I have seen a bunch of blog posts on “best acoustic guitars”, but these are all full-sized guitars and they dont suit me. You see I am not a very big guy so a full-sized guitar for me is very uncomfortable to use at least in longer sessions. So to find a guitar I went to the guitar store, tried a bunch of different brands, sizes and types of guitars and eventually I was left with a few favorites, and these are the once I will write for you today.
The guitar I eventually ended up buying was the Baby Taylor BT2, I found it to be the most comfortable guitar of them all and sounded great as well. Under this paragraph, you will find a table of my favorites, and below the table, you will find a brief review of every single guitar with some additional information on how I choose these at the end.
I hope you find this article helpful, enjoy.
9 Best Acoustic Guitars For Small Hands
Baby Taylor BT2
Baby Taylor BT2
Premium Option
Yamaha FG800
Premium Option
Yamaha FG800
Most Populare
Martin LXK2
Most Populare
Martin LXK2
Budget Option
Taylor Academy
Budget Option
Taylor Academy
1. Baby Taylor BT2 – Best Overall
- 6-string Acoustic Guitar with Mahogany Top
- Layered Sapele Back
- Sides - Natural
As I mentioned briefly in my introduction the Baby Taylor BT2 was the guitar I ended up purchasing during my search for a guitar that suited my hand size, I have been using it for the past three months and I must say I am very happy with this purchase!
The sound is well rounded and has a good base to it still if it’s a small-sized guitar. I have been playing guitar for 3 years now, but I have never taken the time or the money to purchase a new and smaller guitar because I simply was afraid it wouldnt be good, but after this purchase, I have totally flipped my thought-process on smaller guitars.
The baby Taylor is crafted with a dreadnought body featured with a mahogany top and layered sapele on the back and sides. I really like the look of the guitar, but was not the reason for the purchase. The reason was the sound quality and comfort this guitar brings to the table.
In terms of sound, there is nothing negative to say, it has a mahogany top that provides warmth and admirable dynamics into the voice of the guitar. Still, if it’s small it still has a great bass which I found was lacking on a lot of its competitors. Dont get me wrong, it’s not at the level of a full-sized guitar, but from a small guitar perspective it’s as good as it can be.
Overall I really enjoy the guitar and I am sure will continue to do so for a long time forward. If you have small hands and are looking for an excellent mini guitar then here you go. If you are confident in the Baby Taylor yet then spare yourself 2 minutes to check what others have said on amazon and I am sure you will become a member of the raving Baby Taylor BT2 club as well.
Features:
- 3/4 Size – Great for people with small hands, but also for travel.
- Sounds excellent
- Comfortable to use
- Featured with mahogany top, sapele back and sides
- Comes with a bag
Martin LXK2 Little Martin – Runner Up
- "1-style" Sitka spruce bracing
- Martin's patented neck mortise
- C.F. Martin script logo on headstock
Martin LXK2 is another great option, when I was at the guitar store I had a huge dilemma choosing between the Martin LXK2 and the Baby Taylor BT2.
Straight from the box LXK2 comes with perfect action and a perfect fretboard that feels great.
In terms of sound, quality and engineering I couldn’t find much negative to such, however, the strings seemed to be of low quality so if I were to buy it I would switch them when you have the option to do so.
During my research, I have found that this guitar does very well in durability, temperature, and sound. It features a solidly built body made of Koa with a photo laminated finish that looks really good. The tuning works well and doesn’t seem to be affected by temperature compared to other guitars I have tried in the past.
Keep in mind that this is a small guitar without any electric systems such as a pickup or amplifier so if you are thinking of performing on stage or bigger events then you should look into finding an electro-acoustic guitar instead.
Being a small guitar the sound is great and there is nothing negative to say about other parts on guitar either, besides the strings. If you are looking for a guitar bring on your travels, church or to suit you if you are a smaller sized guitarist then I am sure you will be pleased with the LXK2.
Taylor Academy – Premium Option (A+++)
- 6-string Acoustic Guitar with Sitka Spruce Top
- Layered Sapele Back Sides
- Hard Rock Maple Neck
Finally, the Taylor Academy. I tried to include most guitars that are in the lower price range in this list, but I just had to include the Taylor Academy. The Academy is a bot longer than the 3/4 guitars, but still, a tad shorter than your regular full-sized guitars and the body is smaller as well which is very comfortable to hold and play.
