Harley Benton Traveler-E-Steel

I needed a small guitar to have on a boat... I know, not the best environment for an instrument except for a foghorn…
I didn't have any great expectations (about 70 Euro with a decent pickup and a gig bag!) and for the odd nights entertainment on board anything would do. To my surprise the little ugly duckling was more like a little cute duck! The workmanship, I suppose one still calls it like that in spite of almost all being machine made, was surprisingly good and the little guitar is actually quite good looking and very suitable for small spaces as a travelling guitar! The fretboard is a bit narrow for me but playable, and if don't have shovels for hands like me, it should really be acceptable. Now, of course, don't expect the sound of a jumbo because you'll be disappointed. I found the sound, considering the small corpus, quite adequate. After changing the strings for decent ones the whole experience improved. The neck is straight but the ends of the frets needed to be filed – otherwise they would have made my fingers to minced meat! The bridge had to be lowered, but admittedly, that's a personal matter and many would be happy with setup as is. All in all I would by this little gem again – have tried a well known backpacker guitar (about 300-350 Euro) and feel the difference in price is absolutely wasted… you can get a little holiday for the price difference and bring your new little duckling with you!

I wanted a handy guitar to hang in in my living room for decoration and quick playing when I have an idea for a new song. The plain acoustic sound of the thing is good enough for that, but probably not enough for fireside camping shows. The surprise was when I plugged it in. The piezo pickup was much better than I expected. I was able to make it sound like a much bigger instrument. And then I stumbled onto a great new comedy bit when I played it through a little Peavey Vypyr modeling amp with some Marshall-type distortion. The fun was the image of me rocking out with this peanut-bodied baby guitar while playing Heart's 'Barracuda.' My buddies were in hysterics. Really, This little box sounds as good as much more expensive 'travelers.'

I've looking at smaller guitars for a while since im a busker, and carrying a full bodied guitar plus other equipment can be quite tiring. So i came across this travel guitar accidentally while looking at more expensive models, and since it was so cheap i decided to order it in addition to the guitar already decided to buy.
This was probabilly the best decision i ever made in my busking career, because the guitar is lso light and easy to play i can literally go for hours without getting my fingers or my back too tired. It's best played through and amplifier (which i do), since it isn't very loud when unplugged. Another plus is that because it's a funny looking guitar it definitely draws some extra attention.
Im honestly impressed.

This is an inexpensive way to travel with an electro acoustic guitar. More expensive ones will still sound tinny because of the sizeof the woody box. I would not pay 400€ for a little travel guitar made in china just because it has a known brand name on the head stock. For that I have my good acoustic guitars that I preserve from trips for obvious reasons since I do not gig with acoustics instruments. Just private trips. So very convenient instrument for that and well finished. If you connect it to a good sound system or amp, you will not say this is a travelling tiny box instrument. It look beautiful to me.
Thomann service was as usual outstanding.

Above expectations. I wanted to have a light instrument which I can just throw in the car or just carry around easily. The build quality is really good, yes the action could be lower but I sanded down the bridge nut and I will replace the head nut with the bone one. You would often do this on many expensive guitars as well. Plugged into my little Blackstar Fly 100 sounds really good...did not yet try it into the Mixer/PA.

It makes me play more, so it is already a great investment. It is so light and you can just grab it in the passing and play a few chords. To me that's really important. I ordered a wall hanger since it does not really fit on a normal stand.

I think I could survive a gig with it if it was necessary. Also comes with a handy gig bag. So convenient. Tuner would be nice but you can get that for a couple of € anywhere.

Been playing for 20 years and this made me really happy, great little companion. I often play it more than my high-end guitars. 10/10 from me.

Full disclosure: was gifted this guitar right when I was about to order it. Played it at Jams in Vietnam and Cambodia and at home, in parks etc. Fits in normal size suitcase, can be plugged in or played acoustic.

Of course! the acoustic tone is not bass or volume heavy but adequate. Sometimes it's sound can be a feature actually. Adding some Nanoweb Elexir strings will hugely improve tone/sound and add volume.

Every guitarist gal I know falls in love with it, my poor and young friend ordered one after she borrowed mine. Great party, beach, travel, "no worry" and have everyone play it guitar. Quality, finish, functionality, wood are great for the price.

Have only one minor complaint. Intonation on mine was not perfect, this might not be the case on each unit. Feel it fair to say that I'm picky about perfect tuning, seem to hear tiny out of tune discrepancies that other people don't care about or never notice.

I had a Yamaha Guitalelle before. I prefer this one by far, since it has normal tuning and nicer scale, which is not full size but playable for almost anyone, unless you got really big hands.