Lava Man Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 (edited) I am looking for a builder who can make a guitar for my 3-year-old son that his hand can form chords on. I took him to the local music store and the mini-electric guitars are still too big. And, I have looked around the web to no success as they all still look to big. The neck needs to about the size of a Mandolin neck maybe a little bigger and only needs one pickup. Good hardware is important as holding tune at this small size may be difficult. My son is already holding a pick correctly and strumming a little pink toy guitar his sister receieved a few years back for Christmas, so I think he would have a lot of fun with a fully functional electric guitar. I am a guitarist of more than 25 years and have re-wired several guitars, but never made my own and I do not have the tools to do so. Any ideas here? Lava Man Lava Cable Edited April 30, 2006 by Lava Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 That sounds like a fun little build( pun entirely intended). Can you give us a better idea of what specs you're looking for, anything ornate? I would recomend you go for a bare bones guitar, since your son will be twice as big before you know it and will be much too big to play the guitar. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 Can anyone say "cigar box guitar with pickup???" Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 Definitely do-able. I worked with a guy at a boat building shop who was making a baby-tele for his daughter. I don't know if tiny custom pickups are available but I guess a regular one with a blade style magnet would do the trick. String spacing would be the main issue, you can't have regular string spacing with such a short scale length. Might be able to overcome that with a roller bridge and a custom made nut. I was told that there is not a big market for tiny guitars because everyone outgrows them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert_the_damned Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 maybe reducing the number of strings might be useful? he'd still be able to learn to play but it'd easier to make a small neck. 4 strings is enough for most bass players! and with no disrespect to your son I'm sure he's not going to be playing super speedy solos straight away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox2551 Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 Ever consider a Mando-Bird? Electric mandolin with only 4-strings. http://www.epiphone.com/default.asp?Produc...CollectionID=11 I wish I could have had a sweet teenie guitar when I was three..... Lucky Kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tirapop Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 4 strings is a very good idea. Tenor guitars use 4 strings for easier chording. My baritone uke is tuned like the top 4 of a guitar, DGBE. Check out Elderly Instruments, http://www.elderly.com. They have a large assortment of ukes, acoustic, electro-acoustic, and electric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lava Man Posted May 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 I thought about the four strings thing (mandolin) but I want a single pickup, 6-string guitar, no frills with the neck as big as possibly can be to fit around his hands. I think it can be done with the neck and string tension being the most tricky part. Lava Man Lava Cable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzocchi705 Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 Smaller spacing at nut and bridge (youl have to make both of these) and wind a PU to suit it. Alot of work but that would fit your brief. Thats just one possible option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 You can slant the pickup to accommodate the lesser string spacing. No need to wind a special pickup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzocchi705 Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 Yup, you are right there, i dont know how angled you would need to put it, i can imagin it might be a bit severe, but it could look very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dremelfender Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 I built my youngest son a 80% sized strat and am currently in the process of building another one, this time 90% size. Tis quite fun...but, making a new tremolo bridge will be challenging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lava Man Posted May 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 I would like to thank thegarehanman as I have comissioned him to build this guitar for me and I am really excited. I believe that it is going to e a fantastic little guitar that my son will actually be able to play. The challenging part is going to be the bridge due to the small width of the neck at the base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 No thanks necessary mark, it's my pleasure. This is going to mean a lot to your son. It should be a fun little build, literally. The bridge really isn't as much of a problem as you think it will be. Making the rosewood/bone TOM we talked about will be a walk in the park. