travel guitar chile

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

Ingresa a tu cuenta

Restablecer mi Clave

Eres nuevo en MusicChile ?

Al registrarse en nuestra tienda, acelerará más el proceso de pago, puede agregar múltiples direcciones de envío, ver y rastrear sus pedidos, y más.

• Instrumentos de Cuerda

Guitarras Travel

• Electroacústicas
• Pack Guitarras Acústicas
• Pack Guitarras Eléctricas
• Amplificador de Guitarra
• Pedales y efectos
• Fundas y Cases
• Ejercitador
• Limpieza y Mantención
• Electroacústicos
• Amplificador de Bajos
• Ukeleles Deluxe
• Pack Guitarras y Bajos
• Instrumentos Clásicos
• Violoncello
• Cuerdas para Violín y Viola
• Cuerdas para Violoncello
• Cuerdas para Contrabajo
• Amplificadores
• Batería y teclado
• Audio Profesional
• Home Studio
• Monitores de Estudio
• Fuentes de Poder
• Cajas Directas
• Sistemas inalámbricos
• Parlantes Activos
• Controladores MIDI
• Controladores DJ
• Con micrófono
• Cable audífonos
• Interfaces de Audio
• Sintetizadores
• Atriles y Accesorios
• Escritorios home studio
• Atril Para Parlante
• Iluminación
• Atriles de Muralla
• Atriles de Celular
• Cables para Audio
• Cables de Instrumentos
• Cables de Micrófonos
• Cables MIDI
• Cables Patch y Otros
• Teenage Engineering
• Educacional y Escolar
• Metalofonos
• Percusión Educacional
• Flautas Educacional
• Instrumento de viento digital
• Corno Frances
• Accesorios Vientos
• Abrazaderas
• Cañas Clarinete
• Atriles Vientos
• Sordinas Vientos
• Vientos Otros
• Pianos y Teclados
• Pianos Digitales
• Sillas para Piano
• Pedales para teclado
• Fundas para teclado
• Atriles para Piano
• Accesorios para Teclados y Pianos
• Batería Electrónica
• Batería Acústica
• Sillín para Batería
• Percusiones Menores
• Cencerros y Jam Block
• Tongue Drums
• Percusiones de la India
• Otros Percusiones
• Ofertas Dieciocheras
• Crear una Cuenta
• Ver Carro 0

Filtrar por

Ordenar por:.

Guitarra Travel Mahori MAH-3601 +..

Guitarra Travel Mahori MAH-364E/H..

Guitarra Travel Mahori MAH-363EQ ..

Guitarra Travel Mahori MAH-3604EQ..

Guitarra Travel Mahori MAH-3604 ..

Guitarra Travel Mahori MAH-3601EQ..

Guitarra Travel Mahori MahN-3604E..

Guitarra Travel Mahori Nylon MAHN..

Guitarra Travel Mahori Solid Koa ..

Home » Guitars » 17 Best Travel Guitars in 2024 (All Price Ranges and Styles)

17 Best Travel Guitars in 2024 (All Price Ranges and Styles)

If you’re a musician that’s always on the move, you know how difficult it can be to carry a full-size guitar along all the time. Bumpy roads and crammed flights can damage precious instruments in a single unfortunate moment. Instead of risking your primary guitars, taking a more compact travel guitar is a great option that all musicians should consider.

Travel-friendly guitars not only sound and play like regular guitars, but are compact, lightweight, and are far easier to travel with on road trips than full-sized guitars. If you’ve been thinking of getting yourself a travel-sized guitar but are unsure which one to pick, then you’ve come to the right spot.

I’ll start this article by reviewing the best travel guitars at each price point, but if you want to learn more about them before reading reviews, I’ve included some information about travel guitars at the bottom of the page. In this article, I’ll cover all the different styles of travel guitars so you can find the one to best suit your needs!

Here Are the Best Travel Guitars

1. martin lx1 little martin acoustic guitar (best overall acoustic).

Shop on Sweetwater

Check Amazon Price

My Review: When it’s a Martin, you can rest assured that it is going to be a top quality guitar. The iconic American brand is well known for crafting some of the greatest sounding acoustic guitars around. The Little Martin is a testament to the saying that good things come in small packages. Built with solid Sitka spruce top and mahogany high-pressure laminate back and sides, this small wonder produces the same resonant, loud projection akin to top-of-the-line Martins and comes with a padded gig bag.

Overall Build and Size: We are in awe of Little Martin’s smart design which has delivered a great guitar that belies its 23” scale and 15” length. This wonderful sounding model is extremely sturdy and very easy to play, making it a perfect travel companion as well as a great pick for beginners. Little Martin is a popular choice when it comes to a travel guitar as it packs comfortably into overhead compartments of most airlines. This natural golden-brown, small-bodied acoustic comes equipped with a black Micarta bridge with compensated white Tusq saddle and chrome small-knob tuners.

Overall Sound Quality: Little martin’s powerful projection and a well-balanced tone set it apart from other miniature parlor guitars. It delivers a pretty bright and resonant sound and scores high on versatility. Take it along with you on your next trip to the hills and let the magic unfold.

Body and Neck Wood: This Martin LX1 boasts of a solid Sitka spruce top with a warm satin finish which gives it classic look. The back and sides are made up of Mahogany high-pressure laminate. The guitar has a hand-rubbed rust birch laminate neck which has a modified low oval shape with standard taper making it extremely comfortable to play. The use of sustainable wood in some of its parts has made us fall in love with this beauty all the more.

Key Features:

• Solid Sitka spruce wood top
• Big on tone, quality, and versatility
• Perfectly travel-sized and easy to carry
• Eco-friendly construction using sustainable wood parts
• Affordable for a Martin guitar

2. Yamaha JR1 FG Junior 3/4 Size Acoustic Guitar (Best Value Acoustic)

My Review: If you are looking for a pocket-friendly 3/4 acoustic travel guitar with a good tone and easy playability, the small and portable Yamaha JR1 FG might be worth looking at. The natural Spruce top and the rosewood fretboard offers great playability and a bright tone, while locally sourced tonewood adds a reliable durability to the overall body. Compact, light, and bearing the time-trusted Yamaha brand legacy, this travel guitar is lightweight without compromising on the sound quality. Overall, I would say this is the best travel acoustic guitar for the money.

Overall Build and Size: The JR1 FG is a well designed 33 1/4-inch medium-sized dreadnought that strikes a good balance between value and quality. Despite being originally positioned as a beginner guitar for children, we found it to be quite a good option for adults looking for a reliable travel guitar as well. What we like about this model is that it doesn’t let its compact size come in the way of offering a great tone.

The build is of good quality with a rosewood fretboard and a sturdy mahogany neck which offers a comfortable playability. This makes it a great fit for most guitarists – from young students just starting out to someone looking to play an impromptu gig by the bonfire.

Overall Sound Quality: Thanks to the Spruce wood top, players get a nice resonant tone that amplifies lower tones surprisingly well – normally you wouldn’t really expect a guitar this compact to have such an impressive low end. Because of this quality, this will work well when playing in intimate settings with a small audience. Its sound is great right out of the packaging, without any tweaks needed. You’ll also see that the brand offers quite a comfortable action on it already.

Body and Neck Wood: The Luna uses a Spruce wood for its top, locally sourced tonewood for the body and sides, and rosewood for the fretboard which makes it long-lasting and durable. The neck is sturdy, but not too wide, which gives it an easy feel when playing, especially for kids or someone with smaller hands. It is well-balanced, and, when played sitting down, fits quite comfortably as you play.

• Compact, well-designed body
• Spruce wood top
• Amplifies lower tones remarkably well for its size
• Affordably priced

3. Taylor Baby Taylor BT1 Walnut Acoustic Guitar (Editor’s Choice Acoustic)

Check Anderton Price

My Review: Thinking of getting yourself a travel guitar which is an all-rounder? Look no further than Baby Taylor BT1. Manufactured by Taylor, a brand renowned for carefully crafted, high quality, and great sounding acoustic guitars packed with playability enhancing features, Baby Taylor BT1 fits this definition to a T. The small-bodied guitar is made with a premium tonewood combination of Spruce/Walnut and comes with an X-braced top, die-cast chrome tuners and a Micarta Saddle. In addition to being a great choice for travelers, this little wonder will make for a perfect starter guitar for young players.

Overall Build and Size: Baby Taylor BT1 is a trimmed down, sleek ¾ dreadnought and great for traveling players who prefer smaller instruments. This dread may be small but offers the same features that make this iconic American brand so legendary. The guitar has a solid spruce top which works well in enhancing resonance as well as capturing nuances and dynamics. The layered walnut body offers resilience from temperature and humidity and gives it an aesthetically pleasing look. The acoustic sports an elegant, natural look with a varnish finish.

Overall Sound Quality: Don’t be fooled by its small size- Baby Taylor BT1 delivers a surprisingly bold and loud sound for a scaled-down dreadnought. Thanks to the bright sounding spruce wood top and walnut back and sides. The guitar’s tonewood pairing works well in creating a warm and resonant tone with great definition.

Body and Neck Wood: The BT1’s top wood is expertly crafted with solid Sitka Spruce wood and teamed with a layered walnut body and a glossy smooth ebony fretboard. The sleek Maple neck feels familiar and very comfortable when held. There is no doubt that you will have an absolute blast playing this great little guitar wherever you decide to take it.

• Perfect Travel Buddy for all guitar enthusiasts
• Scaled-down dreadnought with short maple neck, easy to play
• Solid high-quality tonewoods used- Spruce top, Walnut body
• Taylor hard bag included

4. Travelcaster Deluxe Electric Guitar (Best Overall Electric)

My Review: Fender has always been known to push the envelope for quality and player-friendly features, and they’ve done it again with the neat little travelcaster deluxe. This innovatively designed electric guitar retains a full scale length, but cuts down the body design in an innovative fashion. Weighing extremely light, you can enjoy the quintessential tele sound even when on the move, thanks to its high quality single coil pickups and a delicious vintage tremolo. If you’re looking for the best travel electric guitar and are willing to spend the money, this is one of my top recommendations.

Overall Build and Size: Weighing only 5 lbs, the travelcaster scores high when it comes to portability, especially for an electric guitar. We’re quite impressed with its innovative design that retains the essential contours of an electric guitar’s S-shaped body while cutting out the rest to make it travel-friendly. Its adjustable 2 point fulcrum bridge adds even more customizability, while chrome tuning machines let you tune your strings to perfect precision. This allows you to enjoy a full scale length with a guitar that can easily fit into a cramped car space or overhead compartment of a plane.

Overall Sound Quality: This is perhaps the best part about this little wonder – unlike some other travel guitars that may sacrifice certain elements of playability or tone, the travelcaster deluxe offers the same crisp, snappy, high quality tone and sound quality that Fender is famous for, even in this compact setup. This has been made possible because of the three high quality ceramic single coil picks, and a 5-way pickup selector that lets you mix and match to zero in on the perfect tone. Finally, the vintage style tremolo lets you squeeze out a fabulous variety of sounds and sustains, so there’s nothing that holds you back from expressing your creativity, even on a travel guitar.

Body and Neck Wood: The lightweight of the travelcaster deluxe has been made possible thanks to its poplar body, which keeps the overall setup extremely portable and nimble. The maple neck and fretboard allow for butter-smooth playability anytime, anywhere.

• High quality ceramic single coil pickups
• Vintage style tremolo for more creative possibility
• 5-way pickup selector for tone customizability
• Extremely lightweight at 5 lbs
• Full scale-length

5. Traveler Guitar 6 String EG-1 Custom (Best Full Scale)

My Review: If you are scouting for a full-scale electric guitar which is also light enough to travel along with, look no further- The Traveler Guitar EG-1 Custom fits the bill. The single-cut guitar’s alder body makes it compact and lightweight while also giving it a strong, clear, and full-bodied sound. It features Traveler’s proprietary 4-channel in-built headphone amplifier, an in-body tuning system, and an aux-in jack, making it perfect to jam privately or rock out.

Overall Build and Size: The Traveler Guitar EG-1 retains the full scale 24.75” and 28.5” length of a standard-sized guitar while weighing less than 5 pounds and packs effortlessly in an airplane overhead bin. It has been cleverly designed without a headstock and built from a lightweight yet top-notch Alder, making it compact yet ideal for those unwilling to compromise on a scale as well as playing experience. It comes in a classic glossy black color.

Overall Sound Quality: The EG-1 Custom’s alder body and mahogany neck give it a rich and balanced tone with a great playing experience. It is equipped with Traveler’s custom onboard headphone amps which allow you to choose from clean, boost, overdrive, and distortion tones using the custom tone knob push-pot. With this travel guitar, you are not only getting a full-sized feel but also a world-class quality sound, thanks to the chromatic Shadow E-tuner built right into its Alnico Humbucker 9K pickup.

Body and Neck Wood: The snazzy travel guitar is crafted from premium tonewoods with an alder body, an African mahogany neck, and a walnut fingerboard. It features some fantastic aesthetically pleasing appointments such as a white-black-white binding on its glossy black Alder body, a gold humbucker with cream pickup ring, and black dish knobs with Gold caps.

• Full scale and ergonomically designed travel guitar
• Crafted from top-notch hardwood
• Built-in headphone amp with 4-channels
• Aux-in for riff learning and jamming to your favorite songs
• Chromatic E-tuner on pickup ring
• Comes with a compact, custom gig bag

6. Martin Steel-String Backpacker Travel Guitar

My Review: Martin Guitar Co.’s Backpacker has been innovatively designed to be the perfect travel mate for you. This well-built acoustic is a steal considering it has a solid Spruce wood top and is priced within an affordable range of $300. It’s incredibly fun to play and can act as a great backup guitar when your primary one is not around. This popular travel guitar was launched more than 25 years ago in the mid-nineties and we’ve only heard great things about it since. This is easily one of the best travel guitars for backpacking and trips where you just can’t bring a larger guitar.

Overall Build and Size: Martin’s Backpacker is an incredibly light and compact guitar making it easy to stow away and take along on treks or trips without a worry in the head. Although designed to be easy to carry, weighing less than 2-1/2 lbs., nowhere does it compromise in the sturdiness and durability department. Built with a solid Spruce wood top and Mahogany back and sides, it has a beautiful natural hue and a matte finish.

Overall Sound Quality: The Backpacker has a robust and impressive sound for a guitar its size. It may not give out the rich tone rendered by a typical dreadnought but don’t let that make you think that you’ll be sacrificing in the tonal quality with this little travel buddy. The guitar has been crafted from high-end hardwood which lends it an unamplified projection, making it perfect for travel.

Body and Neck Wood: This travel guitar has a solid Spruce top and Mahogany back, sides, and neck giving it the classic Martin acoustic sound. It has a narrow body with 15 frets and a flared lower bout making it extremely easy to carry. Just sling it over the shoulder and you are good to go!

• Ultra-compact and extremely light
• Made from high-end spruce and mahogany hardwood
• Narrow body, easy to carry
• Unamplified and consistent sound
• Comes with a padded gig bag and chrome tuners

7. Luna Safari Series 3/4 Size Travel Guitar

My Review: This 3/4 size dreadnought is a part of Luna’s pocket-friendly Safari series. The brand has a reputation for crafting great-looking guitars. This model features a solid mahogany top, back, and asides and has an eye-catching Celtic laser etching around the soundhole. This beautifully handcrafted guitar is lightweight but packs in a punch with its powerful tonal quality. Luna Muse Safari comes with a branded gig bag which makes it easy to carry it when you are on the go.

Overall Build and Size: This stunning acoustic has a scale length of 22.5” and weighs just shy of 4 lbs., making it an incredibly light and ultra-compact travel companion. All panels of this 3/4 sized dreadnought have been crafted with mahogany. It also comes with a 19-fret rosewood fingerboard and bridge and chrome-colored hardware. The tuning machine is sealed die-cast and the nut and saddle are Graph Tech BC6115. The charming reddish-brown shade of mahogany makes this guitar a real treat to the eyes.

Overall Sound Quality: The Mahogany body and dreadnought structure of Luna Safari Muse ensures that players enjoy a rich and articulate sound. It may not be too low-end heavy, but with its delightfully bright sound and a pocket-friendly price tag, it sure is a steal!

Body and Neck Wood: Luna Safari Muse has been entirely made out of Mahogany which is a popular tonewood known to produce and sustain a well-balanced tone. The C-shaped neck makes for a breezy playing experience. The warm natural satin finish and the mother of pearl moon phase inlay on the fingerboard give it a classy and mystical look.

• A travel-sized dreadnought with laser engraved Celtic rosette
• Fun and easy to play, ideal for younger players
• Rich and articulate sound
• Perfect for left as well as right-handed players
• Budget-friendly with most websites offering it under $200

8. Traveler Guitar Mark III MK3 MHG Acoustic-Electric Guitar

My Review: When an entire company is dedicated to building top-of-the-line travel-friendly guitars, you know you cannot go wrong when you opt for one of theirs. The Traveler Mark III MK3 Acoustic-Electric is a full scale, unique looking guitar with a Mahogany body. Like other Travelers, it too features an in-built Shadow headphone amp, an aux input for jamming, and a proprietary in-body tuning system. With a standard tuning system, this travel guitar does not need a special set of strings and works perfectly with any standard acoustic strings you prefer.

Overall Build and Size: Measuring around 30” in length while weighing less than 5 pounds, this Mahogany guitar has a minimalistic body which makes it portable and player-friendly. The in-body tuning system eliminates the need for a headstock, making it sleek and travel-sized while offering a full-scale playing experience. The Escape Mark III comes equipped with a Shadow NanoFlex piezo under-saddle pickup which produces the authentic acoustic sound while the standard ¼” output jack lets you effortlessly switch to the electric mode. The control plate allows you to adjust the volume and tone directly from the guitar.

Overall Sound Quality: The Electric-Acoustic has been cleverly built to produce exceptional electronics as well as the authentic acoustic style sound. The choice of hardwood used lends it a resonant, well-balanced tone which is carried through even when you plug in the guitar and use it as a semi-electric.

Body and Neck Wood: The Escape Mark III has a natural finish mahogany body with a cutaway for access to higher frets, and a bolt-on mahogany neck. To top it off, it has a Rosewood fretboard which is the most commonly used fretboard owing to its warm and rich tones and the ability to even out the high-end harshness.

• Full scale, versatile guitar
• Stows away comfortably in overhead bins
• Built-in headphone amp with clean, distortion, boost, and overdrive tones
• High quality, plush gig bag included
• Built-in chrome tuner

9. Cordoba Mini M Nylon String Guitar

My Review: Cordoba has a well-earned reputation for making traditional Spanish guitars with a modern twist. The brand is an innovator and leader in high-quality nylon-string guitar and the model we are about to review here is no exception.

