5 Best Electric Guitars for Small Hands in 2023 – The Only Guide You Need

Last Updated on May 5, 2023 by Teemu Suomala

NOTE: This article is written by a guy who owns a really small pair of hands. Guitar playing was a struggle for me when I started. Remember, practicing and using the correct technique is the most important part. Easy to play guitar can help, but before rushing to buy a new axe, set up a consistent practice routine and make sure you use the correct playing technique.

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How Fender Player Mustang 90 sounds:

This Fender Mustang is my favorite for small hands…trinity of playability, tones, and quality is hard to beat.

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The Next Best:

Runner-up – Squier Classic Vibe 50’s Stratocaster

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Our Overall Rating

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Summary

Why the Classic Vibe Strats are easy to play:

• the nut width is a narrow 42mm (1.65inches)
• C-shaped neck gives a really smooth feel, rounding naturally with your palm.

It’s a breeze to shred quick riffs with this axe.

Your thumb can rest comfortably at the back of the fretboard, so reaching all the frets is easy no matter how short your fingers are.

And when it comes to offering value for money, these mid-priced Squiers are one of the best.

Best Budget/Beginner – Squier Affinity Telecaster

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Our Overall Rating

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Summary

The #1 thing…

that makes its overall playability better is the narrow nut width of 1.65’’ (42mm).

Much narrower than usual! 

Even tho that nowadays I can play wide guitar necks too, this just fits my hand like a glove.

The neck shape is C, and it gives easy access to the fretboard, but still feels firm in your hands.

This Tele is made for small hands. And especially for beginners with small hands.

Best 3/4 Sized – Squier Mini Stratocaster

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Summary

Everything is small with this guitar…

Only 1.6” (40,6m) nut width.

A short scale length of 22.75” reduces string tension.

Overall small size, narrow and thin neck plus and strings that are easy to press down make this Strat one of the best choices for kids.

A solid choice for adults searching for compact axe too.

Plus, this guitar sounds pretty good too!

Premium – Fender Special Edition Custom Telecaster FMT HH

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Our Overall Rating

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Summary

One of my favorite guitars for versatility and small hands right now.

It’s narrow (1.62” = 41.3 mm nut) neck with a C- shape fits small hands.

Add the overall slim body and neck to this, and it jumps to a new level when it comes to small-hand playability.

It has 6 different pickup settings because of coil-split(these sound great btw).

Plus, it looks beautiful and offers great value for money. And this guitar plays super smoothly.

Compare these axes:

Specs

Neck Shapes:

Find small hand friendly neck shapes here.

Pickups tones

Check the bodywoods of these guitars:

Learn more about electric guitar tonewoods here.

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If you feel that it’s reallyyy hard to play some chords and notes on the guitar because your hands/fingers just can’t reach the right spot…

…you know what…this is the right place for you!

Because we are going to dig deep into the world of electric guitars for small hands! Best part?

I’ve been there… I own a small pair of hands. So I have struggled too. A lot.

And when I started playing guitar, I was a kid, so my hands were even smaller back then. And it was really frustrating once in a while. It just felt impossible to play some songs and chords. For example ”Snow” by Red Hot Chili Peppers and barre chords were like Kryptonite for me(I’m no Superman tho…).

Here you can see the reviewer’s(my) hand and some measurements:

So I’m not one of those folks with baseball-players hands that say ”you just have to practice”. And trust me…

I have experienced first-hand that playing the guitar with small hands can make you feel something like this:

But my small hands didn’t stop me. Yours should not stop you either.

Should you buy a different guitar if you have small hands?

The short answer is this: maybe you should, that can make playing easier and the learning curve shorter. But buying a new guitar is not necessary most of the time.

Because you can absolutely learn to play, even though you have small hands! And even though you have a guitar that is not very “small hand-friendly” you can master the guitar. Many people have done that already, so you can do it too.

But as I said, easier to play guitar can make playing a lot easier.

Let’s look closer at the best electric guitars for small hands and at the end of the post, there are some tips that can make playing easier for you right now!

