A question about purchasing a child sized bass guitar...

[Knifedge]

Hello good folks... I have been on a bit of a hunt lately. My son, who will be turning 9 in a month, has expressed a strong interest in wanting a bass guitar to learn on. He has tried a couple of my bass guitars, but they are way too large for him to effectively start playing and learning on.

The other clincher.. he is left handed, and holds (or tries to hold) the bass as such.

I have looked on Amazon and Ebay for basses, but I don't want to purchase anything til I am sure that the bass would be suitable for him to play. There are child sized basses, but I am not finding much in the lefty department, and there are 3/4 sized basses but I don't know if they are small enough (but I suppose he would grow into it eventually) but I don't want him to lose interest in wanting to learn because the guitar is too big... so I am hoping that maybe some of you have suggestions or a direction that I can look at ....

My thanks in advance.

 

[Joe Nerve]

While these aren't "children" basses, they're loads of fun, much smaller than a standard bass, and you too will have a cool travel bass for when he grows out of it. They sound great plugged in (fit well in a band mix), have lots of beats on board to practice to, and a nifty little built in amp.

And holy crap I just noticed they're selling for over $100 yes than usual on amazon. The review on that page is mine... http://www.amazon.com/APACHE1BWH-4-...id=1460911133&sr=1-4&keywords=vox+apache+bass

 

[MD]

Rondo has a 30" lefty, entry level bass.
I started out on a full size cello, 27.5" scale, at 9 years old. I wouldn't think the extra 2.5 inches would make too much of a problem when it comes down to a half step.

Link Removed

 

[walldaja]

Ibanez has their Micro basses too.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

+1 on the Ibanez Mikro. It's a "real" bass in every sense of the word, lots of adults play them too. Another suggestion would be a Hofner Violin style bass, though the actual Hofners are way overpriced IMO. Jay Turser, Rondo, and Epiphone all make violin style basses, light weight and short scale makes them easy to play.

Amazon.com: Jay Turser Bass Guitars Jtb-2b-vs 4-string Bass Guitar, Vintage Sunburst: Musical Instruments

Link Removed

Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Short-Scale Bass Guitar

 

[Knifedge]

Thanks folks. This is great... I appreciate the information....

 

[Bodeanly]

No advice to give, but please tell me how you got your kid to put down video games long enough to pick up an instrument.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

I wasted some $$ on an affinity bronco for a 7 year old boy years ago. What I came away from the experience with is that kids hands are just not "bass ready" until they hit puberty (And yes, I've taught - for several years). Better to start a younger kid on piano then move them to bass when they are ready (or they are interested)

 

[buldog5151bass]

Rather than a kid's instrument, have him try a 30" scale. This way he can use it as long as he wants.

Also, have him try to play righty. I'm a lefty, but glad I learned the other way - gives him many more options, never mind his dominant hand is doing the tough work.

 

[Bassic Playing]

If he is just learning then it would be easy to just get him to learn righthanded. I even learned a bit of guitar left handed, but my first teacher said 'just play right handed', and it was seriously that easy.

 

[Olde Axeman]

I completely agree with the 2 previous posts. If he's just starting out then have him learn right-handed technique. My best friend is a lefty who learned in his 'teens to play guitar right-handed and he's a phenomenal guitarist. Plus, instrument options are exponentially increased.

Bass playing requires fine motor skills of both hands so it's not like you're giving his non-dominant right hand a crappier deal than the dominant left hand is getting.

 

[MattZilla]

+1,000,000^

I work with an olllld lefty guy. He started playing before Hendrix was a thing- he says "my smarter hand is doing the harder stuff". He's also the one who, when my parents came along telling him of my gravitation towards bass, told them to start me on piano, guitar and voice. I am forever grateful that they listened, though I wish I stuck with the vocal lessons

If you're going to disregard this (you shouldn't), I recently spent some time with an Ibanez Mikro and was left with a really positive impression.

 

[Linnin]

If your son is lefty, he should learn to play lefty. I am, and do.
Lefty Ibanez Micro would be a perfect starter bass, and only $200.
Invalid Link Removed

 

[Gilmourisgod]

^^^^^^ What he said X 100. When he gets bigger, he can graduate his way up the Ibanez line to SR 300, 400, etc., best bang for the buck in every price range IMO.

 

[Linnin]

And don't forget to buy a Fender Rumble 40 1x10 combo to go with it!