Best Travel Acoustic Electric Guitar (2024 Update)

The piezo pickup was a little too brittle for me played directly to headphones. But a Fender Mustang Micro headphone amp into a clean Fender Black Face Deluxe amp model and some spring reverb does wonders. Another good option is going directly or even better through the Mustang Micro into the Aux input of a Bluetooth speaker. Not all Bluetooth speakers handle this well and are compact enough to fit in the Escape's gig bag pouch. Two good option I've found are the Klipsch Groove II and the Bose Soundlink Revolve+. The MKIII is nicely built for its price point. The top binding is a bit sharp and with a little carpet tape I attached an arm rest I made from cherry. It gives the guitar a slightly bigger feel. In my lap it’s as comfortable to play as my PRS McCarty Thinline. It tunes smoothly and stays in tune. It came perfectly set up for action, intonation, and neck relief. I did swap out the factory strings and suggest changing strings three at a time to keep the hardware in-place. Changing strings takes some practice to get right. Just a perfect companion for modern air travel with jammed overhead compartments. Even with priority boarding you can't be sure you can make your connections on-time to count on carrying-on anything larger.

I have been looking for an acoustic bass guitar for a while but full size models are just too big to be comfortable. The Redlands Concert Bass is everything I was looking for in a much smaller size. The Koa body is beautiful and the cutaway helps access the upper frets. The electronics sound great when I plug in and the tuner is a nice added bonus. The case is sturdy enough for transporting the instrument and has plenty of room in the pocket for accessories. I have used this bass every week at church since I bought it and the other musicians and sound guy love the way it sounds. Traveler customer service has been top notch! Thanks for making a great and affordable instrument.

I bought the Redlands Concert Koa model as a B-stock for a terrific price. Upon receipt, I could not find anything that would indicate it was anything other than a new guitar. The Koa is very pretty, and the playability of the guitar is perfect. Even better, the plugged-in sound is as good as any of my so-called 'performance' guitars. Big sound from a little package. Top it off with a very nice gig bag, and you have a great package for travel, the couch, or the stage. I'm curious to try the other models now (Spruce, Mahogany).

I have had the Redlands Concert model for while now. I bought it direct from Traveler. My initial expectation was to have a smaller, more compact and lightweight guitar for camping and travel. It is definitely ALL of that. What I did not expect is how fond I would become of this guitar. I own around 15 guitars and well over 20 stringed instruments. For a long time I have understood the advantages of a guitar with short scale length. This guitar has a shorter scale length than any of my previous guitars. The reach of my fingers on the fretboard makes playing this guitar a lot of fun. My gigs are all solo and I took it to a couple gigs. The preamp works as well as any of my other acoustic electrics. It clearly capable of being one of the work horses in my stable of guitars. Add this guitar to your acoustic guitar ensemble, chances are, you will be as pleased with this guitar as I am. This guitar is well worth the price.

Taylor is my dream acoustic guitar brand. And I always like the versatility and sound of a GS Mini in all versions: Mahogany, Spruce and also, Koa. Mine is Spruce 100% acoustic. It is worth to mention some details about how to extract the best sound of it: 1. The recommended string gauge is .13. Pay attention to all demos and YouTube video reviews. All of them use .13 string gauge. I recommend Elixir 16182 Phosphor Bronze Nanoweb HD Light Acoustic Strings 13-53. You can find here https://www.musicstore.de/en_DE/EUR/Elixir-16182-Phosphor-Bronze-Nanoweb-HD-Light-Acoustic-Strings-13-53/art-GIT0030955-000 2. For recording use two mics to get the best of it. See some youtube videos how to do it. 3. Increase the playability using a light strings. See the link in item 1. Pros 1. Excellent full sound. Easily mistaken for a full body western guitar because of the sound. 2. Highly portable 3. Excellent satin finish 4. Despite the size the playability is awesome with a more lighter string set 5. Despite to be not recommended to play on the sofa, it is so easy play on the couch with this guitar. Kinda made for it. 6. Comes with a well made not so soft bag, but still bag. Cons 1. Price, little bit steep 2. The back of the guitar is arched or little bit rounded. I’m sure this is by design to increase the resonance of the instrument but in some circumstances the guitar slips when playing it.

