Small hands

[Mr. Amelon]

Hello everyone . I have medium-to-small-sized hands, and I'm looking to expand my guitar collection yet again. My question is, which guitar would be better for those with smaller hands... an Epiphone Les Paul Standard, or a Parker P-42? Thanks .

[Corner Pocket]

Epiphone Elitist Byrdland, or a Gibson Byrdland. Both have a shorter than typical Gison scale.

 

To go even shorter, Ric 325C58 or 325C64

[The Big G]

you just gotta try a whole lot, i always found the Ernie ball axis on the small side??? not sure if it is but always felt that way and i would have thought the Peavey Wolfgang EVH model would be the same???

Happy hunting

G

[The Geoff]

I have small hands and I find the fretboard width is more of an issue for me than scale length. One of my current favs is a modded Squier Telecaster Standard, 25.5" scale, but only 40mm at the nut.

 

My other is an Aria TA-40 which is 24.7" scale and 41mm at the nut.

 

Standard us usually round about 42mm.

 

G.

[Gruupi]

I have small hands but tend to play wide fingerboards anyway. I like shorter scale guitars for the feel, not necessarily for the smaller distance between frets. If you play alot and work on flexability, over time you will be amazed how far you can stretch.

 

But back on your question, a friend of mine has an Epiphone Casino and I can hardly play it because the neck is so skinny, the strings are to close together for my tastes. Go to Guitar Center and play a few dozen guitars to see what range of neck sizes are out there. Remember that strings being closer together can cause right hand technique problems, especially if you fingerpick.

[fantasticsound]

Wow. And here I thought I was the only one.

 

I've never worried much about the neck dimensions of my electric guitars. I began playing at age 8 on my mothers jumbo classical. 2" neck width at the nut. After that, every steel string 6 and electric guitar is relatively small.

 

I still wish I could reach a lot farther. For comparison, Allan Holdsworth's fingers are twice as long as mine. Literally. He played a clinic at my old stomping grounds 20 years ago. Someone shot a picture of the guitar salesman and Allan with their inside hand up to one another. The hands were of identical proportions. A few weeks later I saw the picture and made the guitar salesman put up his hand. My fingers barely reached half his span.

[Guitar Geezer]

Small Hands

 

 

Sorry

 

 

 

Can

 

 

not

 

 

resist

 

 

http://www.mundomundo.com/images/feat_title_2.jpg

 

[picker]

A Fender Bonnie Raitt signature Stratocaster would probably be right up your alley. She has small hands too.

[Eric Iverson]

Well Danny Gatton and Mike Bloomfield had small hands, and seemed to do OK with Teles and Les Pauls... I think they were regular size, but anyone who knows more than me about their exact instruments please pipe up!

 

 

[Junior 1]

I have short thick fingers and after searching for the Holy Grail of guitars, I have come to one conclusion for me at least. I need a wide flat fretboard. I just sold a Squire Tele that I just could not play because of the narrow width at the nut. I have a MIM Strat that is fine at 1 and 5/8 inch nut width, but thats because of the thick C shape. I have a Gretsch with the same nut width, but the neck is too thin!!! My favorite neck is my SX LP! Wide, flat, chunky neck. Just my useless opinion.

[Strategery]

Small hands mean....a little _ _ _ _. Mwahahahhaaha :grin:

 

Just kidding. :grin:

 

You should be fine with a strat or most any guitar.

As Junior stated, I like a more curved radius neck as opposed to a flatter one.

And yes, sometimes there are necks that are TOO small.

It can make it hectic.

 

Good luck....

 

Randy

[mdrs]

Do not fret having small hands!!

 

Angus is a midget, isnt' he?? :grin:

 

Seriously, play each guitar, and see which one feels right. Some with big hands like thin, or narrow necks. Some with small hands like chunky necks.

 

There's no accounting for taste!! Just, buy what works for you!!

[Gifthorse]

Small hands, smells like cabbage.

 

How small are they? I don't have big hands but you know there are some exercises you can do with your left hand to increase finger independance and stretch. I bet if you increased your stretch you would not even think about scale. I do agree the Musicman Axis has a small scale. It is a nice guitar and neck--my buddies was made of basswood though which I don't care for tonally.

