For more than 10 years, Loog Guitars has been making learning to play a guitar a less daunting task for youngsters. Now the company has teamed up with Fender for a pint-sized Telecaster and Stratocaster – each rocking three strings, a single pickup and a short skinny neck.
Though Loog has a few kid-friendly six-string instruments in its range, most of the models on offer cut that string count in half so that beginners as young as 3-years-old can get to grips with learning to play. The scaled-down versions of Fender's iconic electrics are aimed at youngsters 6 and up.
The Fender x Loog series has been designed in collaboration with Fender but the guitars are manufactured by Loog. They have the look and feel of regular electrics, though are shorter and lighter and have three strings instead of six (or more).
They're designed as an easy way to make some noise, while the future Steve Vai or Nita Strauss learns playing basics and develops those all-important calluses – "utilizing standard guitar strings and tuning ensures everything learned on a Fender x Loog guitar can be applied on a 6-string guitar as well," said the collaboration's press release.
The young student can embrace the spirit of Clapton with the black Strat-shaped Loog, which features a three-pole single-coil pickup mounted midway between the hardtail bridge with adjustable saddles and the neck. A volume knob sits underneath for nifty swells, or to placate parents.
There's a slim 19-fret bolt-on neck with black dot inlays, and standard guitar strings tuned to G, B and E running to the Fender-style headstock. The mini-Strat can be cabled to a practice amp via a full-size instrument jack, which will need to be purchased separately (Loog has a portable 3-W mini amp for $79 on its webstore).
The Tele-shaped model is pretty much the same deal specswise, but comes in Seafoam Green, features a metal-covered pickup like the neck single-coil on its bigger Fender sibling, a knurled chrome volume knob and a metal plate incorporating the output jack plus a Tele-style pickguard.
Either way, the diddly-guitars ship with chord flashcards, picks and stickers plus a booklet outlining Fender's early guitars. Kids can also nab a parent's smartphone and install the Loog Guitar learning app for video lessons and gamified playing exercises to kickstart a child's "rock god" ambitions.
The Fender x Loog guitars are priced at US$199 each, and are not currently available outside of the US but there are plans to launch in Europe, Japan and Australia later in the year. The video below has more.
Product page: Fender x Loog
