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Pros:
- Great Sound
- Versatile
- Very Portable and Lightweight
Cons:
- Alien Looking
- Not an Acoustic
Not all travel guitars have to be acoustic, especially since travel guitars are easier to be made electric. The electric design simply lends itself to the travel context easier, though it does not mean that an electric travel guitar has to sound like an electric guitar. Modern technology allows for electric guitars to sound extremely close to acoustic guitars. The Traveler Guitar Mark III MK3 MHG is one of these beasts. Let us take a closer look and see why it’s the best travel guitar.
Body Quality
The design of the Traveler Guitar Mark III is unique. Looking at it feels like looking at an instrument from the future or a retro-futuristic interpretation of a guitar. First of all, as a way to save space, the headstock of the guitar was removed from the top of the neck and put into the guitar’s body. This allows the guitar to take up less space among your travel gear and gives it a very unique, headless horseman-esque look.
The body of the guitar is made of Mahogany, a tonewood popular for its dark coloring and lightweight, but sturdy properties. The hardwood gives the guitar a good resonance with the lows and the highs alike, providing a warm, mellow sound. The wood itself is sturdy and very beautiful to look at. It is also lightweight, further adding to the portability of the instrument.
The neck of the guitar is bolt-on mahogany. While mahogany is sturdy and has a solid resonance with tones of all ranges, the bolt on neck is not my favorite setting. Yet here it remains comfortable and sturdy, without any problems to be encountered.
Hardware
Despite the headstock being in an extremely nontraditional position, the tuning of the guitar is actually rather stable. This owes to the fact that the tuning system is rather sturdy, while the tuners themselves are protected from outside interference by the walls of the body. The tuners will require more cleaning though, as their location makes them prone to accumulate more dust on them.
The black anodized 14:1 closed-gear hardware is a very nice feature of the guitar. The nut is synthetic but remains sturdy and beautifully harmonic.
The strings on this guitar can very easily be the same as you use on your acoustic guitar, steel preferred.
Electronics
The guitar possesses exceptional electronics, the design and build of which allow the guitar to sound just like an acoustic guitar. The custom shadow preamp has an onboard EQ. The shadow nano flex pickup sits right under the bridge of the guitar, picking up the vibrations of the strings directly and feeding them into the preamp.
The guitar also has a headphone preamp for clean sound during private practice or composing sessions. Finally, the guitar has a built-in tuner.
Traveler Guitar Escape Mark III Sound
The sound of this guitar is exceptional. While the guitar itself relies on electronics for sound, many will be surprised to find out how acoustic it actually sounds. Warm, mellow, vibrant, energetic or any other sound you are trying to produce is available on this guitar. The sound is clean and unplagued by string hum or any other problems that so many electric guitars have. This is one electric guitar that truly sounds very acoustic.
Conclusion
It is funny how modern technology has reached a point where we can make electric guitars that sound and feel like acoustic guitars. The Traveler Guitar Mark III MK3 MHG is a beautiful addition to the list of unique guitars on the market, available to travelers and nontravelers alike, capable of outperforming so many acoustic guitars in their own field. Yet it is not an acoustic guitar, which many will find to be a detriment to the guitar, for there is no better feeling than playing an actual acoustic guitar.
