Note: Here I have compiled 7 of the best 1/2 size guitar after personally testing them myself. This review contains detailed information along with relevant cons that will help you conveniently compare and select the most suitable model based on you or your child’s needs.
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Are you tired of the non-compact and non-travel-friendly guitars?
Imagine you enjoying your music with the comfort you always expected to have. Imagine your fingers playing the instrument to the rhythm of your heart. Doesn’t it feel amazing?
Here are the best 1/2 size guitar that fit under everyone’s budget.
Things to know
How to use this guide
In this guide, I’ve put down my top picks for a 1/2 size guitar that can be played by both adults and children. Along with that, I’ve also added some tips to help you decide whether 1/2 size guitar is right for you.
Tips for buying
1/2 size guitar is right for you if you feel like 3/4 or 7/8 size is too big for you. If you’re buying one for your child you can look for a budget option cause they might outgrow the size soon and want to switch to full-size.
If you have the doubt, is a half-size guitar suitable for me? Then continue reading. You might be in need of one. Also, for more clarity, here’s a guitar size comparison chart to show you different guitar size options that you get.
Half Size guitars are the best for you if you often feel uncomfortable holding up regular-sized guitars. Or, if you have small hands or palms, you might feel uncomfortable playing around with the normal-sized guitars. Also, if you travel a lot and you can allocate much space for your instrument, then half-sized guitars are made for someone like you.
Related blog: How To Choose Guitar Size For Kids (with Size Chart)
Source: Picture of Yamaha CGS102A taken while testing the guitar
I tested 7 guitars and decided that this Yamaha CGS102A is the best 1/2 size guitar for most uses.
With all that being discussed, are you ready to hop on the amazingly compact and comfortable guitars? Dive in and scroll through the listings given below.
All the guitars that are listed here are selected based on their efficiency and the comfortability to play around with the instrument. Also various details like the wood material, strings are also added under the consideration. You can’t go wrong if you go with any of these options.
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Top 7 Best 1/2 Size Guitar
TOP PICK
The Yamaha CGS102A comes with Meranti body material, the neck part is built with Nato wood, and the fretboard is built with rosewood material. The string is made with Nylon material to produce softer tunes. It’s the top choice for 1/2 size classical guitar.
How does it sound?
The guitar provides softer sounds with the help of nylon strings. The Meranti body material helps in giving out crisp notes without tone fluctuations. And the rosewood fretboard helps in providing the midrange toned sounds.
How does it feel?
The well-constructed glossy finish and the compact size helps in providing the best comfort. Feels more comfortable for people with small hands.
Also, this instrument is comfortable even for kids who want to skill up with guitars.
Pros
- Meranti body material produces crisp sound
- Extremely good playability
- Comfortable even for kids
- Beginner-friendly guitar
Cons
- Not that durable
BEST ELECTRIC OPTION
The Ibanez GRGM is built with a basswood body and back material to produce an even mid-range tone. Mickle strings are used in this guitar to produce warm tones gracefully. The neck is built with GRGM maple material. It is regarded as one of the best half size electric guitar.
The guitar is well suited for humbucking pickups with its H pickup configuration. Also, for the output, the guitar has high infinity R pickups.
How does it sound?
The Ibanez guitar helps in producing more of the warm undertone sounds with humbucking pickups.
It helps in producing the same frequencies that are comfortable to recreate the sound.
How does it feel?
The guitar comes with a 22.2-inch scale neck that makes it comfortable for travel purposes and young guitarists. Also, this guitar is well suited for beginners with its user-friendly nature.
Pros
- Super comfortable for travel purposes
- Value for money
- Clear pickups improve the instrument’s efficiency
Cons
- Not the best finish on a guitar
- Doesn’t stay in tune
MOST POPULAR
Here’s the cute range of the guitars specially built-in for the kids. The WINZZ kids’ electric guitar is built with solid wood as the back material and wood as the main body material. The neck and fretboard part is built with maple material for producing hard and snappy tones. The steel-string material gives you crisp and bright tones.
