Yamaha JR2 Review: Best Beginner Guitar For Kids

We all know that Yamaha makes some of the best guitars in the world. But did you know they also excel in junior guitars?

Well, they sure do! In that light, I decided to review one of their best junior size guitars, the Yamaha JR2 Acoustic Guitar.

The Yamaha JR2 Junior Acoustic Guitar is not a full-size guitar, as you might have guessed. This guitar is actually a 3/4 length of the full-size guitar.

Best beginner guitar for kids

Yamaha JR2

7.7

Tone score

Sound

3.9

Playability

3.6

Build

4.1

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Best for

• Mahogany body gives it a great tone
• Very child friendly

Falls short

• Very small for adults, even as a travel guitar

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Let’s get the specifications out of the way first:

Specifications

• Body Shape: FG Junior Original Shape
• Scale Length: 540mm (21 1/4″)
• String Spacing: * 10.0mm
• Top Material: Spruce
• Back and sides: Mahogany Pattern UTF(Ultra Thin Film)
• Neck Material: Nato
• Fingerboard Material: Rosewood
• Fingerboard Radius: R400mm
• Bridge Material: Rosewood
• Nut Material: Urea
• Saddle Material: Urea
• Bridge Pins- Black ABS with White Dot
• Body Finish: Gloss
• Electronics: None

Who is the JR2 for?

In addition, the Yamaha JR2 is super handy for children and beginners as a 3/4 size guitar.

This guitar has some really good features that come in really handy when it comes to improving playability and overall performance.

Also, the material used to make this guitar are absolutely of the highest quality and slightly higher than the wood used in the JR1.

Build

Many people actually take this guitar and give it as the first musical instrument that they buy for their children if they want to give just a little bit more than a real budget guitar.

And that little bit of extra money is going to help so much in learning, and enjoy playing and learning.

This guitar is made from the spruce top, mahogany sides and back, and has a rosewood bridge and fingerboard.

Therefore, the Nato neck will definitely help your child play this guitar with ease for hours.

The neck on this guitar is quite comfortable which really helps your hand hit the notes without a problem. However, the strings are a bit stiff, but they are certainly durable and will last a long time.

Playability

When it comes to playability, this guitar really stands out. Simply put, the Yamaha JR2 Junior Acoustic Guitar is quite simple and playable.

Basically, you can learn so many things on this guitar, and that is especially important for beginners or juniors.

Sound

Many people wonder if a junior guitar like this can deliver good sound quality.

Well, I can safely say that Yamaha JR2 is definitely one of the best junior size guitars when it comes to sound quality, and it is therefore also a favorite travel guitar of more experienced players, due to its small size.

This guitar can produce such a powerful sound while keeping the warm and classic tone in the air for a long time. Also, the amazing chrome hardware is here to ensure only the best performance.

The overall design is a bit old-fashioned, but that has its advantages. Namely, this guitar has been designed to give a classic and elegant look, while still being a great modern instrument.

The most distinctive thing about this junior guitar from others is the overall value for the price. So the Yamaha JR2 is definitely one of the most valuable choices that you can make if you buy such a guitar.

You can’t really go wrong with this Yamaha for children.

I'm Joost Nusselder, the founder of Neaera and a content marketer, dad, and love trying out new equipment with guitar at the heart of my passion, and together with my team, I've been creating in-depth blog articles since 2020 to help loyal readers with recording and guitar tips.

Check me out on Youtube where I try out all of this gear:

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