I have tested all the guitars featured in this articles except Fender Special Edition Custom Telecaster FMT HH. For some reason, music store’s near me don’t carry it at all. Hopefully I can riff with it soon! Otherwise, I have jammed with these guitars, tested the playability, and the sound…I really like them all.

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Best Electric Guitars for Small Hands

Quick Buyer’s Guide

Keep these things are mind when reading this post and picking the right guitar for you!

Fretboard radius: This tells you how curved the fretboard is. In classical guitars, there is usually no curve on the fretboard at all. On the other end of the spectrum are some Telecasters with a 7.25 radius.

A typical fretboard radius for electric guitar is around 12 inches. You might want to look for a radius of 9,5 inches or more, because when the radius is small and the fretboard has a big curve, doing bends and hitting the right strings can be a little bit harder.

Nut width: This means the width of the guitar’s neck when measured from the nut. It also affects how narrow the neck is when you go down the neck. Nut width has a huge effect on playability. The narrow neck is almost always a better option for small hands.

The typical nut widths:

• Fender Vintage Stratocasters have 42mm(1.65″)
• Modern Stratocasters have 43mm(1.695″)
• Les Pauls usually have 43mm(1.695″)

Check our full guitar nut width guide here.

String action: String action is the distance between the strings and the fretboard. The closer the strings are to the frets, easier it’s to play. Usually, the action can be adjusted easily with electric guitars. But if you make the strings too low, some notes/frets might start to buzz. 

Scale length: Guitar’s scale length is the distance from the nut to the middle of the Fret 12, multiplied by 2. Scale length affects the tension of the strings. Shorter the scale length is, less tension there will be. Less tension usually means that the guitar is a little bit easier to play, because playing requires less strength from your fingers.

The shape of the neck: Most common neck shape of electric guitars is C-shape. The C-shaped neck is usually a good option for players with small hands, it feels comfortable to play and works well for most playing styles.

A good variation of the C-shape is the Modern C-shaped neck. It’s a flatter version of the C-shape. Modern C-neck works really well especially if you have short fingers. 

Slim D, and Thin U– shaped necks are great options too, these are usually slightly bigger in size, but easier for your thumb placement.

Now let’s look at those best guitars for small hands!

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Best Overall Electric Guitar for Small Hands – Fender Mustang 90

This one is a great rock guitar (from modern to classic rock).  You can get good tones from Black Sabbath to Nirvana and from old-school Green Day to Mountain.

This Mustang with P90’s offers nice balanced and clear cleans, plus you can get nice spanky funk tones out of it too. Here’s another sound demo for you (sounds great to me):

But what about the playability?

Fender’s Mustang 90 gets 3 crucial things right for the guitarist with small hands:

• Its nut width is 1.65”(41.91mm). This narrow neck is especially great for short fingers and small palms. Using the correct technique(thumb at the back of the neck), you should be able to access all the frets easily.
• A 24” scale length reduces string tension, so playing this guitar doesn’t require much finger strength. This makes the overall playability smoother.
• The slim, C-shaped neck works well for most players with small hands.

The fretboard radius is 9’5-inches, so there is some curve. But it’s flat enough for playing to be comfortable, and bends were really smooth with this kind of neck.

Plus the guitar is small-sized overall, so it’s a great pick for, kids, teens, and ladies too.

Perfect?

No, but no big issues to be found either.

This Mustang might need some slight action adjustments. Not a major flaw, can happen with any guitar and depends on your play style, but it’s worth noting.

I also skimmed through a ton of user reviews, and players have been saying great things about the electronics and lack of hum in the sound. P90’s are single-coils, so lack of unwanted hum is a nice plus.

Find more great guitars with P90s here.