Also, this guitar comes in seven different colors. And the glossy premium finish helps in providing the elite feel.
How does it sound?
The steel strings of the guitar give you the crisp and sharp tunes that you expected. The volume control feature in the guitar helps with better volume adjustment.
How does it feel?
The bright and glossy finish of the guitar helps me providing positive energy while holding up the instrument. The skilled craftsmanship in the guitar provided you the cozy comfort while playing the instrument. Availability of all the accessories like a gig bag, cable, extra strings, strap, two picks, amplifier in the single instrument makes it more comfortable.
Pros
- Comes with all-you-need accessories
- Best for beginners and kids
- Well-secured frets
Cons
- The strap you get in the pack is a bit flimsy
The Ortega family series 1/2 size guitar comes with a Mahogany body, back, and neck material, and the fretboard comes with walnut material. And the strings are built with Nylon material.
How does it sound?
The nylon strings in the guitar help in generating more mellower and softer sounds. It helps with faster string replacements as well.
And the instrument is suitable to play pop, rock, country, classical, flamenco, solo, and folk.
The spruce top material helps in providing powerful tones.
How does it feel?
The instrument is built with premium construction quality, and that’s what makes it a comfortable device to carry around.
The deluxe bag in the guitar makes it more comfortable for the musician.
Pros
- Best suited for playing classics
- Great output pickups
- More comfortable with the deluxe padded bags
Cons
- The efficiency of the Low E string could have been better
The Cordoba C1M guitar comes with the Mahogany body, back, and neck material. The fretboard comes with the Morado to give the dense sounds. You get Nylon strings with this guitar.
How does it sound?
With the help of Morado, fretboard material generates deeper sounds.
The mahogany material in the body generates a solid and punchy tone to the tunes.
Well suited for classical music styles, and hence it can be a suitable one for people interested in that specific genre.
How does it feel?
The compact size makes it easier to carry around during travel time.
Helps in delivering the expected results.
Pros
- The instrument allows you to switch between styles easily
- Longer lasting with good sound quality
Cons
- Better bridge efficiency is needed
The Hohner 6 string acoustic guitar comes in a natural color with Agathis as the top, back, and body material. And the neck is built with the Mahogany material and the fretboard with hardwood material.
You get an H guitar pickup configuration with this Hohner 6 string acoustic guitar. The strings are built with Nylon.
This is a half-size classical guitar with sturdy built quality.
How does it sound?
With the Nylon strings, the user can make more soft and melodious sounds. Also, guitar configuration letslets you generate the humbucking pickups.
How does it feel?
The light gauge Nylon strings help in giving smooth finger movements. Comfortable for players of the age 5 to 9. The material gives a crisp texture all over the instrument.
Pros
- It comes with one year warranty
- Well suited for younger players
- Feels light and comfortable to play with
Cons
- Tuners are a little thin
The Oscar Schmidt OGHS-A-U half-size guitar is built with spruce body material, catalpa wood back material. And the neck comes with Mahogany material. You get steel strings with this guitar.
This instrument is built by targeting the younger guitarists, and hence it’s more light and portable.
How does it sound?
The guitar provides a more clear and deep acoustic experience. The sound projection is maintained well in this guitar.
How does it feel?
The instrument comes with a weight of 4.69 pounds; hence it is more comfortable for children. And the compact dimension of 41×7.75×15.5 makes it easier for traveling as well.
Pros
- Easier to move around the fingers
- Ideal instrument for people with small hands
- Available also in the left-hand version
Cons
- Not super comfortable for beginners
So the above are some of the best ½ size guitars that you can have in your collection.
Most of the time half size guitars are built for younger artists as the target customer. But there are also many adults with smaller palms or hands smaller. And for them playing the instrument with a bigger or normal size might be difficult. Hence it’s a little tricky to pick one professional guitar for such adults. That is why here I am presenting the best ½ size guitars that suit well for both the kids and the adults.
