Teaching child, learning myself, and attic guitar

nozzferrahhtoo

Hi all, sorry to start ANOTHER thread on what guitar is good for a kid to learn on and similar but my 7 year old has recently been expressing an interest.

Anyway I have had an old guitar someone left in the attic myself for some time and at 39 never learned to play one myself. So thought it might be a fun thing to do with her.

So I would either restore the one in the attic or buy a new one. Dont want to spend 100s either way, but also do not want to get cheap shoddy crap that will produce a sound so bad it puts me and her off wanting to play it.

The one from the attic is the "Applause Model AE 38" a semi accoustic made in Korea. Looks to be this one here I think: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsVnbLR4GFI

Needs all new strings and the Jack on the inside reattached in place but otherwise I think it's in easily restored condition. Would you learn on this, or teach a kid on it, or feck it in the trash and buy something better?

beauf

The issue is, is the neck straight. If its been in an attic it might have warped it.
If the neck is ok, then check the frets are level, that there is no buzzing.

twowheelsonly

As Beauf says.... If the neck isn't warped then you should be good to go.
If it was kept in the case it will most likely be fine but just check with a straight edge.
Other than that stick some strings on it and it'll be fine. Grand guitar to learn on IMO. Probably not the greatest in the world but most definitely not the worst either - and the price is right !!!

feylya

Do yourself a favour, and drop it in for a setup. While it should be fine to play one, you'll find that the fretboard will have dried out, and the frets will have tarnished, so a bit of fretboard conditioner, and fret polish will make it a much nicer instrument to learn on

nozzferrahhtoo

Ta people, will do the above and drop it into a local shop here in German for a restore. Get some coated strings on it I guess for my daugther as I read that makes it easier on the fingers and reduces the squeak you get when you change position.

Checked on amazon. I was recommended the strings "Elixir 16152 Pack of 12 Phosphor Bronze Light Acoustic Guitar Strings, Nanoweb Coating" by a guitar player but they do not seem to be shipped by anyone local to me in Germany.

After reading a few websites claiming to have a "top 10" of strings however the one that kept showing up in most lists, and is available close to me on Amazon in Germany are the "D Addario EXP16 – 3D Coated Phosphor Bronze Acoustic Guitar Strings 12 – 53 – 3 Sets Light"

Any reason NOT to go with them? Seem to be a good balance of price, quality, and learner support.

feylya

12-53 are quite heavy strings that'll be a bit harder to learn on. https://www.amazon.de/Saiten-Akustikgitarren-Elixir-16544-Nanoweb-Bonus-Set/dp/B01LXSV197/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1532372222&sr=8-2&keywords=phospher+bronze should be a bit easier on the fingers.