HEX Mini Guitar

Rakelele

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I just came across another brand making a small guitar about the size of a baritone that might qualify as a Guitalele/Guilele/Kiku along the lines of the Cordoba Mini or the Kanilea/Islander GL6.

This company called HEX from Korea has a model called the Bumblebee. According to their website, the scale length is 20 1/4" (515mm), and the nut width is 1 3/4" (44mm):

http://hexguitars.com/en/project/bumblebee-bb100/

They also have an ukulele line, but I have never heard of them before. I don't know anything about the quality, just thought the Bumblebee model looked promissing. Here is a demo video I found:


https://vimeo.com/220568693

Anyone heard of them or played one?
 
This does look promising. I have been contemplating getting a Cordoba Mini but didn't want the 2" nut width. This seems more of what I'm looking for. Thanks for posting this.
 
I wrote HEX to ask about the BB70. I am intrigued by the form factor as it is the closest 20.25" scale guitar I have found that is similar to an Angel Lopez guitar.

They replied quickly saying that the BB70 is currently only available in Indonesia. I was told to keep an eye out on Reverb, as a couple of companies there sell HEX instruments for the US market. They also wrote that the BB70 is tuned E to E, and has nylon strings.

The HEX Website is very nicely put together.
 
Neck is too long and too narrow for me but good to have more options
 
Neck is too long and too narrow for me but good to have more options

20.27" is too long? For 19 frets? I don't think so.

Yes, the neck will feel a bit narrow (for six strings) to an 'ukulele player, but it's a pretty common nut width for a guitar player.

The Yamaha CG102A is a half-scale guitar with a 21" scale, and a 48mm nut. Check out this video;

 
I like 19" baritones. ;-) and there's a big difference between 44mm and 48mm. There's a reason the instrument is pictured with 5 year olds. :D
 
A while back I had an older Breedlove nylon string crossover with 1 3/4" nut width. I found the neck very comfortable, but the tone was left to be desired so I passed it along. IMO, 1 3/4" nut width is the starting point for nylon strings - I don't think just for kids, adults too. Surely it is string spacing that is more important, and there is still wiggle room with 1 3/4" nuts. My aging hands just don't get along like they used to on my 52mm nut width classicals :)
 
The narrow neck on those is probably an advantage for anyone with small hands, such as most women.

The neck width should correspond to a typical western guitar, put on a classical, like a cross over guitar.
I used to play a vintage Höfner youth/travel guitar like that.
I must admit that for my fingers it was a bit tricky, since the nylon strings take up more space than Steel strings. That guitar is now at my sisters place, and my wife recently bought a full width classical. Se constantly complains about how wide the nut is.
 
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FWIW, I am rethinking my earlier statement about "too narrow". I have played some 1-3/4" since my post above and I'm liking it now.
 
FWIW, I am rethinking my earlier statement about "too narrow". I have played some 1-3/4" since my post above and I'm liking it now.

1 3/4" nut widths on nylon string guitars have become my favorite. 1 7/8" is still fine with me too. I do still have some 52mm nut width classicals, and I do still play them, but I now prefer the narrower widths.
 
20.27" is too long? For 19 frets? I don't think so.

Yes, the neck will feel a bit narrow (for six strings) to an 'ukulele player, but it's a pretty common nut width for a guitar player.

The Yamaha CG102A is a half-scale guitar with a 21" scale, and a 48mm nut.

If you are talking about STEEL strings, which are significantly thinner diameter, and played with a different fretting technique than classical guitar, then yes 1.67"-1.75" nut width is common, but for classical guitar, a 2" or 52mm nut is standard, and even so, those strings are still closer together than on an ukulele with a 1.375"/35mm or 1.5"/38mm nut width.

String-to-string spacing on the typical 1.67"/43mm steel string guitar is about 5-6mm, whereas on classical guitar it is closer to 8mm and on most ukuleles I own it is closer to 9mm-10mm apart.

Any classical guitar type, guilele, gutarlele, kiku with less than a 48mm total span from E-to-E at the nut is going to feel cramped to a classical guitar player as well as feel cramped to most ukulele players.

I started on steel string electric, then acoustic and then studied classical guitar and played ONLY nylon strings for many years before coming to ukulele.

IMHO, it is painfully difficult for me to cleanly fret a steel string guitar now. Sure with practice I might get better, but I simply dont care for it now, and prefer my nylon strung instruments with wider nuts and wider string spacing, save for my tenor guitar, which has a 1.6"/40mm nut and only 4 strings and is a dream to fret, just like a baritone uke.
 
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I was curious, so I ordered a Hex Bumblebee BB100; it arrived on Saturday. Yes, the fretboard is very narrow for six strings and adult fingers. As was mentioned above, there’s a reason it’s pictured with five-year-olds. :)
 
I was curious, so I ordered a Hex Bumblebee BB100; it arrived on Saturday. Yes, the fretboard is very narrow for six strings and adult fingers. As was mentioned above, there’s a reason it’s pictured with five-year-olds. :)

Can you give us a sound sample please ?
Is this meant for strumming and singing
Thanks
 
No, unfortunately I'm really not set up for that at this time. I will say that I prefer the sound of the Córdoba Mini R with the Aquila E-E strings, and the Mini R is definitely easier to fret.

It's meant to be a small classical guitar, but the promotional material refers to it as a travel guitar as well as an instrument suitable for children.

I haven't given up on it, and I'm not sorry I bought it. The gig bag is **very** nice. :)
 
Muscle memory will eventually adapt to whatever one is playing. I too studied classical guitar for many years on both 52mm and 54mm (older Ramirez) nut widths. During this study period I was also a regularly performing musician playing electric and acoustic guitars with 1 11/16" nut widths. Needless to say I was switching back and forth on a regular basis with no troubles. Mind you, this was many years ago and my now aging hands may not be as elastic as they used to. However, I have no troubles with nylon strings and narrower nut widths - 1 7/8" and 1 3/4" nut widths. I'm sorry, but I don't agree with the this has to be this and that has to be that theory. Muscle memory will adapt. When one is used to only playing a certain nut width and nothing else, yes a change will feel foreign at first. But, muscle memory is a pretty amazing thing :)
 
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