How we Pick & Test our Guitars
I’m a female guitarist so I’ve faced size issues since the time I picked up a guitar. A regular guitar to me is a jumbo-sized guitar. My arena is 3/4 guitars, my go-to being a Baby Taylor – my point being, I know a thing or two about smaller-sized guitars. So, in this article, I’ve put down the guitars that I thought ticked most boxes in my checklist while I tested them. Here’s what the checklist consisted of:
- 1/2 size guitars that almost sound as good as full-sized ones
- The fretting is not compromised around the 10th & 12th frets
- The volume of the acoustic guitars is not compromised
- Affordable guitars by known brands
- Available on renowned marketplaces with the good return policy
I played things a beginner would want to learn on their first guitar - chords, finger exercises and basic scales to test the guitars’ output & playability.
I promise that these guitars are some of the best 1/2 size guitars you can find in the market but I do recommend going down to a local music store and getting your hands on different sizes of guitars. No one can be a better judge for your comfort other than you.
How to choose your best ½ size guitar?
The first thing you need to take into consideration is whether your hands are easy to move from the neck part to the strings. If the instrument is not comfortable for you to move around the strings from the neck part, then it gets a little frustrating. So, ensure that you are comfortable with moving your hands around the instrument.
Also, there are various other sizes available like ¼, ½, ¾, ⅞. So you can go around with the options, have your hands on them, and then you can choose the one that’s fitting well for you.
Though there are various sizes available, the half-sized guitars are the ones that are fitting well for a majority of people.
Should kids purchase only ½ sized guitars?
Short answer – No, that’s not necessary.
If your kid has a little bigger palms, then half-sized guitars might be difficult for them. In that case, you can go for a normal-sized guitar.
There is no specification like only kids or adults should choose half-sized guitars.
What are the categories I need to consider before purchasing a half-size guitar?
Before purchasing your best ½ sized guitar, you need to consider three things first. They are,
- The headstock
- The neck
- The body
The headstock is the top part of the guitar. Sometimes, this headstock might be absent in many guitars, and they are termed headless guitars.
But, if your guitar has a headstock too, then you should also consider it while measuring the height.
So, the first thing you need to note down is to calculate the guitar’s total height.
Then measure down the scale length of the guitar. Scale is the space where you are going to work on majorly. Now consider if the total length of the guitar and the scale length of the guitar will work for you. If the answer is yes, then you can consider going for that guitar.
If the neck length of the guitar is too big for you, then there are chances for you to lose your balance. Hence it is important to note if the neck size of the guitar is comfortable for you to balance. Also, check if you are comfortable with moving your hands from the neck part to the body.
Because if it is not comfortable, then it’s going to be frustrating in the long run.
Also, choosing a guitar in an uncomfortable size leads to more pain while playing and doesn’t let you play at peace. So always ensure your guitar size is letting you be comfortable playing around with the strings.
Though there are plenty of categories like the material used, bridge configuration, pickup configuration, and more, all these will come only after the comfort to play. If you are not feeling comfortable with the instrument’s structure, you are not going to enjoy the other qualities of the device. Hence it is crucial to check on the size.
Consider your guitar purchase as like you purchase your outfit. Only if it fits into your size, you’ll purchase it. So always keep that in mind when making your guitar purchase.
In conclusion
Coming to the end of the article, I feel like now you have more insights into the various options for choosing your best ½ size guitars. So go through every guitar and analyze which one is aligning the best with your interests. Then make your purchase. Before any other quality of the instrument, comfort should come first. The rest of the qualities will stay behind. Only then you’ll enjoy the complete musical journey.
Never let that musician in you work under stress. Let the inner artist fly around to the rhythm of the heart and cherish every moment of the musical journey.
Tania B.
Ola! I am Tania and I have studied music at Trinity College, London. My love for music started early when I was about 12 years old and I've been around the block when it comes to problems while buying a guitar that suits all your needs. I hope you find my tips useful!
