A parcel arrived at my door a few days ago and not having ordered anything recently, I assumed it was my husband's birthday gift for me... a bit out of character though as he's normally a last minute purchaser and it's still a few weeks until my birthday!
Anyway, when I looked at the docket that came with it I quickly realised it was something fun for me to review - one of six brand new Paper Jamz Series 2 guitars! (You may already be aware of the whole Paper Jamz phenomenon as the Series 1 guitars were one of the best selling toys of 2010.)
I decided to wait until the children came home from school before opening it as I wanted to surprise them and oh boy were they surprised. You see, on recent trips to our local toy store they'd been testing them out but I hadn't yet bought one as I was thinking they'd make good birthday presents. With a few birthdays in the very near future, Paper jamz had been ear-marked!
We quickly read the instructions, which were very thorough and my son decided it was only fair that he get to play it first - what with being the only boy and the youngest - and so it was!
The guitar we received was Guitar Style 11, as pictured above, a very funky, and proper hard rocker-style guitar which included 3 hit rock songs to play along to: Invincible (Adelitas Way), Woman (Wolf Mother) and Devour (Shinedown). Jack took to it immediately much to the delight of the rest of us who fell about laughing at his rock star pose and the faces he pulled as he strummed along... He went from being a little boy to a scary rock-star in moments!
Jack had a blast all evening and believe me when I say blast - the volume is loud, much louder than I'd expected, so I was relieved to learn that there is a volume control. In fact, the volume of these little guitars is impressive, given their light weight and small size. Unfortunately, there's no volume control on my son who continued to jump around like a mad thing all evening with guitar in hand!
Paper Jamz Series 2 guitars feature Active Graphics Technology which allows anyone, even those with no musical ability whatsoever, to play like a pro just by touching the surface and to be honest it is amazingly precise.
Each guitar features four play modes:
Perfect Play lets you play along to any of the three rock tracks by strumming the guitar.
Rhythm lets you strum in time to the rock tunes.
Karoke allows you the option of deselecting the vocals and singing along Karoke-style.
And finally, if you're talented enough, you can strum along Freestyle playing real chords, both majors and minors, to create your own tunes and even use the mute bar for rock effects.
Each of the six new guitars has its own unique shape and design as well as a headphone jack allowing parent-friendly play and speaker for great party play!
Paper Jamz guitars are surprisingly lightweight and thin - my son was able to carry his around no problem at all and the only slight niggle I had was that there was no strap included which would have allowed him to hold it better - however, I'm pretty sure a guitar strap can be purchased cheaply and maybe the reason one isn't included is for health and safety purposes.
Aside from this, the guitar has provided Jack with endless hours of fun, so much so that my two daughters are now hankering after their very own Paper Jamz guitars and the new pink one is looking like a top contender!
Priced at just £24.99, Paper Jamz Series 2 guitars are a very affordable and sturdy gift for children and even adults. Although they're recommended from 8 year upwards, Jack, who is not quite 7 is proving that the age isn't set in stone! They're available right now and can be purchased from the usual retail outlets.
Go on - treat someone you love to a Paper Jamz guitar - they'll get such a kick from it that you'll never look back!
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