Traveler Guitar Pro-Series

This is the Traveler Pro. The neck and body are maple, the fingerboard and bridge are pau ferro. The finish is a natural satin finish. The neck is the same scale as a Les Paul - 24 3/4". Tunes normally. Neck has 22 frets and clay dot markers. There is a piezo pickup under the bridge and a single-coil pickup next to the bridge. A switch allows either one, or both pickups to be active. There is a volume control for each pickup. There is a lap-rest that is held on with a thumbscrew. For travelling you unscrew the lap-rest, flip it around and anchor it in a hole near the top of the body. Easy to do. The lap-rest contains the controls, and is linked to the body with a black shielded wire. You can also unplug the lap-rest from the body, connect a Y-cable, and run it in stereo into 2 amplifiers. Yeah sure. There is a ?stethophone? for private practicing. No batteries required. Comes with a travel bag, 1/8? allen wrench, Stethophone, manual, and second short thumbscrew for strap attachment. Weighs 3 ? lbs. Overall length 27 ??.

Changing strings takes longer than a regular guitar. Duh! It takes a lot of winding to put new strings on because the tuners are geared down quite a bit. If you take all the strings off, the spindle at the end of the body can fall off and all the little black plastic string guide wheels with it. Tuning can be tricky, because your finger can touch the string while you are trying to twist the tuner. Then you pluck the note again and try to adjust without stopping the note with your thumb again. But hey! It?s a travel guitar!

The piezo pickup sounds like an electric guitar pickup, with a lot of presence - very trebly. You can hear your fingers squeak over the strings when you play.
The single coil pickup sounds like a Stratocaster on the bridge pickup. You can blend the two pickups by switching to both pickups and adjusting their respective volume controls. The sound is very bright with a very clean, clear sound. Overall, I am really impressed with the sound. I also own a Stratocaster Plus.

The guitar I bought was new old stock - maybe 3 years on the shelf. It came with 10-48 phosphor bronze strings. I thought the pickups were just okay in the store. When I got the Traveler home I put new Blue Steel 10-46's on it. Big improvement!

As for the ?Stethophone?. I adjusted the sound pressure with the included Allen key (manual explains). I soon had decent volume for practicing. The ear buds should be replaced with something softer.

I brought my tuner to the store with me ? the intonation is bang on! Quality of construction is better than most guitars. It?s made in USA!

The neck shape, action and playability is much a like Fender electric. I like its smaller frets - more vintage style. The pau ferro fingerboard is nice too. Lots of nice grain and a bit smoother than rosewood.

A few people made comments below about poor intonation. The Pro has an acoustic guitar type bridge so it would not be easy to change the setup. Anyways, the setup on mine is right on the money. No buzzing frets either. The guy who said the design is flawed because the action is higher near the bridge does not understand how guitars work. The guy who sent his guitar back to be setup, and still found the intonation out may need to change strings.

The Pro?s satin finish should hold up well without showing bumps and dents easily. The wood is very hard and won't get dented easily either.

Never had to deal with them.

I also checked out the Traveler Speedster. It has a detachable armrest that is about 3 times as thick as the guitar body. Weird! That made it not so comfortable - I kept bumping the inside of my elbow. There were a couple of dead spots on the fingerboard. Also, it has a painted finish, rather than the Pro's satin finish. So I think the finish may not be as durable. The Speedster is made in China, and the Pro is made in USA. I never plugged the Speedster in. Check out www.fender.com (under strings, parts, accessories) for more info on both of these guitars.

I tried a Soloist - this one was licensed and made by Aria. Very cool and it is the same price, but the action was more like an acoustic, rather than an electric. Also made in China. I never plugged it in.

Traveller has been making these for several years and this is not their first version of the Traveller either. If you like Fender electrics you will probably like the feel, action and sound of this guitar. It maybe the best travel guitar available.

The Traveler Guitar company has been bought out by Fender, I believe, so things may have changed, but I doubt it.