Pros

• Spot-on nut width and 24″ scale length (less string tension) make this one really easy to play
• Good quality electronics
• The neck is really comfortable (especially good for short fingers)
• Sounds great, best for funk, punk, and rock.
• Narrow neck (nut width is 1.65”) makes accessing all the corners of the fretboard easy
• C-shape just fits a hand of a human being
• I like how bent saddles feel against my picking hand (it’s comfortable)
• Solid tuning stability

Cons

• Some action adjustments might be needed
• Not the most versatile guitar
• The body shape can feel alien for some players

Our Ratings:

Feature	Rating from 1-5
Sound	4.5
Playability	4.9
Overall Quality	4.5
Value For Money	5
Versatility	4

The neck of this guitar is one of the best ones for small hands in my opinion. Really reaally slim. Feels good to play.

Sound-wise this is not the most versatile, but not too bad either. Best for punk rock, rock, hard rock, and funk. If you love rock and want to easy to play guitar, this will be a great option for you. This Mustang is one great thin neck guitar.

You can read my full review of Fender Mustang P90 here.

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Runner-Up – Squier Classic Vibe ’50s Stratocaster

I tried this out in a music store nearby a while back.

I compared lots of different Stratocasters there and I think that this one is a lot easier to play than most Fender Stratocasters. And this Squier didn’t lose much to the higher-priced Fender Player Stratocasters sound and quality-wise. 

This one is just like Stratocasters in the 50’s with some modern updates. For example, it has a 5-position blade switch.

Some key specs for small-handed players:

• Fretboard radius, 9’5 inches
• Nut width is 42mm(1.65inches)
• C-shaped neck

The neck is slim, narrow, and smooth.

Narrow-tall frets make hammer on’s, pull off’s, and bending very easy…

plus with low action, playing is really effortless, not much finger strength is required.

Fretboard edges are rolled. This makes overall playability and moving your hand up and down comfortable. And for this price, I was surprised by how smooth the fret edges were. So at least I didn’t feel any need to start smoothening these up.

I have found out that in most cases, the action in Squier and Fender Stratocaster is a little bit too high for my liking out of the box. Fortunately, the action is easy to adjust. But as always, you might need to do some adjustments after buying this.

But action-wise either, Squier Classic Vibe ’50s Stratocaster is definitely not too bad. I’m not even sure if the action needs to be adjusted always(this depends on your playstyle).

Personally, I think that this guitar is really easy to play, and it’s also really fun to play in my opinion. Fast rock solos and funk riffs are really a pleasure to play with this axe.

If you want to hear how this one sounds, check this video:

Pros

• 9,5-inch radius, narrow-, and C- shaped neck make playing really easy
• No sharp edges on the fretboard(comfortable)
• Amazing value for the money
• Nice rock sounds

Cons

• Not the best one for heavy distortion
• Adjustments to the action are sometimes needed(depends on your play style of course)

Our Ratings:

Feature	Rating from 1-5
Sound	4.5
Playability	4.5
Overall Quality	4.5
Value For Money	5
Versatility	4.2

You definitely get really good value for the money with this one. So easy to play, even with small hands. If you like to play funk, jazz, blues, and rock, this is a really good option. For metalheads, there are slightly better options available sound-wise(check Fender Special Edition Custom Telecaster FMT HH from this post).

You can read my full review of Squier Classic Vibe ’50s Stratocaster here.

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Best Budget Guitar for Small Hands – Squier Affinity Telecaster

If you are not ready to spend too much yet but really want to learn to play the guitar no matter how small your hands are, this Squier Affinity Telecaster is a great option.

Let’s see why!

Yep, it’s narrower than usual! Narrow. This small but important detail makes playing a lot easier for small hands. For example, you don’t need to stretch your fingers so much when performing barre chords.

The neck shape is C, and for me, it works great.

It’s

• a well-balanced neck shape—slim enough to enable you to reach every fret with short fingers…
• while giving a firm, sturdy feel in your palm.

This Squier Tele’s scale length is 25.5″ (648 mm). It’s a regular scale length, but at this tension either, strings shouldn’t give you too much of a hard time, but for some folks, a shorter scale is a better option.

I myself don’t see the standard scale length of these Affinity Telecasters as a huge problem because the slim C neck is super playable in every other way.

I played the Squier Affinity Telecaster a while back in a music store, and oh boy, it was fun.

