Note: Here I have compiled 11 of the best kid bass guitars, containing detailed information along with relevant cons that will help you conveniently compare and select the most suitable model based on your needs.
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Bass guitars are growing as the popular choice for a kids’ first instrument. And if you are looking for one that is completely tailored to a child’s need, there are some of the nicest bass guitars that are being manufactured today just for kids. If you aren’t a musician yourself, then the task to find the perfect bass gets harder. You don’t want to end up going to a toy store or maybe ordering any XYZ guitar online because it is cheap and has an OK rating. If you buy a guitar like this, your kid will face difficulty playing it; it will be hard to stick with, and the money spent will be wasted.
If you want your kid to develop a love of playing music, it’s worth buying a quality instrument with the right size and which also plays well.
Source: Picture of Squier by Fender Mini Precision Bass taken while testing the guitar
I tested 11 guitars and decided that this Squier by Fender Mini Precision Bass is the best kid bass guitar for most uses.
Here are some things which should be checked before selecting the best bass guitar for kids:
- The neck should be straight and not warped
- Check how well your child can hold the neck; it shouldn’t be too wide
- Make sure it isn’t too heavy
- Check the comfortability by holding the guitar while standing as well as sitting down
- If your kid is between 4-12 years, then a ¾ size bass guitar will be best
If the bass guitar you select fulfils all the conditions mentioned above, then they are the best bass guitar for a kid – guaranteed!
Related article: Choose the right guitar sizes for kids
Now, the list that I have created is a compilation of 11 best kid bass guitars or kids electric bass guitar or jr bass guitar – whatever you want to call it. I just made sure it fulfils all the conditions discussed above and make them the right choice for your little one. Let’s begin!
Quick Summary
| Sr. No | Best Kid Bass Guitars | Weight | Check Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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1. |
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10lbs |
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2. |
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9lbs |
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3. |
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2.4lbs |
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|
|
4. |
|
0.1 lbs |
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|
|
5. |
|
7.93lbs |
|
|
|
6. |
|
0.01lbs |
|
|
|
7. |
|
11lbs |
|
|
|
8. |
|
9lbs |
|
|
|
9. |
|
9lbs |
|
|
|
10. |
|
10.98lbs |
|
|
|
11. |
|
11.3lbs |
|
11 Best Kid Bass Guitars of all time
Perfect Size
The Squier by Fender Mini Precision Bass uses poplar wood for its body. The neck part of the guitar has a Satin finish, and the fingerboard material used is Laurel. It has a 4-Saddle Vintage-Style bridge for solid tuning stability.
How does it sound?
The guitar has nickel and steel strings which produce a full-bodied sound and are smoother to feel. The use of steel strings makes the guitar better-suited for classic rock or more versatile use. The guitar has a Squier split single-coil pickup which is helpful to control the volume and tone for sonic variety. It also has a hardtail bridge for solid tuning stability.
How does it feel?
The guitar has a thin and lightweight body, a short-scale neck, and an easy-to-play C-shaped profile to provide the best comfort when you are playing it. It is a perfect companion for those who want a classic styling and familiar Fender tone in a reduced size.
Pros
- Lightweight and comfortable for kids
- Extremely affordable
- Super beginner-friendly
- Squier split single-coil pickup for fat and punchy tone
Cons
- Not made from the best quality material but still better than most guitars at the price-point
Related Article:11 Best Short Scale Bass Guitars | Buyer’s Guide
Complete Beginner Pack
The Squier by Fender Affinity PJ Beginner Pack has a body made of poplar wood. The neck part of the guitar has a Satin finish, with Laurel being used as the fingerboard material. It has a 2-Saddle Chrome bridge for the single-coil bridge pickup.
How does it sound?
The guitar has alloy steel strings. They are well-suited for playing country, rock, or any other type of music. It has a Fender special design speaker. The guitar has three-band EQ and an aux input to play along with your favourite songs and tracks.
How does it feel?
The guitar has a comfortable and lightweight body and an easy-to-play C-shaped neck. It has a padded gig bag, strap, and a 10-inch cable. The Squier Affinity PJ Bass Pack has everything you need to start and enjoy playing.
Pros
- Comes with All-You-Can-Need accessories
- Lightweight body
- Has an aux input to play-along and practice
Cons
- Setup required to get the best sound out of the guitar
- Minor buzzing
Best Acoustic Bass
The acoustic bass has its body and neck both made of mahogany wood. The fretboard material used is Morado. It has an extended 580 mm scale length to tune itself perfectly to standard E.
How does it sound?
