Washburn Rover Review – Rover By Name, Rover By Nature

Body And Neck:
Hardware:
Sound:
Value:

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When you’re out hiking, camping, flying or sailing, the last thing you want strapped to your back is a full-size dreadnought, which is where the Washburn Rover comes in. With a tiny body and full-sized neck, this acoustic guitar allows you to perform wherever you are. It’s relatively inexpensive when compared to many others that feature on our chart of the best travel acoustics around, but how does it compare in quality?

Body And Neck

This super travel-friendly guitar features a unique design that ensures it’s both very portable and retains the look and sound of a real guitar. The body is crafted from solid spruce on the top (featuring quarter sawn scalloped bracing) with laminated mahogany back and sides, finished in matte for a smooth feel. It comes in a choice of four colors – natural, black, blue, and red. The dimensions are tiny, ensuring you can store it pretty much anywhere – your car’s trunk, an airplane overhead storage compartment, a school locker to name but a few. However it still features a full-size 24” scale length so your playing isn’t hindered in any way. Joined at the 15th fret, there’s a satin-finished mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard and 17 full frets (with an extra three on the treble side), all easily accessible due to the body design. Performance-wise it’s comfortable to hold when using a strap, otherwise it’s a little fiddly, but the neck is fun to play with.

Hardware

Unlike some other dedicated travel guitars, the Washburn Rover features no electronics to amplify the sound. You can’t fault the rest of the hardware though, especially for the wallet-friendly price. Fixed to the full-size Washburn-branded headstock is a good quality set of chrome die-cast tuners that hold tuning very well, while you’ll also find a solid rosewood bridge, an ABS nut and a set of extra light D’Addario EXP-15 phosphor bronze strings. Another plus is that is comes complete with its own foam-lined case to protect it during your travels, as well as a few other accessories such as picks and a strap.

Sound

No matter what tonewoods are used, this guitar is never going to give you a full, rich sound – we’d be lying if we said it did. However, for the purpose of giving you an acoustic voice while on your travels, you could do a lot worse than a Washburn Rover, which offers a twangy, clear sound, even if it does lack any real low-end. It’s certainly not a performance guitar – take this on stage and you’ll probably regret it. But for airports, hotel rooms and campfires, the sound is no less than what you need.

Conclusion

With such a tiny body the Washburn Rover is clearly designed for travel – it’s incredibly light and easy to store, but still remains quite robust. While it’s relatively quiet and the tone is nothing special, for around $180 this is one of the best value dedicated travel guitars on the market today.

For more info about the Washburn Rover, click here.
For more top travel acoustic guitars, click here.