DS wants to learn guitar

[PurpleLily7]

Hello,
DS13 wants to learn guitar - starting with acoustic and moving onto electric. We'd like to get him an acoustic guitar so he can start strumming and learning for himself - but are there any basic guidelines? What size, etc?
Thanks for any guidance! 🎸
PS he already plays drums and he loves music, so we are keen to encourage him.

At 11, we went straight for electric guitar - no acoustic first step.
DS's teacher suggested a full sized electric, so unless your son is very petite, I'd think full size would be right (for the electric at any rate).

DS moved to a full sized acoustic/classical guitar at 10.5, he’stall though, id have thought full size would be fine for your 13 year old unless he’s tiny.

Full size is fine. It depends what he wants to play really, if he wants to play electric then he doesn't need an acoustic. My DS is 14 and plays both, he actually started learning classical but stopped quite early and got an electro acoustic. I would say acoustic is his main one as he's a singer too so accompanies himself but has got more into lead recently. You can learn some amazing stuff on acoustic as well as electric, and rock school do exams in both

It is definitely best if he tries some, they vary hugely in weight and at his age still if he gets an acoustic that's too big his arm will hurt if he plays for any length of time. Electrics probably less so as they're narrower.

I'd actually suggest acoustic. Though the neck is wider, picking up an electric to just mess about is annoying. I say that as someone who has 15 different guitar like instruments lying about in my house.

If you want to get him started whilst lessons are tricky, I'd highly recommend the Yousician app. You can trial it free but it costs about £100 a year, which seems a lot until you see how much progress your kid will make on it. You play with a mic (eg just your standard phone/tablet mic) and it listens to whether you are playing correctly or not. Hard to explain but worth downloading and trying the free part to get the idea of how it works.

A Yamaha Pacifica is a nice learning electric guitar. Good prices second hand.

Lessons really help.

Thanks so much - loads of helpful advice!

He's a tall 13 so definitely a full size guitar, then.

Not a really expensive vintage guitar from his father's collection because he may never be forgiven for denting it on the school bus!

definitely full size guitar - I'd second a Yamaha Pacifica as a good one to start with, if not then a Squier Strat.

I also really recommend yousician app. Both ds have really progressed quickly and are enjoying it. We used the free ap but have paid for the year and although I don’t generally like parting with money it’s well worth it.

My DS (20) has been playing guitar for about 2 years .
We got him a Classic (nylon string full size) as a starter .
Then an Acoustic ( stee string full size)

Of course now he wants an Electric - Fender Stratocaster Guitar if possible + mahoosive amp.

His guitars are wall mounted to keep them safe , free up floor space and decorate his walls .

I keep playing him early Dire Straits but he's not keen especially "Tunnel of Love"

Yes, Squier are good, the only thing is they weigh more than the Pacifica.

Second hand electric guitars are excellent value.

Definitely full size. If he wants to play electric there's no reason not to start with that. DS1 started learning at 9/10 and didn't get an acoustic until 14 or so. Squier are a decent starting point. Not sure if you have a PMT store near you but they're brilliant, would definitely recommend popping in and having a talk to staff if you're able. Good for second hand instruments too, DS has a keyboard from them that was £200 cheaper than buying new and you'd never know it was pre-owned.

www.pmtonline.co.uk/stores/

We have a local shop that has been hugely helpful to us. I'm sure they see DS as an investment, so by encouraging him to start small he would constantly return and spend ever increasing amounts of money.

They also helped him find his current guitar and encouraged him to look at pre-owned as a way of getting much more guitar for our his money.

He currently has 6 guitars and plays at least 3 hours a day. Our neighbours are truly saints