Playing chords and running solo licks was smooth and effortless. But, the action was a little bit too high for me(again)… Keep in mind though, with a saddle and/or truss rod adjustment you can adjust the action according to your preference.

So really, Affinity’s high out-of-the-box action is no big issue.

Of course, guitars this affordable have some issues.

First of all, the edges of the frets and fretboard can feel rough sometimes. This is a simple problem to fix, which you can learn to do yourself here. A tech can always solve this too, but these rough points are definitely a flaw, gladly it doesn’t always happen.

What about the sound?

The tones of this Tele are really solid and bright, but a budget Squier obviously won’t sound as good as higher-priced Fenders.

This Telecaster comes with 2 single-coils. In general, these single coils provide warmer tones than those found in Stratocasters. They’re less bright and glassy than Squiers Affinity Strat’s, with a rounder balance between the lows and highs.

I think they’re great for both hard and soft rock, blues, country, and even with some metal.

Hear how Affinity Tele sounds:

Note: Personally I think that Affinity series guitars feel better than Squier’s cheaper Bullet series. 7 times out of 10, I would choose to save up some money to buy an Affinity Series Tele or Strat over the Bullet Series.

Also know that if Telecaster isn’t your piece of cake, Affinity Series Stratocasters offer the same narrow, slim neck and comfortable playability at a budget price.

Find more beginner friendly guitars here.

Summary

Pros

• Slim, narrow neck makes playing easy for short fingers
• C-Shaped neck ensures comfortable playability
• Rock-solid sound for all beginner guitarist needs
• Versatile tones
• Great looks
• Really high value for money

Cons

• Action is a bit too high out of the box (easy to fix though)
• Occasional rough fret edges
• If the scale length were 24.5-inches, playing would be even easier

Our Ratings:

Feature	Rating from 1-5
Sound	3.9
Playability	3.8
Overall Quality	3.7
Value For Money	5
Versatility	4

To wrap this up, this electric guitar’s overall quality and value for money are top-notch.

This Telecaster offers you a thin, slim neck that’s comfortable to jam with despite having some rough points. A great choice for beginner players who want a sweet-sounding, easy-playing guitar at an affordable price.

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Best 3/4 Electric Guitar for Small Hands – Squier Mini Strat

My childhood friend owned this guitar back in the day, and I spent a lot of time with this cute axe back then.

First, why is this a good option for small hands?

The nut width is only 1.6” (40,6m), so the neck really is ultra-narrow. It’s thin throughout, following a slim C-shaped neck profile that is the most popular for a reason. Even with short fingers, you should easily be able to reach all the frets on the fretboard.

Plus, the short scale length of 22.75” makes things even easier.

Because of this, strings have way less tension than a full-size Strat and are therefore a lot easier to press down. This smoothens the overall playability. Rocking out on this Mini is easy-peasy in any position.

The fretboard radius, at 9.5-inches, is standard for most Squier/Fender guitars, so you’re probably not going to face any issues with it.

Overall, this axe is really easy to play, but if you’ve got really thick fingers, the narrow fret spacing and super slim neck can cause some problems for you because your fingers are more likely to touch strings they shouldn’t.

Mini Strat comes with 3 Standard Single-Coil Strat pickups (just like the Original Stratocasters(ofc these are cheaper versions of those pickups)), which provide you with bright and sparkling tones.

Clean tones are clear and dirty ones have plenty of attack, so you can make this axe sound fairly aggressive if you want. But still, if you play really heavy stuff, the voice of this Strat probably won’t handle it well. Things can get fuzzy fast when going too hard on this Mini.

It’s definitely not a guitar built with metalheads in mind, but it handles rock, jazz, and blues really well.

Hear how this guitar sounds. Note that the metal riff part is played with heavily modified tones(but you’ll see what is possible), other stuff is more natural:

Most of the time I have been satisfied with the quality of Squier guitars, and due to my testing, these Mini’s are the ones that deliver solid quality. For the price, you get darn good value for the money.

