Loog Mini Acoustic Guitar Review
The Loog Mini is a cool starter guitar for younger children. This small guitar is fun and cute, and it’s a real instrument, that’s made out of real wood. It also has a wonderful sound, which is quite unusual for a guitar of this size and price.
Appearance
The body is very small, around the size of a ukulele. It comes in 5 colors (yellow, red, white, pink and green). The shape is striking, and it has a real 1950’s Mid Century Modern look to it (some have called it “Jetsons-like”). While it’s all down to your personal taste, I love the look of this instrument.
Playability
It is an easy guitar to learn on. The neck is very thin so that kids can wrap their fingers around it easily. The body is lightweight and very small. For little kids, the size of the guitar is a huge factor that can make or break whether they become interested in learning. A guitar first and foremost must be comfortable to hold, and this Loog model is so small and light even tiny children should have any trouble with the size. The following picture is a Loog and a ukulele so you can see how similar in size they are:
When you buy the guitar, it comes with some very kid friendly flashcards that you use in combination with the free Loog Guitar app. The app has video lessons, a tuner, and a digital songbook, that teaches kids how to learn favorite songs from artists like Taylor Swift. The company has put a lot of thought into giving kids (and parents) all the tool to get them started and learn chords in a simple child-friendly way.
Loog Guitars allow you to play almost any song using 3-note chords. It might not sound as full as if it were performed with a larger guitar, but that’s the trade-off for the Loog’s more approachable experience (which can be important for kids and beginners).
Playing a Loog is not entirely different from playing a traditional guitar; it is just more straightforward because there are fewer strings. Since the instrument uses the same first three strings and tuning, of a six-string guitar, once your child has mastered the Loog they can move onto bigger guitars.
Sound
For such a small instrument the sound is quite good. I was expecting it to sound a little flat because of the minimal size, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Hardware
The hardware is basic but solid. The tuners and bridge are good enough to keep the instrument in tune consistently, which is, of course, the most important thing.
Workmanship
The workmanship in Loog guitars seems to be of pretty high quality. The wood looks nice too, which certainly contributes to the nice tone that the guitar produces.
In the past, Loog actually shipped their guitars in un-assembled and part of the fun was supposed to be putting the guitar together with your kid, but this seemed to impede people, so they ship all the guitars completely put together and set up now. It is better since it is means everything is 100% correct and in order, which was indeed the case with the review unit we tested.
Things to look out for with this guitar
The Loog is a three string guitar; it is designed to be easy for kids who are very young to learn how to play. If your child already knows how to play guitar, or has a guitar, this probably isn’t the instrument for you.
Check it out on Amazon
Visit Loog’s website
- Buying Guide for Children’s Acoustic Guitars - January 1, 2020
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- The Best Electric Guitars for Kids and Teens - May 14, 2018