Journey Instruments Carbon Fiber Travel Guitar – OC660M Traveling Acoustic-Electric Guitar with Collapsible Patented System – Portable Backpack Case (Classical)

We tested out small travel guitars by Martin and Gibson in a range of high end wood types, and nothing came close to the tone and playability for such a compact size. Assembled, this is larger than the smallest size travel guitar, thus generating higher quality sound, but folded it is even more compact, making it perfect for air travel overhead bins, camping trips and space limited road trips. We were skeptical that the carbon fiber would sound as warm as our favorite full size Martins, but this came close, just at a quieter volume. It definitely sounded less banjo-ish than the 000 or taylor baby. Add in a tiny pocket amp like the Blackstar Fly, and you get the bonus of both electric and acoustic options while on the road! Absolutely perfect for a travel.

I love the idea of having a collapsible base and it’s really neat how easy it was to put it together. Unfortunately, it didn’t sound very good. There was lot of tweaking needed to get it to sound decent but I was really looking for a base that we can use on the road. it also didn’t have any volume or tone control so you couldn’t mute it without having to use another device to mute. I personally think it would be better if they came up with an electric bass guitar that’s collapsible maybe they already do. I just don’t know about it.

Firstly, this instrument delivers phenomenally as a travel guitar. It is very easy to use the collapsing neck, very easy to re-assemble, and the carrying case/backpack is good quality with some nice storage areas. In this review I'll cover a few things that I think would be useful to know as a would-be buyer.Weight. The guitar is surprisingly heavy. Not super heavy, but probably about a pound heavier than my wooden OM acoustic. I think people think of carbon fiber as lightweight. It certainly is when compared to comparable alloys like steel. But compared to the materials used in a traditional acoustic guitar, CF is a bit on the heavy side.Sound. Bass is really deep and loud. For me, I like it, but some might think it's a bit unbalanced. The highs can get really, really bright. Like uncomfortably bright. I've suffered from tinnitus for the past 15 years, and this guitar triggers my tinnitus worse than any acoustic I've ever owned. So I usually play with ear plugs, which I don't do with other acoustics. The guitar comes with a high-action bridge and a low-action bridge, and they're very easy to switch. I'm currently using the low-action bridge, and get a little bit of buzzing if I play a note close to the fret. If I play in the middle of the fret, it's pretty good. All in all, I think the guitar sounds pretty good. It's not going to compare favorably to a $1400 wooden guitar, but I don't think anyone buying this guitar would expect that.Comfort. I find it difficult to have decent posture when playing this guitar on my right leg. Sometimes I'll play it in between my legs ("classical" style) and that is a bit better, but difficult to maintain that position for long, since the body is pretty small. The best playing position for me is standing up, with the strap yoked up pretty far. It looks pretty dorky but allows me to play a lot longer. But the strap gets uncomfortable on my left shoulder after a little while. This might be due to the guitar being somewhat heavy. Or perhaps it's related to the wedge shaped body. But, usually, I just move between various positions to mitigate the comfort issues.Tuners. The guitar has locking tuners, which is kind of cool (I've never used them before), but the tuners are a little bit to coarse for my taste. I often over-turn the tuner and have more trouble finding a pitch, compared to other guitars I've owned. But, this is a pretty minor problem, and I've gotten used to it pretty quickly.Quality. I'd say overall that the quality of my unit is pretty good. One issue I brought up with support is that the tuning pegs do not seem to be spaced evenly, which causes the strings to be a little bit uneven near the bridge. I've been able to compensate for this by slightly rotating the peg so the string comes out a tiny angle, resulting in evenly-spaced strings. I was worried this might result in string breakage, or might just revert to the uneven spacing, but so far, so good. On the plus side, I like the feel of the frets. They are extremely smooth on the top edge of the neck. On most guitars I've owned, I can feel the frets on the top of the neck, and this has sometimes been uncomfortable if I'm playing with a thumb hooked over the neck. But this guitar doesn't have that problem at all. The frets seem to just grow organically out of the fretboard.Neck mechanism. I am really impressed with the quick release functionality. It's the primary feature that drew me to this guitar, and I'm very pleased with it. It's easy to use and seems well-built.Overall, highly recommended travel guitar for anyone that wants to bring their guitar on planes or on extended trips.

I got the totally carbon fiber travel guitar. The guitar came with the neck unattached.. but I followed the directions and the guitar was ready to play. There are many things I like about this instrument.. the sound is robust and full.. the contours of the body make it comfortable to play.. and overall, the guitar feels well made. Where I have a problem is with the nut configuration. In addition to the nut is another attachment that channels the strings. I wanted t adjust the truss rod and getting the nut and this other attachment put back on with the existing strings is a pain!! The company needs to re-examine this configuration immediately.

I have owned many high end guitars, and this is well worth the price.. even compared to anything else.It sounds different, but a good kind of different. And the neck removal plus durability is kind of mind blowing given the instrument itself sounds so good.I never write reviews, but this is for the people on the fence about it.. go for it!