This is an update to my previous evaluation, since I still get a few e-mails asking how I have enjoyed my Traveler since originally writing the review. Well, I sold my Traveler on eBay about 18 months ago. It played fine and sounded great. However, there is a MAJOR flaw with the action, and it is inherent in the design: there is no backward pitch to the neck, that is, the neck does not tilt back slightly. Well, the bridge and saddle sit higher than the nut, so that the string action gets higher up as you go up the fretboard. Id est, the strings are the hypotenuse of a triangle. If the neck tilted back, the action would remain even along the length of the fretboard. I don't know if they have ever corrected this problem, and I don't know if the electric's action is better (probably not, but the string tension will be lower). You CANNOT fix this problem without reshaping the guitar: if the neck and body look like a straight board, it will have the action problem. The terrible action is fine if you are just learning, or doing open chords and fingerstyle stuff (the neck is a bit narrow, but overall it is OK). Doing an E7b9 or any other chord from the 7th to 12th frets is quite a chore. So if you play above the 5th fret, avoid this guitar.

Another drawback is the "stethophone", which is basically a stethoscope without the listening bell. It works tremendously well, however the earpieces are hard, and will irritate the ears in no time. I went to medical supply store and replaced the earpieces with much softer ones for about $2.

For travel these days, I use a Jay Turser Baby Shark. It looks hysterical, it has its own battery powered amp, and it actually has halfway decent action up the fretboard after it's been set up properly. It also costs about half what a Traveler Pro does (with gig bag, strap and everything, the Baby Shark goes for about $160 on eBay). Its only problem is the volume switch digs into my forearm while strumming. If I'm going on shorter trips in the car, I take my Danelectro. I play it unplugged or with headphones using a Korg Pandora PX3.

Best advice: try a few things out before buying, especially if purchasing over the internet. There are some great travel guitars out there, but some have some serious flaws in playability or even hold-ability, and your playing preferences might not jive with the design of the guitar.

Sounds great, especially using the stethophone.

Very well built.

Very durable. Great for packing in the suitcase.

Extremely friendly and helpful. My first guitar had the bridge positioned too close to the treble side, so that the High E string would slip off the fretboard when playing sometimes, especially when playing at the higher frets. They replaced it no charge. However, they did harrass the dealer who sold me the guitar, because at the time he was selling them for far below their suggested price. They demanded that the dealer ask me to change the review I had written (seen at the bottom of this webpage) to reflect a high price, or omit it from the review, which of course I did not.

I have played many guitars throughout my lifetime, but this guitar is incredible. I love the fact that it is an acoustic and electric guitar all in one. I have played the Parker Fly's and this is very well constructed. Mine is a 1997 model that was hand made by Corey at the Traveler Guitar Company. It has a maple body with gold Ping tuners, a Shadow Fishman Piezo and a Kent/Armstrong single coil.It also has a maple neck. These guitars are not made in the USA anymore but in China and is distributed by Fender.

The sound is good. I have already used it at a gig and at church. I am contemplating getting rid of my Fender 62 Re-issue Strat and Ovation Balladeer. (I MEAN IT) This guitar does it all. Why would anyone want to lug around a bunch of guitars when you can have one that does it all. The Piezo sounds great and so does the single coil. If anything, just add a Fishman or Boss Equilizer and you will be all set. The Stereo Y connection means that you can run this guitar through both your Acoustic and Tube amps and won't have to un-plug during a performance.

This guitar is well constructed. Solid Maple and a thru-neck. I belive they are contemplating using a bolt-on in the near future. Mine is one piece and the action is great. the only thing I need to do is to tweek it when I use my Capo. The guitar stays in tune and I only have to check it between each use.

As I said above, I am going to make this guitar my MAIN GUITAR during my gigs. (It's also a talk piece) Everyone love to look at this guitar. I feel that most people can't break the tradition of a standard looking guitar and will want to only use this for travel. Personally, I think this guitar is too good for travel.

The Traveler Guitar Company in Redlands, CA. is one of the best companys I have ever talked with. I spoke with Corey and he spent 30 minutes with me on the phone answering all my questions.

