Top 17 Best Short Scale Electric Guitar Reviews In 2023

Are you looking for a short-scale electric guitar with high quality? Well, it is hard to get the best guitar that suits your demands. To help you with this, Carroll / Fletcher has listed 17 Best Short Scale Electric Guitars in 2023.

The most important thing when buying a guitar is that you have to find an excellent playability guitar. Therefore, in a wide range of guitar options, it is hard for you to look for a short scale guitar that meets all your needs. However, we are here to give you our best short scale electric guitars for you to consider.

We have done some studies, read some guitarists reviews of some short scale electric guitars, and have narrowed down to just 17 guitars that we think you should take a closer look at. We hope you can find one after reading our detailed reviews and a summary table below.

best short scale electric guitar Comparison 2023

Rise by Sawtooth Electric Guitar Yamaha Gigmaker Electric Guitar Gibson USA Flying V HP 2017 Electric Guitar
best short scale electric guitar best short scale electric guitar best short scale electric guitar

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Both left-handed and right-handed players

Beginners

Various musical styles

** Below, you will find our detailed reviews of the Best Short Scale Electric Guitar, but you can also click the links above to see current prices or read customer reviews on Amazon.

Top Best Short Scale Electric Guitar Reviews 2024

Squier Mini Strat

best short scale electric guitar

If you are searching for a budget-friendly short scale electric guitar, then you should come and look closer at our first electric guitar review- the Squier Mini Strat. In a wide range of guitar manufacturer brands, you can always rely on Squier to offer you many affordable products with high-quality. Squier is proven to make lots of reasonable price versions of Fender products and has produced various different guitars from the beginner to expert players. And the Squier Mini Strat is one of the best electric guitars on their product line.

Mini Strat has a traditional Stratocaster design and set up. It has a lightweight body with 3/4 in size, which makes it ideal for all players with small hands and those who love traveling or going on a trip as it is very easy to carry around. And if you are buying for a young player who just has started to learn how to play electric guitar, this Strat with the small size and lightweight must be your first consideration.

This Strat also has some same features with the Fender Stratocaster, such as three single-coil, a maple neck, and 6 saddles hardtail bridge that gives you great tone. It has high action, which makes it quite hard for beginners to play and has frets that are too high. So if you want to solve those problems to get a better sound and a comfortable playing feeling, we recommend making a few changes at a guitar shop near your house. This guitar has an amazing sound with a bright, clear tone that can produce a variety of frequencies, including basses and high tones. Although it may not be as colorful and sharp as the Fender, it still has good features, making it one of the greatest short-scale guitars on the market.

Squier Mini Jazzmaster HH

best short scale electric guitar

Squier Mini Jazzmaster HH is a reasonably priced short scale electric guitar with a rich, deep tone and an awesome design. Its 3/4 size and lightweight make it an ideal guitar for the players with small hands, little players and some guitarists who enjoy playing the guitar during camping, going on a short trip, or hanging out with some friends.

Mini Jazzmaster is incredibly short 22.75 inches scale length, which provides the musicians with smaller hands the ability to press and stretch the frets and comfortably play complex chord positions. This guitar’s sound is stable across all of the frequencies and sounds extraordinary when used with a dash of twisting. It has a slim C neck that makes it rapidly change up and down the fingerboard.

This Squier electric guitar has a similar appearance to the Fender Jazzmaster. It has a white color that will give you an indie-rock feeling. It also accompanies a hardware packing with a stylish engineered bone nut, die-cast machine heads, and a strong hardtail bridge to strengthen the tuning durability.

Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster Electric Guitar

best short scale electric guitar

If you are looking for an electric guitar to buy as a gift for your music-cherishing children, then this Squier Vintage Jazzmaster is an excellent choice. It will allow your child to become familiar with their preferred electric guitar effortlessly. Apart from that, those interested in small electric guitars or just want to have a short scale guitar to carry around for a trip or a tour bus  easily can try out this Jazzmaster.

The Vintage Jazzmaster is a perfect electric guitar for beginners and intermediate players. It is a high-quality electric guitar, which gives us a brilliant playing experience. It features Duncan designed pickups, fantastic fingerboard radius with numerous amazing highlights that will allow you to have a marvelous performance. Vintage Squier has a small scale with a strong basswood body and vintage-style chrome Tuning Keys. It also includes a maple C shape neck and a great rosewood fingerboard with 32 medium frets.