The guitar has nylon strings capable of producing a gentle and mellow sound which is best for kid bass guitars. Its deeper body depth provides the best acoustic bass for kids and provides a well-rounded tone—plugin its Cordoba MB103 pickup to get the bass’s prosperous, robust manner.
How does it feel?
The guitar has a comfortable and lightweight body built with mahogany wood. The nylon and phosphor-bronze strings feel soft and gentle on the fingers and thus are preferred for beginners.
Pros
- Beginner-friendly Nylon strings
- Has a full-size bass feel and sound
- High quality materials
Cons
- Need proper adjustment with truss rod
The Squier by Fender Bronco Bass has its body material made of poplar wood. It has a Satin neck finish, and the fingerboard material used is Laurel. The guitar has a 2-Saddle Chrome bridge and a standard single-coil pickup.
How does it sound?
The guitar has alloy steel strings. They are well-suited for playing country, rock, or any other type of music. It has a short-scale bass suitable for guitarists who need a bass occasionally, as well as for younger beginners. It has a single-coil pickup to get a full and rich sound.
How does it feel?
It has a comfortable C-shaped neck profile to impart a vintage-style feel while playing. It has a thin and lightweight body made up of Ash Wood.
Pros
- Thin and lightweight body
- Short 30-inch scale length
- Single-coil Bronco Bass pickup
Cons
- None
Related Article: 9 Best Lightweight Bass Guitars | Ultimate Guide
The Ibanez TMB 4 String Bass Guitar has a body made of poplar wood, with the neck part of the guitar being made with maple. The fretboard material used is Jatoba.
How does it sound?
The Jatoba fretboard in the guitar produces a rich mid-range with a crisp high end. The guitar also has medium-sized frets to enhance the accuracy of your notes. Dynamix PJ pickups deliver clarity and fullness, and the B10 bridge allows you to adjust the intonation and solid tuning stability.
How does it feel?
The poplar wood used in the body of the guitar delivers a well-balanced tone with incredible thickness. The Maple neck helps provide stability and bright tonal character.
Pros
- A short scale for easy and fast playing
- Has Ibanez custom 2-band EQ which offers a variety of tonal options
- Desirable for guitarists who sometimes double as bass players
Cons
- Slightly thicker neck
The guitar is made up of Basswood, lightweight and comfortable to wear and has a Maple neck. It has a short-scale bass with a big tone. The guitar has a walnut fretboard to give you an easy-playing bass.
How does it sound?
The walnut fretboard helps you to play clean notes. It has a shorter scale neck which helps to produce a little more trebly and throaty sound. It has six frets which make this bass perfect for fast playing.
How does it feel?
The guitar has a comfortable, and lightweight body made up of Basswood. It has a shorter scale length which is perfect for smaller hands and fast fretwork.
Pros
- It has a short-scale bass with a big tone
- Jet body shape which makes it comfortable to play
- Walnut fretboard for faster playability
Cons
- Pickups need a slight improvement.
The Squier by Fender Vintage Jaguar Short Scale Bass has its body made up of Basswood. The fretboard material used is Rosewood with a single-coil guitar pickup configuration.
How does it sound?
The guitar has a short-scale bass which gives you a vast range of tones to play with. It has a Single-Coil Jazz Bass Pickup and a Split Single-Coil Precision Bass pickup for volume controls.
How does it feel?
The guitar has a maple C-shaped neck made up of Polyurethane and a Basswood body for a comfortable feel while playing. The frets are completely even and smooth.
Pros
- Agathis Body
- Mastertone with two volume controls
- Comfortable short-scale feel
Cons
- The outer packaging can be improved
The Dean HILLSBOROJRCBK Hillsboro guitar has a basswood body. The fretboard material used is Rosewood, with maple being used as neck material. It is a budget-friendly guitar for young musicians with great tone and playability.
How does it sound?
It has a small scale length but with no compromise in tone. The guitar has a Split P bass style pickup with volume and tone controls.
How does it feel?
It is a 3/4 Size Electric Bass Guitar. This guitar is an excellent choice for those with smaller fingers and guitarists who occasionally want to switch to bass. It also has a basswood body with a C-shaped maple neck and fretboard for comfortable handling.
Pros
- Die-cast bridge system
- Split P bass style pickup with volume and tone controls.
Cons
- Slight difficulty in maintenance/repair
The G&L Tribute Fallout Short Scale Bass Guitar is a four-string electric bass guitar. Its body and fretboard are made of Rosewood. The neck material used in the guitar is maple.
How does it sound?
