Traveler Guitar Ultra-Lite

Design-wise, the Ultra-Lite is pretty clever with its integrated-in-body tuners.

The tuners are solid and true and the assembly maintains exact pitch even after hours of hard playing.

Go to the Traveler website for the vital statistics but generally think BASIC, VERY BASIC!

Sound wise it has an integral Shadow Piezo mic which is not very balanced. This is the guitar's weak spot. Strings 1 & 6 are bright, 2 & 5 less so while 3 & 4 are dull and muted. For this reason I???m either looking to upgrade to the Speedster or install a trad pup although that cuts against it???s very clean look.

A single-coil Tele style bridge pick-up would be render this pup slicker than snot on a door nob so plan B might be the custom shop.

Having played this thing for a couple weeks now on 5 different aircraft and gates, in hotel rooms sitting, reclining and standing I???ve figured it out and am generally impressed with its engineering, playability and portability. The full size neck in a sub-compact frame requires some getting-used-to but bang for buck, this thing does what it???s designed to do, is durable and chand chock full of value.

Music-wise it plays quiet well. The craftsmanship is above par for what you might expect from China. The rosewood fingerboard and fretwork are very well done and the overall scale of the 22 fret board is compressed about 1-1/4" compared to a Tele. Harmonically, it is spot-on and the off-the-shelf set up is pretty good with zero fret buzz. It has an adjustable truss rod and there is some room for a customized setup. The action is medium ??? higher than your average Gibson neck and about the same as a standard Fender ??? but could be lowered.

It comes with 10s which are strung pretty tight. Although looser than an acoustic, a half note bend at fret 1 and full note bend at fret 3 requires some finesse. Above that, bends are no prob. I tune it down a half note for this reason.

The neck is smooth, fast and relatively thin ???C???. Termination at nut and body are well transitioned.



Again, impressive given it's country of origin. Everything spot-on. Of course CNC technology takes most of the guesswork out of production.

Oh I think this think could double as car jack - it's pretty solid and well constructed. Of course there is not much of it considering neck and body are integral. I wouldn't gig with it but then it's not designed for that.

I purchased this mini-ax (would that make it a hatchet?) at my local GC one day before leaving the country. My primary intention was to use it on the plane and elsewhere to maintain my proficiency/calluses during my week+ absence from my Tele. At first it was tricky to play because it is so light and unguitarlike in form. Unlike a Tele, Strat, et. al. there is zero swing weight with this pup and you can't really balance/English/leverage your hold off the body or its static mass. After some putzing which included attaching the strap at the nut > then back to the body and lopping off about an 1-1/2" of the metal leg rest I finally got it to 'fit'. Since you can't rest your arm in the traditional place you have to play around with where to anchor it. I found several places including palm on bridge, wrist balanced on a Pocket-Rockit amp (which plugs directly into the jack/strap button), forearm on pillow etc or just floating which fatigued my arm pretty quick. I was also able to wedge it against the armrest/bunched up fleece which really helped stabilize it. On an overseas flight, COACH CLASS! I was able to play it about 6 hours each way which is really a testament to its versatility and compactness. I???ve figured out which seats are better and prefer a portside aisle seat so my arm can extend back. At 28???, it???s compact enough it will not intrude on the passenger next to you which for me is critical as I strive to be a good neighbor.

The branded logo on the body is kinda dorky as well as the brass name plate on the back side. They could do much better. It would be nice if it had a padded back (Velcro attached 3rd party add-on anyone?) so the wood rails that carry the tuners didn???t dig into you. Also a padded back with some coarseness might provide a bit more resistance against the body and simulate weight. I???m also looking for a way to keep it from rotating fret-board up in the sitting position (in the plane) which it tends to do since there is effectively no body leverage to counter belly angle. The work-around there was to sit on a couple pillows which also helped elevate the body over the armrest ??? a more natural position than thrust port and forward.

I've been playing classical guitar for 20 years. Recently new to the electric genre although I've had a 335 and Strat for the same amount of time. Just didn't play them much. This thing is pretty cool if you're looking for something to play in a phone booth which I was.