Yamaha JR1 3/4 Scale Mini Folk Guitar with Soft Gigbag

This guitar is good for a 5-9 year old. It's a beautiful guitar but a small 3/4 size guitar. The scale length of an average 3/4 guitar should be around 22.75" and this only has a 20-21" scale length. That makes a difference if you are looking to fit a 9-12 year old.

Other than the scale length, I would say this is a good guitar. So if you are looking for a young child and want a step up from a toy, then this would be your choice.

Just for background: I am not a professional musician, but I have been playing guitar and piano for over forty years. I own several guitars. I just purchased this for my nine-year-old daughter. I had originally ordered a Luna Aurora Faerie guitar but sent it back. The Luna was mostly plastic and assembled so poorly, that calling it anything but a toy would be untrue. The Yamaha is another story. It actually has a spruce top, wooden bridge and adjustable truss bar. It is a real guitar in every sense of the word. It is a true 3/4 scale guitar despite was others with little or no knowledge of guitars have posted. The out-of-box action (string height) is good and can be played "as is." For a better experience, it should be taken to a guitar shop and adjusted (set up) properly. Action is adjusted by raising or lowering the neck or bridge nut, not by adjusting the truss rod - as many people attempt to do.

As to the sound, it's great! A 3/4 scale guitar is not going to project...Read more

While this guitar is an acceptable guitar for a young person, I would never consider it for use as a travel guitar. The action was extremly high, and a complete setup was needed, unlike many other Yamaha guitars I've owned.

I mostly bought this one because of my other experiences with Yamaha products. If I had it to do again, I would go to the local Guitar Center and compare the other available models in this price range.