In addition to the smaller body and length, they have filed down the side on the body to make the armrest more comfortable. Actually the academy is very similar to all the other guitars on this list in terms of measurements, the neck has the same comfortable shape and they all have the same nut width. What makes the Taylor academy worth its higher price is the higher quality materials, better engineering, and overall sound.
In terms of sound, it’s great, it has lower lows and higher highs with an underlying bright tone. The academy is very easy to play on as well, it has a low string height and easy to fret neck.
The design of the guitar is on the basic side which won’t appeal to all of you guys, but I sincerely appreciate the quality and effort Taylor has put into it so for me the design is not a major set back.
Overall it’s an exceptional small guitar that oses of quality and great engineering. If you are looking to get a head start on your music carrier with a great guitar then this is a great place to start.
Oscar Schmidt OG1FYS – Budget Option
- 3/4 size Acoustic steel string guitar
- High gloss Select spruce top, engineered wood fretboard
- Flame yellow sunburst
The oscar Schmidt is a great option for those of you who are looking to get a start on the guitar, but dont want to spend all your savings. In terms of size its very similar to the others on this list, its 3/4 size of a full-sized guitar. Featured with a mahogany neck that is slim and comfortable to use, and a spruce body.
In terms of looks, this is my personal favorite, the color combinations are on point and on amazon you even have the option to choose between a variety of different colors.
When we are speaking a sound the Oschar Schmidt performs surprisingly well in terms of its price, it’s not on the same level as the Baby Taylor BT2, but it’s not too far away.
If you are looking for a budget-friendly option to get started on your music carrier the Oscar Schmidt is an excellent choice.
Fender Squier 3/4
- Full-size steel-string acoustic that offers big sound at a...
- All-laminate construction with lindenwood top and mahogany...
- Scalloped "X"-bracing, mahogany neck and a durable...
Electric, beginner, and budget-friendly
Now for those of you are looking to acquire an electric guitar, I made the last part of the reviews just for you. The Fender Squier is an excellent guitar that comes at a very low price. The set I will link to is the one I purchased to my son, its a great purchase but I dont recommend the set with the amplifier, it’s small and you can get more for your money by purchasing one separate on the side.
Besides the amp that comes along on a few selected packages, the Fender Squier 3/4 is a dream for those of you who are looking to get a guitar that suits your small hands. It comes at a small price and the sound quality is better than what you would expect from this price range.
The guitar is crafted for beginners for small hands and I think they have done an excellent choice of making a good guitar that simultaneously is cheap and sounds good.
Fender Kurt Cobain
- A DiMarzio hum bucking DP103 PAF 36th Anniversary neck...
- A modern "c" shaped neck and a 24" scale length give you a...
- Accessories include a black textured vinyl hard-shell case...
Premium Option, The Dream Guitar
To describe this Fender Curt Cobain in short it would be, A piece of art. This is a guitar of supreme quality and craftsmanship. When you get this one in the mail it will be in a messy condition since it’s shipped straight from the manufacturer where it probably has been stored for who knows how long. In addition to this, there is a film by the pickup which is troublesome to remove. I would recommend you go to a guitar store to get the film removed if you dont have to much time on your hands.
Now that was the cons, let’s take a look at the pros. When you have gotten past the annoying set-up phase you will be left with a guitar that will tear your eyes up. I still have this guitar to this day and it is one of my all-time favorites. I remember when I first saw the Kurt Cobain guitar, I couldn’t get my eyes off it. It’s a great guitar that looks good, feels good and sounds remarkable.
In terms of features, it comes with a standard 3 single-coil pickup, and a classic five-way switch reeling that gives you a variety of sound options making it possible to use for everything from jazz and blues to rock.
If you have the money to buy this beast, dont hesitate. It’s a one of kind guitar that will make you smile from ear to ear each time you make a play at it.
Ibanez GRGM21BKN – Most For The Money
- The first Ibanez compact guitar
- 22" scale Maple neck offers low tension and small size
- Perfect for beginners
This is a 3/4 guitar crafted with a mahogany body and a 22″-scale maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard. The 22-scale neck is very comfortable to hold that is rounded off, not to thin nor to thick.