 

Even with medium to small hands, if you make the most of your stretch you can do alot. My 12 string has a huge neck on it and it isn't a deterrant for me and my not so big hands.

 

But I do like those Musicman guitars.

[Guitarzan]

Angus is 5'2".

the reason he is always moving is because the A chord is at the end of the neck and he needs to walk there to get it.

[mdrs]

Angus is 5'2".

the reason he is always moving is because the A chord is at the end of the neck and he needs to walk there to get it.

 

LOL!! :thu: :grin:

 

Being small didn't seem to hold that lad back, did it?

 

Isn't Malcolm the tall one?? Something like 5'3"????

 

LOL :grin:

[Guitarzan]

that is tall! :grin:

but they are big on tone.

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

Hello everyone . I have medium-to-small-sized hands, and I'm looking to expand my guitar collection yet again. My question is, which guitar would be better for those with smaller hands... an Epiphone Les Paul Standard, or a Parker P-42? Thanks .

 

 

Well, ok. There's a couple of things I don;t understand here. First of all, if you already have a guitar collection, you obviously know something about trying out various guitars and this wouldn't be your first purchase.

 

But why are you stuck with choosing between the Epi and the Parker? Are they up on Ebay or something?

[Mr. Amelon]

Thanks for all the replies .

 

My Ibanez electric has a Wizard II neck, so it's thin and somewhat wide. My Strat has a plank for a neck. And my Ibanez Artcore has a pretty good compromise between the two.

 

The reason I'm asking about the Epi and Parker is because I've decided that I want those guitars, but I can't decide which one I want first, so playability would factor into my decision.

 

I think there might be an Epi dealer around here, but there's no Parker dealer. There's also no Guitar Center, so I was hoping someone with experience with either or both guitars would be able to help out.

[Bluesape]

Small guys, like Angus, Prince, and Frampton, seem to have adapted to their guitars of choice, and not been hampered by the dimensions of those instruments. That being said, I myself find Les Pauls in general to be a bit large for me, and I'd make 2 1/2 Framptons in terms of mass. But if I were originally more drawn to LP's than Strats and Teles, I'm sure the neck wouldn't remain an issue. I've only owned 1 LP for a short while, and it didn't captivate me, whereas the thought of someone else owning any of my current axes would keep me up at night. It's all what you like. IMHO the soul the guitar imparts to you will outweigh the lesser facets.

[Guitarzan]

i am 5'7" and i have played strats and strat equivilents most of my early years. proper posture and position of the guitar makes a big difference when dealing with longer scale or fat necked instruments.

my son is close to 5 feet and he plays better on my SG than his mini LP.

do i have a point?

naw... i just feel like saying something...

[Gifthorse]

I am not sure which Parker you have, but I LOVE those Parker Flyers and Nightflyers.

 

I was visiting some friends who had quite a collection of top of the line Gibsons ($3000 custom reissue Les Paul--and it stayed in tune great..)

 

Fender American Strats, the list goes on and on. Anyways, they were all nice guitars but the Parker Nightflyer stole the show for me. It would NOT go out of tune. I mean over the course of a week, it didn't go out even 1 time. That impressed me, but that piezo is cool too. It is so unique that you can throw that on and switch to a clean sound and get an almost chimey acoustic tone. The pickups sounded excellent. Perfect for what I wanted anyways. Perfect amount of gain.

 

The neck was the best part though. They don't dick around with those stainless steel frets. They feel excellent and balanced. Each one resembles a little pyramid. They seem to have alot of mass compared to other frets and last a HELLUVA lot longer.

 

I guess the only drawback to the Parker is that it strays from convention in its appearance. To some who care about the aesthetics of the instrument it could be a big turn off.

 

I did notice the neck scale seemed longer on the Nightflyer Iplayed. That doesn't bother me at all though.

 

I don't know what Parker you have so I can't decide.

[Mr. Amelon]

After doing more research, I think I'll go with the Parker first. It has a longer scale length than the Epiphone Les Paul, but a smaller nut width.

 

The Epiphone Les Paul actually has a smaller nut width than the Gibson Les Paul. And as a side note, the Gibson SG Standard has the same nut width as the Gibson Les Paul Standard, but the Gibson Angus Young Signature SG has an even smaller nut width than the Parker.