Of course, the overall finish is not as detailed as the more expensive models and sometimes lemons slip through, but I still think it’s an attractive electric. Plus it actually stays in tune pretty well and its electronics should function for years to come.

Find more solid 3/4 sized electric guitars here.

Summary

Pros

• Bright Stratocaster tones
• Comfortable and easy to play
• The neck is narrow and thin (easy to reach every corner of the fretboard)
• Overall small size is great for smaller persons(kids for example)
• Quality is great for the price
• Stays in tune well

Cons

• Becomes a bit fuzzy with high gain and distortion
• May have minor flaws in construction and finish sometimes

Our Ratings:

Feature	Rating from 1-5
Sound	3.7
Playability	3.8
Overall Quality	3.5
Value For Money	5
Versatility	3.6

This is (in my opinion), the best option out there if you’re looking for a 3/4-sized guitar. With the Squier Mini Stratocaster, you get a comfortable and easy-to-play guitar that provides a great variety of tones.

It’s great for rock, blues, and jazz, and handles other genres well too.

If these things sound good to you, this axe is worth the money as a great small-sized electric option.

You can read my full review of Squier Mini Stratocaster here.

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For Bigger Budget – Fender Special Edition Custom Telecaster FMT HH

This Fender Special Edition Custom Telecaster FMT HH threw the ESP LTD EC-1000 out of this list. The playability on this electric guitar is just incredible, and the sound versatility is amazing! Let’s dive deeper!

Playability

Why is this guitar easy to play?

This electric guitar has a neck that is:

• glued to the body
• narrow (1.62” = 41.3 mm nut)
• C-shaped
• Jumbo frets

Exactly these qualities make this Fender one of the best electric guitars for small hands.

But what do these features really do for you?

First, glued neck increases upper fret access down the fretboard(and looks beautiful).

Secondly, a narrow neck makes wrapping hands around it comfortable. This also makes accessing all the frets easy.

Plus, C-shape of the neck is a great all-rounder shape that works for most playing styles. Rarely do players hate this shape.

And then the jumbo frets. With the right setup and low action, you only have to press strings slightly to hit the right note. So you can easily press the strings, plus you have great access to the fretboard.

This is how easy playability looks like.

For me, all this feels and seems comfortable…but if looking for an authentic Telecaster experience, this might not provide that for you. Otherwise, the playability is spot-on.

What about the sound?

With both looks and sounds, this is a Les Paul with Telecaster’s thin neck and single-coil twist. You have 2 Seymor Duncan humbuckers that provide thick and full tones and handle stuff from jazz to metal.

These pickups are:

• Seymour Duncan SHPGP-1B Pearly Gates Plus Humbucking Pickup (Bridge)
• Seymour Duncan SH-1N RP ’59 Reverse Polarity Humbucking Pickup (Neck)

All seems great right? But this is not what you get with this guitar…

You get more. You get a coil-split with this Tele. So instead of 3 different pickup settings, you have 6. Instead of humbucker or single-coil type tones only, you get both. I love the tones of this guitar.

Check how this ”Tele” sounds:

Pretty stellar right?

A couple of other things…

You get the Fender Standard Cast/Sealed tuners, and due to my research, this axe is a stud when it comes to tuning stability. Also, you get a real bone nut and durable 6-Saddle String-Thru Body bridge.

All is perfect?

Of course not. This guitar too sometimes suffers from Fender’s overseas manufactured guitar problems. Mostly poor setup and finish quality. But both these can be fixed easily.

1. You can easily setup your guitar yourself or let a professional handle that.
2. If the setup is so poor that it ruins the guitar for you or the axe has finish issues…refund it.

It really is that simple.

But usually, this guitar is solid out of the box, only set up it to your liking.

Pros

• You get both, Les Paul and Tele qualities
• Slim playability fits small hands
• Versatile tones don’t limit you
• Usually stellar quality
• Stays in tune well
• Coil-split
• Seymor Duncan pickups sound excellent

Cons

• Sometimes poor setup and finish quality out of the box
• Might be even too slim/thin for some players

Our Ratings:

Feature	Rating from 1-5
Sound	4.8
Playability	4.9
Overall Quality	4.7
Value For Money	5
Versatility	4.7

Really slim body and playability, versatile tones, beautiful looks, and great value for money. One of my favorite guitars for versatility and small hands right now.

