Recommend me a bass for my 5 year old.

I would definitely look at the Squier Shortscale basses. The below is a 30" though....

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/squier-affinity-series-bronco-bass-guitar

 

Might seem obvious, how about a Kala u-bass? Some are not much bigger than a ukelele.

 

I would have suggested the mikro myself, but if you're looking for smaller rondo makes a 20" scale u bass now, more affordable than the kala

http://www.rondomusic.com/ukb22.html

http://www.rondomusic.com/UKB23.HTML

 

Kala makes a solid body too, lots of u-bass style solids out there. I bought my son a Jay Turser strat when he was learning, but that had a full scale neck on a half size body, great little guitar. I'm thinking a 5 year old really needs to start on something easy to play, and the synthetic strings are easy on the fingers. Good luck with it, hope your son runs with it.

 

25 1/2" scale
https://reverb.com/item/403474-mxb-ssb-25-5-short-scale-bass-with-hardshell-case-handmade




Kent made a 24" scale bass, too. Not too easy finding one, though.

 

24.75'' scale Kent on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Teisco-Shor...n-/291241648745?pt=Guitar&hash=item43cf5ae269

 

Never played one myself, hard to find info online. This page has a couple of comments from owners, but still not a lot of info.

http://guitarz.blogspot.com/2011/04/kent-extra-short-scale-bass.html

 

Ibanez mikro

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/ibanez-gsrm20-mikro-short-scale-bass-guitar

 

just get him a uke and teach him to play it like a bass, then as he gets bigger ( assuming he sticks with it) get him something better. i have yet to meet a shortscale bass that i like ( if it isn't long scale i wont touch it )

 

I found the same model bass, "Kent", about 7 years ago, but it is branded Schaeffer ($50). I got it for my then 7-year-old son. It's a piece o' junk. But for a 5-7 year-old? It really does not matter. Ended up defretting it for kicks.

I soon got the Samick Greg Bennett MCR1. A MUCH better instrument!

The scale of these instruments makes them 1/2-size (24 3/4 -- 25").

Do your kid a favor and do not put him on too big of an instrument. The "he'll grow into it", is bunk! Any discomfort will thwart the tiniest bit of enthusiasm. Encourage him to play in an easy-to-access area of the neck, too. He does NOT need to start off playing low F's -- too much strain!!!

On the double bass, they are starting kids in 4th Position (1st finger stopping the "E" on the A-String) - in the middle area of the neck.

When it come to a bass instrument - electric or double bass -- you will embark on a journey of fractional instruments for MANY years. Accept it, immediately. Or fail will show up.

My son started on a 1/10 scale double bass, and a 1/2 size electric. 7 years later, he now plays 34" electrics and 41-1/2" double basses (both standard sized instruments), by stepping through each size on the way. There was 1/10, 1/8, 1/4 & 1/2 sized double basses BEFORE the 3/4 size that he now plays on.

 

I'll assume that you are not a 5-year-old?

 

Go with a Mikro, I have never played a bad Ibanez (though some are better than others) so it seems like the one that's the best size and would be best for playing.

 

I would go for a Mikro if you can put hands on it first to check it out. I was in the same boat 2 years ago with my son and ended up getting the Bronco. I figured he'd grow into it and the fit and finish were better than the Mikro's I could get my hands on locally. However, the Bronco is heavier feeling than any of my "full size" basses. I do not have an accurate scale to put it on but he can just about stand it now at age 8 for short bursts. It is a heavy bass for a child. I do recall the Mikro being pretty light but most had very rough fret edges, crooked mounting on the vol/tone knobs, and just generally cheap looking construction. I will agree with others that Ibanez is a great name, but I think this is one they just stuck their name on as the quality didn't seem up to par with their normal bass line when I was checking them out 2 years ago.

 

+1 on those Ibanez micros. There's a 7 year old bassist who plays around Denver a little, he's got one and it sounds good

 

Squier mustang bass for sure