Cordoba’s Mini M is a travel-sized traditional looker. With a mahogany body and a spruce top, it has an incredibly rich tone and a full, bright sound. The brilliant combination of its ultra-compact body and a full-sized 1.96” nut width makes it very easy to play and an ideal companion for your vacations or road trips.

Overall Build and Size: Mini M is an extremely lightweight,18-fret, nylon string parlor with a beautiful rose pattern etched out along its rosette. A short 20” scale length and full 1.96” nut width makes it an ideal travel sized guitar while retaining the string spacing and the overall feel of a full-sized guitar. The natural satin finish gives it a gorgeous sheen without betraying its woody feel. The guitar comes with a custom Aquila string set, tuned to A but can be tuned to standard E tuning with a thicker gauge. The Minis also come in three different wood combinations-spruce/mahogany, spruce/rosewood, and all ovangkol.

Overall Sound Quality: Despite its easy on the pocket price tag, Cordoba’s commitment to quality and sound with Mini M is truly admirable. It has a lightweight body with an impressively loud sound thanks to its smart design and the quality tonewoods used.

The solid spruce wood top offers a blend of clear, rich, and complex sound which is backed by a powerful tonal foundation owing to its mahogany back and sides.

Body and Neck Wood: With Mini M you get a solid Spruce wood top guitar without hurting your pocket. A solid wood top is an unbeatable vis a vis laminate or select wood, as it not only gives out a great tone but also lasts for longer. The mahogany body enhances the sturdiness property and clubbed with spruce wood top and rosewood fretboard contributes to the deep richness and resonance of this guitar. Mini M’s solid and heavy Mahogany U-shaped neck enhances the sustain and captures every nuance and detail, beautifully.

• Affordable, lightweight guitar with an impressive sound
• Solid top and body made from quality tonewoods
• Comfortable U-shaped Mahogany neck
• Includes a gig bag

10. Fender CT-140SE Travel Acoustic-Electric Guitar

My Review: Perfect for all guitar enthusiasts- whether professional or hobbyists, The CT-140SE acoustic-electric is undeniably one of the finest travel bodied guitars made by Fender. Compactly built with solid Rosewood and a spruce top, it features a sophisticated Fishman Presys pickup and preamp system, which ensures an authentic sound is reproduced even when plugged in. The solid high-end components and a hardshell case all priced under $400, make this Fender a great value and should definitely be explored when picking out a guitar for serious beginners or simply for your travel needs.

Overall Build and Size: Traveling with CT-140SE is a cakewalk thanks to its compact dimensions. An auditorium shaped travel body has been scaled down to 23.5” to ensure it fits well into cramped spaces and overhead airline compartments. With premium hardwood used through the body as well as Fishman pickups and preamp system, rolled fingerboard edges, players can expect an easy to play high-quality guitar that’s quite sturdy in its design. CT-140SE comes with two color options- Natural and Sunburst with a glossy finish and equipped with chrome-plated hardware.

Overall Sound Quality: CT-140SE offers high-quality Fender sound at a reasonable price. The spruce wood top renders a powerful sound and detailed dynamics while the rosewood body & fretboard delivers rich overtones. The scalloped, X bracing design also plays a vital role in enhancing this bolder, richer tone as well as its harmonic output.

Body and Neck Wood: The Acoustic-Electric has a solid spruce top is a popular choice of wood for acoustic tops as it offers unparalleled durability and a full, bright, and versatile sound. The rosewood body and neck mellow down the bright punch delivered by the spruce wood. All in all, you get a well-balanced tone that responds well to any style of playing, from hard strumming to fast or delicate picking.

• Top-notch fender quality with a great value
• Solid Spruce top & Rosewood body delivers a rich, balanced tone
• Scalloped, X bracing design
• Easy to play neck with rolled fretboard edges
• Sophisticated Fishman Presys pickup/preamp
•  Hardshell case included

11. Steinberger Spirit GT-Pro Deluxe

My Review: This next guitar comes from the extensive heritage NY-based brand “Steinberger”. These guitars for their distinctive shape, and high-quality construction, having been used by likes of Geddy Lee (Rush), and Sting (The Police), back in the day to more modern day artists such as Arif Miradolbaghi (Protest the Hero). They feature a headless design, and a compact size playable even on an armed office chair. The GT-Pro brings the same quality and aesthetic to a more affordable line of travel guitars.

Overall Build and Size: The original Spirit was one of the most popular attempts at making a body-less travel guitar in the 80s, and the modern Spirit GT-Pro Deluxe has some unique features to match! Featuring a full 25-½ scale length, and a tight fretboard radius, the Spirit is quite easy to handle, play and travel with. Keeping it simple with one volume and one tone knob, and including a tremolo bridge and the locking tuners make for a stable and well-tuned guitar, even without a headstock.

Overall Sound Quality: The deluxe model features a humbucker pickup on the bridge and neck, with a single coil in the middle. The twin humbuckers designed by Steinberger and perfected by Epiphone, make the Spirit sound fat and round while reducing the tinny signals to a minimum. The 5-way pickup selector also makes the guitar versatile and comfortable across a large selection of amps and amp plugins. Perfect for both the Stage pro, and the couch pro !

Body and Neck Wood: The original Spirit guitars designed by Ned Steinberger, were made from a composite of carbon-fiber, however, the new Spirit GT-Pro eschews that for a completely maple body and neck. In such a small guitar, this resonant wood makes for a big jump in playability and sustain. The Spirit is able to hold its own against full bodied guitars while delivering the same resonance and exceptional output!

• Classic Steinberger design
• Hyper compact
• Gibson (Epiphone) construction, reliability, and warranty
• Bridge and Neck Humbuckers for a well-rounded rock/metal/blues sound

12. Hofner Shorty Electric Travel Guitar

My Review: Are you someone who doesn’t want to be away from their guitar even when traveling? Then the Hofner Shorty Electric Travel Guitar has to be one of your top choices. It offers a full-scale length while being ultra-compact which enables you to take it along with you wherever you go. Fitted with a single Hofner open humbucker pickup, and volume and tone knobs, the Shorty is designed with no flashy bits except for its curious design.

Overall Build and Size: The Hofner Shorty has a basswood top and back, a neck made from maple, and a fretboard made from rosewood. Basswood is a lightweight wood which produces a good sound and works especially well with Hofner’s open humbucker pickup. Considering the price range, the craftsmanship and the materials used to make this guitar are of a better-than-expected quality. The black finish gives it a slight rock and roll feel. The shape of the guitar can feel a bit strange in the beginning with its short body, long neck and the headstock, but you soon get used to it. Overall, the Shorty Electric is a sturdy little guitar that needs some time to adjust to its style and shape.

Overall Sound Quality: Without amplification, the guitar sounds quiet, and is suitable for a quiet day of practice. Once amplified, the sound produced is bright, trebly, and strong. The volume and tone controls work very well and you can get a range of tones from this little guitar from clear to dirty. The action on this guitar might need a touch of adjustment.

Body and Neck Wood: The basswood body and maple neck make for better playability when playing standing up. Its small, neck-heavy body makes it a little awkward to play, which is also compounded by there being no place to rest the playing arm.

• Compact size
• Considerably lightweight
• Strong sound when amplified
• Crisp, clean tone
• Durable gig bag included
• Good bang for the buck

13. Traveler Guitar Escape Mark III

My Review: Looking for a guitar which can hold its own during travel and on stage? Look no further! The Traveler Guitar Escape Mark III offers a full-scale 25.5” while being small enough to fit into the overhead compartment in an airplane. This acoustic-electric comes packed with a plethora of features – from an in-body tuning system, a headphone output to a Shadow under-saddle pickup – that helps you stay on top of your game. This is a great lightweight option for a performer or even for a student who wants to up his game. The Escape Mark III also comes with a deluxe gig bag that keeps it protected when not in use. Overall, I would say this is one of the best travel guitars out there.

Overall Build and Size: The Escape Mark III is just 30” despite boasting a full-scale at 25.5” and has a compact mahogany body, back, and top with a bolt-on mahogany neck. The natural satin finish gives it a refined feel. The single cutaway gives the player access to the higher frets while also giving it a tasteful look. The full-sized scale has a comfortable, familiar feel to it while playing. The relatively thin body needs some getting used to and it can be difficult to rest your arm while playing, but the overall balance of the guitar is excellent. Despite being quite lightweight at 4.5 lbs, it does compromise on the quality, durability, or sturdiness of the piece.

Overall Sound Quality: When not plugged in, the Escape Mark III sounds like any other unplugged electric guitar, but once plugged into an amplification system, produces a sound that emulates a steel-string acoustic guitar. This guitar has a clean, warm, mellow sound and is not disturbed in the slightest by string hum or any other problems. The premium quality mahogany used in the guitar allows for greater resonance and a better sustain. Altogether, the way the Escape Mark III is crafted makes for a truly exceptional auditory experience.

Body and Neck Wood: This guitar features a mahogany body and neck which adds sturdiness to the piece, and the black walnut fretboard gives it a smooth feel while playing. The headstock has been removed from its traditional place and added to the body itself which gives it a different, non-traditional appearance. The In-Body tuning system is sturdy and reliable, and the tuners are protected from outside interference.

• Mahogany wood body
• Full-scale fretboard despite the compact size
• Warm, mellow sound, great resonance
• Shadow under-saddle pickups and In-Body tuning system
• Cutaway to reach higher frets easily
• Lightweight, highly portable
• Great choice for multi-city gigs

14. Voyage Air VAOM-02G2

My Review: Traveling with a guitar, be it a regular sized guitar or that of a travel variety, is awkward due to their long, thin necks. But, with the Voyage Air VAOM-02G2, its manufacturers have found an ingenious solution to that age-old problem – a patented hinge which lets you literally fold the guitar in half! It comes with its very own deluxe Voyager case in which you can stow the guitar when not in use. For someone who doesn’t want to compromise on the dimensions or the size, this is a great fit!

Overall Build and Size: The Voyage Air is a full-sized acoustic dreadnought guitar. The body is made from mahogany as are the back and the sides and has a single-ply laminate spruce top with bracing. The fingerboard and the bridge are crafted from laurel – a soft-colored, brown wood that is almost identical to rosewood. It has a high-gloss protective finish which gives it a soft look. The foldable neck-hinge has been tested under pressure and is very dependable. The build of the guitar is quite sturdy, no matter how strange it might seem to fold and unfold the guitar each time. The only thing to keep in mind is that the strings need to be slackened off before folding!

Overall Sound Quality: Despite being a travel guitar, the Voyage Air is a full-sized acoustic guitar with a full, rich sound and a good deal of projection. The full-scale fretboard offers comfortable playability and adapts to any playing style, be it fingerpicking or strumming.

Body and Neck Wood: The body and the neck are both crafted from mahogany as are the sides and the back. The top is made from a single-ply laminate spruce which can be a letdown for some people. The fretboard is made from laurel as is the bridge on the guitar.

• Foldable design for better storage and transport
• Full-size guitar that can be easily carried around
• Mahogany and spruce laminate body
• Full, rich sound like a regular sized acoustic guitar

15. Cordoba Mini II M, Mahogany, Small Body, Nylon String

My Review: The Cordoba Mini II MH travel guitar is a handsome ½ size guitar. Whether it be an impromptu performance or a relaxed practice session while camping, you won’t hesitate to bust out this beauty. It has a delightfully warm, full, well-balanced tone that seems more like a guitar than a ukulele. The Cordoba Mini II Mahogany is a beauty that ticks all the right boxes in looks, sound quality, playability as well as price!

Overall Build and Size: The small body of the Cordoba makes this an ideal choice for a travel guitar. Being a ½ sized guitar, it is easier to carry along on trips than other bigger guitars. The satin polyurethane finish gives it a more sophisticated look than other guitars in this category. Despite a slightly cramped scale at 22.8”, the guitar tunes perfectly to a standard E and the fingerboard offers overall comfortable playability. Guitar players who have slightly smaller hands will certainly find this to be a more manageable instrument than a full-sized acoustic guitar. The build of this guitar speaks of quality and a solid body that can take the pain of travel.

Overall Sound Quality: The Cordoba Mini II promises to sound more like a full-sized guitar than a ukulele – and delivers! It has a nuanced, full-bodied tone that is mellow and full of warmth. Compared to some other travel guitars, this one has a deeper body that projects the sound well. Even though it isn’t particularly loud, it has enough volume for a lonesome practice session or small, intimate performances.

Body and Neck Wood: The layered mahogany body and neck, and the Morado fretboard (with 19 frets) are instant visual hooks that draw you to this little fellow. There is a single action truss rod inside the neck. Even though this guitar doesn’t feature a full-size scale, the fretboard offers good playability and is easy to adapt to.

• Layered mahogany body and satin finish
• ½ sized guitar easy to carry along
• Aesthetically pleasing
• Warm, full tonality
• Pocket-friendly price
• Ideal for kids and players with smaller hands

16. Traveler Guitar Ultra-Light Acoustic-Electric Travel Guitar

My Review: The Traveler Ultra-Light Acoustic-Electric is marketed as the smallest, lightest full-scale travel guitar on the market, and it certainly delivers on all these counts. The compact design of the guitar without a headstock is unique, yet offers a full-scale playing experience that one gets on a full-sized acoustic. The piezo pickup delivers a bright acoustic sound when plugged into an amplifier. Despite being a higher-priced guitar, the Traveler Ultra-light Acoustic-Electric Travel Guitar is certainly worth a try.

Overall Build and Size: This Traveler Ultra-light guitar really lives up to its name. Weighing in at only 3 pounds, it is one of the lightest travel guitars on the market. At only 24 ¾”, it can even fit into some suitcases and is easy to carry around. Made from a single piece of maple wood with a regular-sized fingerboard made from ebony wood, it comes with an adjustable truss rod. Despite the guitar’s shape, the detachable lap-rest makes it comfortable to play sitting down, although the different designs might take some getting used to. The overall build is quite sturdy and can easily be taken along on your travels and even stowed in the overhead bin on a flight, thanks to its detachable lap-rest. The range of satin finishes it comes in allows you to choose the color you feel the most comfortable with.

Overall Sound Quality: This Traveler guitar comes with a ¼” jack socket and a built-in acoustic piezo pickup which can be used to amplify its sound. The piezo pickup gives it a bright, crisp tone once plugged into an amplifier. This one is a silent guitar and only finds its voice through an amplifier. Given this little fact, it can’t be used to strum a few chords around a campfire but can come in handy when looking to practice quietly. It is also well-suited to live performances where there is an amplification set up at hand.

Body and Neck Wood: The body and neck of the guitar are crafted from a single piece of Eastern American Hard Maple. The full-size fingerboard is made from ebony wood and has 22 frets which are easy to adapt to from a conventional acoustic guitar. The satin finish on top gives it a smooth, hand-friendly feel while playing.

• Extremely compact build
• In-body tuning system
• Bright, crisp, articulate sound
• Piezo pickup for amplification

17. Washburn RO10 Rover Steel String Travel Acoustic Guitar

My Review: Washburn guitars have been consistently delivering guitars crafted with extreme care and quality since the 1880s. The Washburn RO10 Rover features a mahogany wood body, back and sides, a solid spruce top, and a full-size neck which makes for good playability. This guitar produces a sound that emphasizes the treble without being too loud or resonant, which makes it suitable for different playing styles – whether flat-picking or playing finger-style

Overall Build and Size: The Washburn Rover is a visually appealing 33.5” long acoustic guitar, with a beautiful mahogany body and a solid spruce top which enhances its look and overall feel. It has a rosewood fingerboard and a full-size neck which feels like a regular-sized guitar and needs no time to get used to. The fingerboard also makes for good playability. The overall build of the guitar is sturdy and robust and makes for a good, albeit heavier travel guitar. The Washburn is available in a natural finish as well as a blue finish. The deluxe gig bag, included with the instrument, makes sure that no harm comes to the guitar when carrying it around with you.

Overall Sound Quality: The Washburn isn’t made to produce a loud sound, but taking into account its compact size, the sound is quite impressive, if a little more treble-y than usual. For a travel guitar with a full-size neck, the Washburn RO10 Rover lives up to its potential.

Body and Neck Wood: The Washburn is made from a mahogany body and the fretboard is crafted from rosewood. The solid spruce top gives the guitar a nice resonance, although the wood used and the full-sized fretboard makes the guitar a tad heavier than expected.

• Robust, well-built guitar
• Full-sized neck
• Solid spruce top
• Versatile, good playability for multiple playing styles
• Moderately priced

Choosing the Right Travel Guitar (Buying Guide)

Adding a travel guitar to your collection means you can take your 6-string pal along on road trips without a worry. And as you can see from our top 17 list, there are several great options to choose from. What matters is that you pick a type of guitar that you’d prefer – be it playability, size, or tone quality. If you ask us, then our pick for the travel guitar with the most impressive sound quality would be the Baby Taylor BT1 for acoustic and the Travelcaster Deluxe for electric. Be it an intimate impromptu gig or a long road trip, this beauty sounds like a dream and is so compact to travel with.

If you ask us for a great affordable option for a 3/4 travel guitar, then the Yamaha JR1 FG Junior 3/4 Size Acoustic is worth exploring for those on a budget. Finally, for those looking to strike a balance between the top of the line quality as well as not spend a bomb then you should check out the Washburn RO10 Rover Steel String. At the end of the day, it’s all about having fun and having a portable companion that gives you the freedom to strum along wherever you are. We hope this list gave you all the information you need to take your pick. Bon voyage!

What Is a Travel Guitar?

Simply put, travel guitars or travel-sized guitars are a more compact, lighter version of a full-sized guitar. You’ll find both acoustic travel guitars and electric variants in the market, depending on your needs.

Most travel guitars have the same or almost the same scale length (distance between the nut and the guitar’s bridge) as regular guitars so that you get a more compact guitar without compromising the playability of the instrument. On the other hand, you also have travel guitar options that have 3/4, 1/2, or even 1/4 scale length as full-size guitars.

Travel guitars have smaller body and neck, which makes them lighter and easier to carry with you wherever you go – be it a month-long cross-country tour, a weekend road trip, or even a backpacking hike to the mountains!