Its saddle lock bridge helps to increase resonance and sustain sound. This makes it famous for rock music. It has a three-way mini-toggle that lets you switch between parallel, split-coil, and series modes. This provided the guitar with incredible tonal flexibility.
How does it feel?
Its short-scale bass and saddle lock bridge make the series/split/parallel pickup easy and comfortable. The material used in its body and neck makes it very comfortable.
Pros
- Lightweight body
- 3-way toggle to switch between series/split/parallel configuration
- Easy playing short scale bass
Cons
- Slight buzz on the lower E strings
Related Article: 7 Best Bass Guitar For Small Hands
The Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Short-Scale Bass has a body material of Mahogany and Agathis. The fretboard material used is Rosewood. This series of guitars is believed to provide a massive sound in a compact package.
How does it sound?
The guitar has a shorter scale, but the sound produced is beyond its size. Its standard P and J pickups help to get the classic fat, punchy tone.
How does it feel?
The guitar has a comfortable and lightweight body and provides excellent balance and comfort. Its slim neck profile provides you with exceptional playing comfort and speed. The B10 bridge provides you with an impressive sustain.
Pros
- GSR4 maple neck
- Suitable for people with small hands
- P and J pickups for classic fat and punchy tone
Cons
- The tone knob can be improved (but not a dealbreaker)
The Yamaha RBX Series RBX170 has a body made of mahogany wood. It is a four-string electric bass guitar with a vintage-style bridge. This RBX series is among the best-selling basses of Yamaha.
How does it sound?
The guitar has a P/J pickup arrangement for a great bass tone. Its maple neck and rosewood fingerboard help to provide fast action bass.
How does it feel?
The guitar has a comfortable body with progressive styling. It has a deep cutaway which gives you clean access to its higher registers for soloing. It also has a pronounced upper bout to provide balance to the guitar.
Pros
- Maple neck and rosewood fingerboard
- Apt for beginners
- P/J pickup for great bass tones
Cons
- The packaging can be improved
Therefore, these are the top choices of bass guitars for kids that you can go for. These are selected for their comfortability, neck design, quality of bass, etc., which are apt for your kids and are beginner-friendly.
How we Pick & Test our Guitars
A simple search on the internet will give you tonnes of lookalike lists, many constructed of cheap & non-durable materials. Continuing my checklist from the start of the article, the points for the selection of guitars on this list included:
- Guitars that are made for beginners
- Straight and not warped
- Thin neck, lightweight body
- Body shape that gives a playability and reachability advantage
- Affordable guitars by popular brands
- Available on renowned marketplaces with a good return policy
I played things a beginner would want to learn on their first bass guitar -finger exercises and basic scales to test the guitars’ output & playability.
I highly recommend going down to a local music shop and placing a different size guitars on your little one’s lap to find the perfect match for their body type.
How to learn to play bass for kids?
Learning to play the bass for children is very similar to adults. In this video, you can pick up ways to learn bass from a smaller girl who taught herself to play. I found some tips that apply to kids as well, check it out!
After selecting from the perfect bass guitars and finally purchasing the best suitable for you, now is the time to learn to play it. Before learning the bass guitar, you need to understand some things about its hardware. Some of them are:
- A strap button is used to attach the strap to the bass
- The bridge which secures strings to the body of the bass
- Pickup sound of the bass strings
- Output, in which lead is connected for sending a signal to the amplifier
- Volume, to adjust the bass volume
- Tone, which changes the bass tone
- Nut, to set the height and spacing of the strings
- Turning keys to adjust the tension and pitch of each string
- Frets, to divide the neck into notes
- Fret markers which are used for easier navigation of the fretboard
Have some doubts about whether bass guitar is the right instrument for your kid? Clear your doubt with this article – Is bass guitar easy to learn?
Steps/Tips which you need to follow to learn to play bass for kids:
Holding the Bass: There are two ways to play bass: sitting or standing position. For a good starting position, all you need to do is place the thumb of your left hand in the back of the neck. Then place the left-hand fingers over the fretboard and be ready to press down on the strings. Now place your right-hand thumb on the pickup. That’s all; you are all set to play your bass guitar.
- The Strap: You should always aim to set up the strap height so that the bass is at the same position when you sit or stand. Try to avoid the situation which forces you to bend your wrist too much than required.
- Strings of the Bass guitar: There are three strings in a bass guitar based on its thickness. The E string is thickest, followed by the A-line, which is comparatively thinner. The G string is the lightest among them.
- Plucking and choking: When you are plucking a string, what you need to do is simply place the finger on the line and then bring it back to the thumb or the next series. To choke the note, all you need to do is simply place the finger on the back of the string.