I have played just about every type of guitar made, from Fenders to Gibsons, Ovations, Stienbergers and Kramers. I have been guitar since I was 10 and I am going to be 50 in December. This is the coolest guitar I have ever owned. Like I said above, this guitar (although it was designed for travel) is much, much more than that. The single coil can be replaced with whatever you would like to use. You can create more bass by adding a Equilizer. This is a Electric Guitar,an Acoustic Guitar all in one that only weighs 3/1/2 pounds. If you have not tried one, just plug it in and you will see what I'm talking about.

Features as described in other reviews.

Sound is too quiet to get much out of it unplugged, but that is not a problem. Plugged it I am impressed by the pickups. For the price and style of this guitar they really are rather remarkable. I would give the sound an 8 or 9 EXCEPT it sound out of tune. Read on.

Action on mine is a bit too high. The finish is matte, and that made the neck a little slow. I used fine steel wool the smooth the neck, put three coats of finish on the neck (smoothing each one with steel wool) and its much better. My biggest complaint is tuning it. Even an electronic tuner reads a little shaky on this guitar. when I finally get it to what look to be in tune and play, oh say an open "A" chord it is very discordant and out of tune. I sent it back to the factory. They checked the intonation and say its fine. I still have the same problem. Ill send it back to them one more time to try to get this resolved. I would have given theis catagory a 9 because it is very well made, EXCEPT for the tuning problem.

Very durable little critter. Except for the tuning problem.

Customer support is very nice to deal with. They polished up the guitar when I sent it back, replaced the big plastic string rollers to try to get it to tune better, and checked the placement of the bridge for intonation. Problem is its still discordant when played.

I also have an Epi Dot 335, a Fender DG-14S, an Applause, and a Kramer Focus 111S. If I had to save one only it would be the 335. If this were stolen I would buy a Steinberger from MusicYo for about $20 more and have an in tune travel companion.

The other reviews pretty much cover the construction and style of this instrument. Everyone I have shown this guitar to has been greatly impressed.

I play a pretty broad spectrum of 50's to present day rock and blues with a tele and strat through a fender hot rod deluxe with an Ibanez digital delay and Danelectro fabtone distortion pedal. The traveler actually sounds pretty decent with that setup, although that's not why I bought it. If you were playing this guitar and someone heard you from another room, he would probably be quite surprised when he walked in and saw what you were playing . I work 12 hour night shifts staring at monitors all night. I can now increase my practice time quite a bit and still do my job. The only dislike I have is putting strings on it. It takes twice as long as a regular guitar to do this. I think a set of those fender tuners like the ones on my other guitars would be a big improvement in this area - the ones where you can just stick the string down the center post and start winding.

I ordered this guitar without actually even playing one, so I was a little nervous until I got it. That feeling didn't last long when I finally received it. This instrument is very well made and the neck feels very similiar to my fenders as far as playability. It came with 10 - 46 wound g string setup, but I put my standard 09 - 42's on it and the action is great.

You could play this guitar on a live gig, although it would take some getting used to as far as hanging on to it. I would do it for a few songs just to see the audience reaction. I don't think I would use it as a main guitar. As I said before, I bought this guitar for a specific purpose and it fufills that purpose beautifully.

Haven't had any reason to call them yet

If this guitar were lost or stolen, I would definitely replace it. It is the shortest ( 28" ) travel guitar with a standard size neck that I could find. you could take it anywhere with the stethaphone for private practice or a pignose around the campfire to a Marshall stack in a stadium. I have been playing for 35 years and I only wish someone would have invented this sooner.

2001, Made in USA
22 frets
single coil magnetic
piezo under the bridge
bare maple
soft bag
unique stethoscope headset

Piezo pickup provides a bright "acoustic" sound
Original single coil magnetic pickup does not have much punch and, as is typical of a single pickup coil, it hummed.
I replaced it with a Seymour Duncan Lil 59er humbucker (get the one made for the Strat) and it is really really fine!!! It made a huge difference in tone. Highly recommend this mod.

Very nice action! The neck is smooth and fast. Tuners are very good and easy to use once you get used to them. Overall, the instrument is nicely put together and the maple is really hard. The guitar is really portable.

You can strap it on or rest it on your knee. Either way it's very comfortable. It balances effortlessly. A delight to play. I do not use the stethoscope much cause I don't like sticking things in my ears. I play it into a POD with headphones or a Honeytone.