Why Should You Buy a Travel Guitar

Whether you’re a hobby guitarist or an experienced player, there are so many good reasons to get yourself a travel guitar either way. Here are a few for you to go through:

• Light & Portable: Travel guitars are far easier and hassle-free to carry with you when traveling. This is thanks to their compact size and lightweight that lets them easily fit on flights or a vehicle.
• Great Backup Option: they work great as a backup guitar for musicians who don’t want to take their primary guitars on a trip where they’ll be roughing it out.
• Strum On the Road: Inspiration can strike a musician anytime, especially when you’re traveling! Having a travel guitar lets you flesh out your song ideas as and when you think them up – even when you’re out on the road or on vacation.
• Take Up Less Space: If you’re packing up your van for a long road trip, you’ll find that travel guitars take up far lesser space than traditional guitars do, freeing up more storage space for other things that you’d want to carry along.

What to Look For In A Travel Guitar

With several options for travel guitars available in the market, it’s crucial to know what to look for when sizing each option up. Here are the key features you should consider when comparing travel guitars and making your decision:

Full-sized scale-length vs. Reduced Scale Length

Many travel guitars come with a full-size or almost full-size scale length (around 25.5 inches). When making such travel guitars, the manufacturers choose to make them compact by reducing the size of the guitar’s body, instead of the fretboard size or length. These guitars feel like you’re almost playing a regular guitar, just more compact and more portable.

On the other hand, you also find one-half (1/2), three-quarters (3/4), or even as small as one-quarter (1/4) sized guitars. These have smaller fretboards than regular guitars. So consider the scale length you’ll be comfortable playing on when taking your pick.

Overall Size

Even amongst travel guitars, you will find options of all sizes to choose from. While some travel guitars are only slightly smaller than full-size guitars, others are extremely compact. Most full-size guitars are 38 inches in their overall size.

On the other hand, travel guitars So do consider how compact a guitar you’re looking for and look at the measurements when taking your pick.

Tone Quality

As you already might know, the wood used in the guitar’s construction affects its tone and sound quality. Woods like Maple, Spruce, Sitka Spruce, and Rosewood produce a bright, higher, slightly treble-heavy tone and sound.

On the other hand, woods like Mahogany and Koa have a richer, warmer tone that is mid to low-range in its character. So it’s all about deciding what type of sound works best for your playing and style, and going with it.

Quality of Wood Used

As is the case with full-size guitars, do consider the type of body, neck, and fretboard wood used on your potential travel guitar. The better the quality of wood used, the sweeter and richer the sound and the more durable the construction. You can choose from a wide variety of woods such as mahogany, maple, spruce, walnut, and more, depending on the look and sound you prefer.

Overall Shape and Design

Travel-friendly guitars come in a wide variety of shapes and designs. Some travel guitars are more compact versions of the classic shapes like a dreadnought, concert, or auditorium style guitars. However, you will also find extremely futuristic and innovatively-designed travel guitars as well, that are foldable, triangular-shaped, and even ones with barely any guitar body!

I know of buddies that would love a triangular-shaped travel guitar, but also know a few who wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing! So it’s all a matter of personal taste. This is why it’s important to see the shape and design that you will be comfortable playing with and carrying, and choosing accordingly.

Last but never least, it’s a good idea to have a budget in mind when browsing through options. Travel guitars are available in a wide price range – from affordable, budget-friendly options under $200, mid-range options between $200 to $400, and higher-end travel guitars that are in the $400 plus range.

Do make it a point to check the features and wood quality that you’re being offered at any price point. While very low-priced travel guitars may seem enticing at first, you may end up shelling out more in its repairs in case the instrument is not well-built. So it’s important to pick an option that is value for money, no matter its price.

My name is Chris and I’ve had a passion for music and guitars for as long as I can remember. I started this website with some of my friends who are musicians, music teachers, gear heads, and music enthusiasts so we could provide high-quality guitar and music-related content.

I’ve been playing guitar since I was 13 years old and am an avid collector. Amps, pedals, guitars, bass, drums, microphones, studio, and recording gear, I love it all.

I was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania. My background is in Electrical Engineering, earning a Bachelor’s degree from Youngstown State University. With my engineering experience, I’ve developed as a designer of guitar amplifiers and effects. A true passion of mine, I’ve designed, built, and repaired a wide range of guitar amps and electronics. Here at the Guitar Lobby, our aim is to share our passion for Music and gear with the rest of the music community.

Leave a Comment

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Meet the Team
• Our Manifesto
• Work with Us
• Budget Travel
• Personal Development
• Work & Travel
• United Kingdom
• More of Europe
• Philippines
• More of Southeast Asia
• More of South America
• More of Central America
• South Korea
• More of Asia
• More of North America
• New Zealand
• Pacific Islands
• More of Oceania
• South Africa
• More of Africa
• More of the Middle East
• Travel Essentials
• Travel Gear

Home » Gear » best travel guitars

12 Best Travel Guitars • A BARGAIN Buyer’s Guide for 2024

Traveling the world and playing the guitar are my two greatest passions. But, unfortunately, they don’t seem to go hand-in-hand, do they? Traveling requires minimalism, and guitars are big, awkwardly shaped and are not fun to haul around in airports and buses.

For years I had to make the tough decision –  to either travel  without a guitar, or to painfully drag my oversized acoustic around the world. Both options sucked, and after years of this, I needed something different.

So finally, I bought myself one of the best travel guitars and my life literally changed forever.

As a guitarist of 15 years, and a non-stop world traveler of 10, I know exactly  what is needed from a travel guitar.

With the help of this guide, you’ll be able to easily know which of the best travel guitars is perfect for you and your style of music and travel. We’re going to cover a whole scope of six-stringed sweeties in this post: travel acoustic guitars, travel electric guitars folding neck guitars. Something for every homeless musician out there!

Get excited because here are some of these best traveling guitars and they are  epic!

Unfortunately, as I was researching which travel guitar to buy, I realized there are hundreds of travel guitars… and a ton of them suck.

Which is exactly why I wrote this epic guide to the best travel guitars.

The Broke Backpacker is supported by you . Clicking through our links may earn us a small affiliate commission, and that's what allows us to keep producing free content 🙂 Learn more .

Quick Answers – The Best Traveling Guitars

The best traveling guitars mega-list: acoustics, electrics, and a few bass guitars because why not, the best travel acoustic guitars, best travel electric guitars, the best folding guitar for travel, time for some other stringed travel instruments, traveling with a guitar – what to look for, faq about the best travel guitars, closing thoughts on the top travel guitars.

• Buy Us a Coffee!
• Best Travel Acoustic Guitar – Ultra-Light Classical 6-String Guitar
• Best Travel Electric Guitar – Traveler Guitar Travel Guitar
• Best Folding Travel Guitar – Journey Instruments OF660M
• Best Travel Bass Guitar – Traveler Guitar TB-4P
• Best Travel Budget Guitar – Yamaha GL1 Guitalele

Today, we’re cutting straight to the goodies because goodies are delicious! First, we’ll round up the most portable guitars just built for travel and worldwide escapades. After that, I’ll get to the no less delicious goodies on choosing the right travel guitar for your needs.

Are you ready? Ok, you sexy shredder; let’s do this! The best guitars for travel that most certainly do not weep.

Ultra-Light Classical 6-String Guitar

• > Great action

Baby Taylor BT2

• > Taylor-made

Yamaha Guitalele

• > Vibrant classical tone

Yamaha GL1 Guitalele

Hohner HAG250P 1/2 Sized

Traveler Guitar Ultra-Light Electric Travel Guitar

• > Humbucker pickups

Hofner 6 String Solid-Body Electric Guitar

• > 0.176 ounces
• > Gig bag included

Best Travel Electric-Acoustic Guitar

• > 2lbs 14 oz
• > Great neck

Journey Instruments OF660M Carbon Fiber Acoustic Guitar Matte

• Best Folding Travel Guitar > $1449.99
• > Great for professionals

Traveler Guitar TB-4P Electric Travel Bass

• Best Travel Bass Guitar > $549.99
• > 6 lbs 8 oz

Kala Teak Tri-Top Concert Acoustic-electric Ukulele

• > Level-10 Portability

For the natural earthy sound. The downside of the portable guitars is the sound isn’t so rocking as an electric baest. The upside?

…Well, you don’t need an amp.

These are the travel guitars you can bring to the campfire or out at the hostel at night to the sneak into the hearts (and pants) of wayward travelers around the globe. Sexy and swooning.

REI is one of America’s biggest and most-loved outdoor gear retailers.

Now, for just $30, get a lifetime membership that entitles you to 10% OFF on most items, access to their trade-in scheme and discount rentals .

Best Travel Acoustic Guitar #1 –  Ultra-Light Classical 6-String Guitar

If you are looking for the best travel acoustic guitar, do yourself a favor and stop right here because this creature is as good as it gets.

This compact travel guitar is an extraordinary instrument and they have accomplished the goal of creating an affordable yet high-quality travel acoustic guitar.

In TBB fashion, you get only the best of the best! A solid mahogany top, a unique fret design, and a 24-inch scale length mean that you’ll never have to sacrifice quality to have an amazing travel guitar.

This guitar was designed for lightweight travelers in mind. The guitar and strap only weigh a total of 2 lbs. 14 oz combined, making this our smallest travel guitar. And when placed in the included protective bag, the two combine to weight a total of 3lbs. 12oz!

• Removable lap rest
• Only 2 lbs 14 oz – the perfect small travel guitar
• Shape can be awkward or uncomfortable to some
• Very small – not ideal for professionals
• Leg rest is a bit slippy

While I clearly think this guitar is the cream of the crop… I don’t recommend it for everyone.

This traveling guitar is for backpackers; perfect for those who love to travel with their guitar but aren’t trying to do anything too hardcore with their music career. Why?

In an effort to make this mini guitar as travel-friendly as possible there is a detachable leg rest, whilst this is amazing meaning you can get the benefit of playing a full-size guitar sat down, I have found it to be a bit slippy on my pants! I’ve remedied this by wrapping a cloth around it but it’s not the ideal solution.

Bottom line:  If you are a traveling professional musician, this might not be the guitar for you. Everyone else – if you can afford it – this tiny Guitar is literally as good of a travel guitar you can get. Click the button below to see the best price.

Best Travel Acoustic Guitar #2 – Baby Taylor BT-2

Taylor guitars are one of the most reputable acoustic brands on the planet and this guitar is an incredible example of why.

The Taylor Baby BT-2 is not technically a travel guitar; it’s just one of the best 3/4 guitars out there. This means that it’s 25% smaller than a normal-sized acoustic guitar, and many 3/4 guitars are made for kids.

But obviously one can see why 25% less guitar would be very beneficial for travelers. An extra 25% of the guitar means an extra 25% weight off your back and the ability to stow this guitar on tons of flights.

Plus, along with a smaller size, you also get everything else that is amazing about Taylor guitars – solid wood, ebony fretboard, and a beautiful sound that resembles a choir of glowing angels.

• High quality and long term durability. This guitar will purr
• Great for traveling professionals
• Come with a gig bag
• Almost weighs 8 lbs with the case
• Probably too big for lightweight backpackers
• 19 frets might still not be enough for some

What you’ve got to love about this guitar is that for a 3/4 guitar’s size, it almost sounds exactly like a full-sized acoustic guitar. That’s why it’s easily one of the best travel acoustic guitars on the market. Typically 3/4 guitars sacrifice sound for size but with this Taylor, the tradeoff is barely noticeable.

Taylor has earned their reputation, and this compact guitar is another sterling example. If you don’t mind dishing out a bit more cash, you’ll be very pleased with the tone and sound of this instrument.

Bottom line – The Baby Taylor BT-1  delivers a phenomenal sound and long term durability all of which comes at 3/4 the size of a regular acoustic guitar. If you are looking for an ultralight travel guitar, look elsewhere. But if the quality is your number one concern, you may have found the mini travel guitar of your dreams.

Best Travel Classical Guitar #1 –  Yamaha Guitarlele

What happens if you cross a guitar with a Ukulele? The Yamaha Guitalele is what! This is a masterpiece of instrumental engineering, and could quite possibly be the best travel guitar ever made!

With a solid spruce top, rosewood fingerboard, and a gorgeous mahogany body, this classical guitar is stunning in that sexy classical fashion like a finely produced oil painting. Yamaha clearly invests a lot of time in design, and this travel classical guitar is one of the best examples of that.

And thankfully it sounds as good as it looks! This classical, nylon string Guitar-Ukulele is well-reviewed, giving warm and bright tones. This ensures it delivers the best sound for its size and build.

• Nylon strings for the nylon lovers
• Gorgeous looks and sound
• Comes with gig bag
• If you prefer steel strings,then this is not the guitar for you

It ain’t too pricey and it ain’t too big – good things come in compact and affordable packages! You are getting an extremely well-designed and beautiful acoustic classical guitar that is built just for travelers.

Bottom line – Whether you are a professional or casual musician – if you are looking for a travel classical guitar, this is a fantastic option at a good price.

Best Cheap Travel Guitar #1 –  Yamaha GL1 Guitalele

I’ve gone through a ton of guitars in my life, but one of the best, most durable acoustics I ever owned was a $200 Yamaha. Did it have the rich sound of a Martin? Obviously not. But it played well, had great action, and was so durable I was convinced it would survive a nuclear apocalypse.

This is exactly why the Yamaha GL1 Guitalele is my pick for the best cheap travel guitar!

Yamaha makes solid guitars for low prices, and the GL1 Guitalele is a perfect example. Well reviewed and affordable, this was an easy pick for the best budget travel guitar.

• Super affordable and well-reviewed!
• Yamaha’s products are always durable
• A cool fusion of a guitar and ukulele and their A/D/G/C/E/a tuning ensures you get a great sound
• It’s still cheap, but for $75 more you can get something significantly better
• Alternate tuning might dissuade some
• Nylon strings may not be ideal for others

Something to consider is that this is technically NOT a travel guitar . As the name would suggest, this is a hybrid between a ukulele and an acoustic guitar. To accomplish this fusion in the best way possible, Yamaha strings this guitar up to the 4th in the tuning of A/D/G/C/E/a.

If this scares the crap out of you – don’t worry! It just means due to its smaller size, this guitar sounds best with a non-standard E/A/D/G/B/e tuning. Since this is a great cheap travel guitar, this also makes for a great traveling gift !

Bottom line – If an alternate tuning doesn’t scare you and you are on a budget, then this is the best budget travel guitar. A cool guitar-ukulele-combo, the Yamaha Guitele is a solid choice for a traveler looking to save a bit of money on their instrument without compromising too much on quality. It also just happens to be the best guitalele – go figure!

Best Budget Travel Guitar #2 –  Hohner HAG250P 1/2 Sized

OK, before I continue, I should clarify: this is absolutely, without a doubt, 100% a toddler guitar. This is, however, one of the best inexpensive guitars you’ll find.

It’s small, not of the highest quality, and won’t last a lifetime… And that’s exactly why it’s the best budget travel guitar on this list! A bargain guitar this cheap means all feelings of love and affection go out the window: throw, bang, and transport this instrument on buses in Asia to your heart’s content… unless you get attached.

But we’re travelers; we don’t go in for that attachment nonsense anyway.

Think of it this way… have you ever been to a hostel and they have that small, beat up, classical guitar sitting in the main room? Or have you ever been to a beach party, and some dude with dreadlocks busts out a nylon-stringed guitar that looks like it was made in 1953 for a hobbit?

That’s exactly what this guitar is. It won’t win you a grammy, but it’s cheap, and you better believe that it will play… albeit maybe slightly out of tune.

• It’s a cheap guitar… don’t get your hopes up

The Hohner 1/2 Sized is for anyone looking for a cheap travel guitar to buy online. Simple as that.

Bottom line – This is the ‘I’m on a shoestring budget backpacking through Southeast Asia . I’m going to party on beaches and all I want is a throwaway guitar I can play some Sublime singalongs on in between cheap beers in hopes of getting laid’ choice. If this sounds like you, then look no further.

Do You Want to Travel FOREVER??

Pop your email in below to get a FREE copy of ‘How to Travel the World on $10 a Day!’.

Do you want to power those chords properly? Whammy those sustains? Really get that cheap meaningless sex at hostels in Thailand?

Then here we are: the best electric travel guitar. Something with a bit more shazam for the busker in all of us .

Best Travel Electric Guitar #1- Traveler Guitar Ultra-Light Electric Travel Guitar

While not the most creative company name, Traveler Guitar has put together some pretty impressive traveling instruments and this was an easy pick for the best travel electric guitar.

Amazing design and stellar reviews make this electric guitar one of the coolest travel guitars on the market. The Traveler Ultra-Light comes with dual rail humbuckers and packs an impressive sound. Depending on your amp and pedals setup, this electric should be able to get whatever sound you need out of it.

The Ultra-Light guitar is 28% shorter and 68% lighter than a typical electric guitar all the which while retaining 100% of its size between the nut and the bridge. This means that while this guitar is not going to feel 100% like a full-sized electric… it’ll come close. Plus, you shed all of that weight in the process.

• 68% lighter than a standard electric guitar
• Humbucker pickups
• A gig bag is included
• Lap rest is included as well
• Might not be enough for professional traveling musicians
• Mixed reviews on comfort of detachable lap rest (and overall balance in general)

This travel electric guitar is perfect for super lightweight travelers who need an electric guitar with them at all times. But unfortunately, the lightweight build comes with some sacrifices. And the sacrifice here is the balance.

By eliminating 68% of the weight, some reviews claim the guitar is difficult to balance, or that it’s too light to play or solo on comfortably. Others claimed this was easily overcome with a couple days’ practice. Regardless, if you are considering purchasing, expect a bit of discomfort and imbalance at first, but don’t worry: you’ll be rocking that Red Hot Chili Peppers cover in no time  😉

Bottom line –  Maybe not the best choice for professional musicians but this is still a great travel size electric guitar for someone who loves to shred while they journey. While the balance might take a bit of getting used to, there is simply no better-designed travel electric guitar on the market.

Best Travel Electric Guitar #2 –  Hofner 6 String Solid-Body Electric Guitar

Just like the Ultra Light Travel Guitar, this model is unique in its design. But unlike its sibling, Traveler Guitar looked at the Hofner as an opportunity to give you a full electric experience while still trimming as much weight as possible.

To accomplish this, they’ve basically cut out everything in the body apart from a tiny area roughly the size of a pick guard on a regular guitar!

By cutting out the majority of the body, Hofner has created an electric guitar that is 14% shorter and 35% lighter than a typical electric guitar. And the impressive part? All of that is done while still keeping the guitar 100% at scale from the bridge to the neck!

