some complain about the roughness of the frets.
Best ½ Size Electric Guitar – WINZZ 30 Inches Real Kids Electric Guitar
There are plenty of ½ size classical and acoustic guitars to choose from, but not too many ½ size electric guitars on the market. The Winzz 30 is a good starting instrument for young kids who want to start out playing the guitar but aren’t yet ready for a full-sized instrument.
Choose from a range of different colors to suit you or your kids’ personality. There are 21 frets and the body is 20 inches. The fretboard, top, and neck are maple, whilst the body and back are basswood. There’s a single-coil pick-up and volume control knob, as well as a beginner’s pack including a gig bag, cable, an amplifier, and a strap. The bridge is chrome cast, to help the guitar stay in tune for longer.
Pros
- Comes with all the accessories you need to begin playing.
- Solid construction.
- A good choice for children who want to learn the electric guitar.
- Easy to play straight away.
- Choose from a range of different colors.
Cons
- Some users complain it doesn’t stay in tune well even after repeated use.
- The sound isn’t the best.
Best ½ Size Guitar For Children – Stagg C510 PK 1/2 Classical Guitar –
If you’re trying to get your child to learn guitar, getting them interested and keeping them excited can be a struggle. If this is the case, it’s worth keeping the appearance of the guitar you buy in consideration, as children can easily be swayed by the look of things. Fortunately, the Stag C510 PK comes in a range of different colors to choose from.
There are also some bodies with the option of having graphics printed on them. The body is basswood, and the neck and the fretboard are maple. The tuner heads are nickel and reportedly keep the guitar in tune relatively well.
Buying Guide.
What Is A ½ Size Guitar?
A half size guitar is a smaller size guitar that’s often used for learning purposes. The name suggests that it may be half the size of a regular guitar, but this isn’t the case. They are often used for children between the ages of 5 and 7.
Neither a ¼, ½ or ¾ scale guitar are actually the fraction of a full size guitar that their name suggests. A full size guitar usually has a scale of around 40”. A ½ size guitar usually is around 34” or sometimes slightly less.
What Are The Reasons To Buy A ½ Size Guitar Over A Regular Sized One?
½ sized guitars are suited for children who want to learn guitar, for people with smaller hands, or travelers who want a cheap instrument to lug around with them and their backpack.
Full-size guitars, whilst they are portable, can still be difficult to move around. You might not always want to move your guitar with you, or you might be worried about it getting damaged in transit or by being exposed to the elements. Equally, you may want a cheaper guitar that you’re not worried about damaging too much and can enjoy playing with friends, taking backpacking, camping or to the beach to strum on.
½ size guitars are also more user-friendly for young children who may have small hands and not enough strength on their fingers yet.
What Things Should I Look Out For When Buying A ½ Size Guitar?
The most important thing to do is not to confuse a ½ size guitar with a toy. Buying a toy will result in having a poorly constructed instrument that will struggle to keep in tune, most likely made of cheap plywood, and not resemble the feel or sound of a real guitar at all.
Using a toy to learn will, 9 times out of 10, lead to frustration and the student giving up. It will also be set up terribly (i.e not at all) and have high action. If you want to learn any instrument you have to learn on something that will give you a feel of what it’s like to play a good instrument.
Opting for a poorly constructed instrument is unlikely to lead to success in your musical journey as the poor construction will likely get in the way of your progress. Instead, opt for the best quality your budget can afford and view it as an investment in your musical development.
Think About What Type Of ½ size Guitar You Want
Think if you prefer a classical, acoustic, or electric ½ size guitar. This will be decided by what kind of music you want to play. If you want to start learning the guitar, the classical guitar is a good entryway as the nylon strings are easier on the fingers.
For people who want to strum along to their favorite songs, an acoustic guitar may be the best suited. This is because many popular artists use a steel-string acoustic guitar which is favored for its bright sound. This isn’t to say you can’t use a nylon string, classical guitar for playing popular music; many people do. Nylon strings are also more kind than steel strings to beginner’s fingers which haven’t developed callouses yet.
If you know you want to play your half-sized guitar plugged in, then an electric ½ sized guitar is a safe bet for you. Electric guitars also tend to have much lower action than acoustic guitars, meaning that they’ll hurt your fingers less. This can be an important factor to consider in keeping kids interested and inspired to keep playing into the future.
If in doubt, though, opt for a nylon string guitar, to begin with; you can always upgrade when you have more idea where you want to take your guitar playing in the future.
Is The Type Of Wood Important?
The quality of a guitar is determined by the quality of the materials used. ½ size guitars are aimed at beginners, travelers, or children, and not professionals. If you want a good instrument you should aim for the best quality instrument you can afford, and avoid buying a toy.
The top of a guitar is the most important part of the instrument that affects the sound, more so than the back and sides. Aside from the effect the tonewood will have on the tone, it also affects the appearance. For many people appearance is even more important than the tone. This is especially true for children.
You can either choose a guitar made from a single tonewood or a mixture. Most ½ size guitars are made from either plywood or splinter, so if you’re looking for a rich, deep, and resonant tone, then a ½ size guitar isn’t for you. As such, ½ size guitars should be considered as learning instruments.
Yet, some models feature some elements made out of tonewood, whether solid or laminate, and can still produce pleasing tones.
Below are some brief descriptions of some of the woods used in the guitars listed above.
Maple
Maple is common for necks and fretboards of guitars and is fairly easy to identify. It’s bright, moderately weighted, and offers distinctive grain patterns. Maple offers decent sound and offers a fair bit to a guitar’s sonic profile. The upper midrange can be quite strong and the highs carry some weight to them.
Maple is dense, and easy to finish which makes it popular with some manufacturers.
Basswood
Basswood (aka linden wood) is one of the most popular woods used guitars. You can find it on budget guitars right up to more bespoke high-range models. Basswood is lightweight and has a neutral tone, which is why it is the most common wood used on the guitars listed above. Being lightweight is a key consideration for a ½ size guitar.
Mahogany
Mahogany is the warmest of all the tonewoods and offers good low-midranges. It’s a dense and heavy wood that offers good sustain. Mahogany can offer a bit more strength to a smaller size instrument, such as a half-sized guitar or even a guitalele.
To Sum Up
½ size guitars can be for anyone. If you have small hands and find the full-sized guitar hard to handle and play comfortably, then a ½ size guitar could be an option for you. Equally, if you’re someone who plays the guitar and travels a lot and wants something to take with them without worrying too much about it, then a half-size guitar could also be an option for you.
They’re also suited for absolute beginners who need something to ease themselves into the wonderful world of the guitar. Full-sized guitars can hurt your fingers before they’ve had a chance to callous over. This is especially true of steel-string guitars, which is part of the reason why classical, nylon string guitars are more popular starting instruments than their steel string cousins.
Our top pick, the Cordoba Mini II FMH, Flamed Mahogany comes with a full mahogany construction and offers a tone as similar as possible to a full-size guitar. This is important for giving beginners a sense of what it’s like to play a high-quality instrument with all the musical nuances it can offer.
