Description
Review of the Hola! Music HG-36PP Three Quarter Size 36 Inch Acoustic Guitar Bundle
This is a three-quarter size steel-string acoustic in purple, sold as a bundle with a padded backpack-style gig bag, three picks, a pick-guard, a hex key and a strap. The seller aims it at children roughly aged eight to twelve, between four feet six and four feet eleven in height, and it arrives pre-strung with a named-brand string set.
Pros & Cons
- The sizing advice is specific and useful. Giving both an age range and a height range is far more helpful than a vague “for kids”, and it lets a parent check the fit before ordering rather than after.
- It ships with D’Addario coated phosphor bronze strings. Coated strings resist the sweat and grime that children’s hands put into them, and phosphor bronze sounds warmer and lasts longer than the plain alloy strings normally fitted at this level.
- A spruce top over mahogany back and sides is a proper tonewood pairing. Spruce is stiff and responsive, mahogany adds midrange warmth, and this is the combination used on far more expensive acoustics.
- The gig bag is genuinely thought through. Backpack straps, a handle and a front compartment mean a child can carry it to a lesson without a parent, which matters more than it sounds.
- A hex key is supplied. That implies an adjustable truss rod, which many three-quarter guitars lack, and it means the neck relief can be corrected as the guitar settles.
- The fingerboard material is stated two different ways. The description says a rosewood fingerboard and bridge; the specification table says walnut. These are different timbers with different colour and feel, and the published data does not settle which is fitted.
- The listed weight and dimensions are impossible. The table records one pound and a size of 19 by 5 by 2 inches. A 36 inch guitar cannot be 19 inches long or weigh a pound. Those figures appear to describe something other than the instrument.
- The 36 inch figure is total length, not scale length. It is filed under scale length in the table, which would be an impossible measurement. The real vibrating string length is not published anywhere.
- The pick-guard is supplied loose rather than fitted. A separate pick-guard in the box means someone has to position and stick it on, and a badly placed one is difficult to remove cleanly.
- No tuner is included. New strings on a small guitar go out of tune constantly for the first week, and tuning is the one thing a young beginner cannot do without help.
Detailed Product Description
The top is spruce, the standard soundboard timber, chosen because it is light and stiff and therefore moves easily when the strings drive it. The back, sides and neck are mahogany, which is denser and adds warmth and a strong midrange. Whether the top is solid or laminated is not stated, and that distinction changes how the guitar sounds and how it ages more than any other single factor, as covered in the solid top and laminate comparison.
The finish is gloss, which seals the timber and looks striking in the purple colourway, though it shows fingerprints and scratches readily. The bridge is fixed, with the string ends held by pins under a saddle, which is the normal steel-string arrangement.
The strings are D’Addario EXP16 coated phosphor bronze in a light gauge. Coating is a thin polymer layer over the wound strings that keeps sweat and skin oil out of the windings. On a child’s guitar this is worth more than it would be on an adult’s, because young players rarely wipe strings down and uncoated sets can go dead within weeks.
Three-quarter size instruments trade volume and low end for reach. A shorter scale lowers string tension at pitch, so chords are easier to press down, and the smaller body produces less bass and less projection. That combination is exactly right for a learner and exactly wrong for someone wanting a big strumming sound. Matching size to height is covered in the child guitar sizing guide.
What Comes with the Product
The listing states the set includes the guitar, a padded gig bag with a front compartment, backpack straps and a handle, three picks in different sizes, a pick-guard, a hex key and a strap.
Not included: a tuner, a capo, spare strings, a stand or a cleaning cloth. The tuner is the significant omission on a guitar aimed at children, since accurate tuning is the one job a young beginner cannot manage unaided and an out-of-tune guitar is the fastest way to lose interest. A clip-on tuner should be ordered alongside.
Who It Suits
This suits a child of roughly primary or early secondary school age starting lessons, a smaller teenager, or a small-framed adult who finds a full dreadnought unmanageable. It also suits a traveller who wants a compact steel-string that still uses proper tonewoods.
It suits less well an adult with large hands, who will find the body cramped and the neck short, or anyone wanting a loud strumming guitar for group playing. A very young child may still be better on a smaller nylon-strung instrument. Other options sit in kids and junior guitars and acoustic guitars.
How to Maintain
Keep it out of direct sun and away from radiators. A spruce-topped guitar reacts to humidity swings, and dry winter rooms cause sharp fret ends and, in bad cases, cracks.
Wipe the strings after playing even though they are coated, since coating slows corrosion rather than preventing it. Clean the gloss finish with a dry soft cloth only. Store it in the supplied bag rather than leaning it against a wall, which is how most children’s guitars get knocked over and cracked. Loosen the strings slightly for long storage.
Tips and Recommendations
Check the child’s height against the stated range before ordering. A guitar that is too big is the most common reason a young learner gives up, and going one size smaller is almost always the safer error.
Retune every session for the first fortnight while the strings settle. Decide about the pick-guard before sticking it on, since removing a misaligned one from a gloss finish is difficult. Use the hex key to check the neck a month in once string tension has been on it. Coated strings last a long time but should still be changed at least once a year even on a lightly played guitar, as covered in the string changing guide.
Product FAQ
Is the fingerboard rosewood or walnut? The description says rosewood for the fingerboard and bridge; the specification table says walnut. The two sources conflict.
What age is it for? The seller states children aged roughly eight to twelve, between four feet six and four feet eleven in height.
Does it come with a tuner? No. Picks, a pick-guard, a hex key, a strap and a gig bag are supplied, but no tuner.
What comparable small guitars are there? Alternatives include the Hola! Music full-size classical, the Oscar Schmidt three-quarter dreadnought and the Fender FA-15 three-quarter steel string.