• Full electric experience, but 14% shorter and 35% lighter
• Awesome for traveling professional musicians
• Gig bag included
• Too large for casual musicians
• Won’t play like a Strat (please don’t expect it to)
• Mixed reviews on its playability out of the box – might take some tweaking to get desired the feel and sound

Aside from its innovative design, this kickass travel electric guitar comes with 3 single-coil pickups, 1 volume knob and 1 tone knob.

While this compact electric guitar is highly recommended, you will still have to accept that its bold design can cause some complications.  While this travel electric attempts to mimic a full-sized electric – don’t expect it to feel exactly like a Strat or Tele. It comes close, but you can’t expect the same feeling (especially when sitting down).

Truthfully, if you are looking for one of the best electric travel guitars, there aren’t tons of well-reviewed options and Hofner is the only company putting out quality products.

Bottom line –  If you are a traveler looking to shed a few pounds off your electric guitar – this is a kickass option. The Hofner was meant to be lightweight while sacrificing as little playability as possible… Highly recommended for a professional who isn’t sure if the Ultra-Light can make the cut for them.

Best Travel Electric-Acoustic Guitar –  Traveler Guitar Ultra-Light Acoustic-Electric

Welcome back Traveler Guitar! Lemme make you a tea; you’re welcome anytime as long as you keep pumping out the grade-A stories.

With their third product on this list, I have to say I’m impressed by Traveler Guitar’s commitment to their niche. This product is one of their best!

It’s 100% full scale from the nut to the bridge, but 31% shorter and 43% lighter than a typical acoustic guitar. In particular, this guitar has a nice aesthetic and a gorgeous finish. Reviews claim the neck is smooth and that the guitar is durable and stays in tune very well.

• 43% lighter than a typical acoustic guitar
• Great finish – well-reviewed neck
• Gig bag comes included as well
• Too niche – only recommended for those who ALWAYS plug in their acoustic (or record acoustic)

But where I think their other products are more versatile… I would only recommend the Traveler Guitar Ultra-Light Acoustic-Electric for a very specific person.

Simply put – this guitar only sounds great when it’s plugged in. Why?

Well, think about it. This guitar has no body (aka – where an acoustic gets that warm, vibrant, reverb-y sound from). In the pursuit of lightness, Traveler Guitar made an instrument that only sounds good when plugged into an amplifier – which can totally work for the right person!

When it is plugged into an amp it sounds delicious! But otherwise, it’s basically just another electric guitar that gives much less when unplugged. It’s good for recorders, buskers traveling with an amp, and people gigging… and that’s about it.

Bottom line – Look at the Traveler Guitar Ultra-Light Acoustic-Electric as an electric-acoustic guitar, and ONLY as an electric-acoustic guitar. If you love to record acoustic while you travel, or play a ton of live shows – this could be your axe. Everyone else – look elsewhere.

You could get a mini guitar that carries on your back… or you could just get one that folds in half completely! Holy folding guitars, Hendrix! Lookout virtual reality and simulated blowjob machines – the future is here!

In all seriousness, a folding guitar is a supreme traveling instrument. Easy to carry, stow on planes, and you’re not so likely to snap the neck. Trust me: nothing breaks your heart quite as much as a broken guitar neck.

To be fair – in terms of quality, this is absolutely the best travel guitar that money can buy. It’s the best sounding travel guitar, it’s got a gorgeous make, and it packs up real nice.

But here’s the con – it’s ridiculously expensive. Like, I peed myself a little when I first saw the price tag.

But if you have no problem dropping a bit more money, this is a guitar that will not only be your primary travel guitar… it will be your primary guitar – period. Made from carbon fiber, the Journey OF660M is a modern, durable, sexy looking axe. This guitar gives a super warm, bright and rich tone, and is extremely versatile.

• The best travel guitar on the market
• Rich sound – every note rings
• Carbon fiber is the real deal, making this guitar super-durable (important for travel!)
• Most expensive guitar on the list
• 10lbs means what you gain in quality, you lose in travel convenience

Old school guitarists might not like the new school design or the fact that it’s made of carbon fiber, but I must disagree… While I think carbon fiber is an amazing material for any guitar, it’s especially perfect for traveling guitarists!

Traditional wood guitars need to be kept out of humidity and heat to keep them from warping. In contrast, carbon fiber means you can bring your guitar in any weather and travel to any climate stress-free. While I respect the traditionalist view, carbon fiber has proven to be a durable material for guitars, while also providing the guitar with a modern, cool look. No warping, no fear of heat or humidity; this is a huge factor to consider for any traveler guitar.

Bottom line – If you have the budget, don’t need something super-light, and are looking for the best sounding travel guitar money can buy, you’ve found your match.

Everyone and their mom knows how to play the guitar! Well… that’s quite true. It would be fairer to say that everyone and their mom knows how to play a C, G, Am, and F chord. So let’s branch out… starting with a travel bass guitar.

Bass players are sexy. Have you seen their fingers? Think of the things they could do with those fingers…

The Best Travel Bass Guitar – Traveler Guitar TB-4P Electric Travel Bass

Another Traveler Guitar? Seriously? What can I say: this company does it right!

Similar to their travel guitars, this awesome travel bass guitar is designed to feel as much like a standard bass, while trimming as much of the weight as possible.

The Traveler Guitar TB-4P is well reviewed and well designed. It weighs in at 25% lighter than a standard bass – which you will definitely appreciate while traveling – an also measures at 22% shorter than a standard bass. Slap that sucker across all seven continents!

• 25% lighter and 22% shorter than a standard bass!
• Well designed – innovative wrap around tuning design
• Balance might be an issue for some
• Not going to sound as chunky as a standard bass

The Traveler Guitar Travel Bass comes with volume controls, tone controls, and the standard electronics to get your bass rigged up to any pedal or amp you need! A cool side-perk is they also include a 1/8 inch headphone jack. This means that while you are at your accommodation, you can still pop some headphones in and really jam out!

Remember though, the sound will be nice, but not as full as a typical bass. Duncan pickups help this bass to deliver some great tones but don’t expect to sound exactly like Flea.

Bottom line –  This is the best travel bass guitar money can buy. Like all of the best travel guitars, you are definitely going to sacrifice some tone for the sake traveling lighter,  but if light is what you need, then Traveler Guitar TB-4P Electric Bass got you covered.

Annnnd the Ukulele – Kala Teak Tri-Top Concert Acoustic-electric Ukulele

C’mon, you had to see this coming. It’s the quintessential rookie-backpacker move. Buy a uke, learn the aforementioned C, G, Am, F, ‘ Somewhere over the Rainbow’ and ‘I’m Yours’ , strap your new companion to your backpack , and you’re officially that guy!

I’m taking the piss. I adore ukes! …In the hands of someone who actually plays the ukulele. Once you learn the chord variations up and down the fretboard and some scales, they’re actually quite darling.

So, what’s the best ukulele for travel? Well, that’s the beauty of ukes… they all are! They’re all small enough to go as carry-on on a plane and they strap nicely to most backpacks.

So what’s the best ukulele? Well, probably not this one; I imagine the best ukulele was crafted by an ancient Hawaiian God and is sitting lodged in a rock at the bottom of some volcano somewhere waiting to be exonerated by the chosen one. Otherwise, though, there’s this one!

• Electric-acoustic so plug in for an even sweeter sound
• Built-in tuner
• Unique shape and design
• The intonation isn’t perfect for a connoisseur’s ear
• Excellent for beginner’s and a great intermediate uke but experts may seek elsewhere

It’s a sexy uke that sounds pretty. The built-in tuner is a massive plus and plugging to an amp is really gonna make this bad-boy shine (yes, I did just refer to a ukulele as a “bad-boy”). Kala make good gear and they’re not just in the ukulele space either.

Also, the Kala Teak Tri-Top Concert Acoustic-electric Ukulele just looks mega-pretty. Koa, mahogany, walnut, and a seductive satin finish to seduce the park hippies (and South Asian men) with.

All in all, if this is just you following the stereotypical first-time traveler route, there are cheaper ukuleles you can spend your money on and that’ll do the job right. But, if you’re upgrading from that phase, or are just genuinely interested in learning the ukulele it’s a fine choice.

Bottom line –  Well, my mom says ukes are cool! Actually, she hates them but she has to put up with me anyway. This may not be the best travel guitar but it’s certainly a good deal lighter and smaller than any portable guitar you’ll find.

Protip: Try finding nylon guitar strings that fit the gauges (it’s super doable) and putting them on to swap that high G out for a low one; a uke with a bass not – yum!

Now, you  could spend a fat chunk of $$$ on the WRONG present for someone. Wrong size hiking boots, wrong fit backpack, wrong shape sleeping bag… As any adventurer will tell you, gear is a personal choice.

So give the adventurer in your life the gift of convenience: buy them an REI Co-op gift card!  REI is The Broke Backpacker’s retailer of choice for ALL things outdoors, and an REI gift card is the perfect present you can buy from them. And then you won’t have to keep the receipt. 😉

As an avid traveler and musician, I can tell you that buying a great travel size guitar was one of the most important decisions I ever made. I can now easily transport a guitar anywhere I go in the world, meaning never have to be without a guitar again!

When it comes to the best travel guitars, there are a few things, in particular, you want to keep an eye out for. Here are some important things to consider when you are trying to pick your personal travel guitar.

1.  Do you need a top quality travel guitar?

The guitars on this list are certainly some of the best travel guitars on the market… but some are certainly higher quality than others. Keep an eye out for prices. Yes, we are all trying to save money with our broke backpacking ways , but sometimes spending the extra $50 can be the difference between a just-ok travel guitar that will get you by or an exceptional travel guitar that will literally change the game.

This is especially true if you are a traveling professional musician. Do not try and get something cheap – it will quickly come back to haunt you.

Backpackers looking for a travel-friendly guitar that they can just jam on, have a bit more leniency in their choices.

2. How many frets for your travel guitar?

Something I overlooked was the fact that travel guitars don’t always have the standard amount of frets! Obviously it makes sense as the smaller the neck, the more travel-friendly the guitar. Consider your guitar playing style. Do you prefer to shred solos high up the neck? Or are you just looking for something to jam out with beachside, and play some zombie chords?

If you don’t need the additional frets, you’ll find that your options are better and the portable guitars to choose from will be much more compact.

3. What about the length and weight of your travel size guitar?

The first thing you need to consider is your travel style. Are you a fast traveler or slow traveler ?

If you travel the world spending a month at a time in AirBnb’s , you won’t be as concerned about the size and weight of the guitar. If you blitz from hostel to hostel, then you should seriously consider purchasing one of the lighter and more compact travel guitars.

4. Remember this one important fact…

Here’s the deal…

The standard guitar is literally a miracle. It’s a perfectly crafted instrument. Over the past 500+ years the guitar has slowly been tweaked to perfection. With the modern-day guitar, the size, shape, and build of a standard guitar ensures that you get the absolute best comfort, sound and durability from this amazing instrument.

This is where traveler guitars screw the proverbial pooch.

Ultimately, travel guitars are smaller, and because they are smaller they aren’t going to sound as good as a standard guitar. There is no way around this. If you want a smaller guitar, you are going to have to make some other sacrifices. To get a guitar smaller, lighter, and more travel-friendly means sacrificing a few other important things (like possibly sound, comfort, balance).

Don’t worry- the best travel guitars sound amazing! Just don’t expect it sound like a song from ‘Eric Clapton Unplugged’ … Because it won’t.

But I promise you, whatever travel guitar you choose it will sound awesome, it’ll be lightweight, and it will accompany you around the world  🙂

Can a travel guitar replace my primary guitar?

The easy answer – absolutely.

The more complicated answer… well, it depends on your needs.

If you are more of a casual guitar player (like I am these days) then you will be stoked to know that a travel guitar can absolutely replace your primary guitar (especially if you don’t mind spending a bit more). The selections from Cordoba, Martin, and Taylor on this list are truly epic instruments, and if you don’t need to worry about gigs, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised that your travel guitar can absolutely become your primary guitar.

But people that are truly invested in their musical journey, possibly even at the sake of their world-wandering journey, a travel guitar, long-term, isn’t going to cut it. Eventually, the lack of frets, or the lower quality sound, or some other aspect is going to wear thin.

Eventually, in your world-wandering journey, you’re going to stumble across a truly magnificent instrument and that’s when your mini guitar built for travelers isn’t going to feel so special anymore.

Still have some questions? No problem! We’ve listed and answered the most commonly asked questions below. Here’s what people usually want to know:

Can you fold guitars?

Not all of them are foldable, but there are some cool options. One of them is the Journey Instruments OF660M , that can literally fold in half.

Should you get a travel guitar if you don’t know how to play?

Hell yeah, why not? Spend those long hours waiting for flights or buses by learning how to play on your cool travel guitar and impress your friends once you’re back home.

What should you look for in a travel guitar?

Keep these key-features in mind: 1. Does it have to be top quality? 2. The number of frets 3. Packability and size

What is the best affordable travel guitar?

The best budget travel guitar is the Yamaha GL1 Guitalele. It’s super durable and offers a great sound as well.

Our GREATEST Travel Secrets…

Pop your email here & get the original Broke Backpacker Bible for FREE.

There you have it! The 10 best travel guitars (plus two extras).

I know that with the help of this epic buyer’s guide, you’ll easily be able to identify and buy the travel guitar of your dreams. Get out there and find your baby.

Treat her well too. It’s a lonely road and there may come a night in the future where it’s just you and her alone under a bridge in the storm. Trust me, on that day

Is there anything I missed? What’s your favorite travel guitar? Comment below! It’ll help other travelers know which guitar is best for them – safe travels!

Buy Us a Coffee !

A couple of you lovely readers suggested we set up a tip jar for direct support as an alternative to booking through our links. So we created one!

You can now buy The Broke Backpacker a coffee . If you like and use our content to plan your trips, it’s a much appreciated way to show appreciation 🙂

Share or save this post

You need to look into the Furch Little Jane travel guitar. It will blow you away with it’s design, looks and most importantly sound. There is also a LR Bagges pickup option if you need to be plugged in. Check the company out.

You must consider the Stow-Away by Stewart in the best travel guitar list. It clearly is the best option for an electric travel guitar.

I am a resophonic guy. My 1975 Dobro 33, metal bodied has traveled all over. Altbough many reso players are strictly slide and open tuning, I prefer standard and play many genres. I’d like to see a metal bodied resophonic that truly is travel friendly and works well in standard tuning. Metal bodies, like carbon fibre tend to be highly durable, but tend to weigh alot. Still, reso is loud enough to be a busking or session guitar in a multitude of situations.

Why are, we reso players always the stepchildren of these attempts to find the holy grail of travel instruments?

Traveler makes several other travel guitars with actual small guitar bodies which include preamps and other settings, yet have full sized fretboards. You might want to take a look at them. Yamaha makes an excellent travel model too, but it’s expensive. Also, you might include a comment about their ultra-light models being good for quiet practice in those hostels and places where noise is a factor. With a small preamp, you can use headphones to get the big sound you want without disturbing others. All useful factors for a travel guitar! And remember, some of us are classical guitar players and have no interest in “jamming”, but want a full fingerboard to play/practice on. I looked up the website on the eo guitars and, as you said, there is no information on how to buy one, the price, availability, etc, nor any reviews on the quality of build or the sound. The only way to get further information is to e-mail them which is not a plus for their marketing. It looks very interesting, but it’s too much of an unknown to pursue.

Damn, Mr Rogers- those are some hot tips! Next time I update this article (which should hopefully be before too long), I’ll 100% look into Traveler and Yamaha’s model. And you’re right: quiet practice in a hostel is definitely much-appreciated. I’ve gotten told on more than once for getting too carried away hahah! But I do certainly hope some classical guitar players still wanna jam. The more the merrier 🙂

Great site! I’d like to make you aware of my folding guitar which is the smallest travel instrument in the world yet with a full size neck and scale length. Patented robust joint mechanism allows the neck to fold to be only 42 cm long and weighs <1.5kg. The ultimate portability. With integral headphone amp. Play while you stray! eo-guitars

S’up Ken!

I am most certainly aware of the eo-guitar now – I love what it’s about! Small, light, innovative, and sexy. This post will need an update eventually, however, it’d be nice to get the eo-guitar in it in the future. As it stands though, info and feedback on the guitar online is pretty sparse.

It also seems like the only way to purchase one is through your email listed on your website. It’d be great to see this being sold in some online marketplaces, and we’d love to feature your guitar once it’s more readily available. The possibility of a hands-on review might be cool too, but it’d be better if you got in direct contact for discussing that.

For anyone reading these comments though, the eo-guitar is one to keep your eye on!

I am gobsmacked you haven’t reviewed the Furch little jane. I can only assume you haven’t come across it. If you had, the others would not even come into contention.

Thanks for your comment; I took a little squizz at the Furch Little Jane and you’re right – she’s a sexy beast! Although, she’s a pretty pricey gal and a bit chunkier than a lot of other travel guitars on the market.

This post got an update not so long ago, but it’s overdue for another. As far as I know, I’m the only muso on the team, so when the world is a bit less smashed and I got the time, I’ll be updating this review. You can almost definitely expect the Little Jane to feature then 🙂

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail.

• USA +1(813) 695 53 09
• COL +(57) 300 587 48 96
• [email protected]
• [email protected]

• Guitarras Acústicas
• Guitarras Clásicas
• Guitarras Eléctricas
• Guitarras Electro-Acústicas
• Bajos Eléctricos
• Electroacústicos
• Amplificadores bajo
• Amplificadores guitarra
• Amplificadores Teclado
• Pianos y Teclados
• Baterías Acústicas
• Baterías Electrónicas
• Redoblantes
• Controladores
• Condensador
• Equipos para DJ
• Sonido Profesional
• Estuches Bajo
• Estuches Guitarra
• Estuches teclado
• Bases y Soportes
• Polichadores y Limpieza

Traveler Guitar Travelcaster Deluxe Electric Travel Guitar

$ 1.853.905

Esta Traveler Guitar Travelcaster es una guitarra eléctrica de viaje de escala completa de 25.5 pulgadas.

Con solo 5 lb. y una longitud total de 33,75 pulgadas, la Travelcaster enfatiza la portabilidad sin sacrificar el sonido.

Viene equipada con tres pastillas de bobina simple, un control de volumen, dos controles de tono, un selector de pastillas de 5 posiciones y clavijas cromadas. Cuenta con trémolo de contacto en 2 puntos hacen que la estabilidad del ajuste sea mucho mejor, mientras que el puente de acero  produce más sustain y un mejor tono. La Travelcaster también cuenta con características de guitarra tradicionales como 22 trastes medio jumbo, cuerpo de álamo y un mástil de arce. La Travelcaster rinde homenaje al pasado, al tiempo que ofrece una solución portátil innovadora y con visión de futuro para los viajes de los guitarristas. Disponible en un clásico negro brillante con diapasón de palisandro y retro surf verde con diapasón de arce.

