Travelling

S11LKO

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I wanted a slightly smaller but fully playable guitar suitable for using when I'm on holiday/vacation, staying in hotel rooms, or just travelling about in general.

I looked at and had decided on a Taylor GS Mini which is undeniably a nice little guitar but which costs around £500 Stirling.

I then stumbled across a few great reviews of a clone of the Taylor made by Harley Benton in Germany, which came complete with a stylish soft case - again similar to the original Taylor item. I decided to give it a go and ordered one knowing HB are great if you want to return something.

What a GREAT and well made little guitar. The only thing I can find is a slight sharpness on the edge of some of the fret wires - a problem easily remedied. She otherwise plays great straight out of the box.

Should you be in the market for such an instrument, it might be worth checking one of these out first. I feel you'd be more than happy with it and could save yourself meg-bucks!

It's a Harley Benton GS-Travel-E Mahogany at under £100 Stirling.

(And no...I am NOT affiliated with Harley Benton in any way! lol)
 
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Hi, Dave!

Acoustic guitar and lap guitar are fit on our lap and easy to play in sitting posture (see the bottom left photo). Very small travel guitars are compact and easy for travel. But they require strap when sitting posture (see the bottom right photo). I think if Harley Benton GS-Travel-E Mahogany (see top photo) fits on our lap, it may be very good travel guitar size. I just want to try to play.

 
Hi mate. Since mine arrived earlier today I've tried playing it without a strap on my lap whilst sitting, and for ME it sits comfortably and in a very playable position. I would think I'll be playing it sitting most of the time. It has a strap button on the butt end which also acts as the jack socket ready for the amp. There's no strap button on the heel or anywhere else as you know, so one would have to be fitted by tying to the headstock.
I like this because it's small enough to travel with but with nicely sized frets and the whole thing is not too small that it becomes awkward or gives a tinny sound when played unplugged.
 
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Hi, young Dave! I went to local music shop and tried Taylor GS mini and Little Martin. Both sit on my lap very good and very nice play ability. I prefer Taylor GS mini it is much lighter than Little Martin. Taylor is 1.17kg, and Martin is 1.6kg. Martin has heavy tuners almost same as full size guitars. But Taylor has its own light tuners. Yours are similar to Taylor's light tuners (see the photos below). I think Harley Benton GS-Travel-E Mahogany is very good on our lap and even with a strap. I have a 1.2kg travel guitar which is same as heavy as Taylor GS mini. It is ok to play very long time in standing posture with a strap. Enjoy your new travel guitar!

 
Hi, young Dave! I went to local music shop and tried Taylor GS mini and Little Martin. Both sit on my lap very good and very nice play ability. I prefer Taylor GS mini it is much lighter than Little Martin. Taylor is 1.17kg, and Martin is 1.6kg. Martin has heavy tuners almost same as full size guitars. But Taylor has its own light tuners. Yours are similar to Taylor's light tuners (see the photos below). I think Harley Benton GS-Travel-E Mahogany is very good on our lap and even with a strap. I have a 1.2kg travel guitar which is same as heavy as Taylor GS mini. It is ok to play very long time in standing posture with a strap. Enjoy your new travel guitar!


Interesting. I never knew of that difference. x
 
I owned many guitars, but now my bass's and ukulele aside I am down to two acoustic guitars: Taylor 314 and a GS-Mini Koa. Hands down daily play to travel the GS-Mini is my favorite. Honestly if for any reason I no longer had the 314 I wouldn't mind as long as I have my mini.
 
I owned many guitars, but now my bass's and ukulele aside I am down to two acoustic guitars: Taylor 314 and a GS-Mini Koa. Hands down daily play to travel the GS-Mini is my favorite. Honestly if for any reason I no longer had the 314 I wouldn't mind as long as I have my mini.

Thanks for your insight Fingerguy. Appreciated.
 
I too recently purchased a Harley Benton GS Mini mahogany without the electric, and after doing a setup, and changing the strings, found it to be a nice guitar. Less than 105 eur including shipping to me in California.

I only took 6 days including the day I ordered it to get here.

One hell of a value!
 
I too recently purchased a Harley Benton GS Mini mahogany without the electric, and after doing a setup, and changing the strings, found it to be a nice guitar. Less than 105 eur including shipping to me in California.

I only took 6 days including the day I ordered it to get here.

One hell of a value!

I'm glad you agree buddy. Due to some personal problem currently taking precedence, I haven't had a chance to set mine up or replace the strings yet (I will do as soon as I'm able), but straight out of the box it's pretty darn playable - and for the money, outstanding in my view.
Once I've had a chance to do what you've done to yours I'll report back.
Do you have any audio or video of you playing yours? I'd love to hear what it sounds like.
 
I'm glad you agree buddy. Due to some personal problem currently taking precedence, I haven't had a chance to set mine up or replace the strings yet (I will do as soon as I'm able), but straight out of the box it's pretty darn playable - and for the money, outstanding in my view.
Once I've had a chance to do what you've done to yours I'll report back.
Do you have any audio or video of you playing yours? I'd love to hear what it sounds like.

No I don't have any recordings. Actually I have not played a steel string guitar for at least 25 years, so I am starting from scratch.

The one thing that makes no sense is the long length of the headstock, making a "travel guitar" longer than it needs to be.

When you get ready to setup yours, Google setups for the Taylor GS Mini and apply it to the Harley benton. That's what I did and it worked out well. I may consider replacing the plastic saddle with bone, otherwise it sounds fine to my 81 year old ears.

How they can sell and ship a guitar that sounds so good for such a low price is a mystery to me.
 
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Crazy, I started playing Ukes partially to have something smaller to travel with. Now I have an excuse to procure some traveling guitars too!
 
Follow-up to my last post, if I was going on planes and stuff I would get myself a Martin LX1 for it is lighter, smaller, and cheaper. Good enough for a bang-around jump on the couch guitar. My GS-Mini stays home protected from the elements.
 
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Crazy, I started playing Ukes partially to have something smaller to travel with. Now I have an excuse to procure some traveling guitars too!

Haha! You know it makes sense my friend.
 
The one thing that makes no sense is the long length of the headstock, making a "travel guitar" longer than it needs to be.

Martin Backpacker old headstock has removed Logo space. This seems to be the shortest headstock on acoustic guitar. But they put logo on new ones. Logo on headstock may be important for Martin fans.

 
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Martin Backpacker old headstock has removed Logo space. This seems to be the shortest headstock on acoustic guitar. But they put logo on new ones. Logo on headstock may be important for Martin fans.

Old style backpacker will be my next aquisition..
 
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