With the mahogany body that reflects a nice sound with a warm tone combined with a double humbucker duo with an extended cord, you are perfectly set up for some headbanging solos and rock music in general.
In terms of sound, it has a punchy mid, prominent low with bright trebles to round up the sonic output. This guitar gives you everything you would need or wish for in an electric guitar, the only difference between this one and the legendary aforementioned Dinky guitar is the size.
I am pretty how that list turned out, all my favorites combined into one blog post doesn’t get much better than that. Now let’s take a look at the informational side of things. Below I will go through a few of the key things you should look at or read more about before making a purchase.
What To Look For When Buying A Guitar For Smaller Hands
There are a few key points you should look when purchasing a guitar to suit your smaller hands and that is:
Shorten fingerboard
A shorten fingerboard will allow you to do more advanced chords without having to stretch your fingers too far out. In general, the shorter the guitar is the more compact the fingerboard will be as well. The ideal string lenght I would recommend you to look for is between 22 inches and 24.6 inches. This way you should be able to play more comfortably since you will require less finger lenght and less power.
Smaller Body
There is no point in having a huge guitar with great sound if you can touch the strings. If you have short hands then make sure to find a smaller body that suits you arm lenght, that way you will be a lot more comfortable compared to a full-sized guitar.
However, if you are going to buy a full-sized guitar then you should look for one with a thinner body, this will allow you to hold the guitar closer to the body, thus making more room to handle guitar the way you want. Just take a look at this 9-year-old who handles an electric guitar just perfectly.
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You can notice easy it is for her to reach the strings she wants to because the body of the guitar is so close to its body.
slim neck
The slim neck will help you to both do the chords easier and overall more comfortable to play. This is probably the most important factor to look after for us with smaller hands. With a thick neck, it will be close impossible to do the chords you wish for, at least in a practical manner.
Just take a look at the difference between these 4 types of guitar necks. As you can imagine the far-right version will be substantially easier to use for someone with smaller hands compared to the neck on the far left side.
If you can find a full-sized guitar with a neck looking like the one on the far-right side I am sure you could play the guitar, still if you had the smallest hands of them all.
if you are now considering to purchase a full guitar then take a look at this list of the best acoustic guitars.
Why you consider a full-sized guitar instead
Most people that start out their music carrier won’t necessarily need a smaller sized guitar, a lot of people believe they do when they actually dont, let me explain a bit further. When you are playing the guitar your fingers and hands are forced to stretch into unnormal positions causing pain in your fingers. At this point, a lot of people give up or just come to the conclusion that they need smaller guitar when in reality their fingers are just not trained for the strain you are putting on them.
I had a 9-year-old visit me in the store who played on a full-sized guitar perfectly just because he had been playing for a while. On the opposite side, I have had adults with large hands that didnt managed to do standard chords. Just check out the girl in the video above, still, if you have small hands you can probably handle a full-sized guitar perfectly as long as it suits you.
What you can achieve by learning to play on a full-sized guitar
If you are able to train your fingers to handle the strain a full-sized guitar can put on your finger you now have the luxury of going to a guitar shop and being able to use all of them giving you a larger pool of guitars to choose from.
In terms of sound, a full-sized guitar will provide more punch and volume compared to reduced sized guitar.
What Strings should you choose, steel vs nylon
I can’t say which string size you use since this is a choice that depends on your personal preference. I mainly play on nylon strings because I like the soft and calm tone it gives. However, if you love rock, jazz or blues you should go for one of the electric guitars I have mentioned in this article since these will give you the punchy metallic sound you want in order to play rock and similar types of music styles.
If you are a beginner and have no musical preference then I would recommend you to go for nylon strings. The reason for this is that they take less toll on your fingers allowing you to play for a longer period without having to take a break because of the pain.
Conclusion
I hope you found this article helpful, I tried to add my own perspective on why people should not use a smaller guitar, I hope that didnt turn your mind into a dilemma mess. I put a great deal of effort making this post the best as it could be. It’s hard reviewing my favorite guitars without favoring one or the other.
Did you find one of your likings? Did you learn something new? If so then great, my job was successful. If no then please let me know why or what I missed. I want to make the best and most helpful articles out there and it’s hard for me to do so if I dont get your precious guidance.
Have yourself an awesome dag and I hope you will find the guitar of your dreams soon enough.
Cheers, Fredrick.