Incluye gig Bag

Productos relacionados

Ibanez AW54OPN Artwood Solid Top Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar Open Pore Natural

Sterling by Music Man John Petrucci JP60 Electric Guitar

Ibanez AR325 Electric Guitar Dark Brown Sunburst

Traveler Guitar Ultra-Light Electric Travel Bass Natural Satin

Nuestras marcas.

Necesitas asesoría? Llámanos al 300 5874896

• Políticas de privacidad
• Términos y condiciones

Music Head Store

• Cómo comprar
• Ventas Corporativas

Best Travel Guitars 2024: Top Portable Instruments From Lowden, Furch, Martin and more

From short scale acoustics to carry-on electrics, we look at the best travel guitars available right now

• Best acoustic
• Larger body
• Best foldable
• For small hands
• Best electric
• Best full scale
• Best offset

Buying advice

How we test.

If you’re looking for something compact to take out on the road, or maybe even on holiday to keep on top of your practice schedule, then one of the best travel guitars is the way to go.

From smaller bodied acoustics that take up less space in a car or on a train, to super compact electrics designed to be taken on a plane as hand luggage, the best travel guitars mean that you don’t have to stop playing the moment you leave the house. A good travel guitar can even be great to have around the home – something with more compact dimensions can sometimes be really comfortable. 

The best travel guitars come in all shapes and sizes, and are available in both electric and acoustic formats. Here, we’ll look at what’s on offer, and provide our picks for both categories.

Though this might be on the larger side of a travel guitar, it is still more compact than all of Lowden’s other offerings. Simply put, the Wee Lowden is one of the best sounding smaller-bodied acoustic guitars on the market.

Read more below

Not Taylor’s smallest offering, but definitely one of their better sounding compact instruments, the GS Mini has proven to be a hit with all manner of guitarists. You’ll even see pros use them on the biggest stages in the world.

Folding guitars have been done before, but the Furch Little Jane is a folding guitar that actually sounds very, very good. This acoustic travel guitar is made from all solid woods – a solid red cedar top and solid mahogany back and sides, giving it a beautiful, mellow and warm sound. 

Probably one of the most popular compact six-strings ever made, the Martin LX1E has truly earned its place on our list of the best travel guitars. It’s around a 3/4 size, with a 23” scale. 

Blackstar’s Carry On range aims to provide players with quality instruments that are easy to take on planes so that you don’t have to skip your practice sessions when you’re traveling.

A travel guitar doesn’t necessarily always have to be short scale, and this is a case in point. The Ultra-Light Travel Guitar boasts a full 24.75” scale length, but the entire thing measures just 28”. 

A 3/4 size guitar is smaller all over – smaller scale length (22.75” in this case), smaller body, neck, headstock etc. You might have to adjust your playing somewhat to accommodate these shrunken features, but most players can become accustomed to it.

This effectively cuts the body of a Strat down to just its scratchplate, reducing its size dramatically. The 6-in-line is then reduced to 3+3 making a further size reduction. 

Best acoustic traveler

1. Lowden WL-35 Wee Lowden

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

It’s incredibly bold and punchy, with superb note definition and clarity. Its dimensions are smaller than that of a more traditionally sized acoustic guitar, but the projection that it delivers would have you fooled – this guitar is loud when you push it. It also reacts beautifully to playing dynamics, offering all the shades of quiet and loud that you’d want.

Different versions of this guitar are available, but the mahogany back and sides combined with the red cedar top deliver a wonderfully balanced sound. The build quality is absolutely second to none; though of course, at this price point, you’d expect that.

Best with larger body

2. Taylor GS Mini-e Koa Plus

This GS Mini-e Koa Plus sports a solid koa top and laminate koa back and sides which allow notes and chords to ring out with complete clarity and detail. Koa responds really well to your playing – it’s responsive and dynamic so allows you to play with lots of expression. The shaded edge burst finish looks truly incredible and adds a touch of class to the whole thing too. 

This 23.5” scale guitar comes fitted with Taylor’s flagship pickup system as well – the ES-2. This allows you to amplify your guitar through a PA system or amp in a way that’s more dynamic and more natural. It ships with a fantastic Aero Case that offers nearly as much protection as a hard case, but is much lighter.

Best foldable traveler

3. Furch Little Jane

Folding guitars have been done before, but the Furch Little Jane is a folding guitar that actually sounds very, very good. This acoustic travel guitar is made from all solid woods – a solid red cedar top and solid mahogany back and sides, giving it a beautiful, mellow and warm sound. It’s harmonically rich, and has some of that parlor-style punch in the midrange. It’s also extremely dynamic, projecting when you want it to, but responding nicely to softer playing. 

It’s extremely well designed. The body, neck and headstock are all separate when packed down, but it’s very quick to construct when it’s time to play. The clever locking mechanism keeps the neck in place, adding the right tension to the strings, and even retaining tuning somewhat between sessions. The Furch Little Jane even comes with its own padded backpack so you can take it on your travels right away.

Best for small hands

4. Martin LX1E

Probably one of the most popular compact six-strings ever made, the Martin LX1E has truly earned its place on our list of the best travel guitars. It’s around a 3/4 size, with a 23” scale. Players who are already accustomed to a full size guitar might get along with this particularly well as the neck width is about the same, measuring 1 11/16” at the nut.

Solid spruce sits atop a high pressure laminate mahogany back and sides creating a balanced but fairly bright tone. There is a touch of that boxy sort of sound you often get with smaller acoustics (though nowhere near as much as some cheaper models), and there aren’t tons of low end frequencies, but that’s if we’re being picky. Overall, the projection and tone of the LX1E is excellent. 

It is available without (Martin LX1), but this is equipped with a Fishman Sonitone pickup. The controls are easily accessible and it’s very much a case of plug in and play, making it one of the best travel guitars for potentially gigging with. If you’re navigating public transport to get to shows, then this is definitely one to consider. 

Best electric traveler

5. Blackstar Carry On Travel Guitar

Cheaper versions of this are available, but the flagship Carry On model has a number of features that make this one of the best travel guitars on the market. Made in partnership with the master luthiers at Gordon Smith, this compact instrument has a one-piece okoume body, set neck and a coil-splittable humbucker. This gives you a range of amazing tones, as well as bags of sustain. 

It stays in tune well, and the intonation is just right. It’s really compact, but it plays more like a full size guitar, so you don’t lose much of the feel you’d normally get with a bigger instrument. It also comes shipped with a quality gigbag, so you’re ready to hit the road as soon as you get it.

Best with full scale length

6. Traveler Guitar Electric Ultra Light

A travel guitar doesn’t necessarily always have to be short scale, and this is a case in point. The Ultra-Light Travel Guitar boasts a full 24.75” scale length, but the entire thing measures just 28”. They say that it’s actually 28% shorter and 68% lighter than your average electric guitar . The lap rest detaches when not in use too, making it extremely portable. 

It’s fitted with a single dual rail humbucking pickup that delivers punchy but articulate tones. It’s not the most versatile instrument in the world, but that’s not really the aim here. Still, you can probably tackle most styles of music with it. The tuning pegs are also built into the body which obviously gets rid of the necessity for a headstock, and they actually work very well too.

If you’re flying a lot, or maybe space is at a premium in the car and you want to take this and maybe a battery powered amp with you, then this makes for a fantastic travel guitar. 

Best traveling offset

7. Squier Mini Jazzmaster

A 3/4 size guitar is smaller all over – smaller scale length (22.75” in this case), smaller body, neck, headstock etc. You might have to adjust your playing somewhat to accommodate these shrunken features, but most players can become accustomed to it. The short scale also lends the guitar a really nice slinky feel, so you might find yourself playing a little differently to normal, which can spark creativity. 

This fantastic looking offset is fitted with a pair of quite high output, punchy sounding humbuckers. So, if you’re seeking a portable guitar for rocking big riffs and ripping solos, then this is absolutely one to consider. 

It’s also well priced. Maybe you’re just seeking a guitar to take out occasionally, enabling you to leave your main instrument at home. This is of a good enough standard to do the job well, and it means that you’re not having to throw your more expensive guitar in the back of a car or van etc.

Best for Strat fans

8. Traveler Travelcaster Deluxe

This effectively cuts the body of a Strat down to just its scratchplate, reducing its size dramatically. The 6-in-line is then reduced to 3+3 making a further size reduction. All in all, it’s about the size of a regular Strat, minus the headstock, making it altogether a lot more portable. 

You’re not having to sacrifice anything in terms of tone here. The Travelcaster has three single-coil pickups and a five-way selector, giving you all the chimey, glassy tones that you’d expect from this kind of configuration. The tremolo works nicely too – again, something you don’t have to sacrifice. 

What’s particularly great about this model is that it has the full 25.5” Strat scale length meaning that your fretting hand won’t have a clue it’s playing on a travel guitar. Chords, scales and licks will feel as they do on a full size guitar, though you might just have to slightly accommodate for a different neck profile. 

What Do We Mean By Travel Guitar?

You can trust Guitar Player. Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

When we’re talking about the best travel guitars, we’re looking for instruments that are physically easier to travel with. Size and weight play a huge part, so the above choices will all be smaller than your regular full-size guitar, which in turn, will make them lighter. 

Some might just have slightly reduced dimensions when compared to a full size, making it a little more practical to take out on the go. Others might have completely different designs that render them suitable for taking on planes as hand luggage. How small you want it completely depends on your wants and needs.

Electric Or Acoustic?

Of course, one of the main considerations when shopping for the best travel guitar is whether to go electric or acoustic. Acoustics, by their very nature, tend to be a little bigger with deeper bodies, but you don’t need an amp to get the most out of it. If you’re playing live, then you’ll need some amplification, but for playing on your own or with friends, you’re fine with just the guitar.

An electric travel guitar can be played without an amp, but you’ll get more from it if you plug it into something. There are some great portable amps on offer, but there’s that, plus cables, to then consider. 

On acoustic travel guitars, you’ll find that some of them have a pickup fitted and some of them don’t. If you’re after a compact instrument to travel to and from shows, then having a pickup installed can be really useful. If you’re just after something to take on holiday or camping perhaps, then a pickup isn’t necessary. Buying one without a pickup will probably save you a bit of money too. 

Of course, with an electric, the pickup plays a very important part in shaping your sound. You’ll find the best travel guitars are fitted with various different pickup configurations. If you’ve found a model that you like but it’s got a single coil instead of a humbucker, for example, it’s always worth checking to see if other versions are available. 

Scale Length

It’s likely that a travel guitar will have a shorter scale length. Reducing this can allow the makers to produce a physically smaller guitar. It’s worth considering how that might feel for you to play, though. If you’ve got bigger hands, you might find squeezing your fingers into frets, particularly the ones higher up, more difficult. Look at the scale length, alongside the number of frets – 18 frets spaced over 23” for example, will give your fingers more space than 22 frets over the same scale.

That said, there are travel guitars that have a full length scale. They can reduce the size of the instrument in other ways, so if you know that you’re after a full scale travel guitar, then you don’t have to compromise.

At  Guitar Player , our team of writers aren't just music enthusiasts; we're real-life musicians. Our hands-on experience with travel guitars ensures that our reviews and recommendations are backed by practical knowledge and real-world testing.

When it comes to selecting the best travel guitars, we leave no stone unturned. Meticulously evaluating factors like tonal versatility, sonic character, build quality, and value for money, it's only after rigorous testing in a variety of playing scenarios do we choose products for our guides. We stand by our selections, ensuring that every set of strings we recommend is one we'd use ourselves.

Read more on  how we test gear and service at Guitar Player .

Get The Pick Newsletter

All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!

After spending a decade in music retail, I’m now a freelance writer for Guitar Player, Guitar World, MusicRadar and Reverb, specializing in electric and acoustic guitars bass, and almost anything else you can make a tune with. When my head’s not buried in the best of modern and vintage gear, I run a small company helping musicians with songwriting, production and performance, and I play bass in an alt-rock band.

“Eddie Van Halen gave me this guitar. I was just absolutely blown away that he did it”: John 5 shares the stories behind 10 of the most prized guitars in his collection

“The ES-295 was primed for the grind and sizzle that came to define the sound of rock guitar”: Overshadowed by the Les Paul, the Gibson ES-295 brought rock to concert stages at the hands of Elvis Presley guitarist Scotty Moore

“George used to have acoustics all over his house in various tunings – I’d pick them up and say, ‘What the hell is this?,’ then get out my cigarette pack and write down the tuning”: Peter Frampton on lessons learned from George Harrison and Steve Marriott

Most Popular

• 2 Watch Steve Lukather cover Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing, with Jeff Beck's White Strat
• 3 Channel John 5's brilliance with a lesson in his chicken pickin’ prowess, rapid-fire banjo rolls, and behind-the-nut bending
• 4 Boss unveils the SDE-3 Dual Delay – a Roland SDE-3000-inspired stompbox that can deliver two delay layers simultaneously
• 5 On Tripliciti, Andy McKee, Calum Graham, and Trevor Gordon Hall put their fluid fingerstyle chemistry on stunning display

Best travel guitars 2024: top acoustic and electric travel guitars for portability and performance

Top travel guitar choices and buying advice for musicians on the move

• The quick list

Best overall

Best acoustic, best electric, best for metal, best for kids, more options....

• Buying advice
• How we choose

1. The quick list 2. Best overall 3. Best acoustic 4. Best nylon string 5. Best electric 6. Best for metal 7. Best for kids 8. More options... 9. Buying advice 10. How we choose products

We guitarists are supremely lucky – we already play an instrument that we can take and play anywhere with us. Let’s face it, drummers already look at us with envy at our relative portability. However, the best travel guitars enhance and refine that concept further to offer the ultimate in portability without compromising on tone and playability. From travel-size stalwarts from Taylor and Martin to fascinatingly unexpected options from Blackstar and Yamaha, there’s something here for everyone. 

Whether you’re constantly on the move and need a travel companion to satisfy your musical urges, perhaps your office has to hear your progress with Eugene’s Trick Bag, or maybe you want something a little comfier for the couch. If so, we’ve selected the very best travel guitars for you and they’re a surprisingly varied group – from full-scale electric guitars to 3/4-size acoustic electrics.

There’s a good reason for this variety; a travel guitar needs to be portable, of course, but how it achieves that can be decided by several factors. We’ve taken them all into consideration with our choices for the best travel guitars you can buy right now. You can find our top picks below, and if you need any further guidance, head straight for our buying advice section at the bottom of the page.

Best travel guitars: The quick list

Despite being released in 2010 the Taylor GS Mini-e is still one of the best implementations of travel guitar design ever. A solid top and excellent pickup make it the perfect travel guitar.

Read more below

Originally made famous by Ed Sheeran, the Martin LX1E 'Little Martin' carries all the famous build quality and tonal properties of this legendary guitar maker, in a super compact format.

For the nylon string players out there, this fast-playing and unusual-looking electro-acoustic features a removable upper bout, making it easy to transport anywhere.

There aren't loads of options for electric players when it comes to travel guitars, but the Blackstar Carry-On is a fantastic choice.  The body is tiny, giving you a 'proper' size neck to play on.

A marriage between ESP and the Traveler Guitar company, this mini metal guitar features locking tuners, an active humbucker, and the distinct looks of a full-size ESP LTD EC-1000.

Read more below 

With its cute colors, tiny build, and fantastic tone, the Epiphone Power Player SG is a great guitar for budding guitarists, whilst also being small enough to go wherever they do.

1. Taylor GS Mini-e Koa

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

Taylor’s GS Mini was ahead of most of the pack when it launched in 2010, and it still stands up as a masterful design from the company’s design wizard Andy Powers. It’s a benchmark example of a guitar that sounds far fuller than its dimensions – aided by the slight arch of its back. Although over a decade old, due to its continued success, fantastic playability, and many attempted iterations we have honored it as our number one pick. 

With spruce and mahogany options proving popular, the Koa stands out for the visual clout of its dramatic figuring. A solid top, layered back and sides, Sapele neck, and ebony fingerboard provide a rich tonal recipe here. 

Taylor’s Expression System preamp system (including a handy tuner) and the high-quality included gigbag round out a superb package for one of the company’s best-value models. Left-handed models are available too – yay! 

2. Martin LX1E Little Martin

A firm favorite of Ed Sheeran – although he has made a move to Lowden in recent years – the Martin LX1E is Martin's pint-sized offering (and one of our top picks for the best 3/4 acoustic guitars ), delivering the outstanding built quality you’d expect from the acoustic giant and a quality amplified sound. 

This guitar is made with a solid Sitka spruce top and high-pressure laminate back and sides, as well as a composite neck. It may not have the elegant looks of the D-28 or HD-35, but it is incredibly strong and damn near indestructible. This mighty little guitar will undoubtedly handle any of the harsh conditions bestowed upon it. 

Read our full Martin LX1E Little Martin review

Best nylon string

3. Yamaha SLG200N Silent Guitar

The Silent Guitar is an unusual proposition with a detachable frame for folding down. It’s also designed to be plugged in for amplification or via headphones – it makes very little acoustic sound of its own. This has the advantage of quiet practice but the Silent Guitar’s SRT and pickup blend system also shines via a PA or acoustic combo live for surprisingly organic tones to mimic a real acoustic being mic’d. 

Its low action and slim neck will suit electric guitar players if they can accept its untraditional looks. The onboard chorus and reverb are reminiscent of the Transacoustic series and further enhance the SLG200N’s usability as a traveling companion. 

When it comes to traveling, the SLG200N can be partly disassembled as the bass side of the body screws off. This allows you to slot the guitar in the Yamaha-branded gig bag like you're carrying around a laptop. Easy peasy. 

4. Blackstar Carry-On

Blackstar have made a guitar!? Yes indeed, the guitar amp company joined forces with fellow Brits Gordon Smith Guitars on a down-sized electric; 20.7-inch scale with a ukulele -sized body is certainly compact but the result stacks up comfortably well with a full-size neck.

It’s a one piece body and neck design to aid resonance and we really like design touches like the tortoiseshell-like plastic binding and the playing comfort of the matt neck, sides and back. It’s also great to see a coil-split on the humbucker pickup for tonal versatility through an amp – you can even buy the Carry-on as a package with Blackstar’s Fly3 mini amp.  