Im really digging this guitar. I needed a travel guitar for some upcoming trips and went through the rungs. Tried the martin backpacker and traveler rm sp, but neither met my needs. The martin limits you to 15 frets and the rm sp wasnt that much smaller than my Taylor GS mini. Weve got a young one and traveling with him brings a whole slew of extra things that have to be included in a trip. My wife was not having us give up one of our carry-ons for a guitar and case. The ultra-light is perfect, and I can throw it in my back pack (in its case) with just a little of the neck hanging out. Thus, not having to give up a carry-on. Its perfect. Went with the electric too over the acoustic/electric version because of the tune-o-matic type bridge and saddles. Stellar product. Lastly, the size and sound unplugged are perfection for playing around on with others in the room and not bothering them. It actually makes me play more now.

I never knew why some guitarists have a favorite guitar and even name them. (I own several higher-end guitars and to me, they're just tools.) I purchased a black Traveler Ultra-Light some time in 2019 thinking it was a "cheapie" but good enough to stuff in an overhead bin of an airliner whenever I traveled. I was certainly impressed at how the guitar played and how well it was made, despite the low price. Since then it's been with me everywhere. But that's not how it came to be my favorite guitar. Last November I was hospitalized for 4 days. Because of Covid going around, I couldn't have visitors so I asked my wife to bring me my Traveler so I wouldn't be bored to death. That's when I fell in love with this little guitar. Because I had my own room and because my vitals were checked every hour, I spent a LOT of time playing. And because of its size and how light it was, I could play it in bed. AND it kept my mind off of what I was going through… a big plus for the road to recovery. Today, I purchased my second one in Torino Red and ordered some blacked-out locking tuners so I can keep it at my other place out of state. As for the black one, I'm not leaving that anywhere…. it's staying here with me!

Overall: I purchased this guitar for practice, and to record licks for quick pre-production ideas. My Taylor GS Mini does not have electronics and I wanted to add a Martin to my collection anyway. When plugged in the Martin sounds very rich and there is almost no sound degradation between plugged and mic’d, very impressive! The fingerboard is wider than the one on my Taylor GS and as a result is much easier to play for me. This guitar is not as rich sounding or as comfortable as my Washburn 55 Comfort Series but the sound, the cut-away, and the small size makes this my choice for those quick pre-productions or gigs.Installation of an onboard tuner would make this guitar perfect in my opinion.

I started taking lessons again after a long break. I bought this to take with me on my trips, as an airline pilot I'm on the road constantly. It's perfect to sit in my hotel and play, and the size makes it easy to travel with. The neck is a great size and the action right out of the box was perfect. I can plug in the headphone amp and play no matter what time of the day or night it is. I'm glad I picked this up.

I have always wanted a guitar small enough and rugged enough to take on deployments and military exercise. It is quiet enough to play in open bay barracks while others sleep, or I can tune out the clowns and play in my rack using the stethophone headset. This Pro-series Traveler Guitar is everything I was looking for. As a bonus it has already stood up to the beatings of my 3 year old son who broke my last guitar within 24 hours of purchase. I don't think I will ever need another guitar; but you know how it goes.

Ordered this because I do a lot of traveling for work and play. Hated taking my main guitars on any trip due to theft and damage risk. This beauty is just what the doctor ordered. I originally had Sweetwater put heavier electric strings on it to toughen up the sound. Big mistake. Changed the strings to light acoustic bronze ones from Elixir, and that made it nearly perfect! The stethophone is my favorite method of playing. The true acoustic sound is as huge as my Ovation Celebrity Elite, without the volume to disturb others. When I plug in a VOX headphone amp or other headphone, the pickup cranks out like a Strat on bridge position. When plugged into a serious amp, all doubts about this guitar's capabilities disappear immediately. The sound is everything any of my Strats or SGs can pump out, period. I would gladly play this axe in any situation. The quality is excellent. I have had it for about 4 years now, and I never travel without it. Even on a motorcycle trip, it can be easily carried in backpack mode or strapped to saddlebags. When strapped to the saddlebags, it does not interfere with riding in any way. Would give 10 stars if I could!

