Description
Review of the Smartxchoices 30 Inch Electric Guitar Starter Kit for Kids with Amplifier
This is a 30 inch electric guitar sold as a complete first setup for children, bundled with a clip on mini amplifier, a gig bag, a strap, a cable, picks and spare strings. The manufacturer recommends it for children aged three and up, and the finish is a blue gloss over visible wood grain with a lighter neck. It belongs firmly in the kids and junior guitars bracket rather than the adult beginner market.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Everything needed to make a sound is in one box. Guitar, amp, cable, strap, picks and bag together remove the common beginner trap of buying an electric guitar and discovering it is silent without extra purchases.
- The 30 inch scale keeps frets close together. Small hands can reach across a chord shape without stretching, which is the main reason children abandon full size instruments.
- The amplifier has a headphone output. Practice can happen without filling the house with noise, which matters more with a child learning than with an adult.
- A rosewood fretboard and amp tone controls are specified. Rosewood is dense enough to hold frets properly and resist denting, and being able to roll off treble on the amp keeps early mistakes from sounding harsh.
Cons
- The spec table lists the string material as nylon on an electric guitar. This is a direct contradiction. Magnetic pickups work by sensing a vibrating steel string disturbing a magnetic field, and nylon strings produce no signal at all through a standard pickup. Either the strings are actually steel and the spec is wrong, or the guitar would be silent when plugged in. Buyers should plan on fitting a set of electric guitar strings.
- The body wood is described three different ways. The spec table gives Body Material as wood, Back Material as basswood, and the manufacturer description says hardwood. Basswood is not a hardwood in the tonal sense that word usually implies, so none of these three answers confirm the others.
- The listed scale length of 30 inches is the overall guitar length. A guitar with a genuine 30 inch scale would be a baritone instrument. The real scale on an instrument this size is far shorter, so the figure cannot be used for comparison shopping.
- The amp runs on a 9 volt battery that is not included. The listing also warns that only an adapter with a negative centre pin is safe, and states that the wrong polarity risks a short or fire. That is a meaningful safety caveat for a children’s product.
- The bridge system is listed only as “double”. That is not a recognised bridge type, so the listing gives no usable information about whether the bridge is fixed or has a tremolo.
- The listing states the guitar arrives needing adjustment and tuning before play. A household with no guitar experience will need help or a tutorial before the first session.
Detailed Product Description
The body is a solid wood build in blue gloss, with a contrasting lighter neck listed as maple. The neck carries a rosewood fretboard with 22 frets according to the description. Twenty two frets on a 30 inch instrument means the frets sit very close together at the upper end, which is fine for chords in the first position and awkward for lead playing higher up. For a beginner that is the right compromise.
Electronics are described as passive with a single coil configuration in the spec table. Passive means no battery inside the guitar and no active preamp, which keeps the wiring simple. A single coil produces a brighter and thinner sound than a humbucker, and picks up more background hum near screens and power supplies.
The amplifier is a 5 watt clip on unit measuring 5 by 2.5 by 5 inches that attaches to clothing. Five watts through a small speaker is enough for bedroom practice and no more than that. The guide on guitar amp wattage for home practice explains where that sits relative to a standard practice combo.
What Comes with the Product
The listing names the guitar, a 5 watt clip on mini amplifier, a cable cord, a shoulder strap, guitar picks, an accessory kit including extra strings, and a nylon gig bag for storage and transport.
Not included, and stated as such: the 9 volt battery the amp requires. Also absent from the listing entirely are a tuner, a capo, a stand, a string winder and any printed or online lesson material. The description suggests downloading a tuner app on a phone or tablet instead of supplying one, so tuning depends on the household already having a device.
Who It Suits
This suits a parent buying a first electric guitar for a child roughly aged five to ten who wants the amplified experience without an adult sized instrument or a separate amp purchase. It also works as a gift where the recipient has shown interest but has not started lessons.
It does not suit a teenager or adult, who will outgrow a 30 inch body quickly. It does not suit anyone who wants a serious practice rig, since a clip on amp cannot drive a room. Anyone unsure which size fits should read the guide on what size guitar to buy for a child first. Comparable small electric packages include the ZENY 30 inch kids kit, the LUCKWBQ 30 inch kit with a 5 watt amp and the LyxPro 30 inch starter pack. The wider electric guitars range covers the step up when the child grows.
How to Maintain
Wipe the strings and fretboard down after each session. Electric strings corrode faster than most beginners expect, and a child’s hands leave more residue than an adult’s. Keep the guitar in its bag when not in use and away from heat sources, and tighten the small screws on the tuner buttons and strap buttons periodically, since fixings on inexpensive instruments loosen with handling.
Remove the battery from the amplifier if it will sit unused for weeks, because a leaking cell will destroy the contacts. If a mains adapter is used instead, verify the polarity marking matches the negative centre requirement stated in the listing before plugging it in.
Tips and Recommendations
Buy a set of light gauge electric guitar strings alongside the guitar. If the supplied strings are genuinely nylon as the spec table claims, the guitar will not produce any amplified sound until steel strings are fitted, and light gauge is the easiest option for small fingers.
Add a clip on tuner rather than relying on a phone app, since a physical tuner clamped to the headstock works in a noisy room where a microphone based app does not. Set the amp volume low and use headphones for the first weeks, and check the action at the twelfth fret after a month, because a small instrument that shipped ready to play often needs a small adjustment once the strings have settled.
Product FAQ
Does the amplifier come with a battery?
No. The listing states the amp needs one 9 volt battery and that the battery is not included.
How loud is the amplifier?
It is rated at 5 watts, which is bedroom practice level. It also has a headphone output for silent practice.
What strings should replace the originals?
Standard electric guitar strings in a light gauge. The nylon entry in the spec table conflicts with the guitar being an electric instrument, and nylon will not work with magnetic pickups.
Is it ready to play out of the box?
Not entirely. The manufacturer states the guitars are new and should be adjusted and tuned before playing, so expect some setup time before the first session.