Read the full Blackstar Carry-On Deluxe Pack review  

5. Traveler Guitar LTD EC-1

Another collaboration between two successful guitar brands, Traveler already have a formidable reputation for electric travel guitars and ESP build some of the finest guitars for heavy rock and metal around with its EC series; the LTD EC-1 is the combination of those skills.

The full-scale singlecut model first surfaced in 2016 and is now available in Vintage Black with gold hardware – a Traveler design calling card is to cut down on overall length by placing locking tuners within the body design. The pickup here is an ESP-designed active humbucker, so it’s ideal for higher gain tones and cutting lead work with the inbuilt headphone amp. It even features a bevelled cutaway for higher fret access. 

6. Epiphone Power Players SG

Although Epiphone’s Power Player series has a strong appeal to a young beginner, it also presents a fantastic option for some traveling humbucker bite. The SG variant comes in three awesome finishes – Lava Red, Ice Blue, and Dark Matter Ebony – and the included Epiphone branded gig bag almost begs you to take one on your next trip. 

Far from being just another beginner guitar, this SG is equipped with a set of 650R/700T ’buckers which will satisfy any cravings you may have when parted from your beloved housebound axe. Although you’ll have to bring some kind of amplification to utilize the guitar fully, a pocket-friendly headphone amplifier like the fantastic Fender Mustang Micro will have you covered. 

The Slim Taper D neck profile and contoured neck heel help with playability, and we found that the string spacing feels natural enough not to mess with our muscle memory. Also, if you aren’t a fan of the slightly off-kilter feel of an SG, there’s a Les Paul variant if that’s more your thing. So, if you’re after a viable travel size option to rock out on the road, check out the Power Players, you won’t be disappointed. 

Read the full Epiphone Power Players review

7. Yamaha APXT2

This is the third entry for Yamaha on this list, but we felt it needed to be included. Yamaha has taken their ever-popular APX and shrunk it down to create the APXT2. This 3/4 sized acoustic is one of the smallest on this list, measuring in at only 34 inches, and will happily fit in most traveling situations. 

The onboard pickup is surprisingly good on the APXT2 and offers a tone far greater than the unplugged sound. The preamp also comes with a handy built-in guitar tuner , meaning you don't have to pack any extra gear. The satin finish not only looks great but is very smooth to play. In fact, the whole neck is very familiar, and if you have played Yamaha guitars in the past, then you'll get on with how this feels. It also comes in a range of different colors, just like its big brother, the APX500. 

So if you are a fan of the APX series or are looking for a unique-looking travel guitar, then it's worth checking these out. 

8. Sheeran By Lowden S03

Whatever you think of Ed Sheeran’s music, he has great taste in luthier’s. George Lowden actually designed the Wee Lowden travel-size guitar for the songwriter and their friendship blossomed into a full series of guitars in 2019.

The S03 had a refresh in 2021 – the ‘S’ stands for small body and the latest 24.8-inch scale model features a solid cedar top but with a rosewood and mahogany layering at the back and sides this time. An impressively full sound is matched with the quality of the LR Baggs VTC system for plugging in, and with the cutaway design this is one of the best travel-size acoustics for live performance. 

Read the full Sheeran By Lowden SO3 review  

Best travel guitars: Buying advice

Should I get an electric or an acoustic travel guitar?

One of the initial choices you’ll have to make when purchasing a travel guitar is between electric and acoustic. Both have their pros and cons, so deciding what will work best for you is the most important.

With an electric travel guitar, you’ll be able to practice quietly, with the assistance of a headphone amp, so if you don’t want to bug anyone in your vicinity, an electric one may be the better option. Also, it’s far easier to record with an electric travel guitar on the move; if you have your laptop and a small audio interface then hey presto, you can record the next platinum-selling album on your bus to work. However, needing additional pieces of hardware, like a headphone amp, may put people off getting a travel electric. If you want to travel with the least faff possible, an acoustic may be the better option.

Although acoustic travel guitars don’t need additional amplification, they will be slightly deeper than their electric cousins. This depth does come with an advantage, it will project the sound a lot further and you will get a much louder sound out of an acoustic travel guitar.

What makes a great travel guitar?

A travel guitar’s portability can be due to a smaller body, lighter weight and shorter scale (this is the distance from the guitar’s nut to its saddle) but a guitar can still be great for carrying around with you and have a full-scale. 

Having said that, acoustic travel guitars tend to have a shorter scale and smaller bodies to be portable, but they will still be tuned and play like a regular guitar. Indeed, the best travel guitars we have selected in this guide all shine for their playability as well as tone so they don’t take much getting used to. 

Electric travel guitars can usually plug into guitar amps and PAs but some have their own inbuilt amps to use headphones with, making them all-in-one practice tools. 

Can I gig with a travel guitar?

Absolutely, and many acoustic travel guitars include inbuilt pickups and preamps to allow for this. Ed Sheeran is one of the most famous living guitarists on the planet and uses a small-scale travel guitar onstage and in the studio. He likes them so much he’s even got his own series of them now.

Even electric travel guitars designed for headphone practice can be used with amps if you wish, so they could be a great choice for travelling to jams or impromptu gigs with. 

What string gauge should I use for a travel guitar?

Due to their shorter scale length, the strings on a travel guitar usually feel pretty slinky and a lot bendier. This can throw some players off, particularly if your playing style includes a lot of note bends or if you’re a little heavy-handed. A way to combat this can be with a heavier string gauge. Heavier strings will compensate for a short scale length and using a set of 0.012s on a travel guitar will feel more like a set of 0.010s on a full-sized guitar. So if you’ve had trouble with super slinky strings on your travel companion go for a thicker set of strings, it should hopefully solve your issue.

How we choose the best travel guitars

Here at  Guitar World , we are experts in our field, with many years of playing and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything guitar and bass related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our guides.

When choosing what we believe to be the best travel guitars available right now, we combine our hands-on experience, user reviews and testimonies and engage in lengthy discussions with our editorial colleagues to reach a consensus about the top products in any given category.

First and foremost, we are guitarists, and we want other players to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set, ease of use and durability to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best travel guitars on the market right now.

Read more about our rating system, how we choose the gear we feature, and exactly  how we test  each product.  

Related buyer's guides

You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

• The best acoustic guitars for beginners
• Freshen up with the best acoustic guitar strings  

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**

Join now for unlimited access

US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year

UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year 

Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Prices from £2.99/$3.99/€3.49

Get The Pick Newsletter

All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!

Rob is the Guitars Editor for MusicRadar , handling news, reviews, features, tuition, advice for the strings side of the site and everything in between. Before MusicRadar, he worked on guitar magazines for 15 years, including as Editor of Total Guitar. He's currently set aside any pipe dreams of getting anywhere with his own songs and is enjoying playing covers in function bands.

• Stuart Williams
• Daryl Robertson Senior Deals Writer
• Matt McCracken Junior Deals Writer
• Ross Holder

“I had a little too much Jack Daniels and went to sleep. Early the next morning, I woke up to Eric and George playing ukuleles at the foot of my bed”: Session pro George Terry recalls the first time he met a Beatle

Stephen Carpenter reveals when he expects to return to live duties with Deftones

“You almost forget you’re playing a carbon fiber guitar… this is a lifestyle instrument that is ready for the stage, the studio and even the great outdoors”: KLOS Guitar’s Grand Cutaway Mini is made to go with you – wherever you want to play

Most Popular

• All Guitars
• Archive & Mod Shop
• B-Stock & Used
• Accessories

• Gig Bags & Cases

ACCESSORIES

Practice anywhere and everywhere.

Our guitars fit in tiny spaces and play with giant sound.

SHOP BY SERIES

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Free Shipping* | Easy Returns | Huge Selection

PLUG IN. ROCK OUT.

Select Traveler Guitar models are equipped with built-in headphones amps for private practice anywhere and everywhere.

WHY TRAVELER GUITAR ® ?

Our guitars fit in tiny spaces, play with giant sound. Practice, play or record wherever the road takes you.

GIG BAGS INCLUDED.

Every single Traveler Guitar comes standard with a compact, custom gig bag so you can protect your investment at no additional cost.

ON THE ROAD SINCE '92.

For over three decades Traveler Guitar ® has been providing musicians quality guitars and basses made for the road. Our guitars fit in tiny spaces, play with giant sound, and feature a variety of tuning systems, headphone amps, and onboard electronics designed to let you practice, play, or record wherever the road takes you.

Sign up for exclusive offers from Traveler Guitar ® .

• Military & First Responders
• Students & Educators
• Do not sell my personal information

Customer Service

• Find a Dealer
• Store Policies
• Technical Support
• Support Documents
• Product Registration
• Terms and Conditions

More From Traveler Guitar

• Acoustic Guitars
• Hybrid Guitars
• B-Stock Guitars
• Discontinued Models

Best travel guitars 2024: Top acoustic and electric guitars for musicians on the go

Out top picks for practicing your guitar on the move, wherever the road takes you

Best overall

Best for volume.

• Best Strat-alike
• Best electric
• Best full-scale

Best foldable

• Best solid wood
• Buying advice
• How we choose

As guitar players, our passion and joy shouldn’t have to stop the second we leave the house or the practice room. Sometimes, when you’re on the go; whether that be travelling for work or just for fun, you want to be able to take your music with you. That’s where the best travel guitars come in.

Travel guitars are smaller, more compact instruments that are easier to take on the road. If you’re heading out on a road trip, and space in the car is tight, a travel guitar will fit in a much smaller gap than a full-size guitar. Some of them even pack down into a rucksack so you can take them on a plane as hand luggage.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re more into playing acoustic or electric, we’ve picked out the best travel guitars currently on offer to make sure that the music doesn’t have to stop when you hit the road.

Best travel guitars: Quick list

This ¾-sized dreadnought comes with all the quality and projection you’d expect from one of the acoustic world’s biggest names, just in a size that can be hauled around anywhere without breaking your back. Or, indeed, your wallet. 

Read more below

The Martin Backpacker has a unique body shape, that’s for sure, but coming from a name like Martin you can rest assured this guitar will perform brilliantly. What surprised us was the volume and projection this little guitar pumps out, thanks in part to the solid mahogany used in the body.

The Steinberger Spirit GT-Pro Deluxe definitely fits the travel guitar bill due to its distinctive size and shape. Despite the smaller body, the Spirit GT-Pro Deluxe features a scale length of 25.5”, making the actual playing area larger than that of a standard Les Paul.

You can instantly see those famous Stratocaster outlines of the pickguard, the three single coil pickups and the control knobs. Yet the eagle-eyed among you will have noticed anything on the body that isn’t underneath the pickguard has been shaved away, leaving a guitar which is 35% lighter and 14% shorter than a regular Strat.

This is a short-scale travel electric guitar featuring a single mini-humbucker, two-piece poplar body, bolt-on neck and fairly sturdy tuners. It doesn’t pack down any smaller than it is, though it’s very compact already and if you really needed to, you could always take the neck off, if you were packing it up in a suitcase for example.

The Shorty provides full scale-length familiarity which, when combined with the tiny body, makes for a comfortable playing experience. The single humbucker at the bridge is meaty enough to blast out your favourite riffs, while you’ll feel instantly at home with the classic maple/rosewood combination neck and fingerboard.

Load the next 2 products... ↓

This handy, foldable acoustic is great for players who want something quality but affordable. It’s got a solid spruce top and layered mahogany back and sides. You can get a great tone from it, whether you’re playing with a pick or with fingers. It’s dynamic, and while it might not be as loud as a full size guitar, can still throw out a good amount of volume.

This is one for serious acoustic players. It bears a hefty price tag, but you can get some serious tones from this guitar. Boasting a solid red cedar top and solid African mahogany back and sides, the Furch Little Jane yields a beautiful, rich and balanced tone with a good amount of projection. 

1. Taylor Baby Taylor

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

If the more outlandish styles of travel guitar aren’t for you, maybe the Baby Taylor will be. This ¾-sized dreadnought comes with all the quality and projection you’d expect from one of the acoustic world’s biggest names, just in a size that can be hauled around anywhere without breaking your back. Or, indeed, your wallet. 

The Baby Taylor would be the perfect option as a second (or third) guitar in anyone’s collection, designed to be stashed in the included gig bag and taken anywhere. Players with larger hands may feel a bit cramped navigating the 22.75” scale length, but for the majority of people the Baby Taylor is easy to recommend.

2. Martin Backpacker

We weren’t lying when we said travel guitars can jar a bit visually. The Martin Backpacker has a unique body shape, that’s for sure, but coming from a name like Martin you can rest assured this guitar will perform brilliantly. What surprised us was the volume and projection this little guitar pumps out, thanks in part to the solid mahogany used in the body.

Originally launched in 1992, the Martin Backpacker has carved itself a nice niche in the world of travel guitars, and its exceptional build quality means it will last for many more years to come.

Best with a trem

3. Steinberger Spirit GT-Pro Deluxe

While not officially marketed as a travel guitar, the Steinberger Spirit GT-Pro Deluxe definitely fits the bill due to its distinctive size and shape. The classic Steinberger ‘headless’ design is correct and present, making the same bold visual statement of its more expensive stablemates, yet the decision to use wood over composite materials makes the whole thing more cost-effective and suited for travelling. 

Despite the smaller body, the Spirit GT-Pro Deluxe features a scale length of 25.5”, making the actual playing area larger than that of a standard Les Paul. It’s also pretty rare to find neck-thru bodies at this price point, which all adds up to a decent value instrument regardless of how you end up using it.

Best for Strat players

4. Traveler Travelcaster Deluxe

It’s called ‘cognitive dissonance’. That conflict you feel when something you know to be right is challenged. The Traveler Travelcaster Deluxe is a relative example; to look at it, you can instantly see those famous Stratocaster outlines of the pickguard, the three single coil pickups and the control knobs. Yet the eagle-eyed among you will have noticed anything on the body that isn’t underneath the pickguard has been shaved away, leaving a guitar which is 35% lighter and 14% shorter than a regular Strat. 

Weighing in at only 5 lbs, the Travelcaster Deluxe may take some getting over visually, but in use it provides that same Strat experience, the same 25.5” scale length and the same tonal versatility of those pickups. If you can get over the cognitive dissonance, it may just be the perfect travel guitar for you.

Read the full Traveler Travelcaster Deluxe review

Best electric options

5. Blackstar Carry-On Travel Guitar ST

This is a short-scale travel electric guitar featuring a single mini-humbucker, two-piece poplar body, bolt-on neck and fairly sturdy tuners. It doesn’t pack down any smaller than it is, though it’s very compact already and if you really needed to, you could always take the neck off, if you were packing it up in a suitcase for example. 

It plays great and the shorter 20.7” scale length doesn’t take long to readjust to - younger beginners might find that they can fret chords and make stretches between frets more easily too. The mini-humbucker covers a lot of ground, so will suit any musical style you can throw at it. Whether you’re playing clean or super distorted, this little thing can really pack a punch! 

There is a more expensive version that’s around double the price with some upgrades, but in terms of value for money, we feel that the Blackstar Carry-On ST is one of the best travel guitars around. 

Best full-scale experience

6. Hofner Shorty travel guitar

The Hofner Shorty has been around since the 1980s, and has long been a favourite for players looking for a portable electric they can travel with. It provides full scale-length familiarity which, when combined with the tiny body, makes for a comfortable playing experience. The single humbucker at the bridge is meaty enough to blast out your favourite riffs, while you’ll feel instantly at home with the classic maple/rosewood combination neck and fingerboard.

Sure, it’s not going to win any awards for tone, and you’re unlikely to see them used on album-of-the-year contenders, but as an inexpensive way to add a bit of portability to your line-up the Hofner Shorty is well worth consideration. 

7. Journey Instruments PJ410N

This handy, foldable acoustic makes for one of the best travel guitars for players who want something quality but affordable. It’s got a solid spruce top and layered mahogany back and sides. You can get a great tone from it, whether you’re playing with a pick or with fingers. It’s dynamic, and while it might not be as loud as a full size guitar, can still throw out a good amount of volume.

It fits perfectly inside the included padded rucksack, and can be assembled in 20 seconds. Simply put the neck into position, snap it in place and lock it from the back of the body. Then you’ve got a guitar with a 23” scale ready to play. It’s great for experienced players who want something that sounds good while they’re on their travels (the bag will fit under many airline seats), but also makes for a great beginner guitar for kids . 

Best all-solid option

8. Furch Little Jane LJ-10

This is definitely one of the best travel guitars for serious acoustic players. It bears a hefty price tag, but you can get some serious tones from this guitar. Boasting a solid red cedar top and solid African mahogany back and sides, the Furch Little Jane yields a beautiful, rich and balanced tone with a good amount of projection. 

The guitar can be folded down and fit into a rucksack (included). The headstock, neck and body are separate from one another to save space but can be assembled into one piece very quickly and easily. Once the neck is locked into position using Furch’s proprietary assembly system, it’s ready to play and will even go back in tune. 

The included rucksack is well padded and will ensure that it’s protected enough on your travels. Travel acoustic guitars seldom sound this good, and to be fair the price reflects that, but it really is one of the best out there. 

Best travel guitars: Buying advice

What is a travel guitar?

Essentially, a travel guitar is a guitar designed with portability and mobility as its key function. This will usually mean the guitar has a significantly smaller body or weight, and they often boast creative solutions to common issues like tuning or storage. From conception to construction, the travel guitar is designed to be thrown in a bag and transported anywhere, everywhere, and all those places in between. 

Standard-sized guitars can be, as we know, too large, too heavy or too delicate to carry around for long stretches, so travel guitars offer a specialist tool for those specific situations. Realistically, you’ll not find too many studio musicians reaching for the travel guitar to nail that perfect tone, but then that’s not what they’re for. Portability, size and weight are order of the day here, and it helps that there are travel guitars on the market today which also nail that other crucial element; tone. 

What makes travel guitars different?

At first glance, the sight of a dedicated travel guitar can jar a little. Often, they have quite striking aesthetic differences from regular guitars. Like looking at something you know, only quite different. Manufacturers employ all kinds of measures as they seek to reduce the overall size and weight of the guitar, and it’s not uncommon to see guitars without headstocks, or with radically different shaped bodies, or even no body at all. Yet a guitar still has to function, so there is still the need for tuning pegs, a bridge, and other essential components.

What are the key features of travel guitars?

There are two major schools of thought when it comes to travel guitars. One is to take a regular sized guitar and zap it with a shrink ray, keeping the same proportions relatively but in a smaller overall package. This approach ensures the instrument retains its familiarity, and also makes them attractive to younger learners.