Moreover, it is a wonderful mini scale guitar with a fantastic finish, extraordinary pickups, and an incredible sound. You will be satisfied to discover that the stock bridge is very easy to replace when it is broken. If you have been disillusioned by some particular sorts of short scale electric guitars before, it is time for you to consider this magnificent vintage-style electric guitar.

Overall, this Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster is one of the best short scale electric guitars for everyone who wants to try out a new vintage-style.

Gibson USA Flying V HP 2017 Electric Guitar

best short scale electric guitar

Gibson Flying V electric guitar includes perfect quality and a fantastic tone proven as the best short scale guitar for those who love trying various musical styles to consider.

Significantly, this Flying V has every subtle of the standard styling, producing an ideal sound that matches its beautiful appearance. This Flying V has a rosewood fingerboard with 22 frets and is very easy to handle as it has a distinctive V shape. The neck accompanies a chrome inlay and a unique mother-of-pearl inlay that provides it the ability to support quick players who want to access higher notes. This guitar is intentionally made to enable rapid players to have a better performance. So, if you want to play with higher notes, it would be better for you to buy this electric guitar. Besides, this Flying V also includes a nice leather case for guitar protection, a cleaning cloth, and a multi-tool.

Gibson Flying V has great musical style adaptability because of its excellent features, such as a unique V shape, amazingly rapid neck, basic upper fret access, and regular sustain. It is an excellent guitar for those who love metal and heavy rocks styles. Moreover, this guitar can also take into account a variety of other musical styles, such as jazz, blues, grunge rock and dynamic rock thanks to its fantastic highlights and great designs. Therefore, if you need a small scale guitar suitable for playing various different music styles, then this Gibson Flying V is a brilliant instrument for you to get. We have to inform you that this is the best electric guitar because there aren’t many guitars with flexibility feature that offer you to play many musical styles in a wide range guitar world.

Overall, Gibson Flying V is a perfect guitar because most guitar players have good reviews after playing this guitar. It is comfortable to play and is suitable for most guitar styles.

Epiphone G-400 Pro Electric Guitar

best short scale electric guitar

Epiphone G-400 pro is proven as a worth price electric guitar that delivers a wonderful sound. It has an astounding control system that enables you to modify the sound easily. You will be satisfied to discover that each pickup will also have different tone control and volume.

Most guitar players pick this short-scale guitar since it is easy to play and has a pleasant feel. Besides its amazing feel and comfort, the neck length and fret spacing make it ideal for starter as well as expert players. Moreover, it is known as the best selection for players obsessed with easily playing electric guitar due to its comfortable feature.

Epiphone has a Wilkinson Vintage classic headstock, stop bar tailpiece and Lockstone tune-o-Matic. Another significant feature that is deserved to notice is the rapid, slim Taper D neck. The neck has a rosewood fingerboard with trapezoid inlays. This combination gives the guitar a fabulous appearance and makes it straightforward to play.

Aside from that, the coil tap provides an incredible extra option in addition to the individual tone and controls. Furthermore, this Epiphone is thin and lightweight, which makes the guitar players feel comfortable for a long time playing. You can easily put this guitar on your laps and shoulders for a couple of hours while playing it.

Overall, with all these marvelous highlights, the Epiphone G-400 is a great short-scale electric guitar for you to take a look at.

Ibanez 6 String Solid-Body Electric Guitar

best short scale electric guitar

If you are looking for a short-scale electric guitar to play at school, then we highly recommend you have a look at this Ibanez Solid-body as it is one of the best collections of many schools’ musical instruments. You will be amazed by the high-quality it offers since it can deliver a bright and fantastic tone.

Aside from the excellent sound, this 6 String guitar is designed with strong material, giving the body a strong and solid structure. This guitar is perfect for songwriting, traveling, going camping, or going on a long trip. It is an ideal instrument for beginners to improve their learning how to play the electric guitar.

This Ibanez 6 String features a lot of good-looking highlights. A basic feature of this guitar is the dynamic R pickups. It also has a rapid, thin maple neck and a minimal 22.2 inches scale length. It includes a suitable size for those with small hands, or love trying a smaller electric guitar. You will be surprised to know that although this guitar has a reasonable price, it still has good quality sound that definitely does not influence your performance in any case.

