FYI: a First Act guitar has the same scale length as a baritone uke

JessicaM

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Well here's something interesting:
A suuuuper cheapo "First Act" kids' guitar has the same scale length as a baritone ukulele.

I'm just running around this afternoon measuring fret boards and thought I'd share! This isn't meant to be actually useful information.

The guitar is very cheap & sounds exactly like you'd expect, even with decent strings.


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would you be so kind as to measure the width of the NUT (the white plastic rectangle with little grooves in it, that the strings rest on before going to the tuners) width as in from the outer-edges perpendicular to the strings...?

thank you kindly :)
 
would you be so kind as to measure the width of the NUT (the white plastic rectangle with little grooves in it, that the strings rest on before going to the tuners) width as in from the outer-edges perpendicular to the strings...?

thank you kindly :)

Will do (once the kid is asleep)!
 
would you be so kind as to measure the width of the NUT (the white plastic rectangle with little grooves in it, that the strings rest on before going to the tuners) width as in from the outer-edges perpendicular to the strings...?

thank you kindly :)

The one I have is 1 5/8" +
 
I got mine for $1 at a garage sale. I got to practice reglueing a bridge and replacing tuners. $12 later, including new strings, it still sounds awful, but my toddler doesn't seem to mind. And it has me eyeing parlor guitars!
 
I have 19" scale Tacoma Papoose, 1.75 nut. They aren't cheap but they are a kick! You have to haunt eBay, Reverb and Guitar Center. There's one on eBay right now. Steel strings however.

I also just got a used 2004 solid koa top and back mahogany side Mele guitalele, a honey, with a 20" scale. Nylon string, sweet.

I have that First Act in yellow with a pink flower sitting on an old buckboard seat in my patio. Found it in the alley. Give it a good setup and put extra lights on it (the one I have is a steel string). I can pick it up and tune it by ear and noodle around, even with it having been outside (under a roof) for gosh, 3-4 months.
 
I've had band kids get First Act wind instruments and it has been a total nightmare!!!
 
here ya go: 4 string open tuning! this isn't me btw...

 
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I have that First Act in yellow with a pink flower sitting on an old buckboard seat in my patio. Found it in the alley. Give it a good setup and put extra lights on it (the one I have is a steel string). I can pick it up and tune it by ear and noodle around, even with it having been outside (under a roof) for gosh, 3-4 months.

That yellow one was my very first ukulele back in December of 2013. Got it for the grandkids, ended up not giving it away, started playing it on Christmas eve, and learned three songs off of the Internet by morning. I still use it with two Mickey/Minnie ones with the grandkids, and it has gone on boats, and in cars. I have Martin strings on it.
 

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here ya go: 4 string open tuning! this isn't me btw...



Interesting idea, using it as a slide instrument. The frets on mine are really laughably awful. The first fret is approx 1 cm from the nut & it works better to play it as if that first fret IS the nut -- but seriously, how is that an ok way to build an instrument?
 
Once in a while, people will bring these things into my shop to see if I can make them playable for the kids, I can't and won't. They are toys, nothing more IMO.
 
Once in a while, people will bring these things into my shop to see if I can make them playable for the kids, I can't and won't. They are toys, nothing more IMO.

Well toys AND perfect instruments to practice fixing simple stuff! I'd never reglued a bridge or changed out tuners until this guitar. Given that it was basically garbage (only 2 tuners still worked) I had nothing to lose except the $8 for new bottom-of-the-line tuners. And the bridge was scary (compounded by the fact that I discovered t was screwed down), but there was literally nothing to lose! It was a fun little project :)
 
Well toys AND perfect instruments to practice fixing simple stuff! I'd never reglued a bridge or changed out tuners until this guitar. Given that it was basically garbage (only 2 tuners still worked) I had nothing to lose except the $8 for new bottom-of-the-line tuners. And the bridge was scary (compounded by the fact that I discovered t was screwed down), but there was literally nothing to lose! It was a fun little project :)

also, the end result of the project in the fixed-up pink guitar made your daughter happy - which seems priceless, no?
 
Exactly! Turns out a 2 year old doesn't care about intonation;)

OMG - can you imagine if she came to you and said,

'Mommy my guitar is ok with open strings, but when I play pressing my fingers down, and up the neck it sounds sour, and I don't like it'

You'd likely have a musical prodigy on your hands, a sort of savant...might that alter your future plans for her? (at least where music lessons came into play)
 
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