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 Deffinitly post some progress/finished work pics when your done garehan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tirapop Posted May 3, 2006 Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 A 3-year-old with an amplifier? I got a lot of practice wiring in resistors or putting cardboard disks over speakers to get the volume on my kids' toys down to a tolerable level. My kids like everything LOUD. At 5 and 8, they'll actually listen to me when I ask them to turn things down to a sub-tinitis level. If I gave them an amp "that goes to eleven" before they could count to 11, we'd all be deaf now. Your son sounds pretty sharp. Fretting didn't really click with my girls. They've gravitated towards keyboards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted May 3, 2006 Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 (edited) Heres an amp for a 3 yr old. Its only 5"X5"X2.5". Got 4 - 1.5" speakers in it and runs on a 9v. battery. Has tone, vol., input jack, headphone jack and jack for 9 v. DC adapter as well as clean and overdrive channels. This little thing can get pretty loud too. But not something that will shake the walls. Edited May 3, 2006 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 I thought you guys might like to see some progress on this guitar. I've got a large amount of the work done on the neck and should be receiving the body wood soon. For the neck, I still have to fine sand it, inlay the headstock, drill for the neck bolts, and fret it. I've also posted a picture of the matching bridge I made for this guitar. Since it's got such narrow string spread, buying a bridge really wasn't an option. The thick saddle on this TOM I made should allow for fairly accurate intonation. When you look at the pictures, keep in mind that the guitar will have a 13.5" scale length and the neck is 1.25" wide at the nut, 1.5" wide at the 22nd fret, and 5/8" thick through out. It has two 5mm diameter graphite rods imbedded in it and a single action truss rod(that's the only thing that would fit in this scenario). peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 Looking sweet Personally I would have made the binding thinner, but it still looks awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 That's uber cool Russ - nice detailing on the headstock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 Thanks guys. Believe it or not, the rosewood for the fretboard, binding, headplate, backstrapping, and bridge all came from just one of stewmac's guitar fretboard blanks. Since my bandsaw is in a different city at the moment, I had to bookmatch the headplate and backstrapping with only a coping saw, what a job that was. Fortunately, mike didn't have very specific instructions for the asthetics of this one, so I've been able to add little details when the mood strikes. I'm really excited to see how these traditional detail treatments go with the untraditional finish we have planned for it. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyd Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 Cool!! do i smell a "MINI" GOTM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 Fortunately, mike didn't have very specific instructions for the asthetics of this one, so I've been able to add little details Yeah, well, better seal this thing in some kind of bulletproof material. Kid's only three, the guitar's going to wind up in his lego box. That is, if this is a real kid and not one of these ultra-serious hyper-competitive uber-kids that parents seem to want to churn out these days. Part of the reason we chose to raise our kids over here. I'm assuming that this is Lava Man's first child... I know, I know. I've been biting my tongue on this for a long time. And I'm letting the coffee talk this morning. The kid's only three for crying out loud. Maybe I'm the only one here who thinks this project is in bad taste, so I'll shut up about it. But I really needed to say something. This isn't meant as a personal attack, more of a philosophical perspective thing. Otherwise, your work is impeccable, as always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lava Man Posted May 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 Deffinitly post some progress/finished work pics when your done garehan. I hope he doesn't mind, but he is going a great job so far. Here's the neck: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 I know, I know. I've been biting my tongue on this for a long time. And I'm letting the coffee talk this morning. The kid's only three for crying out loud. Maybe I'm the only one here who thinks this project is in bad taste, so I'll shut up about it. But I really needed to say something. This isn't meant as a personal attack, more of a philosophical perspective thing. Otherwise, your work is impeccable, as always. Hahaha. I actually talked to mark about the whole 3 year old having a custom guitar thing before I took the commission. Personally, I would not buy my 3 year old a custom guitar(assuming I had a kid, that is), but that was not my call to make. That said, mark still wanted the guitar, and I saw this as a fun challenge. Keeping the neck at 5/8" thickness was my big hurdle for the neck. I’m sure mark already knows this thing is going to take a beating from his little guy. I'm already working against that though, as I've bought straplocks for the guitar and I doubt he’ll be able to do any damage to the finish I'll be putting on it, short of writing on it with a sharpie. It also has two 5mm graphite rods running through the whole neck and about 1" into the headstock. I've always liked the way character looks on a guitar, more so on the ones I build. Mark, I don't mind you posting pictures at all. It's your guitar, after all. If you'll notice, I actually posted about four pictures already. Thanks again for the kind words, everyone. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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