- Turning the bass: The tuning pegs are required to change the tension of a string. To loosen the string or to lower the pitch, you need to turn it clockwise. To tighten the line or raise the angle, you need to turn it anti-clockwise. But take care that you don’t tight the string too much as it can eventually result in a snapped line.
- Fret numbers and markers: There are 12 frets in the bass guitar. To fret a note, you need to press the string down just behind the required fret. This helps to get a rattle and buzz tone.
- Practice: After learning about the hardware and the guitar basics, the approach is what can make you perfect. You can put your kid into guitar teaching channels so that they can learn under an expert. Other than learning from the teacher, your kid needs to set aside some time of the day for individual practice too.
How soon to start kids on bass guitar?
The best age for your kid to start on bass guitar is between 7 to 9 years. Rather than the guitar with six strings, you should go for kid bass guitars with only four strings. The bass guitar is generally more prominent than any other guitar. Therefore, it requires a certain amount of hand strength. This is because the strings are a little larger than usual and thus, require more pressure to play. But there are kid bass guitars or ¾ size bass guitars, which are well-suited for young children.
Beyond these physical requirements, there are also some other things you need to consider to know that your kid is ready to play the bass guitar. These things are:
- You need to know whether your child is interested in music and wants to learn more. If it is the case, you can put your kid to lessons and slowly introduce them to the bass guitar. If they are motivated enough to learn the guitar, only purchase one of the best kid bass guitars.
- Regular practice plays a crucial role in learning any instrument. If your child can focus fr 10 to 45 minutes daily, only they will be able to cope with their lessons.
- Maturity is also required in learning to play an instrument. If your child can follow the directions and listen to the teacher, it will be easy to understand the mechanism.
If your child shows these signs, they are ready to play the instrument and you should immediately get them a beginner guitar from our list.
How much should you spend on a kid's bass guitar?
The kid bass guitars come in a variety of ranges. Before you spend on a new bass guitar, you should emphasize your budget to purchase one. Other than that, you also need to know the purpose of buying it. Whether you are purchasing it to play in a gig or just for practice, it is evident that if you want it to play in a gig, competition, or something else, then you need to spend a little more than you would spend on an entry-level guitar. This would require some investment anywhere between $500 to $2000. However, if your budget isn’t this much, there are also some entry and intermediate level guitars that range between $100 to $450. You can also refer to the above mentioned guitars in the article.
Here is a checklist for an entry or intermediate level guitar:
- Be sure that the neck and body of the bass guitar are comfortable and lightweight for your kid.
- The fretboard and finger bridge should be made up of good material and must be playable enough.
- The electronics and pickups may not be as good as premium-level guitars, but they should provide good sound to get you going on the right track.
After buying the guitar, you should learn how to take good care of it. Let a professional set up the guitar at least twice a year to get the best intonation and action.
Here are some tips/ways by which you can take good care of your guitar:
- Keep it in the case: It is recommended to keep your guitar in the case when you are not playing it. This keeps it safe from any unexpected dent or any other harm. Also, controlling the atmosphere/environment (for proper humidity level) inside a case is much easier to maintain.
- Clean your guitar regularly: Cleaning your guitar regularly is essential to get the best performance from your guitar. Washing your hands before playing the guitar is the first step in this. Our hands can be covered with dirt, oils, sweat, etc. which is not good for the guitar. Also, don’t forget to wipe your guitar, especially the strings before keeping it back in the case.
- Changing guitar strings: The frequency of changing the guitar strings depends on how often you play it and where you play it. Most of the people change the guitar strings after every performance, but it isn’t required every time. Sometimes, cleaning the guitar strings can be helpful too. However, changing the guitar strings brings a new life to the guitar, makes it sound better, and helps in better maintenance of the guitar.
In conclusion
Till now, you know the 11 best kid bass guitars mentioned above in the article, how to learn to play it, what is the correct age to understand it and how much should you spend on a kid-size bass guitar.
You need to go thoroughly with every bass guitar mentioned in the article and analyze the best one that serves your purpose and is within your budget. Emphasize its comfortability and ease to play. These two features are prominent, which will let your kid enjoy playing it in the first place and then continue learning it.
Let your kid become an artist if they are keen to learn the instrument to cherish their musical journey forever.
Sarah Jones
Hello! I am Sarah and I've been a bass player for as long as I remember. I picked up my first bass at age 7 and have never let go of it ever since. I've been a part of 3 bands and currently play for a band called ‘Neptune Nerds’. I love to talk about bass and share my experience with these instruments!
