Honestly, there’s hardly any activity out there that’s as engaging and fun as playing the guitar. If you could, you could take it everywhere with you and practice or just jam along to your favorite tunes. However, this is kind of tricky in most cases, isn’t it? After all, these instruments are pretty bulky for a regular trip, no matter whether you’re going somewhere by car, bus, plane, or any other way. But don’t worry, there’s always a solution. Plenty of guitar manufacturers have focused on building travel-friendly guitars that are easier to take on the road with you. These instruments are significantly smaller in their overall size, although they often come with normal-sized necks. This design can make an impact on their sonic output, but companies are making it all work and they can often sound as good as any other guitar out there.
In case you’re looking for a nice travel guitar for practicing or jamming during your vacation, don’t worry – there are some great examples to choose from. But since digging stuff up and trying out different guitars until you find the best one for you can take some time, we’ve done some research of our own and brought you a list of the best travel acoustic guitars that you can find on the market these days. You can check them out below. There’s something for everyone’s tastes and needs.
Yamaha SLG200S
No matter the exact category of guitars, Yamaha is always up there among the top brands on the market. But speaking of compact travel guitars, there’s barely anything that even comes close to their SLG200S model. This instrument is not like your standard acoustic guitar. It’s the so-called “silent” guitar that can be disassembled and reassembled at any time. It comes with its amazing piezo pickup and can even be used on stage for live shows. In fact, it’s often a choice for some pro-level guitar players. Additionally, the guitar’s neck and the overall resonance feel as if you’re playing a regular acoustic guitar. It’s a bit more expensive, but you just can’t go wrong with this one if you’re looking for a travel-friendly guitar.
Traveler Guitar AG-105E
As you might assume from its name, Traveler Guitar is a company that specializes in these kinds of instruments. The AG-105E model is one of the finest examples of travel acoustic guitars. Interestingly enough, we have a full-scale neck and a full-scale length while the other components are designed to be more compact. Aside from a smaller body, the guitar has no headstock and the tuning machines are moved to the opposite side. What’s more, the guitar comes with a preamp and a Shadow Nanoflex under-saddle pickup. We even have a tuner onboard, as well as a 2-band EQ, volume control, and a phase switch. With a solid spruce top and mahogany back and sides, you’ll have a really convincing tone.
Traveler Guitar Ultra-Light
Another one by Traveller Guitar, the Ultra-Light acoustic model is another great example. Although it seems like just a practice instrument, it’s more than that. It features a regular scale length of 24.75 inches, and it still manages to resonate enough that you can hear it unplugged, mostly due to its hard maple body. There’s no headstock on it and all the tuners are located on the body. Although featuring an unconventional design, it’s really easy to tune this guitar. What’s more, the guitar also comes with a piezo pickup and a detachable lap rest. So it’s not only compact, but you can also use it for live shows and get a really good tone out of it.
Martin Backpacker
Of course, anyone who’s remotely interested in acoustic guitars knows about Martin and how amazing their instruments are. For these compact traveling purposes, we have their Backpacker model that brings some of the company’s well-known tonal and performance characteristics in a fairly compact and comfortable instrument. Now, don’t be weirded out by its looks as this guitar can deliver quite a punch. These guitars also come in a few different variants, including different types of top woods, back, and side materials, as well as optional electronics. And, above all, it outperforms its price range.
Johnson Guitars JG-TR3 Trailblazer
Similar to Martin’s Backpacker, Johnson Guitars’ JG-TR3, also known as Trailblazer, comes with a very compact body. However, we have a full-sized neck and scale length of 24.75 inches. Along with this comes a pretty rich tone considering its very compact and slim body dimensions. Johnson Guitars didn’t forget about aesthetically pleasing features and it even has a pretty nice binding on both its body and neck. As its name suggests, this is one of the best guitars for those camping trips.
Cordoba Guitars Mini M
Of course, we need some love for nylon-string guitars here as well. For this purpose, we’re bringing Cordoba Guitars’ Mini M model. The instrument comes with a solid spruce top and mahogany back and sides. The scale length is significantly smaller, right at 20 inches. This makes it a great choice for a practice instrument and performance on it feels pretty great. What’s also really exciting is that you can also tune this instrument to standard A tuning, which opens up a lot of possibilities.