Overall, Ibanez 6 Strings is an affordable electric guitar that will even perform beyond your expectation.

Ibanez GRGM21BKN ¾ Size Mikro Electric Guitar

best short scale electric guitar

The Ibanez Mikro electric guitar is an ideal instrument for those who have just started to learn how to play a smaller guitar for the first time, as it is intentionally designed to support the beginners to learn quickly.

Mikro has a small scale length that you will be surprised at the high-quality of this guitar.

One of the most excellent highlights of this guitar is its strong and appealing body. Additionally, the neck has a maple fretboard, something that you will rarely see on a standard electric guitar. It also has smooth fret edges and an incredible fit and finishes. Everyone who loves a guitar with a small body and neck can choose this guitar, it is created to support younger players, and those with smaller hands to play with no problems. Moreover, we have to inform you that this small scale guitar is not a toy because it is intentionally designed with fastidious set-up, good quality, and a similar structure as the full scale GRX and GRG. Other fundamental highlights of this instrument are the 22-inch maple neck, smaller, and it is ideal for beginners. If you are left-handed, you can easily arrange for the left-handed model.

Overall, suppose you need a short-scale guitar that suits you most to play during travel or last minute rehearsal before the performance. In that case, this Mikro is one of the great electric guitars to take into consideration.

SX RST ¾ CAR Short Scale Red Electric Guitar

best short scale electric guitar

SX RST electric guitar is the perfect choice for anyone, especially young children, as it offers them to learn and play the instrument with no pressure and a comfortable feeling. The guitar is proven as one of the best short scale electric guitars among other high-quality guitars because of its excellent features. This guitar is a musical instrument that has great looks with amazing sound. Apart from the smaller size and beautiful appearance, it also has a reasonable price. Therefore, if you don’t have much money, you can consider this one as it also has a lot of outstanding features.

The SX RST electric guitar includes everything that you may need to begin learning how to play the guitar. When you buy this guitar, you will also get some accessories such as straps, amp, online guitar lessons, guitar case, and cable. It is significant that this guitar is amazing for those with smaller hands and those who need a short-scale guitar to bring with during traveling or going on a trip.

This small scale guitar comes with a strong basswood body which enables you to reach high frets. The molded body allows the guitar players to play the instrument comfortably and conveniently for many hours. This SX RST also has three single-coil pickups, two tone controls, and single volume control.

Furthermore, it accompanies five-way pickup selector switches for the creation of amazing sounds. This electric guitar is outfitted with six vintage bridges and a flexible neck which is made of the truss rod and six-saddle that can be effectively modified.

This SX RST is also equipped with the gigantic neck which enhances the stability of the guitar. Another essential highlight of this guitar is the headphone jack for practicing quietly, two band EQ having both treble and bass control, an instructional DVD, and an EB400 guitar bag.

Fender Mustang 90

best short scale electric guitar

The Fender Mustang is considerably more than just a small scale electric guitar. It is an underground Indie classic, and together with the Duo-Sonic below, is among the most distinguished electric guitars on this list. It is well-known for being a garage rock icon used by My Bloody Valentine, Nirvana, and Sonic Youth inappropriate that creates inappropriate because of its extraordinary style, small size and rich Fender tone.Fender Mustang comes with a 24 inches scale length, 9.5 inches fingerboard with MP90 single-coil pickups that will provide you the mark snarly midrange and punchy low end. It also has six saddles string-through-body hardtail Strat bridge with twisted steel saddles, which makes it feel like a simple to play Strat. Indie rockers Sonic Youth even have an entire segment of their website created for their products. You will have to pay more money to get a vintage style electric guitar; however, if you are fine to make do with the second-best, you can get one of these MIM Mustangs, which is made in Mexico and has a nearly great sound.

Squier Classic Vibe 60’s Mustang

best short scale electric guitar

If the Fender Mustang cost makes you feel hopeless, then you should take a look at an excellent less expensive version of the Mustang at a small amount of the price. It is made by Fender’s spending arm (Squier), so if you are a Fender idealist, it will not impress you. However, if you need a basically indistinguishable electric guitar at a reasonable price, we suggest you consider the Classic Vibe 60’s Mustang.

