Paper Jamz Guitar
Durability: 4/5
Longevity: 5/5
Value: 4/5
Score: 91%
Conclusion: A really entertaining musical toy that can instantly turn any child into a rock star.
WowWee’s Paper Jamz range is an intriguing concept. Whether you have hidden rock star qualities or are all fingers and thumbs, these clever guitars let you thrash out the hits with a minimum of effort.
Instantly appealing to kids (and overgrown kids), the styling of the guitars ensures they attract attention, and you can choose from five classic designs.
Techie types will love the fact that all the important technology is encased in a paper-thin sheet stuck down onto the plastic frame. This registers your hand movements to let you play the guitar and allows for four levels of play.
At the easiest level, Perfect Play, you can simply strum along to one of the built-in tunes (each guitar comes with three songs, on our test sample they were ‘Woman’ ‘Rockstar’ and ‘Take it to the Limit’).
There’s a volume control, and the small built-in speaker delivers a surprisingly decent sound – the guitar will play the drums, bass and vocals and when you move your hand over the playing area the guitar sounds will appear as if by magic.
Step up to Rhythm mode to control the guitar more closely and then graduate to Freestyle Play, where you can use the single-finger chord buttons on the neck to play your favourite tunes or make up your own.
Finally, you can opt for the Karaoke mode, where you can sing along as well as play.
The suggested age range is eight and up, but we found that much younger children could get a huge amount of enjoyment in Perfect Play mode.
This mode provides the most pure fun, but the Freestyle Play is impressive as well, letting youngsters create enjoyable music without the need for too much practise.
With the ability to add drums and an amplifier, not to mention straps for your guitars, the Paper Jamz range is one of the most innovative toys we’ve had the pleasure of testing.
Approx. price: £24.99
Age range: 8+
Website: www.paperjamz.com/uk
