| Build Quality: |  |
| Hardware: | |
| Sound: |  |
| Value: | |
| Average: | |
Pros:
- Affordable
- Lightweight
Cons:
- Tuning Stability
- String Buzz
A cheap travel guitar is not a hard thing to come across. What is hard to come across is a cheap travel guitar that also sound good. There are not many of those specimens just lying around the world, ready to be grabbed by anyone. And yet there are guitars like the Luna Safari Series Muse Spruce ¾ size acoustic guitar. This one little guitar has a lot of things to offer to musicians. Let’s take a closer look and see what these things are.
Body Quality
The body of the guitar is modeled after the dreadnought style, scaled down to ¾ the size of a normal dreadnought. This means that the guitar has a lot of fullness to its sound and a lot of projection for a travel guitar. The dreadnought shape lends itself beautifully to the bass. The end result is that we get a lightweight, small dreadnought that, while not on the same level as the full size dreadnought, is capable of great projection and has a fullness of tone for the lower part of the register.
The top of the guitar is, as implied in the name, made of spruce. This hardwood is always a good choice for any guitar. It is sturdy and handsome looking, as well as providing a good resonance level and emphasizing the mid and high tones of the guitar well. The back and sides of the instrument are mahogany. This composition allows the guitar to remain lightweight yet sturdy enough for long trips, where the instrument might encounter a few dangerous impacts. The sound of the guitar is also well balanced as a result of good composition.
The neck of the guitar is mahogany as well. Sturdy and lightweight, as mentioned before, this slender piece of hardwood is topped with a smooth and handsome rosewood fretboard.
Hardware
The bridge of the guitar is rosewood. The dark colour of the wood creates a nice and pleasant contrast with the spruce top of the guitar. The tonewood also adds a little bit of warmth to the tone of the guitar. A very welcome addition.
The nut and saddle of the guitar are Graph tech. The synthetic material, while not the best in the world, allows a solid harmony for the strings as well as mitigating the worst of the buzzing strings. While a little buzzing might remain, the guitar should do fine in most cases.
The tuners of this guitar are rather mediocre. They do not provide too much tuning stability and might need to be ever so slightly readjusted when you pick the guitar up for playing.
Luna Safari Muse Sound
The sound of the guitar is rather warm and welcoming. The dreadnought body of the instrument, even when scaled down, allows for a good level of projection, as well as bringing out the bass in the guitar. The shape also allows the sound to feel much more full, especially when compared to other cheap travel guitars. The high and mid range tones sound very solid on the guitar. Overall the sound is balanced and rather adequate for the price of the guitar. While not stellar, it is definitely a sound many players, especially beginners, will found just enough.
Conclusion
You cannot expect cheap guitars to perform on the same level as their more expensive cousins. This is impossible simply because in the guitar world, you get what you pay for. The more expensive the guitar, the more carefully it has been built, the more thought has been put into it. So do not expect the Luna Safari Series Muse ¾ size acoustic travel guitar to sound amazing. Expect it to sound just good enough most of the time, amazing occasionally, and adequate sometimes.
Click here to view more from Best Travel Guitar.
