Alternatives to the Squier Mini Stratocaster

What the Mini Strat is known for

It is a genuine short-scale Stratocaster rather than a shrunken novelty: a 22.75-inch scale, three single-coil pickups, a laurel fingerboard and the Fender-family neck shape, at $199.99. That combination is why it is the default recommendation for a first electric for roughly ages seven to twelve, and we recommend it ourselves on the electric guitars for kids page.

People look for alternatives for four specific reasons, and each has a different answer. The guitar is too small. The three single-coils are too thin for the music the player wants. The player is left-handed. Or the player is younger than the Mini is built for. Below, one instrument per reason.

If it is the size: the Epiphone

A 22.75-inch scale is a child’s guitar, and a twelve-year-old can outgrow it inside a year. The Les Paul Special II is a full-size instrument at a 24.75-inch scale, which is the shortest of the full-size scales and therefore the gentlest step up — the frets are still closer together than on a Stratocaster.

Its two humbuckers also answer the second objection at the same time. A humbucker is a thicker, louder pickup than a single coil, and the fixed stopbar bridge means nothing drifts out of tune when a string is bent. For a beginner who wants rock tones, that is the friendliest possible combination. The cost is weight: a Les Paul body is noticeably heavier on a strap than a Strat.

If it is the sound but not the shape: the Pacifica

Some players want the Stratocaster outline and the Stratocaster controls, and just want the bridge position to be able to do heavier music. That configuration has a name — humbucker, single, single — and the Pacifica is the classic beginner version of it.

It is a full 25.5-inch scale, so it is an instrument for a teenager rather than a nine-year-old, and it is the pick most likely to still be the right guitar in year three. Our beginner electric roundup covers the pickup configurations in more detail.

If the player is left-handed

Two answers, depending on size. The Mini Stratocaster is also built left-handed at the same $199.99 — same 3/4 size, same laurel board, same two-year warranty — so a left-handed child can start on exactly what their classmates use. If the player is a teenager or an adult, the full-size Sonic Stratocaster is left-handed at $249.99, which is the same price right-handed beginners pay and is not always true in the lefty market.

Whether to play left-handed at all is a decision that comes before either of those, and it is not obvious. Our left-handed guide works through it.

What you still need, whichever you choose

An amplifier. Every electric on this page is sold bare, and a beginner practice amp is about $90 — preferably one with a headphone socket, which decides whether practice can happen after eight in the evening. The beginner amp roundup covers the three worth owning.

A setup, probably. Guitars at this price leave the factory with a high action, because a high action never buzzes. Forty to seventy dollars at a local shop lowers the strings to where a beginner’s fingers can press them, and it is the best money spent on any guitar in this bracket. If the budget is firm, the guitars under $200 page works through what has to give.

Every price on this page is read from the live listing by our daily price check, and the date it was read is printed under each buy button. Prices move, and a page that quotes a number without saying when it was true is not worth reading — so if a pick has drifted over the cap since the last check, the button will tell you before you click it.