Poll on mini / short scale electrics (& anyone played an ESP EC-JR?)

[dave999z]

hey all -

I'm wanting to get a short scale guitar, mainly to play while sitting on the couch while watching TV, and I guess kind of as a novelty. (They're cute ok!) I'll plug it in sometimes too. I picked up a squier mini at GC and couldn't put it down. Totally fun! (Got funny looks though. ) All these things are under like $200. So I'm not really deciding on price. But I do know I'm only getting one, so I want a cool one.

Has anyone tried the ESP EC-JR? Any thoughts? It's a really short scale (20.5"), whereas the squier mini is 22.75". I wonder if 20.5 is TOOO small?

Anyone tried an Epiphone Les Paul Express? Those go for only like $93.

Any thoughts anyone has would be great!

Thanks.
David

 

[BlackT-Shirt]

hey all -

I'm wanting to get a short scale guitar, mainly to play while sitting on the couch while watching TV, and I guess kind of as a novelty. (They're cute ok!) I'll plug it in sometimes too. I picked up a squier mini at GC and couldn't put it down. Totally fun! (Got funny looks though. ) All these things are under like $200. So I'm not really deciding on price. But I do know I'm only getting one, so I want a cool one.

Has anyone tried the ESP EC-JR? Any thoughts? It's a really short scale (20.5"), whereas the squier mini is 22.75". I wonder if 20.5 is TOOO small?

Anyone tried an Epiphone Les Paul Express? Those go for only like $93.

Any thoughts anyone has would be great!

Thanks.
David

I had the Erlewine Chiquita, which was too short a scale. The intonation never seemed right at more than one position. But the build quality seemed fantastic, and it came with a hardshell case. The Squier mini suffered from cheap tuners, which made it tough to tune exactly. That said, it seemed like a better-intonated instrument than the Chiquita. The sound overall was pretty dark, which I assume was caused by the short scale. But the middle pickup was RPRW, and overall it was a great guitar.

 

[Tweedledee]

I bought a Squier Mini Strat for my son and after some work it's a great little guitar. I bought it used from GC online for $62 shipped, refinished the neck in Tru Oil, new Wilkinson tuners for $15, gave it a good setup with 11s and it's quite solid. The stock pups are pretty blah, so i picked up a set of used GFS alnicos I'm going to drop in there at some point. I'm about $100 into it and it's a fun guitar to pick up and noodle on. For me, the new tuners and at least 11s are a must.

I also put the stock pickguard and all the other plastics out in the sun for a week because the stark white was pretty intense.

 

[skintknuckle]

I like this one:

http://www.travelerguitar.com/acoustic/item/escape-mark-iii

 

[SPROING!]

I remember playing an old 3/4 size LP Jr. That thing was friggin awesome. Can't even remember who owned it but I remember that nasty dogear...

Don't know about most of those but I can say the $93 Epiphone is pretty junky.

 

[dave999z]

I had the Erlewine Chiquita, which was too short a scale. The intonation never seemed right at more than one position. But the build quality seemed fantastic, and it came with a hardshell case. The Squier mini suffered from cheap tuners, which made it tough to tune exactly. That said, it seemed like a better-intonated instrument than the Chiquita. The sound overall was pretty dark, which I assume was caused by the short scale. But the middle pickup was RPRW, and overall it was a great guitar.

Wow, that thing has a 19" scale. That's really small.

 

[THiwaTT]

bump for interest, this tiny ESP has been intriguing to me for just the reason you describe (tv watching couch guitar)

 

[manasquanto]

I ended up getting the squier mini for my daughter when she was around 4 1/2, and she still hasn't grown into it 18 months later. I wish I had gone for the smaller body and shorter scale length of the ESP, but wanted to save the money at the time. I have an ESP and have been really impressed by the quality and like the feel of the neck.

Like the others have mentioned, the Squier is a good guitar for the price but could use the upgrades, especially the tuners. I'm really happy that the frets are level, it intonates well, and the electronics work the way they're supposed to. On the other hand, it's not the kind of guitar I'm inspired to noodle on sitting on the couch. I suspect that the ESP would do that, or even better, one of those Steinbergers I've been wanting to buy.

 

[smcgov]

I just bought this to travel with... but am curious where this thread goes because I could always grab one of the electrics here and practice through laptop.

 

[27sauce]

I like the epiphone SG Express. The ESP does look cool, though.

 

[dave999z]

I like the epiphone SG Express. The ESP does look cool, though.

I don't think they make those anymore, and I don't see many of them used. I agree it seems cool.

 

[stratter]

might as well just buy a ukelele

 

[StratoCraig]

I was very pleasantly surprised by the Squier Mini. It's a decent little guitar and it actually sounds basically like a Strat -- much more so than the horrible "Starcaster by Fender" guitars they sell (or used to sell, I hope) at Costco and other big-box stores.

 

[itstooloudMike]

I bought a Squier Mini-Strat for my grandkids, and it's just OK. With a good setup and heavy strings it will play fairly well and stay in tune. But I would not use it for myself as a couch guitar, nor would I buy it again. The much better alternative is the Squier Duo-Sonic. Moving up to the 24" scale length makes a huge difference. The 24" scale feels good, plays great, and sounds like a "real" guitar. I had a Mustang Special that I used as my couch guitar, and it was awesome. Sorry I let that one go. But you can pick up clean Squier Duo-Sonics for $200, and you really can't beat them for noodling on the couch, or for teaching a kid their first chords. Don't waste your money on anything with a shorter scale. Honestly, if you want a shorter scale, just get a ukulele. Those are a blast, and great for teaching young children.

 

[bgmacaw]

I got a Laguna LE50 on eBay earlier this year with a surprising low-ball win. I can understand why they dumped it. The nut was cut very badly and the electronics cut out a lot. I fixed the nut and a grounding issue and it's a lot better now. I set it up for slide and it's been fun using it for that. I'm going to replace the pickups at some point since they're a bit too hot and brash.

I also have a MIM Duosonic with a 22.7 scale neck. It was also in bad shape when I got it in a trade due to a lot of teenager abuse. It's also been fun to play since I can do chord shapes on it that I can't do well on a Strat.

 

[27sauce]

Fender makes some really cool short scale teles and strats right now.

 

[batsbrew]

i had a fender mustang (24")

great guitar,
i later built a custom strat style with a mustang scale length,
it's an awesome build.

most of my other guitars are gibson scale length