Going into buying this, I was looking for a travel/mini guitar for a project idea I have, and also because I have muscle weakness from an autoimmune condition. So a lightweight guitar would be ideal for me, especially to have around on the couch and stuff for daily use. I almost bought Squier Minis, a purple Hofner Shorty, and a Fernandes ZO-3 before finding this beauty. I was stunned when I saw it only weighs 1.2 pounds and it's acoustic/electric, something I really didn't expect to find in the guitars I was looking at. I gotta admit, I almost got misty-eyed thinking about what it'd be like to have a 1 pound acoustic/electric guitar and all of the possibilities that would open up for me compared to heavier guitars. Especially playing standing up, which is hard for me with even smaller or 3/4 size guitars much of the time. I had no intention of selling my full size electric guitar going into this purchase, but it's nearly the same color, needs amplification, and it weighs the same as like, six of these! So it seemed redundant and I sold it, which funded the purchase of this one in the end. Some folks may only like traditional instrument materials and designs, but I think this design is incredible and such an excellent example of "universal design." This product is usable by so many people who might struggle to use traditional acoustic and electric guitars both. Bravo for designing this amazing guitar, I love it so much and now I can play music more before I get tired out 🙂

I have owned the traveler molten lava edge guitar now for about three weeks. I must say I cannot take it out of my hands. Truly love playing it. I really thought it would be a gimmick that wouldn’t work for me and I would be sending it back. Now that I have been playing it, I want to order me a custom edge. And I will probably get a few more. Great job! Keep it up.

The only thing I'm not entirely happy with is the action. It's just a little too high. Other than that, I love it. It's a very nice looking acoustic for the money. It stays in tune extremely well and I was shocked at how full the sound was even with such a thin body. Sounds even better plugged in. The thinner body is super comfortable to handle and hold. It makes the transition from electric to acoustic very easy. The built in tuner is one of my favorite features. It works great and seems to be as accurate as any other tuner I've ever used. Overall, I would recommend this acoustic to anyone on a budget looking for a great sounding and feeling acoustic who doesn't mind the action a little on the higher side. (Side Note – I might be too critical on the action since I'm used to my electrics set up for such low action.)

I have had this guitar now for nearly a year and I can say that is a pretty cool guitar. i haven't had to change the string ones but it is getting to the point now that seeing change would be a good idea. depending on what you would use this for. i have had some trouble with the tuner but I use this mainly without it as I have my own for my other guitar

I was fortunate enough to get one of the last remaining Mahogany Burst models and the "look" is one of the nicest I've seen at any price point. The dark brown body finish reveals just enough of the wood grain to please. It flows well to the top blending into a more transparent finish that shows off the top grain very nicely. The fit and finish are flawless. It's a shame Epiphone is no longer offering it in this very beautiful unique finish. One thing that surprised me is that acoustically the guitar has less low end than I would have expected from a body style that is essentially a round shouldered Dreadnought. While this may disappoint some it actually helps a great deal when amplified. It lacks the "boominess" of many other large bodied models that needs to be dialed out when performing or recording. The low end is there when amplified but much cleaner, tighter, and more piano like. The Fishman pickup and Presys II preamp are a cut above what might typically be found in an acoustic in this price range and the overall tonality is nicely balanced across the board. Played through a quality acoustic amp or PA it's sounds great. I typically use a 7 band graphic EQ and a TC BodyRez effect with my acoustics to provide a bit more control over their voicing and the BodyRez provides a more natural close mic'd like body resonance. Any cons such as neck profile and scale length are minor niggles revolving primarily around personal preference and don't reduce the value of this model. But it would be nice if Epiphone saw fit to use a bone nut and bridge as and use the same Grover tuners used on the J-45 model even if it increased the price a bit. The stock 14:1 tuners are somewhat imprecise. Also, move the preamp to the top of bout so it can be seen more easily. As always Sweetwater's order processing and shipping were lightning fast. So a tip of the hat to those guys and to my rep Ian McGhee who has taken care of every order I've ever placed, even the smallest, in a very cordial and professional manner. This has resulted in my doing ever more business with Sweetwater because they're earned it.

I already had Taylor guitars, including the 12e, but I wanted to have the 10e as well, so I ordered it. The guitar arrived very quickly and perfectly packaged. I even liked the guitar setup, it played right out of the box. The only complaint is the uneven color on the fingerboard in the form of a line, lighter in color, 20 cm long. However, I don't want to go through the hassle of returning and waiting for a new guitar.

Overall, I'd say that I'm very happy with the guitar. It plays well, and it sounds great. I had to tweak it a bit, though. It had a respectable amount of bow in the neck when I received it. I've torqued most of it out, but I have the truss rod tightened as far as I dare to. The action is still a bit high at the 12th fret, but I'll take care of that when I change out the strings. It sounds very chimey and bright with no bottom end at all, hopefully a beefier set of strings will help with that. Skinny frets, I wish they were a bit more robust. String spacing (between pairs) isn't consistent between the nut and the bridge, I may notch the bridge a bit to eliminate that. Otherwise, it's a beautifully built guitar and a great value for the price. You won't be disappointed.