The specification of this guitar is practically unique at the first look. It has the same 24 inches scale length, C formed neck and single-coil pickups. A small difference in tonewood as this electric guitar uses the inexpensive poplar for the body material. However, the significant distinction of these guitars is the style of the tailpiece. If you look carefully, you will see that it has a whammy bar. It also has a floating bridge and a powerful vibrato tailpiece, which is similar to most Strat electric guitars.

Rise by Sawtooth Electric Guitar

best short scale electric guitar

Are you looking for a stylish and high-quality short scale electric guitar? Then we recommend you spend time taking a closer look at this Rise by Sawtooth electric guitar, which is an excellent musical instrument.

The Rise by Sawtooth has a beautiful design with 3/4 size and 24 inches scale length, which makes it simpler for young children with small hands to hold and reach all the notes, and it also suits those who love to bring a small guitar during a trip or travel around. One special thing about this small scale guitar is that It is available for both right-handed and left-handed guitar players.

This electric guitar also comes with a basswood body, a maple neck, and a maple fretboard with dot inlays. It has moderately typical chrome equipment and a non-adjustable shaft piece single humbucker, which means you won’t have the option to deliver flexible sounds and various kinds of music on this guitar.

Overall, Rise by Sawtooth electric guitar is a worthy short-scale instrument that is made of incredible and high-quality materials, and it is still a great choice for beginners.

Fender Duo-Sonic

best short scale electric guitar

The Duo-Sonic is another vintage electric guitar that discovered eminence through the amazing Jini Hendrix. Its uniqueness originates from its split pickups, which is a single-coil neck pickup and humbucker bridge pickup with coil-split ability.

This Duo-Sonic has the same 9.5 inches fingerboard radius as the Mustang above; however, the difference between them is that Duo-Sonic has a pau Ferro fingerboard rather than a rosewood. Pau Ferro fingerboard is between ebony and rosewood apparently, keeping the glow of rosewood with a marginal tone.

Regardless of these distinctions, you might think the Duo-Sonic look fundamentally the same as the Mustang. There is one noticeable but a still big difference between these electric guitars. The Duo-Sonic has a slight curve towards the base of the body, making its center curve more forward compared to the Mustang. The apex of the curve on the Duo-Sonic is placed between the pickups. On the Mustang, the top is right under the bridge pickups. This makes a small difference in tone, and the Mustang is also more convenient than the Duo-Sonic to play sitting down.

Oscar Schmidt Double Cutaway 3/4 Size

best short scale electric guitar

Displayed on the king of the Stratocaster electric blues guitars, this smaller guitar from Oscar Schmidt is valued at a glance. It is a 3/4 sized double-cutaway type with a five-way pickup selector and a typical tremolo bridge that allows this small six-string couple to include additional items. With a 3/4 size, it may be difficult for the 24 frets. It is mini-sized and lightweight with only 5 pounds makes it an easy carriage that helps those who need an electric guitar with portability for traveling, voyaging, or going on a bus tour.

Yamaha Gigmaker Electric Guitar

best short scale electric guitar

Yamaha is proven as a real budget-friendly and the best beginner guitar option, including this Yamaha Gigmaker electric guitar. It is one of the greatest short scale electric guitars for the beginners to get started playing the guitar. It is designed with playability and comfortable, making it the ideal guitar for everyone with small hands and the young children to learn how to play.

Yamaha Gigmaker can stay in tune very well, making it easier for beginners who learn to tune their electric guitar for the first time. It also has the greatest tremolo bridge system, which makes it partially the same feature as a full-sized electric guitar on the Yamaha line.

Furthermore, this electric guitar comes with a few wonderful extras, including a 15-watt Yamaha amp, which has enough energy to enable you to deal with any jam or practice session. It also has a marked gig bag, tremolo bar, tuner, guitar strings, picks, and cables. It also comes with an instructional Quickstart DVD, which helps the young learners to be an expert in playing electric guitar.

Gibson SG Special 2016 T Electric Guitar, Satin Cherry

best short scale electric guitar

It is difficult to fight against this SG Special 2016 T as being the best small scale electric guitar for beginners. This SG has a 24.7 inches scale length, which is right between an ordinary-sized guitar and the minimized one. It comes with a lightweight with a slim mahogany body and a shiny completion that supplements the double-cutaway style.

Thank you for reading this far! I hope that the information provided in this article will be helpful to you.

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