The other approach is to redesign the instrument completely, perhaps taking the tuning pegs and installing them in the body. Of course, such radical design changes can create other problems, so you may see these compensated for with the inclusion of detachable arm and leg rests, for example. While these guitars may look unfamiliar, the playing experience should be largely the same as a regular guitar. Scale lengths, fret locations and pitch will be the same, even if the physical form of the guitar is quite different.

Are travel guitars playable?

MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test.

If you’ve never had the chance to play a travel guitar, you may be looking at the best travel guitars in this list and wondering if it’s playable in the same way as a regular guitar. The good news is that yes, absolutely they are playable. In the same way that jumping from the thin neck of an Ibanez RG-style electric to a 50’s style Stratocaster neck may take a bit of readjustment in your technique, so too will the leap from a regular to certain travel-sized guitars. It’s not difficult to adjust though. You may also have to sit differently to accommodate the smaller body, but as these guitars are inherently lighter in weight, this shouldn’t cause too much of a headache. Or, more accurately, backache.

Electric or acoustic?

All of the best travel guitars will either be electric or acoustic. Electrics do tend to be thinner, as the body doesn’t need to resonate as much to get a good sound, although it’s worth remembering that you’ll need an amp to get the most out of it. The body of a travel acoustic will normally be deeper, but as a result of this you can get a fairly loud sound without any amplification.

What do I get when I spend more?

The quality of the best travel guitars does vary, and as you might imagine, it does go up as you spend more money. As the price increases, you’ll likely find better hardware, which can not only help keep the guitar in tune and playing nicely, but can also improve how it sounds too, increasing resonance and sustain.

On electrics, you’ll find better quality pickups - these will be more dynamic and have a wider frequency range so you’ll get more detail and clarity. With travel acoustic guitars, you’ll get better quality, and even solid woods which will give you a better, more responsive and richer sound.

Who might use a travel guitar?

The breadth of today’s range of travel guitars means there is a guitar to suit most playing styles and genres, so the quick answer is that yes, there is a travel guitar for everyone. In terms of scenarios, travel guitars are, as their name suggests, designed to be taken places ordinary guitars cannot reach. 

Small enough to fit on your back as you scale a mountain, or taken on a plane as part of your hand luggage, travel guitars give players the freedom and convenience of being able to play anywhere, at any time. For that, we applaud them. Let’s examine some of the best travel guitar options available today.

Can you buy travel guitars for children?

Travel guitars, as well as being the perfect accompaniment to a musician on the go, can also make for great instruments for children. If you’re looking for one of the best travel guitars to get a kid started on their guitar playing journey, then look for one that has a shorter scale length. This will mean that the notes are closer together and will be easier for small hands to fret. 

Scale length and string gauge

Speaking of short scales, the gauge of strings you use is also worth considering. The strings on a guitar with a shorter scale will feel slinkier - they will be easier to bend and to some players may even feel too loose. One way to combat this is to use thicker strings, so something like 12s on an electric might make them feel a little more like 10s on a full size guitar. Though, if you’re just starting out then the thinner, slinkier strings might be better so they don’t quite hurt your fingertips as much.

How we chose the best travel guitars for this guide

Here at MusicRadar, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing, creating and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything music gear-related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording, and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our guides. 

When choosing what we believe to be the best travel guitars available right now, we combine our hands-on experience, user reviews and testimonies and engage in lengthy discussions with our editorial colleagues to reach a consensus about the top products in any given category.

First and foremost, we are musicians, and we want other players to find the right product for them. So, we carefully consider everything from budget to feature set, ease of use, and durability to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best travel guitars on the market right now.

Find out more about  how we test music gear and services  at MusicRadar.

Related buyer's guides

• The best acoustic guitar strings to get the most from your guitar
• ...and the best electric guitar strings
• Sharpen your chops with the best practice amps
• Keep your guitar safe on the road with the best guitar cases and gig bags
• Want something even smaller? These are the best ukuleles
• Need some inspiration? Check out these gifts for guitar players

Get the MusicRadar Newsletter

Want all the hottest music and gear news, reviews, deals, features and more, direct to your inbox? Sign up here.

Chris Corfield is a journalist with over 12 years of experience writing for some of the music world's biggest brands including Orange Amplification, MusicRadar, Guitar World, Total Guitar and Dawsons Music. Chris loves getting nerdy about everything from guitar and bass gear, to synths, microphones, DJ gear and music production hardware.

“This bass is a reflection of everything I love about playing”: Fender unveils limited edition Blu DeTiger Player Plus Jazz Bass in Sky Burst Sparkle

“She sent me a lovely letter talking about how much she loves the song”: Taylor Swift’s viral I Believe In A Thing Called Love singalong sends The Darkness to number one in the iTunes Rock Chart

"If you wake us up again tomorrow we will bring all our amplification into a room and play at 3 o'clock in the morning": When Ritchie Blackmore had an "embarrassing" encounter with Eric Clapton

Most Popular

FREE SHIPPING + 30-DAY RETURNS

PICK YOUR PERFECT ACOUSTIC | TAKE THE QUIZ

• Collections
• Best Sellers
• Artist Series NEW
• Rubber Bridge
• Accessories

Shop by Style

• Acoustic-Electric
• Nylon-String
• Left-Handed

Shop by Shape

Dreadnought

Grand Auditorium Cutaway

Grand Concert

All Solid Collection Starting at $895

All Solid Collection Starting at $695

Solid Top Collection Starting at $345

Solid Top Collection Starting at $225

Layered Top Collection Starting at $135

Ukulele Collection Starting at $105

Shop All Gifts

Shop Tomo's Gift Guide

There and Back Again: A Travel Guitar Buyer’s Guide

• by Bram Vargas

Graphic by Allyson Millard

If you’ve ever heard of a travel guitar, you might think it’s a guitar that’s only good for traveling with. But travel guitars are underrated alternatives   compared to iconic mainstays like dreadnoughts .

Join us as we take you on a tour of these unique and useful guitars. Along the way you'll learn what travel guitars are, how to choose one, and what Orangewood has to offer.

What is a Travel Guitar?

It’s true: any guitar that you can travel with can be a travel guitar. However, the term “travel guitar” usually means “small guitar.” But what’s small about them? Small compared to what?

What’s smaller about a travel guitar is its overall size compared to a full size guitar. Their bodies are narrower and shallower. Their necks are shorter. They weigh less.

By shrinking the size of a guitar, it becomes easier to store, carry, and play. It can also give the guitar a unique sound. 

💡 Pro Tip: If an Orangewood has “Jr.” in its name, that means there’s a full size version, too!

How to Choose a Travel Guitar?

Whether you follow a method or a muse, how you choose a travel guitar — or any guitar —  is up to you! But we recommend keeping three things in mind: price, portability, and playability.

Price:   Travel guitars are actual guitars, not toys. Can you afford to replace the guitar if it gets lost, stolen, or damaged?

Portability:   Travel guitars are designed for players on the go. Is it small enough   to fit in overhead compartments or to carry on your back for a long time? Does the guitar come with a gig bag, hard shell case, or something else to protect it during your travels?

Playability:   Travel guitars have to sound good and be easy to play despite their small size. Does the guitar stay in tune? Is it easy to adjust the action? Does it need an amplifier and other equipment to use?

Our Recommendations: Best Travel Guitars in 2022

Dana spruce (mini guitar) .

One of our most affordable travel guitars, our   Dana Spruce (Mini Guitar) can go anywhere. You’ll find it in campsites, in truck beds, and beside office desks. Strummers will enjoy its loud, bright, and deep tone. And its layered top, back, and sides mean you’ll worry less about weather wherever you wander. 

Oliver Jr. Mahogany 

Heir to one of our best selling guitars,   Oliver Jr. Mahogany is for players who tell their stories on the road.

This guitar sounds warm, bold, and brilliant thanks to a solid mahogany top. Layered mahogany back and sides support that mellow mahogany voicing beloved by guitarists.

Need to turn the volume up? Check out our Fishman Sonitone EQ equipped   Oliver Jr. Mahogany Live .

Brooklyn Jr. Live 

Our   Brooklyn Jr. Live only flies First Class. But even jet-setting guitarists think twice before leaving home with (or without) it. 

A rosette ringed in iridescent abalone? A solid Sitka spruce top shimmering under a crystalline natural gloss finish? An advanced Fishman Flex Plus-T EQ pickup system? Check, check, and check. This guitar is ready to take off when you want a refined, resonant, and rich sound. 

Want a bigger Brooklyn? Check out our full size   Brooklyn Live .

Shop the rest of our travel guitar recommendations by checking out our  mini guitar collection . 

No Place Like Home

Sometimes a small guitar is all you need. No tickets, reservations, or passport required. So don’t let the term “travel guitar” turn you off; travel guitars can be perfect for any of life’s adventures.

And when you’re ready to go on your dream trip, we’ve got you covered. Read   Airplane Mode: Traveling With Your Guitar to learn our best travel trips and tricks for guitarists!

Suggested Articles

Introducing the MONO Vertigo™ Acoustic Guitar Case

How Often Should I Change My Acoustic Guitar Strings?

• Buyer's Guide
• Shop Guitars

Lapstick - the ultimate travel guitar

Thanks for dropping in on the Lapstick site. The Lapstick travel guitar is a short scale electric guitar that is compact enough to fit into the pocket of an overcoat. It has a scale length 3/4 of a normal electric guitar and can be tuned a minor third (G) to a fifth (B) higher than normal. It is equipped with a battery-powered preamp which allows the use of headphones for situations that require silent, private practice time.

That's the short story. In fact the Lapstick travel guitar is much more, as you can discover by browsing through the site. The initial idea came from problems I encountered as a working guitarist. Perhaps the following sounds familiar: You spend many hours traveling when you would rather be practicing and preparing for your performance. After sitting in a car, airplane, bus or train for hours, you arrive at the gig and often have to play at short notice, while your hands are not properly warmed up. On the way to the gig you have a great idea for a song but you decide not to play it because there is no opportunity to check all the chord changes.

I listened to serious students and professional guitarists about solving these problems. The result is the Lapstick travel guitar. It can be played in practically any situation without disturbing the people around you. It can be amplified and recorded in several unique ways. The Lapstick travel guitar was designed for improving a players guitar technique, but I think you will agree that it is a fully fledged instrument in its own right. There are a lot of travel guitars out there and some of them are really good. The Lapstick travel guitar is different from all of these instruments because it was specifically designed to be played while traveling. You can play the Lapstick travel guitar while sitting in the passenger seat of an automobile without disturbing the driver. You can play the Lapstick travel guitar on an airplane while the passenger next to you reads his paper. Years of design and testing have refined the Lapstick travel guitar into an all-purpose practice and performance instrument which can be carried along and played anywhere.

Goto top  - © 2009-2013 lapstick.com - webdevelopment by wasseo

The Anygig Travel Guitar!

The next level of travel guitar, why anygig.

The main concept of Anygigs' design is "Simple", "Balanced", "Portable" and "Stable". The Anygig Design is portable and balanced with perfect playability!

We designed "Anygig" to keep the scale length of a general guitar. A general guitar has a 25.5 inch scale length and it gives a great tension on the strings and very stable tuning.

To make a smaller design, some portable guitars use a shorter scale than general guitars, which gives weak string tension and unstable tuning.

The Anygig strapholder is designed for comfortable playing. The special shape of the strapholder keeps a strap securely held away from the neck and helps balance the guitar while playing.

Create anytime, anywhere

The Anygig Travel Guitar is designed to go wherever life takes you. Small enough to take on planes, trains and automobiles. Take it everywhere so you are ready when inspiration strikes!

Designed with a full scale guitar in mind!

We use traditional hardware and even a full size pickup on our AGE models. The AGE SE model is the latest from the Anygig team with 3+3 tuners and and convinent strap button.

Travel Guitar

THE KLOS EXPERIENCE

• Lifetime warranty
• World's largest selection of carbon fiber instruments
• Excellent customer service
• 30-Day money back guarantee
• Financing available
• Repair service
• Certified PLEK service
• Satisfaction guaranteed

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER

10 Best Travel Guitars in 2024

If you are here for a roundup of the 10 best travel guitars in 2024 then you are in for a treat. We have selected some pretty great products that meet the criteria for a range of different reasons, each one deserving of being a worthy candidate.

We live in an age where technology keeps us connected at our fingertips, the world wide web has made the world seem a whole lot smaller, more appealing and traveling the length and breadth of it a lot less of an impossibility.

The majority of guitarists away from home and wished they had an instrument with them, it is also fair to say that our musical instruments can hold a fair amount of value whether it is literal or sentimental. Taking them on the road inevitably means they could end up damaged.

What makes for the best traveling guitar is actually a little bit more complex than you might at first think. Along with durability issues and transportation safety measures, the size and components need to be considered.

Table of Contents

At a glance: Our top 3 picks

1. ibanez ewp14opn, 2. washburn rover, 3. traveler guitar ec1 vbkm, 4. traveler guitar eg1c blk v2, 5. taylor guitars baby taylor bt1, 6. martin lx1 little martin, 7. luna safari series muse mahogany, 8. traveler guitar mark iii mk3 mhg, 9. cordoba mini m, 10. fender ct-60s, what is a travel guitar, where to buy a travel guitar, which travel electric guitar, best backpacker guitar, best sounding travel guitar, best cheap travel guitar.

We are going rifle through the best travel size acoustic guitar reviews to determine what makes each ideal for what, where, and whom to help make your purchase a sensible one.

As ever we have included a buyers guide in which we will attempt to answer your niggling questions. Read on to find 10 top travel guitars that don't suck!

• Piccolo Size
• Gorgeous Looks
• Unique Voice
• Durable Build

Find The Best Travel Guitar Below

Check Amazon Price

Check Sweetwater Price

Ibanez is a much-loved company in the guitarist community as its products tend to be reasonably priced while also performing like much more expensive instruments. That’s also the case with this travel guitar, which also lives up to Ibanez’s reputation for creating cool-looking axes.

The piccolo size makes this guitar ideal for taking on the road with you. It has a shorter scale length, at 17”, and can be compared in size to a ukulele. This smaller size gives it a unique voice. It is a little higher pitched than a standard acoustic while it also has something of a mandolin about its tone too. It has to be heard to be appreciated.

Also surprising for such a little instrument is the amount of volume it produces. It could easily be used to entertain a small group at a campfire or in the park.

Pros: + Piccolo Size + Gorgeous Looks + Low Price + Unique Voice + Durable Build

Why We Liked It - It’s a gorgeous little guitar that has a truly unique voice. It also provides an impressive amount of volume for a piccolo.

Fretboard size - Some travel guitars feature a small body so that they can still include a full-sized fretboard, meaning the guitar's layout will feel familiar. This is a great space-saver, but you sacrifice some of the "roundness" of sound produced by a regular-sized body, especially on travel acoustics. If sound is more important to you than portability, look at models with a full-sized body.

Miles Forman FOR MUSIC CRITIC

Diff brand & model - change content

Next up is a fantastic product from Washburn. This guitar has been designed with travel in mind. For that reason, it features a sleek, slim-bodied aesthetic that lends itself to easy portability.

Washburn has compromised on the body of the instrument to make it easier to carry around, but it hasn’t shortened the scale length. It’s got a full scale of 23.75”. That means that you can play it in the same manner as your standard acoustic.

As you’d expect for the price, this product features high-grade materials. It’s got a spruce top and body, as well as a mahogany neck and back. These materials don’t just enhance the durability of the instrument, they also contribute to a surprisingly rich, warm tone. This sound is made even better by the D’Addario strings that come as standard.

To make traveling with this lightweight product easier, Washburn provides you with a high-quality gig bag.

Pros: + Sleek Design + Perfect for Traveling + Includes Gig Bag + D’Addario Strings + Superb Sound and Tone

Why We Liked It - It’s a lightweight, sleek guitar that’s been designed for traveling. On top of that, it offers a beautiful tone, which is typical of Washburn.

If you’re looking for a premium, high-quality electric guitar for traveling, then you’ll likely be impressed by this awesome Traveler ax.

It’s a solid-body electric that weighs a little over 5lbs. This low weight allows for easy portability while you’re on the road. One of the reasons why it weighs so little is because it doesn’t have a headstock. Tuning is done within the body of the guitar. This unique design keeps the guitar shorter – therefore more portable – without having to reduce the scale length.

As this ax has been designed for traveling, it also includes lots of handy features for you to be able to play it while out and about. First, it has an in-built amp that allows you to plug your earphones in and add effects to the guitar, such as overdrive or reverb. You can also plug in your smartphone and play along to tunes on it.

Pros: + Exceptional Solid Body Guitar + Lightweight + Shorter Length + No Headstock + Includes Gig Bag

Why We Liked It - It’s simply the best electric guitar around for traveling. It’s lightweight, shorter in length, while also loaded with lots of handy features.

Travel Amps - If you're considering a electric travel guitar, then you'll need to carry a small amp around with you as well. Size and weight are the prime factors here, but you still don't want to scrimp on sound quality. A very popular choice is the tiny battery-powered Marshall MS2, which offers switchable clean and overdrive channels plus a headphone out for silent practice. And it looks SO cute!

This next travel guitar is an electric guitar option and the company has really thought about its travel abilities every step of the way throughout its design. The traditional tuning mechanism has been replaced with an entirely different more forward-thinking one. The tuning is facilitated on board within the super lightweight body itself tuning pegs are subjected to a lot especially when we travel so this is a great idea as far as we are concerned.

This steel string silent guitar is substantially shorter than a standard electronic sized guitar the lack of headstock contributes largely to this and it is around half the typical weight as well.

The built-in shadow e-tuner is integrated into the pickup offering onboard chromatic tuning which can only be beneficial. Other notable features include the V2 headphone amplifier which allows for silent guitar practice great for a late night strum in a hotel and the Jack plate auxiliary input enabling players to plug in other devices to play along to their MP3 tracks.

The sounds are pretty good, the custom tap pot allows you to cycle through clean, boost, overdrive and distortion tones, and its gold Humbucker and cream pickups stand out visually against its dark mahogany body.

Pros: + Full size scale length but smaller overall size due to head stock sacrifice. + Super Lightweight. + Great on-board features

Why We Liked It - This one makes for a fantastic choice of electronic travel guitar the range of tones are awesome and you can get away with a cheap mini-amp that doesn't need any tone abilities. We like the silent guitar playing option also all in all it is one of their original series and a contender for best traveler guitar.

