What bass for 8 yr old

Both the Ibanez Mikro (highlighted in athosmr2003’s post) and the Squier Precision Mini are 28.5 inch scale – even shorter than 30 inch “short scale” basses – and have small bodies. They are marketed to kids, but have fans among adults, too.

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Here is a 9 year old playing a Sterling for reference, and maybe even inspiration for your kid.

EllenPlaysBass - YouTube

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Ellen is awesome!

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Awesome is an understatement. That little girl has a great future in music if she keeps it up. Seen a lot of young players that are great but this kid seems to have the feel for it. As if it were natural to her.

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I second the Mikros. Got mine for $75. She has some bumps and bruises but plays amazingly well. For a kid the slender neck and small body is ideal. The output is also surprising for such a budget friendly option. Tonal variety is wider with the PJ versus the Bronco with a P only.

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I kind of want a Mikro for me. They look super fun.

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Another vote for the Mikro here. They really are good fun and sound great.

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In the same ballpark is the Ibanez Talman short scale 30" bass for $189. I learned on it and it’s awesome for the money.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TMB30BK--ibanez-tmb30-talman-standard-black

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I’ve always thought the Talmans were super cool. Neat basses.

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The Talmans are very reasonable and they look really cool…it’s on my list but not a priority…but yeah I agree that the Mikro would be great for kids. The neck is nice and thin and it’s not as heavy as a bigger scaled bass. I picked it up vs. the Yamaha at work today and it’s night and day as far as the weight goes

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And the nice thing about the Mikros line is that they come in several colors that are all pretty cool looking

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Lots of info here too:

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I’ve had 2 of them and really liked them both. Pretty good quality for the price.

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I have that same Talman! A little heavy maybe, but I really like it.

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I bought a J&D SS Jazz bass a while back. Looks and sounds good and cost at the time $129. Came from Germany. Lightweight, but does have a bit of neck dive. Any lightweight bass will have that issue though.

Jackson minion

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Get an Ibanez mikro great little Bass

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The shortest I’d go would be the squier mini which I think it’s 28” and some change. Unless you are going to get a UBass there’s no reason to go any shorter.

Bass guitar is a long instrument at whatever age might as well get used to them. Plus kids will develop their own techniques to deal with their short coming, pun intended. My ex girlfriend was a 5 foot nothing in heels with short tiny fingers who’s a concert pianist it’s amazing how she plays some complex pieces. Of course people at that level makes everything looks easy but man it’s like watching Yoda fights. “Do or do not, there’s no try”.

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Crap, you planted this image in my head. Yoda playing complex piano pieces. Also you holding hands with Yoda. :rofl:

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At the risk of stating the obvious, the only thing I would add is, whatever you get, take it to a music shop to get it properly set up (unless you know how to do that yourself ); I can vouch that it can transform even a cheap instrument.