EMERGENCY !! string gauge advice for 3 yr old

S

SJ318

New member
HI,
My brothers son has a child. He absolutely goes nuts pounding on the piano. I believe he would love my little traveller guitar. He could make noise without having to be helped up by an adult.
So here is the problem: I fear he could injure himself if he pulled a Hendrix move, or tugged on a string, thus breaking it and god forbid hurt his eye. I will tape the ends of any sting from the tuning peg. strings load from the top.
So which is safest: .008's set, or .010's set. they will be tuned normally to a piano so my brother can tune, as I believe when no one is looking, he would try to play it. His big love was and is B. Dylan, so I am gong to give him a chart, a simple chord chart of "Rolling Stone". it's full of beginning chords like C, Dm, F, G, Em, so I think he would go nuts himself, he is retired with no hobbies, just time to time house fixin' up.
thanks,
steve buffington
 
Re: EMERGENCY !! string gauge advice for 3 yr old

There are many dangers in the world....hell he could do some damage tripping over the guitar.
If you don't feel its safe, then don't give the gift - but 8's would be my advice as its quite painful to fret notes when you first start.

I have no kids, but I'd guess that any parent would supervise a 3-year old on a delicate musical instrument
 
Re: EMERGENCY !! string gauge advice for 3 yr old

8's or 9's for a kid that young, for suuuuuuuuuuuuure.

but 8's will also be easier to break than 10s or 9s, keep in mind.

I say go with 8s but teach him that the strings are for playin ON, not playing WITH.
 
Re: EMERGENCY !! string gauge advice for 3 yr old

Thanks all for chiming in.
If .010's are harder to break then I should go that way, simply because there is no amp and it would sound better acoustically.
Yeah? you all agree from this point of view? I have to consider the fact that I bet my brother would play it and have a hobby that we could share stuff about. We are not close and after 60-70 years I would like to change that.
HOWEVER-KID FIRST, BROTHER SECOND-TRYING TO KILL 2 BIRDS,ONE STONE.
Steve b
 
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Re: EMERGENCY !! string gauge advice for 3 yr old

10s are harder to break, but they will be a lot harder to fret, and with tiny little 3-year old hands/fingers with not nearly the strength as kids a few years older than him, he could find 10s challenging to say the least.

I still say 8s. 9s if he flat out refuses to treat his guitar nicely.

speaking of which...what kinda guitar is it? if it's one of those tiny 3/4-size ones with much smaller scale length, then yeah you can probably get away with heavier gauge strings. shorter scale length = less string tension. You can compensate by using heavier gauge strings.
 
Re: EMERGENCY !! string gauge advice for 3 yr old

The child is too young to play it sitting up and way too young to make a chord. So for the kid, it's all about a new toy he can bang on and make noise, he just loves to bang any instrument.
The EMERGENCY is that I have to get it ready by sunday.
The fretting would be if my brother wants to play it. Again, as he has no hobbies of any kind, this might be a gift that keeps on giving, for life. Bob Dylan songs , for the most part are easy to play, and I would write, or score the song without bar chords. I remember my first bar chord. It was F. The guitar had flat wound strings, as I had no idea of string gauges. The g must have been a .020 wound. I worked on that for a long time. I remember where and when I was.
The scale is regular, either strat or gibson scale. I should know this, but I don't, and plan to learn the difference right away, feel pretty stupid right now. forgive me, but either way it is a full scale guitar. Actually, the pick up sounds a lot like a Duncan hot rail!
Good questions, thanks, hope I answered them.
Thanks, Sincerely,
Steve b
P.S. off topic When I learned the solo to "You ain't got nothin' Yet" I think the song was, it was the entire blues scale from C on the low E string, all the way up to bending the F on the high E (13th fret) string to G- it was like Moses parted the musical seas and said-go learn some Clapton, Bloomfield, Page, B.B. King, Albert King etc. When I learned that A.King in the key of C was bending a E flat on the high E string all the way to G and all points in between, That was a revelation. Sorry, got myself going.
 
Re: EMERGENCY !! string gauge advice for 3 yr old

OK,
Just learned about scale lenthgs from a great short page at StewMac. The scale is is shorter that than a strat on my traveller, more like a Gibson. However, the PRS 25 scale sounds great. Especially since the High E would be the first tuning peg on a 3 X 3 headstock. the bending would be easier but still retain a little more tension than a standard gibson. I want one now. Too bad I can't right now. Thanks for the lead.
Steve B
 
Re: EMERGENCY !! string gauge advice for 3 yr old

Nylon strings.. know it's not a classical. They would be the safest.

-dave
 
Re: EMERGENCY !! string gauge advice for 3 yr old

Definitely the plastic Mickey Mouse guitar for a 3 yr old. There's no way on God's green earth I'd give a toddler a steel string acoustic.

Give yer bro the traveler and charts, and the plastic rocker to the toddler.
 
Re: EMERGENCY !! string gauge advice for 3 yr old

Hi everyone,
I ran out of time. The dinner is tonight. So the ukelele is the best choice. But I have no time. I'll leave this at my brothers and if the kid likes it, I'll buy a ukelele (sp?).
Damn wish I would have thought of that. Well, I am going to split the difference and go D'addario 120+. Thats 9.5, 11.5, 16, 24, 34, 44. He would hurt his hand trying to pull them. so I think I'll be safe, keep it at my brothers, and get uke if he loves it.
A uke, I hate myself that I didn't think of that.
Steve B.
 
Re: EMERGENCY !! string gauge advice for 3 yr old

Just go to Guitar Center and get him the cheapest ukulele they have. That'll be just as much fun fun for the little guy as anything will. Plus those short nylon strings will be safest.
 
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