Worship Guitar Class

Christian Guitar Lessons and More

  • Home
  • The Lessons
    • JW Worship Guitar Class
    • How To Master Finger Picking New
    • Reading Music On Your Guitar
    • Music Theory on Your Guitar
    • Kids Worship Guitar
    • Easy Christmas Songs Old
    • Christmas Songs and Solos Old
    • Individual Songs
      • Be Thou My Vision
      • How Great Thou Art Arrangements
      • Great Is Thy Faithfulness
      • Blessed Assurance
      • Heavenly Father Guitar Lesson
  • Shop
  • Articles
  • Contact
  • View Cart
Home Articles Best Travel Guitars

Best Travel Guitars

July 4, 2015 By admin 1 Comment

There are so many new travel guitars being produced. Travel guitars are easier to take on trips. These are usually smaller and lighter than a regular guitar. For example, the Martin Backpacker guitar.

Martin Backpacker Guitars

Martin-BackpackersYears ago, when I did a lot of backpacking, I used to bring an old beat up guitar. It was just used for backpack and camping trips. It’s nice to have a guitar that you don’t care about for using in wilderness settings. I strapped it on my backpack and didn’t worry about it. It was fun to have an instrument to play on these trips.

The Martin Backpacker came out  right before I was leaving for a month long vacation to Europe. I brought 3 of the Martin Backpackers with me. They easily fit over one shoulder and at 2 pounds each were very light.

PROS

  • Very light weight. Weighs just 2 pounds
  • Comes with a little guitar case
  • Easy to swing over your shoulder and carry other luggage at the same time
  • Fits in the overhead compartment of an airplane
  • Easy to take backpacking
  • Has both nylon string and steel string guitars.
  • Easy to tuck anywhere in your car, boat, plane, etc.

Cons

  • Takes a while to get used to
  • Feels funny with no body
  • Not as loud as a full size guitar

Although it takes a while to adjust to, it certainly worth the effort. I was on a month trip and as a professional guitarist didn’t want to be without an instrument for that length of time.

What helped me play it was to look in a mirror while holding a regular guitar, then adjusting the strap of the backpacker to fit where my hand normally played a full size guitar. That worked. It took probably 2 or 3 days before it felt ‘normal’.

I am most familiar with the Martin Backpackers since I have owned and played them for years. Here are a number of other travel guitars that you might like to know about. I have not played them yet, but wanted to share them with you.

Traveler Guitar Ultra-Light Acoustic-Electric

This is cool looking travel guitar, the Traveler Guitar Ultra-Light Acoustic-Electric. It’s similar in size to the Martin Backpackers, but includes a wire body shape that can be added to the wood body. This would make it easier to play sitting down. Unlike the Martin Backpacker, there does not appear to be an option for nylon strings. It’s just a steel string guitar.

TravelerGuitarUltraLight-800web

 

PROS

  • Very light weight. Weighs 3 pounds
  • Comes with a little guitar case
  • Easy to swing over your shoulder and carry other luggage at the same time
  • Fits in the overhead compartment of an airplane
  • Easy to take backpacking
  • Includes a wire attachment to make it more comfortable to use while sitting
  • Easy to tuck anywhere in your car, boat, plane, etc.
  • Includes electrical pickup. (This is also an option on some Martin Backpacker Guitars)

Cons

  • Not as loud as a full size guitar
  • No nylon string option

Besides the acoustic travel guitar, they also make the same concept for a light bass guitar… Travelers Guitar Ultra-Light Acoustic-Electric Travel Bass.

Yamaha Silent Guitars

The above guitars are guitar for backpackers or carrying on trips with a lot of walking. This one caught my attention because there are times when you may be in a hotel and don’t want to disturb the people around you. I thought this was a brilliant idea. You can still practice, but not worry about the time or your surroundings. These clever guitars come in both nylon strings and steel strings, the Yamaha Natural Silent Acoustic-Electric Steel String and the Yamaha Silent NW (Nylon Wide) Acoustic-Electric Guitar

Yamaha-Silent-Guitars

PROS

  • It is a full size guitar and feels very comfortable to play
  • Great for practicing without disturbing others
  • Comes in both nylon strings and steel strings
  • Has a mode with the wider nylon strings as on classical guitars
  • Includes the ability to wear a headset so you can listen at any volume
  • Perfect to use in hotels or late at night

Cons

  • Not as compact as the smaller backpacker guitars for carrying
  • Cannot fit in the overhead of an airplane

This guitar should have any adjustment period since it is a full size instrument. The main advantage is the fact that you can practice without worrying about disturbing the people around you. Then, you can plug it into an amp if you want other to hear you.

Aria Sinsonido Nylon String Guitar

This is a very clever and thinking outside the box guitar. The Aria Sinsonido Nylon String Guitar is like the guitar above, but the machine head is located in the middle of the guitar which makes the instrument shorter. It only comes in nylon strings.

Aria-Sinsonido-web

Unlike the Yamaha Silent Guitar, this one can be disassembled to fit in a smaller bag. Very clever thinking!

Aria-Sinsonido-Travel-Guitar

PROS

  • It is a full size guitar and feels very comfortable to play
  • Great for practicing without disturbing others
  • Has a mode with the wider nylon strings as on classical guitars
  • Includes the ability to wear a headset so you can listen at any volume
  • Perfect to use in hotels or late at night
  • Fits in the overhead compartment of an airplane

Cons

  • Not as compact as the smaller backpacker guitars for carrying
  • Does not have an option for steel strings
  • Is at least twice as heavy as the first two guitars in this article

Other Options

There are many smaller guitars that can work well for traveling. For example, 3/4 size guitars are less bulky and heavy to carry. Do you have a guitar you like to use for traveling?

Filed Under: Articles

Comments

  1. Jerry says

    March 26, 2016 at 7:46 pm

    Like it

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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

Categories

  • Articles
  • Friends
  • Guitar Technique
  • Music Theory
  • Our Guitar Courses
  • Piano
  • Product Reviews
  • Song Arrangements
  • Thoughts
  • Voice
  • Worship Contest

Contact

Jean Welles Worship Guitar
11664 National Blvd. #275
Los Angeles, CA 90064

Ph: 800-391-5412, 310-477-6192
Fax: 800-391-5412

More Links…

  • Find A Store
  • Student Testimonies
  • Join Our Affiliate Program
  • PRIVACY POLICY FOR WORSHIPGUITARCLASS.COM
  • TOS

Copyright © 2025 WorshipGuitarClass.com