Guitar for female starters?

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1
Hi all.

I just started learning to play guitar 6 months ago but already have inspired my sister. But the thing is, she’s more interested in bass. So, can you advise which bass is suitable for female starter like her? She is 16 btw, not a junior.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 
Squier Bronco, Squier mini P-bass, Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass, or the Sterling short-scale Stingray (Music Man's chinese-manufactured line) if you want to go a little further up-market.
 
Ibanez rg with a wizard 3 neck.

The bodies are sculpted to fit around their anatomy. The wizard 3 is a small rounded neck that is perfect for smaller hands.

Plus, they are a dime a dozen and relatively inexpensive.
 
We all assume that girls have small hands, but it's not necessarily true. My bass player has super long fingers, for example.

So, before I make a recommendation, how big are your sisters hands compared to yours?
 
What efforts has she taken to go to a store to try them? If she doesn't at least try don't bother, brother.
 
i was being a yanker when i suggested buying her a gibson, but heres the double deal, at 16 is she gonna take it serious and make it part of her being or will she find new friends next week and take up pottery... and the second side of the deal is that at 16 i bought my first guitar, (2nd... i was given an accoustic for christmas one year) and so there is the conundrum ... let her pick out a bass and have her pay at least half, that way she wont choose the gibson unless she is willing to work for it
 
If he doesn't take her to a store to look at these things, hold them in her hands, let her bond with them ... she's a kid that needs to be exposed to things, and I guarantee she'll like going to a store and trying them. I'm not saying she should go into a store by herself, and she's not a hermit ... the big bro' should take her, guide her. My sister did that for me, and I've had a guitar in my life for 45 years. At the store Bro' should say, try this one, try that one, try this amp, that's a nice color, how does it feel, how does it sound. It doesn't matter that she can't play it now, she will, and it has to be her choice, not some anonymous cipher on a guitar website. His sister will remember that store day for the rest of her life. My sister had been playing for almost a year, when she took me, not too far off Bro's number of months.

It might be she'll like an ovation celebrity acoustic bass (I wound up with an ovation celebrity when sis took me), it's important she tries it and it's her choice. Take her to a couple stores.
 
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It's not just hands and arm reach, but in an effort to not sound crass, bust size and shape. My wife had wanted to try playing instruments, but she always found that placing them in her lap was always a problem due to her chest. She couldn't find a comfortable position to place the instrument in consideration of her body, and that frustration led to giving up. I'm sure we could've found her an instrument to be more comfortable and accommodating, but it wasn't a driving force in her life enough to try.

Conversely, I know female musicians who've adjusted how they hold and position their instruments to compensate, and they are of all shapes and sizes.

The actual model of the instrument is honestly irrelevant. Going to a store to find the right one that fits and is comfortable to play, both in seated and standing positions, is more important.

Also, I agree with not leaping to conclusions that a 16-year-old girl has smaller hands. We have no idea. She may be 6'2" for all we know. Or she may be 5'1" with long, slender fingers or 5'10" with short stubby fingers. Whether she sticks with it for 10-15 years is also irrelevant. She's interested now, so don't gate-keep. She may lose interest in 2 years, or she may not. But I guarantee that if the "oh, you can't play because....." gets piled on now, then it's a guarantee that she won't stick with it because the cards have been stacked against her before she even gets a chance.

Go to a big store, Guitar Center if need be. Let her try some instruments out. Let her explore. She's 16. It's her first time trying out an instrument. It's exciting. Let her get more excited. Doesn't matter if it's a $100 Rogue or $200 Samick or $300 Squier.

Then, if she becomes a prodigious phenom like Tina S., then upgrade. But give her the chance to figure that out. Let her try some different instruments in person and see how they feel. Again, model & brand are irrelevant at this stage.

Price, sure. You're not going to get her a genuine Gibson Thunderbird ;)
 
i agree with all that, guitars _bases , are like boots. if they are too big and give you blisters you wont practice
 
You know, the above is excellent advice. Take her to a store. Let her try everything. Be the guitar valet for her and get her to mess about with all of it. One thing: take her when there are not a lot of wankers around. That can be distracting / intimidating for a new player.
 
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You know, the above is excellent advice. Take her to a store. Let her try everything. Be the guitar valet for her and get her to mess about with all of it. One thing: take here when there are not a lot of wankers around. That can be distracting / intimidating for a new player.

And also, make it clear to whoever is helping you that your sister is the customer. Sadly, I have been in lots of guitar stores where the dudes (yeah, it's almost always dudes working there) were utter condescending d!cks to my wife when she accompanied me, even when she was the one operating the pocketbook. If there's a woman working the guitar department, it may turn out to be totally worthwhile to wait for her to be available if the dudes are vibing you wrong. Or take your business elsewhere, if you have local options.
 
I must be blessed where I live, I have five stores within a 25 minute drive of my house, and only one them is guitar center. Four I can get there by bus. My favorite though, I gotta drive.
 
I must be blessed where I live, I have five stores within a 25 minute drive of my house, and only one them is guitar center. Four I can get there by bus. My favorite though, I gotta drive.
Remember when Guitar Center was called "Guitars Etc."? I think. I purchased my first electric there a Mateo Les Paul copy and a Peavey backstage ss wonder!
 
Actually ... I don't remember that as GC was a johnny come lately west coast outfit... so I have no idea of it's history other than the guy who originally owned was really good salesman and stumbled into the 60's when the guitar was taking off .... Who knew, right ...

My world had Sam Ash, Manny's Music and the stores on 48th street, just over the border in nj was Victor's House of Music, though, I got my first guitar at Alto music in Monsey, NY. All those places are gone, I think, maybe they are Guitar Centers now, or replaced by crappy steel skyscrapers, condos upstairs and street level retail, stores with nothing but ATM machines or Apple junk.

There was a wonderful pizza shop down the street from Office in Brooklyn, that I went to for years. Great place to meet people and talk about business. Then one day the owner and I are talking and he said he could make more money renting his second story as a store room, and the downstairs as an ATM farm. And like that, a neighborhood place disappeared into the dismal tide. Ugh.
 
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Actually ... I don't remember that as GC was a johnny come lately west coast outfit... so I have no idea of it's history other than the guy who originally owned was really good salesman and stumbled into the 60's when the guitar was taking off .... Who knew, right ...

My world had Sam Ash, Manny's Music and the stores on 48th street, just over the border in nj was Victor's House of Music, though, I got my first guitar at Alto music in Monsey, NY. All those places are gone, I think, maybe they are Guitar Centers now, or replaced by crappy steel skyscrapers, condos upstairs and street level retail, stores with nothing but ATM machines or Apple junk.

There was a wonderful pizza shop down the street from Office in Brooklyn, that I went to for years. Great place to meet people and talk about business. Then one day the owner and I are talking and he said he could make more money renting his second story as a store room, and the downstairs as an ATM farm. And like that, a neighborhood place disappeared into the dismal tide. Ugh.
Rick I thought you were in Puyallup
 
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