By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:46:37 +0000

I wanted to get my 3 year old daughter a toy guitar to play around with. I looked up some on Amazon and the majority of the ratings for the toy guitars (this one wasn’t rated) were awful. So I decided not to get any of the other guitars and figured I’d take a chance with this one even though there was no feedback.

I couldn’t believe it when I opened the box–a real “miniature” guitar! It has steel strings, a mini amp that works, a few guitar pics and an adjustable guitar strap–I embroidered her name on it. It is a bit heavy for my daughter (I only let her play with it for maybe 10 minutes at a time–I don’t want her back to go out : ) I believe the recommened age is 5-7 years so she will grow into it.

It is a shiny painted wood finish with shiny metal accents. Every body that I have showed it to can’t believe I only paid $99. for it. I would highly reccomend it to any parent looking for a starter guitar for their child. The other kid guitars were priced between $20-60 and the ratings were very poor. It is worth it to spend the extra money and get the real deal.
Rating: 5 / 5

By: greg taylor

greg taylor — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:56:14 +0000

I mostly agree with Jennifer’s review but I wanted to add a few technical complaints that might be helpful. As will be obvious, I am not a guitar expert (not even close) but even I can see some of the pros and cons of this guitar.

The good news is that the body and neck are well made and feel very solid. Jennifer is definitely right about that. With proper care, this guitar will last awhile.

Most of the problems I have center around the tuning. I think this guitar could use better machine heads (the tuners). The way these are geared does not seem to allow for very fine tuning. I am not sure but they seem to slip as well.

I think the guitar requires a little bit of intonation adjustment as well. Forgive me, for I probably don’t have the right vocabulary for this description. At the opposite end of the string from the tuners is a pivot point which is adjusted by a screw. By adjusting the set of that screw you can make the string slightly longer or shorter. Different length of string equals different vibrational frequency. The frets on a guitar are only placed for the right intonation if the string length is right. In other words, if that screw isn’t adjusted right, when you play the open fifth string and then play the 12th fret of the fifth string, you will not be hearing an octave interval.

So if you are willing to buy decent machine heads (~$50 or so I am told), put them on yourself, buy a little bit better set of strings and to adjust the intonation a little you can end up with a good solid kids guitar for about $140. That is a very reasonable price for a kid’s beginner instrument of good quality.

As I said, I am no expert. I have pieced this critique together from talking to a guy who knows guitars and from what I know about the science of vibration analysis. If someone who is truly knowledgeable about guitars and who has seen this product disagrees, please set me straight in the comments.

So, in summation, I think this is a very good product that needs a little work. My little girl loves everything about it. I just want the guitar to really be in tune and to stay in tune as she rocks it.
Rating: 4 / 5

Comments on: J. Reynolds Mini Electric Guitar Prelude Pack – Pop Princess Pink

By: Jennifer

By: greg taylor