What’s rather surprising about acoustic guitars is that they still remain popular even many decades after their initial commercial success in the mid-20th century. These days, you’ll have music enthusiasts and fans of all musical styles wanting to just get a simple acoustic guitar so they could strum along to their favorite songs with their friends and family. So today’s article is all about the best travel acoustic guitars.
Some get quite hooked and take it to another level by learning more complex stuff. But the very nature of the instrument makes it simple and accessible, so the acoustic guitar remains popular even among many other instrumentalists who are looking for their perfect second instrument.
But there’s still one major issue. Although simple, full-sized acoustic guitars can pretty bulky. In fact, it gets really difficult to take them with you, especially if you’re going on a vacation or a business trip. Knowing how bulky and somewhat impractical acoustic guitars can get for these settings, many companies introduced travel-friendly guitars and helped many enthusiasts and experienced musicians work on their skills.
So in case you’re looking for something that will help you work on your guitar playing craft anywhere you go, we’re going to take a look at the best travel acoustic guitars that are available on the market these days.
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Washburn Apprentice G-Mini 5
We’ll kick off our rundown of best travel acoustic guitars with the mini beast from Washburn. While we mostly remember the company for its somewhat unusual yet amazing electric guitars, they still have a lot of great acoustic ones to offer.
If we’re looking into the category of travel-friendly acoustic guitars, then Washburn’s Apprentice G-Mini 5 model comes as one of the best examples that you can find. Bearing a classic concert body shape, the guitar is smaller in size, including its scale length that measures at 23 and 1/4 inches.
The body is made of a solid spruce top and mahogany back and sides, which gives it a full tone that’s useful for any music style and any setting. Its quality build is also seen with the quarter-sawn scalloped bracing that also keeps the tone very balanced and resonant. We also have a mahogany neck and a quality fretboard that comes with 20 frets.
From top to bottom, this is a pretty great instrument with quality build, materials, and hardware. Aside from reliability and a great tone, it’s also not that expensive.
Martin Backpacker
Martin is, by far, one of the best acoustic guitar brands on the market these days. But aside from their top-level prestigious and professional instruments, they also have a nice travel-friendly model, and a worthy contender for any best travel acoustic guitars list out there.
At the first glance, you realize that Martin’s appropriately named Backpacker is not a conventional instrument. But its weird design is what makes it so great for this purpose.
At the same time, the instrument keeps some of the most important qualities that the company is very well-known for. With a solid spruce top and its smaller size, you’ll get a very high-end-oriented tone that’s perfect for practice sessions and even some lead sections for live performances.
This instrument also comes with a very comfortable neck and a short scale length of 24 inches. It has only 15 frets, but it’s pretty easy to access any fret. It’s an all-round amazing instrument and a perfect companion for every guitarist who likes to keep their skills at a high level, even when they’re on the go.
Gretsch G9500 Jim Dandy
Although somewhat underrated compared to other old brands, Gretsch makes some of the best guitars out there. And while we mostly know them for their old school-styled electric guitars, they also have a nice line of acoustics that are worth checking out. One of the finest examples is their small-sized G9500 Jim Dandy model.
With a scale length of 24 inches and a small-sized parlor body, it comes as a very useful instrument to take anywhere with you. It comes with a basswood top, back, and sides, along with a nato neck with a C-shaped profile.
A total of 18 frets will be more than enough for those who want to practice or just jam along during a vacation or a business trip. Additionally, this guitar is an eye-pleaser for all those who like the old school 1950s aesthetics. An instrument to consider if you’re looking for the best travel acoustic guitars, for sure.
Traveler Guitar Ultra-Light 6-String Acoustic-Electric Guitar
Now we’d like to take a look at something a little different, a simple yet very effective practice model that’s perfectly designed for travels.
After all, you’d expect a worthy contestant for the best travel acoustic guitars list from a company with a name like Traveler Guitar, right? Here we have their super-light acoustic-electric model that comes with a very compact body and a very unconventional design.
Yes, it’s kind of shocking to see an acoustic guitar with no headstock and tuning machines fitted onto its body. However, this one comes with an amazing hard maple body, as well as a maple neck, making it a very sturdy and reliable instrument. And fitted onto its neck, we have a black walnut fretboard with the standard number of 22 frets.