I called about the problem I was having with the mag pickup and they were very helpful and told me about the Seymour Duncan. My only complaint is that they don't use that pickup at the factory but some people prefer single coil pickups and it would add to the price.

I have been playing guitar for 35 years. I also have a Martin D-18, PRS Artist, TommyHawk baby guitar and a Pimentel Classical. I am a pilot so I'm on the move a lot. The Traveler is a keeper.

Others reviews have covered this. This one had maple satin finish, Two pickups, mini switch. Guitar really is kind of ingenious, there really isn't anything out there like this.Tuners are above average, and work well although takes practice to tune (use an electronic tuner). Guitar folds so well, in gig bag, fits easily in overhead and really even under the seat if careful. Gig bag is not well padded but the guitar is made of maple, it would take a pretty good whack. Light and more compact, easier for air travel than my Taylor Baby (although the Baby is totally different). Have been using for air travel because I am concerned that the Baby will get smashed, it is so light.

The sound is bright and a bit thin. With the acoustic pickup there is a relatively full sound which is quite clean. Very good for practicing without effects, particularly if amplified, which allows focus on technique. Match with a Pandora PX2 or PX3, which fit into the gig bag compartment with small headphones and a small cord and you are set regardless of where you are. The stethoscope is fine, and the sound more acoustic like with it, but a bit uncomfortable with time, the Pandora with earbud headphones are far better. I am a Doc and changing the eartips to soft ones helps on the stethophone. There are far better stethoscopes for not much money that would be better than what is supplied. Guitar is in tune to top frets and overall much better than expected for relatively low cost.

The action on the one I chose is excellent, no buzz, but not high. However, I played 8 of these in the store before I found one that was set up right. Some buzzed, some were not true to tone in higher frets, with cacophonous harmonics. I understand there is some latitude for set up with the allen wrenches, have not tried yet. Frets are well polished, the neck is true and comfortable, as good as my 1973 Strat anyway. String spacing is good. Finish good, satin and maple will take punishment and not show. Good for a relatively inexpensive guitar but I was slightly disturbed by variability in the action between the 8 new guitars. Moral: play yours before you buy.

I think this thing is built like a tank. As the others have mentioned, the only design error is that there is a wire connecting the body with pickups to the volume controls, this should have been done with a plug or the volume controls should have been in the body. It will hold up with care but may need replacement over time depending on how you baby it. The finish is tough, and hardware is tough. The electronic covers are gloss plastic, will scratch, would have used matte or wood. Strap buttons? YOu will hold this on your lap most of the time, not really a gig guitar. I tune it each time, it needs it. Have not found problems of the others when using an electronic tuner and coming up from below.

No interaction.

Playing 20 years, 7 guitars. This one is a good one to have, you will use it where you don't use your others. I take it to work and sneak in some practice, you couldn't do that with any of your other guitars. Definitely worth it, would buy another.

The serial number on my guitar starts with 96, so I think it's an older one and not actually the Pro that's now being sold. I got my guitar used for $100.00 through a "right time right place" bit of luck. Mine is MAHOGONY (sorry, I like Mahogony). It was in pretty good shape when I got it except the piezo had a poor quality. I suspect it may have been changed by a previous owner because the ones I play in stores have a super quality piezo sound. I tried replacing with a Dean Markley piezo but really it's the "passive piezo" sound, not that great. (As I mentioned, I like the stock Traveler piezo sound I hear playing them in the stores, and I like how blending piezo and mag pickups can get that nice semi-acoustic 335 sound). I've thought about asked the company to re-fit a new piezo, or myself to install a "Pick Up The World" piezo I've heard so much about. I had much better luck replacing the mag pickup with a Duncan Lil' 59'er. Wow, good move! The guitar really makes my ears do a double-take: the mag signal sounds Gibson-y and killed the rf buzz. The tuning problems others report are defeated once you learn to "tune up from below" and get the strings stabilized. I got this guitar for its light weight and play out with it semi-regularly, especially since the mag pickup swap. I am considering getting it refretted with jumbos and adding locking tuners. I string with Earnie Ball Slinky 11's set (Power Slinkies?) I'm wondering if any other people have fitted their Travelers a bit seriously as I have? Love to hear from you!