If all this sounds good, Special Edition Custom Telecaster is a great option for you. This Tele is an overall great instrument everyone playing guitar should try out.

Check Price on:

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Verdict

If you want to see all of these guitars in order, according to how good it is for small hands, the list would look like this:

1. Fender Mustang 90

Not the most versatile guitar of this list. But this is easiest to play, thanks to its thin neck and 24’ scale. Strong old school Green Day vibes with this(it was my favorite band when growing up).

2. Fender Special Edition Custom Telecaster FMT HH

A little bit more expensive than the others, but manages to deliver value to justify the extra price. Most versatile small-hand friendly guitar under $1000. Offers an overall slim feel and is really comfortable to play.

3. Squier Classic Vibe ’50s Stratocaster

Narrow-, and C-shaped neck, comfortable playability, and feeling and sound of a more expensive guitar it’s really hard to go wrong with this.

4. Squier Affinity Tele

The best budget and beginner option. Amazing option for small hands, plus you don’t grow out from this guitar easily. It’s that fun to play!

5. Squier Mini Strat

Best for kids. Or maybe you just want a 3/4 sized axe no matter what, and then this is my favorite option out there. But especially kids might outgrow this model relatively fast. Still, Mini Strat offers good value for money and can definitely get you started with the guitar!

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How to Play Guitar With Small Hands – Fix This Problem by Making Changes to Your Technique

You feel comfortable playing those easy familiar notes, but the hard ones give you a real headache. You know what?

I know that everybody says something this…but I’m going to say this anyway…

Those ‘’hard to play’’-notes are called that for a reason. Playing those just takes a lot more effort. For everybody. You have to really practice if you want to learn hard things. But those are called ‘’hard’’, not ‘’impossible’’. So you can definitely learn those. Don’t ever give up. 

But you can do something else too…

It’s not just ”hard work”. It’s also SMART WORK. Because you can definitely make playing easier with some easy/free chances.

When I did these changes, it felt soo much easier to play different notes across the frett board. What are these changes?

You probably need to change your technique a little bit. It’s almost always about your technique. And to be more specific, it’s about your thumb. Yes. It’s in the wrong place.

How can you fix this?

This video does the perfect job of solving this problem. But remember, it doesn’t give you a magic trick, you’ll have to practice to make it work. I recommend that you take some time and watch this:

So try to get your thumb in the right place. In the back of the neck. This will surely make playing a lot easier with a little practice. 

Remember that even with a proper technique, some songs and notes are just harder than others. You’ll have to still show a real effort if you want to master the guitar. 

Do this with hard parts:

First, you should learn to play hard parts slowly, but cleanly. Then start playing it faster and faster until you get there. That’s the path which all guitar players need to go through. There is no other way.

Start slow and clean. And then play it faster but cleanly.

Sometimes playing can feel too hard. You feel like giving up. Your hands are tiny. And guitars are humongous. If that’s the case, buying a guitar that is a better fit for smaller hands might be a good choice for you.

This is not a magic trick either, but it can surely make things easier.

The biggest benefit of buying a suitable guitar for small hands is this: It makes learning easier for you. And when learning is easier, you won’t lose motivation so quickly. This makes your guitar journey a whole lot easier and more enjoyable.

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Conclusion on The Best Electric Guitars for Small Hands

All these guitars are great options for small-handed people. Easy to play and versatile too. I recommend that you think about which suits your needs and buy the best guitar you can afford. But I have to say that the Fender Mustang P90 is the best electric guitar for small hands in general.

I hope that this post helped you to improve your technique and you managed the pick the right guitar for your small hands. If you have any questions related to these guitars or guitar playing in general, just leave a comment. Feel free to share this post too.

I wish you all the best and keep rocking!

Teemu ‘’The Small Handed’’ Suomala

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