Fender Mini Stats and Telies

[seannx]

Does anyone have any experience with the Mini Strats and Telies?
Am thinking of getting one of these for my 7 year old Grandson.
https://shop.fender.com/en-US/squier...370045506.html

[Ian111]

I had a Mini Strat for giggles. Surprisingly good little instrument. Easier to play than a mini or travel size acoustic for little kids. That Tele though is a full size guitar. A Mini Tele would be great though.

[seannx]

Originally Posted by Ian111

I had a Mini Strat for giggles. Surprisingly good little instrument. Easier to play than a mini or travel size acoustic for little kids. That Tele though is a full size guitar. A Mini Tele would be great though.

I didn't realize it was full size, would be this one, the Mini Strat
https://shop.fender.com/en-US/squier...370121506.html

[pieterh]

I bought my son a Mini Strat. It is a very good instrument with a pristine body and a very good neck. The tuners are terrible unfortunately and it takes a bit of a struggle to tune the guitar, not smooth at all.

Apart from the tuners well worth the cost.

[endpin]

The tuners are not very good, but most of their tuning issues stem from slack string tension with standard gauge strings and the short scale.

Heavier strings and/or tuning them to higher pitch helps.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by endpin

...Heavier strings and/or tuning them to higher pitch helps.

I own a similar instrument I bought about 30 years ago as a Christmas present for our daughter (who would up becoming a wind player instead) and I've had it set up both ways, so I'll give you my experience:

• First off, decide which way you want to go from the beginning, and stick to it - it'll save you additional expense/time in the long run;
• If you're going standard pitch, I'd recommend a 13-56 flatwound set: it'll give you about the same tension as 10's or 11's on a 25.5" scale, better tuning, and you can set the action much lower than with roundwounds (something the '50s jazzers and rockabilly cats all knew - and a definite asset for a younger player) - just remember that you'll need to have the nut slots enlarged, truss rod adjusted, and bridge saddles re-intonated (which should all be part of a good pro setup job anyway);
• Should you choose the higher tuning option (I'd strongly recommend A-A, a fourth higher than standard and equivalent to capoing at the fifth fret) we're looking at flatwound 10's, and although you probably won't need nut work you'll almost definitely need to adjust the truss rod and re-intonate the bridge saddles (keep in mind they have a wound third string, which IME helps tuning and tonal balance) - BTW this setup has a unique voice of its own that fills a distinct sonic space in a group arrangement (my wife uses ours on occasion), and I have a feeling once you hear it you'll be giving it more playing time than your grandson...

[pieterh]

Originally Posted by endpin

The tuners are not very good, but most of their tuning issues stem from slack string tension with standard gauge strings and the short scale.

Heavier strings and/or tuning them to higher pitch helps.

It is fitted with heavier gauge strings. The issue I have with the tuners has nothing to do with the strings; they are incredibly stiff which makes subtle fine adjustments almost impossible. I’ve tried lubricating them but it hasn’t really helped.

I would love to swap them out for something better but I’ve yet to find something that would fit without leaving holes or needing new ones drilled.

[seannx]

Thanks so much for the advice!

[endpin]

Yeah - the tuners are a pretty sorry piece of hardware, although I read some current Strat-Mini reviews and they say the Mini Version 2.0 actually has “improved tuners” whatever that might be.

Don’t know what vintage mine is, but I bought it for my niece’s son when he was a kid and he is now 22 years old, so mine has to be pretty old. I think they listed for $99 and got it on sale for about $80, so I am sure they cut every corner possible.

I grew up in the ‘60s on Gibsons fitted with Kluson tuners of the day, so my threshold of what constitutes a “bad tuner” is admittedly pretty low.

[endpin]

Upon further review, Fender has thoroughly confused me as to what the latest short scale Strat is.

These “Version 2.0" Mini Strats with supposedly improved tuners seem to be out there at retailers, but seems to be an abandoned zombie link on the Fender website:

https://shop.fender.com/en-US/squier...ct-031012.html

[BoneDigger]

I have a mini strat for travel. It's a nice guitar!

[KevWind]

I have no experience with a Mini Strat,

But from my own experience as a kid trying to learn to play on a cheap guitar that would not not stay in tune . It was so frustrating to me at 10 -11 years old, that I very nearly gave up on playing the guitar altogether.
So I would suggest when shopping for child for a starter guitar make sure it at least stays in tune.

[pieterh]

Originally Posted by 3notes

If it is as bad as you describe, I would change out the tuners regardless of seeing any previous holes. They can be filled. And then painted.

I see it this way.... You're telling us it needs machine heads. What's holding you back.??

Nothing is holding me back my friend, I would just prefer an easy swap but if they aren’t available then I’ll get something decent and worry about dealing with any visible holes then.

[tinnitus]

The Mini Strat I bought brand new (online) for my son about 10-12 years ago was not playable at all. Had I tried one first, I would've passed.

On the plus side, those single coil pickups sounded great with distinct differences between the deep SRV sounding neck, Zep bridge snarl, and authentically pleasing "quack" in positions 2 and 4.

But the combination of a shortened scale, negligently crude factory setup, too light strings, flimsy neck and miserable tuners all added up to a guitar that would just not stay in tune! I could get it pretty close, but even the gentlest chording quickly pulled it noticeably out of tune. I could tune it (for example) so an A chord sounded okay, but the G chord (especially with the open G string) was sour. Very frustrating.

I'm not a luthier, but as a gigging guitarist, I've done basic maintenance/repair work on various guitars since 1970 to make them more playable (budget clunkers and high-quality, expensive ones too). Often some different gauge strings, a neck/saddle adjustment, a better nut and a set of decent tuners will turn a lemon into a very playable instrument. Not trying to slam on something many people here might use and enjoy, but the Mini Strat we had was the perfect storm of all classic tuning ailments stacked up on one little guitar, even sporting a fresh set of Schallers. Teaching a newbie on that, IMHO, would be like trying to do math on a calculator that consistently makes random mistakes.

Seriously, no offense intended to anyone who's enjoying theirs - YMMV. And maybe the design and quality control are better today. But if at all possible, try before you buy.