Next up in our travel guitar review is the Baby Taylor BT1 the predecessor to the Mahogany body BT2 we we have already listed. This little baby was the one that kick-started the popularity among seasoned musicians looking for a small knockabout ideal for their travels that rose from a humble product aimed at children starting to learn guitar.

This Taylor guitar is a solid Sitka spruce guitar and we have included it in our review because it actually provides the rich and deep altogether fuller sound than the newer refined model. The level of volume from this ¾ sized instrument is amazing although we dare say the higher frets on the treble string are a little tinnier than would be truly desirable and this is probably the reason for the second model development.

As previously mentioned the BT2 Taylor guitar doesn't have much bass reverb, the two are equally priced o the decision between them boils down to how you prefer your overall tone.

Pros: + Powerfully naturally loud. + Best seller + Great grab and go guitar.

Why We Liked It - This Taylor guitar is a great candidate for the ultimate guitar travel companion the tonal qualities are top-notch, which is how it earned its popularity among adult players despite its initial concept being aimed at young beginners.

CLICK HERE FOR PRICE

The Martin LX 1 makes for a vastly superior travel guitar. It is almost twice the price of the LXK2 (the Koa we reviewed) but the differences go way beyond cosmetics. The Martin guitar features a solid spruce top which will make it a little bit more fragile in terms of dents and dings but ultimately the sound is everything you get with a traditional Martin.

This Martin guitar has a Rut-stratabond neck which features Martin'sortise joint construction, Micarta bridge, Tusq saddle and rosewood fingerboard which feature 20 frets (14 clear of the body) and the whole thing is hand-finished.

The LXK2 tones are just completely outshone by this one it is full rich and deep and a perfect starter guitar, as well as a great choice for travel but it, as we said, set you back more and you may not want to take it on particularly adventurous travels.

Pros: + Padded gig bag seems better quality than standard free gig bags. + Fullest tone. + Compact and affordable high quality.

Why We Liked It - This Martin traveler guitar is a wholesome toned compact guitar that makes it a perfect choice of travel without a 'travel guitar sound', not to mention the padded gig bag you get with it!

This Luna Safari Series Muse Mahogany
 is an attractive ¾ size travel guitar with an equally appealing price range. The production doesn't come from a top brand and however, the manufacturer seems great. The Luna Safari Series Muse Mahogany
 travel guitar is a typical dreadnought body it features a Celtic laser etched henna design and is a fairly eye-catching little beauty. It was constructed mainly from mahogany (neck back sides and top, it is non-specific when listed but the top is probably HPL considering the dramatically lower price range, it has a rosewood fingerboard.

This backpacker travel guitar has an adjustable truss rod and the overall construction good there is no tell-tale sign of substandard construction (like extra glue etc. On the whole, its pretty sturdy with its high-pressure laminate top although this doesn't give the beautiful reverberations that are expected in a great acoustic travel guitar it does mean it has good durability.

Pros: + ¾ size. + Ideal travel buddy & great backpacking guitar. + Low priced.

Why We Liked It - This Luna Safari Series Muse Mahogany
 guitar makes for a great cheap and cheerful option , the sound is pretty sweet and would be the best option for any trips where your guitar is going to face some extreme exposure. Perfect for round a campfire out into the wild style gatherings. Half the price of the Baby Taylor and hold it's own among them in terms of it's sound capabilities.

Another travel acoustic electric guitar model here from Traveler guitar, a company which formed 20 years ago with the sole purpose of providing full-size travel guitars and have been innovative front-runners from the get-go. Like the EG V2 we reviewed, it features their genius in-body tuning function eliminating head-stock from the guitar length and thus providing a full-scale length guitar that is smaller, to begin with. Overall this acoustic-electric travel guitar is 26% shorter and 47% thinner than a typical electric but the frets have not been scaled back.

Again this acoustic-electric travel guitar features the built-in shadow headphone amplifier and auxiliary input. The under-saddle pickup is super sensitive and gives an acoustic style sound without the need for bigger body resonance. It has standard EQ controls to shape your tone.

The Traveller acoustic-electric travel guitar is constructed from mahogany and has a cutaway for better access to higher frets.

Pros: + Headphones for silent guitar practice. + Aux in for jamming with tracks. + On-board tuner. + Mahogany body.

Why We Liked It - The Traveler Guitar brand are dedicated to the travel guitar niche and tailor their products to specifically cater for travel playing needs, they also come with a lifetime warranty, they are beautiful in appearance and have some nifty on-board conveniences.

Cordoba produces some amazing classical guitars in their many ranges The Cordoba Mini M is a solid spruce topped travel instrument. The classic guitar alternative has a lighter weight and can be purchased in different side and back options to suit different tonality preferences. Find some classical guitar strings here .

It has the same feel and playability as a full-size guitar as the neck is of a typical width as is the fret spacing. It comes with acoustic guitar strings tuned up a fourth from standard tuning ADGCEa. This is the recommended optimal tuning for the best vibrancy but you can replace them with a standard E set.

It sounds very bright and is surprisingly loud for a miniature musical instrument, the basses are very strong, we recommend adhering to the A tuning as the E guitar strings change it dramatically into a somewhat lackluster instrument and they hold far less tension.

Pros: + Miniature sized. + A-A tuning. + Great volume level.

Why We Liked It - It is a great deal for the dollars spent, it has good bracing and is finely constructed and is genuinely mini making it another good backpacking option.

Our last option is an excellent contribution from Fender noteworthy acoustic travel guitar lines, it also has the lowest price of all our product listings. The CT features a brand new modified body size and shape, which they aptly name “Travel” it also has a shortened scale length this is what makes it so fitting for travel pursuits.

It is a solid spruce topped instrument at 23.5” scale length, it makes for a quintessential travel buddy with it's compact size and portability. It plays better than some of Fenders other smaller model which are aimed at junior players.

This acoustic travel guitar has scalloped X bracing for added durability required when you are on the move. If you know your Fender acoustics this one is essentially the CD60S but tailored to backpacker travel needs. This acoustic travel guitar has great across board tones and plays straight out of the box and keeps good intonation.

Pros: + Affordable price. + Incredibly lightweight small travel guitar. + Solid topped. + Great portable travel guitar.

Why We Liked It - It is a great affordable entry from a leading brand, which they have developed exclusively for optimized travel abilities. Perhaps one to fit in the overhead compartment of a plane?!

Where's the headstock? A lot of electric travel guitars appear to have been in an accident, as the headstock is completely missing. Instead, the tuning is has been relocated to inside the body. Specialist manufacturers like Traveler Guitar boast rock-solid tuning. And not having a headstock allows these guitars to use a full fretboard, yet still be up to 30% shorter.

Travel Guitar Buying Guide

So you've seen our reviews now let's resolve some of your queries in our buying guide.

A travel guitar is an instrument which has been created to tackle some of the drawbacks of taking a guitar out and about whether that is for an outdoor retreat or abroad, for a long weekend or an arduous adventure. When we travel and how we travel will affect the toll taken on your musical instruments. Many guitarists feel lost without something to strum when the mood takes them and quite often when we are on holiday and relaxed or meeting new people we can find our selves wishing we hadn't left our guitar at home.

On the other hand, we also know the logistics of carrying our pride and joy into the unknown territory of travel can put it at risk of damage or even getting lost altogether. Ideally, we want a lower priced and probably even smaller sized (and weighted) travel companion as a solution especially if you intend to lug it about for long period of time. The most essential thing is that it is an easily portable guitar for travel.

There are many places to buy a backpacker travel guitar, many outlets will cater for travel options in modern times. It is, however, a huge market and in this day and age, it is easier to sift through your options online. All of the above products we have reviewed are available through Amazon. The majority can also be bought online via their brands own websites.

We have only listed 2 of the best travel electric guitars and they are both by Traveler Guitars we feel they represent the most cutting-edge electric guitars specifically designed for traveling purposes. Usually, we see instrument companies creating travel instrument models in this case travel instrument models have created a company, this speaks volumes for the quality goods which they are producing. Their electric travel guitar features and design concepts are, undeniably, "State-of-the-art". Grab some great electric guitar strings here .

If you are planning on backpacking you are going to want to streamline everything you typically take traveling so size here is key depending on how hardcore your backpacking will get you will probably want the smallest backpacker travel guitar you can get your hands on. Martin's backpacker is a great option although some have found its unique shaping awkward to get along with. In which case you could try going with the Little Martin Koa or the Taylor backpacker models.

You will likely be carrying your instrument for lengthy periods backpacking, the Cordoba Mini M is incredibly small and super lightweight if you can embrace it's higher tuning it might be another superb choice for you.

In terms of sound and strictly talking about best travel acoustic guitars for the road, the Martin LX1 is the pinnacle of our product reviews. If you want an electric option the Traveler Guitars EG1C has unbelievable onboard features and effects.

From our acoustic travel guitar reviews the Luna makes a pretty great budget travel guitar its is priced at the same region as the Fender CT-60S so either make a good low priced option it just boils down to your individual sound preference The CT60S acoustic travel guitar has a great overall tone but we feel the Luna's low might just give it the edge here in terms of sound despite Fender being the more notorious brand.

We are optimistic that our traveling guitar reviews will have made for a good selection of top travel guitars for the road to choose from and think about.

Initially, you will have to determine if you want acoustic or electric abilities there are some companies making pickups for smaller musical instruments so that can be something you could change at a later date.

The key things to remember when searching for a good travel guitar are how you intend to travel (modes of transport etc), whether you want a cheap knockabout option that you aren't too invested in or prefer something as exquisite as it is roadworthy. Is it going to sit in a hotel room and be pulled out for the local jam night at the club at the end of the strip or are you going to hitchhike your way across Europe?

Lastly, your budget is really what sets your limitations, if it is on the smaller side you ought not to expect too much from cheap travel-size guitars for the road.

Once you know what you want from a travel guitar you can make a better thought out decision and find the most practical solution for your needs.

If your heart is set on dragging around your pride and joy to show it off in all it's beauty on a worldwide scale you will want to seriously invest in some high-end flight cases for the overhead compartment.

Did You Know?

Several leading brands and their discount competitors are manufacturing fold away, collapsible or sliding guitars with some pretty advanced mechanisms, which in terms of compact guitar design solutions is pretty ground breaking so we are excited to see where guitar development goes from here as they will likely make for another great guitar for travel choice.

If you've enjoyed this review by Music Critic , please leave a positive rating:

Traveler Guitar Redlands Acoustic Review (bought & tested)

Written by Bobby Kittleberger 2 Comments Filed Under: Acoustic Guitars , Reviews

One of the nicest things about the Traveler Guitar Redlands is that it just feels really easy to hold and to play. I've always avoided full size dreadnoughts because they're way too big. But even my full size concert acoustic just feels like a lot of guitar, especially when I'm used to electrics.

So first, I want to recommend this acoustic for players who also play a lot of electric guitar. 

It makes for a smoother transition between the two.

With the 3/4 size body and concert shape, it's extremely easy to play.

Headstock of the Redlands acoustic.

Second, the tone:

With the help of the solid Mahogany, this guitar sounds incredibly good and competes with acoustics I've tested that are close to the $1000 mark (see pricing below). The Redlands has an in-house preamp that faithfully captures the natural resonance of the instrument, giving you a pleasantly organic sound when plugged into a PA or acoustic amp.

When I tested the Redlands (on both), I did not have to do much in the way of EQ. It's a very good out-of-the-box guitar.

We'll get into the rest of my experience with this guitar and the full Traveler Guitar Redlands review below.

This review has been conducted with the Redlands acoustic in-hand, with actual testing in our office. We do not use third party article services or ghost writing. Content is written by guitar players, guaranteed. We also use the orange Sweetwater buttons to support ourselves, yet at no extra cost to you.

One of the Traveler Guitar Redlands' biggest strengths is how easy it is to hold and play. It's a breath of fresh air after being used to much larger acoustics.

Traveler Guitar Redlands Price Guide

Prices updated Fri, September 13th, 2024.

Pricing from Sweetwater

Price Alert Tool

Price history, price history for traveler guitar redlands concert acoustic-electric guitar - spruce, last price changes.

I DEAL FOR: Electric guitar players that want a comfortable acoustic guitar, basic live performing. Great for church and a good follow up to your beginner acoustic guitar.

• Incredibly easy to hold and play
• Looks fantastic, especially with the darker mahogany
• Onboard branded preamp is surprisingly decent
• Sounds good with some reverb in the EQ
• Setup was nice and guitar played well right out of the box.
• No strap connector on the upper bout
• Tuning machines feel a bit cheap

Tone Profile of the Redlands

I'll reiterate Danielle's note at the top of our review: This is not a  traveler acoustic.  It is not designed for transport specifically, though it does travel well. Instead it's a complete 3/4 body size concert acoustic, in the same vein as the Martin LXK2. 

Given that fact, you'll get a much better tone out of the Redlands than you would an actual travel guitar. 

It's similar to other 3/4 acoustics we've tested.

Here are a few qualities I noticed:

• Finger "scrapy" (though this settled a lot when I changed to Elixir strings)
• Loud, especially for such a small guitar
• High midrange and brighter, which is to be expected from that body style
• Bluesy, kind of like a Robert Johnson vibe
• Chords sound full and not overly warm

You're not going to get the full and warm sound of a Martin dreadnought, but I also found that when plugged in, I could EQ pretty much whatever sound I wanted. I tested it with a Bose S1 Pro and one of the Blackstar Sonnet acoustic amps, and the Redlands handled pretty much whatever I EQ'd into those systems.

In particular, digital reverb sounds really good with this guitar.

So I'm not going to complain about the tone not being warm enough. With Elixir strings it did mellow out and felt like a guitar I could strum on or pick through a lead pattern.

Fingerpicking, in particular, created some nice arpeggiated chords and lead notes.

Plugged in VS Open Air

The difference between the amplified tone and the open air non-plugged in sound was pretty hard to distinguish. Even on a couple recordings I did, they sounded incredibly similar.

A big part of that is definitely the piezo pickup that's positioned under the saddle. 

I don't have a ton of experience with those, but this was definitely a positive one.

So I was surprised with the quality of the preamp. I'm never particularly excited to see a house-brand preamp (it usually means some kind of stock). And while I would still rather see something from Fishman or LR Baggs, the Traveler Guitar electronics did a surprisingly decent job.

Between an impressive preamp and a piezo (under the saddle) pickup, the Redlands captures the natural tone in an amplified environment a lot better than I expected.

Controls and Features

In this category, I want to be fair and accurate so I'll point out a few things I don't like (and of course, some that I do). 

Guitar strap buttons

First, there is only one hook for a strap which is on the side of the guitar's body, right where you plug in your instrument cable. Pretty typical. But on the upper bout, there's nowhere to hook the other end of the strap.

I know that a lot of people just use the string around the headstock method, but I've always hated that. I'm just not at all used to it.

Maybe that's typical for these smaller guitars? I didn't think that was the case, but maybe I'm just behind the gun on the norms for a 3/4 acoustic.

Tuning machines

I changed the strings to acoustic Elixirs, just because I always use those and I'm not crazy about the D 'Addario acoustic strings that the Redlands shipped with.

And while there weren't any problems tuning the guitar, I did feel like the tuning machines just weren't as strong as others I had used. They didn't move or loosen and the guitar stays in tune, but I didn't like how the tuners felt in my hand.

Still, there was no real fallout from this. It was just something I noticed as an area that I'd like to see improved.

Controls on the preamp

Okay, back to the good stuff.

Despite a smaller preamp that suits the guitar's body size, you have a  four-band  EQ that includes bass, mids, treble, and presence. You also have a chromatic tuner and an overall output control (volume knob).

• Volume (output)
• Tuner (chromatic)

This is a lot of functionality for such a small preamp. We even like it better than the ES2 systems in most Taylors, from a pure functionality perspective. 

Traveler guitar deserves some props for this.

Bobby is the founder of Guitar Chalk, and is responsible for developing most of its content. He has worked with leading guitar industry companies including Sweetwater, Ultimate-Guitar, Seymour Duncan, PRS, and many others. You can shoot him an email to get in touch.

About Bobby Kittleberger

October 15, 2023 at 11:47 am

how is the action on the guitar?

October 17, 2023 at 9:55 am

Decent if I remember correctly. I think I sold this one though so it has been awhile since I picked it up, but if action is an issue I always mention it in my reviews. To some extent, it’ll be luck of the draw as well, model to model.

Comment Policy:  You're down to leave a comment? That's awesome. Keep in mind that comments are moderated and rel="nofollow" is in use. Please avoid any spammy keywords or a domain as your name, otherwise your comment will be deleted. Let's stay on topic, keep questions relevant and have a meaningful conversation. All the best.

LEAVE A COMMENT Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to Replies

Don't subscribe All new comments Replies to my comments Notify me of follow-up comments via e-mail. You'll only receive a notification if and when somebody replies to this post, or your comment specifically.

• Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.

• Find a Dealer
• Acoustic Guitars
• Electric Guitars
• Warranty Policy
• Product Registration
• Product Care
• History of My Guild
• Model Archive
• Privacy Policy

GUILD TRAVELER

For musicians on the go.

Introducing the Guild ® Traveler*, your ultimate companion for musical adventures on the go. Whether strumming your favorite tunes from a mountaintop, serenading friends by the campfire, or playing a spontaneous set in a cozy café, the Traveler was made for those who live life on the move.

Crafted with all-Mahogany tonewoods for a rich, warm sound, the Traveler features a compact body, easy-to-play short scale length, and innovative archback design. Additional appointments include a sleek new black headstock design complemented by black hardware, a Rosewood fingerboard and bridge and an open-pore natural satin finish. Ready for any journey, the Guild Traveler comes equipped with a Deluxe Gig Bag for protection and portability, and easily fits into an overhead bin on an airplane – making it the perfect go-everywhere guitar.

*TRAVELER™ is a licensed trademark of TRAVELER GUITAR L.P. ( www.travelerguitar.com )

Bold New Headstock Design

Black headstock with G-shield logo complemented by sleek all-black hardware and pickguard.

All-Mahogany Construction

Featuring all-Mahogany top, back and sides construction for a warm and balanced tone. Complete with an open pore satin finish that allows the sound to resonate freely.

Deluxe Gig Bag

Includes a deluxe gig bag, ensuring protection and convenience wherever your musical journey leads.

Small Travel Size

Compact body size and short scale length so it can easily slide onto the back seat of the car, fit in a plane’s overhead compartment, or sit beside the couch for songwriting hangs.

Guild Traveler

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

*Sign up will create a Guild account and add your information to the Guild email list to receive offers, promotions, and news updates.

• Terms of Use
• IP Guidelines

© 2024 Yamaha Guitar Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved