That’s my eight year old daughter with my new Warwick (is nothing sacred?) getting stuck into Module-1.
She loves music and is rapidly outgrowing her current 3/4 guitars. She’s expressed an interest in getting a bass to replace them and has reminded me (not so subtly) that she turns 9 on New Years day.
Now, I got some great support from the forum members when researching my own recent upgrade so I’ve decided to kick off this thread to shortlist options that are suitable for a youngster.
She can manage a longscale so that’s not a restriction, but short and medium scale are definitely options. Edit: To be clear; 30" 32" or 34" are all viable options.
Playability, light weight and aesthetics are more important than versatility of tone and fancy preamps. And she doesn’t like old fashioned sunburst finishes!
For a lightweight long scale the Ibanez SR basses are good. For short scale I really like the Fender Mustang PJ. That Hofner is another excellent choice.
You see small kids online playing full scale all the time, and you say she’s outgrowing 3/4 scale guitars. I’d say everything is a contender, can you get some things in her hands? Don’t go by length alone. Hofners are love/hate. Some love them here, I tried to, nope.
If you are looking at shorter only, put the Candy Rocks ones in the mix. @bofhgirl plays one and loves it and they have cool colors too.
Yeah, the Ibanez range looks like a good option. They’re lightweight and modern looking. I wasn’t sure about the Mikro - it looks suspiciously like a 3/4 instrument which may be less well received than a full sized instrument, albeit shortscale.
I’m just not certain where the “sweet spot” is in the Ibanez range. More research required.
I am 100% certain that this option has crossed her mind!
Yup, longscale is absolutely a contender.
There are limited options to try in the shops here beyond Fender as Yamahas seem to be in very short supply in general.
I don’t think there’s anyone selling the Daisy Rock range over here, but she’s not a pink and sparkly kinda girl anyway.
My nephew has one of these so I’ll definitely arrange for her to try it.
That said, he’s had a lot of issues with it, as have others on this forum, so I’m not overawed by the engineering and craftsmanship in this particular model.
The Rock Bass sounds like a good option.
Reckon the Ibanez would be too @howard .
Reckon my Ray4 isn’t a lot heavier than my Ibanez? Having said that anything feels like a feather after the Warwick Corvette
@HowlinDawg , in the picture she’s wearing the strap like a necklace They’re pretty adorable at that age: they’re young enough to still be a baby, but old enough to hold their own in a conversation.
My 12-year old picked up my boat anchor P-bass the other day, and did the first three lessons of M1 all in one go. I’m hoping he continues.
I can’t make any recommendations as to a short scale, having no exp at all, but if she is OK with the 'wick wouldn’t a light 34" be a good contender?
Ahh yeah, looking at a few sources it seems the Ray4 is in the 3.9-4.1kg range (which is fine) while the Ray34 and EBMM 4-strings are in the 4.5-4.7kg range (which isn’t terrible but for me is not fine - I would avoid. It’s more than my BB was).
