Amigo 1/2 Size Classical Guitar for Kids or Children

by rkoehler on 2009/10/30

1/2 Size acoustic guitar
Perfect for a child students first guitar

Product Description
The Amigo 1/2 Size Classical Guitar is great for kids or children! It is a 32'' long half-size European classical guitar with nylon strings, solid spruce top, and beech sides and back. Includes a 5-year warranty. Perfect for classroom or home use!... More >>

Amigo 1/2 Size Classical Guitar for Kids or Children

Tagged as: Amigo, Children, Classical, Guitar, Kids, Size

{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }

J. Jacobs October 30, 2009 at 9:31 am: I ordered this guitar for my 7-year old daughter for Christmas – not being a guitar player myself, I was relying on the advice of a neighbor. He told me that my daughter’s first guitar should absolutely have nylon strings – in order to ease the pain on her fingers until her interest in the instrument solidifies. Anyway, I looked around for a nylon string guitar, but the guitar stores around where I live were out of them… so, I ordered from Amazon. The product description says “nylon strings” but when it arrived, it had 3 nylon strings and 3 steel strings. When I wrote to the company, their explanation was that it is a “classical” guitar, meaning it has 3 steel & 3 nylon. Many of you probably know that already, but I didn’t – and it certainly wasn’t clear (and still isn’t) in the product description. And so I’m a bit annoyed, because to ship it back is going to be costly, and the shipping to get it to me by Christmas was also not cheap. So… if you want all nylon strings, DON’T order this guitar.
Rating: 3 / 5
Sarah Galperin October 30, 2009 at 11:20 am: Amigo 1/2 Size Classical Guitar for Kids or Children

I was very surprised with the quality of the sound. If you are looking for a small guitar for your young child, this one is a very good bet. A real classical guitar for the price of a toy one.

Rating: 5 / 5
S. Mo October 30, 2009 at 11:40 am: We bought this guitar for our son for Christmas after reading the positive reviews. It’s better than the piece of junk you get from a toy store, but definitely not a real instrument. The strings do not hold tone – our boy still prefers to play with Daddy’s guitars. We kept this one just so the little one can bang it on the floor instead of the real guitars. Quite disappointed, I’d have to say!
Rating: 2 / 5
M. Horton October 30, 2009 at 1:22 pm: When our son decided he wanted to take guitar lessons instead of piano like his older brother I was a little nervous. But we found a good classical guitar instructor and went shopping for his first guitar. I read every review for every 1/2 size guitar I could find here and other forums. I bought this one. My son loves it, but more importantly his teacher loves it. It is the perfect size for my 7 year old and it holds tune very well. The first few weeks he had it tuned everyweek because the strings were still streching, but it now sounds great. It has 3 nylon and 3 steel strings, typical for this type of guitar. If you are looking for a guitar for a serious student then this is the one. You’ll love it!
Rating: 5 / 5
A. Montilla October 30, 2009 at 3:57 pm: I was hesitant to purchase this guitar but based on the reviews and the fact that this guitar is one of the top sellers I decided to buy one for my seven year old child. I didn’t know what to expect since I have not purchased an Amigo before; the brand does not even have its own website. Overall the construction is good. The satin finish and unfinished interior look clean. I can attest to the fact that the top IS SOLID and not laminate.

The original strings sounded absolutely dead so I swapped them with D’Addario EJ45s. The tuners were fine but I went ahead and swapped them with Gotoh economy lyra style classical tuners from stewmac.com, which was basically a plug and play operation. I had to make two new holes for two screws; I basically used pressure to seat the screws. A gig bag does not come with the guitar so I had to search high and low for a nice padded gig bag that would fit the below dimensions. Action is high. I had to lower the height at the bone saddle and synthetic nut. I lowered the saddle by sanding it down with sandpaper. For the nut, I purchased some inexpensive (< $30) nut files and used them to lower the action at the nut. The fretboard looks dyed black. Fret ends are smooth.

Approximate dimensions: Overall length – 32 3/8″; body length – 15″; upper bout width – 9″; waist width – 7 13/16″; lower bout width – 11 1/2″; body depth – 3 15/16″; scale – 20 1/2″; nut width 1 3/4″; E to E string width – 2 1/8″.

Now to the good part. The size is perfect for my child. With the new strings, the sound is surprisingly good. The tone, helped by the solid top, is enjoyable to listen to if not as resonant and rich as a full size quality classical guitar. The body does resonate when plucking the strings. Does not sound boxy at all. With some minor upgrades and adjustments, I am very happy with this guitar, although I did have to pay a little bit more to replace the strings, tuning machines (optional Gotohs from stewmac.com), purchase a new gig bag (purchased one on eBay from 2Kool4Skool, which fit perfectly!), purchase sandpaper and nut files (from eBay) to take care of the action at the saddle and nut.
Rating: 4 / 5