The way I got it the piezo wasn't top, but as I mentioned I have listened to them in stores and been pleased with the piezo sound. I think mine will get sorted out. The stock mag sound was ok but buzzy, and I've explained I'm very happy with the mod I made (Duncan Lil' 59'er). I even imagine sometimes that I can hear the mahogony tone (crazy!) I'll be very happy if I end up with matched piezo and mag tones and matched outputs, a real problem with passive piezo and mag outputs. The ones I tried in stores were well balanced that way, so I hope to end up with that too.

High quality parts and construction. Sometimes the funny output jack placement is puzzling, but not a big deal. I'd like a tone control, but I see having seperate volumes really helps blend mag and piezo sound you want.

Very usable and I do take it out, play on stage through Fenders and the like, only rarely do I put it through an effects rig but the Duncan really quieted it down and now I'm not afraid to do anything with it.

Never contacted them that I recall.

I'm happy with it, happier even than the sum of its parts. When I don't have to look conservative or have a trem, I take it when I play out. Really helps since my back has "Les Paul-itus" and this weighs nothing. I might end up getting a refret with jumbos, but only as a luxery.

Same specs as the other reviewers, who've already done a good job on the features.

I'll add that Fender (FMIC) is doing the distribution (it's in their "Frontline" publication), and Traveler is handling the warranty work (if needed).

The neck has that "rolled edge" feel to it too, just like on the American Series Fender guitars (makes it feel comfy, with no fret edges snagging you when you glide your hand along the neck edges, like a "broken in" guitar.

The tuners are good and it holds its tuning well, day-to-day. I've had no trouble getting it tuned up, although it takes more fussing intially, 'till the strings settle in on the rollers around the back of the body. Once tuned and settled, it's very stable.

I like using it plugged into a Korg PX3 Pandora's Box headphone processor. Sounds great!!

The "Stethophone" works well too, and can be adjusted. In mine the high E street was muffled at first, but a little tweaking of the diaphram with the included Allen wrench, as instructed, and it balances good now.

Single coil noise is normal. Doesn't seem like the strings are grounded, but I could be wrong about that. It's a bit noisy but no more than you'd expect from a strat-type pickup.
The piezo is balanced and works pretty well despite being completely passive. Through a piezo pre-amp it should be killer.
The pickups have a stereo plug for separating, which is great, making sound possibilities much more versatile.

If using the passive controls panel, it exits as a mono 1/4" and blends with the onboard volume pots pretty well, though the taper is abrupt.

First class quality. Well setup. Plays very well and is lots of fun.
Nice maple natural finish with a pauferro fingerboard (like rosewood).
Frets are well finished and precision. Nice silky feel.
Really well engineered and executed.

Simple design. Maple hardwood. Good materials, hardware, workmanship.
No worries.
Passive electronics (no batteries).

Nothing much to fail that I can see.

Nice website.

No experience with this company.

43 years experience. Tele's mostly.

I'd replace in kind immediately, even if not traveling.

This really solves the problem of practicing away from home on ANY kind of carrier or lodging.

A great design, well manufactured.

See all of the above for the basics. I appreciated the gig bag with ample compartment and nice padding. This rides a lot in overhead luggage bins and travels nicely. I noticed one of the reviewers complains about tuning. I found that if you follow their instructions, this is very easily tuned. What works best for me is to tune a whole step below where you want to be and slowly tune up.

For my tastes, the sound is kinda thin, to be expected with piezo/single coil setup. It is OK for what I use it for which is practice in a hotel room!

Tremendous for a travel guitar. I played them all looking for a guitar to take on the road and this really plays the best. Very light, well balanced and ultra cool looking.

It says in the literature that it was designed by a retired military guy and it looks it. Very well built, clever little features like combination strap/assembly nuts with knurled grips, nesting arm with electronics, etc.

I can't imagine needing any customer support unless I break something carelessly. The contact info came with my guitar looks complete.

I have a bunch of guitars for different uses and for what this is, it is really great. I never play it except for when I am travelling and have always appreciated it's features, looks and portability. This is a purchase I have been very happy with.