The regular-sized neck and 24 and 3/4 inches scale length makes this instrument feel like any other acoustic or electric guitar. However, the overall compact size makes it fairly easy to pack and take anywhere with you. What’s more, it’s equipped with the company’s piezo pickup, making it possible to plug it into an audio interface or a mixer.
Orangewood Dana
There’s just something about those concert-shape acoustic guitars that makes them so appealing. In case you’re into this kind of stuff, then you should definitely check out Orangewood’s amazing Dana model, especially if you need something more compact and travel-friendly.
What’s more, this guitar is built pretty well and comes with a pretty low price considering all of its qualities.
The mini-sized concert body is made of spruce and mahogany, resulting in a tone that covers both the bottom and the high end of the audible spectrum.
This is all accompanied by a mahogany neck that has a standard C-shaped neck that feels pretty great. We could easily say that Orangewood’s Dana is one of the best examples of how a cheap guitar can actually be pretty great. One of the best travel acoustic guitars, that’s for sure.
Tanglewood TW2T
The best travel acoustic guitars rundown continues! While not as big as some other brands on the market, Tanglewood is a company that has a lot of interesting stuff to offer, both in cheaper and more expensive categories.
But looking at their TW2T guitar, we can easily see how their more affordable stuff can be pretty great for the price. Bearing an all-mahogany body, it comes as a great option for anyone who prefers mellow tones to brighter stuff.
The instrument also comes with smaller body size and scale length, which makes it a perfect choice for all those who’d love to have a nice-sounding guitar that they can take on a trip.
Needless to say, the guitar’s other components are also top-notch, including its tuning machines and the bridge that keep things very stable.
Taylor GS Mini-e Koa
Now going over to some of the more famous stuff, Taylor is a company that always manages to deliver a great instrument, no matter the price category. And even their small-sized guitars can deliver quite a punch, just like their GS Mini-e.
The instrument comes in a few different variants, but the one that we’re looking into features Hawaiian koa wood as the top material. The sides are made of layered koa, while the neck is made out of Sapele wood. All this results in a very resonant and rich tone.
What’s more, the guitar also has a noticeably smaller scale length and an overall compact size. Additionally, the GS Mini-e guitar comes with the company’s Expression System-B that includes an amazing preamp and a piezo pickup that manages to capture all of the instrument’s acoustic qualities.
Lava ME 2
While most of the guitars are still made by the good old principles, there are still some innovations in this world. So instead of using wood as the main material, some manufacturers are turning over to carbon fibers for making both acoustic and electric guitars.
Looking at Lava and their ME 2 guitar, this one is specially designed to be compact and very durable. It’s not that cheap when you compare it to some other acoustic guitars here, but it’s definitely worth it.
But aside from this use of unconventional materials, this is a fairly good-sounding guitar. What’s more, it’s also designed with some ergonomic qualities in mind, so it feels pretty great both under your fretting and picking hands.
Additionally, these also come with the company’s L2 piezo pickup that works on a different principle compared to conventional under-saddle ones. Lava’s ME 2 is a somewhat unconventional instrument, but it’s worth every penny.
Washburn RO10 Rover
We’ll round up our best travel acoustic guitars rundown with another instrument from Washburn Guitars. The company’s RO10 Rover guitar is one of the best acoustics for travel settings. It comes with a somewhat unusual body shape and it kind of looks like a weird ukulele with a guitar-sized 6-string neck.
However, with a spruce top and mahogany back and sides, you’ll get a pretty full and resonant tone out of it. The full-scale length is just slightly shorter compared to regular acoustic or electric guitars. However, the smaller body makes it quite simple to take on a trip with you.
Its neck is also pretty exciting. Made out of mahogany wood, it comes with a well-made fretboard with 18 frets on top of it. The feel of the neck is as good as with any semi-pro-level guitar. This is a perfect traveling companion for every virtuoso acoustic guitar player who wants to keep their skills at a high level.
Now if you’re looking to team up your instrument with a killer acoustic guitar amp, check this stuff out!
