Comments on: Washburn Rover Travel Guitar

By: Patrick Mauro

Patrick Mauro — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:55:19 +0000

The manufacturing plant has issues. Guitar came with a terrible stench from the strap and case and some on the guitar. Threw out the strap. Case has been on my balcony for 5 months and still slightly smells enough that I don’t want it in the home. Smell seems to have finally left the guitar.

Challenge was the fretboard sizing and how the guitar hangs. Being slightly short frets and a shorter guitar, it’s placement is different than a regular guitar. After a weekend of playing on it I found this change in angle to be quite hard on the first joint of my index finger and I had to nurse that for a couple of weeks.

At the guitar store I went through 4 of them before finding one that did not have guitar stand damage from the factory on the headstock. All had some amount of paint runs on the neck. Guitar tech found it to be a very difficult guitar to get proper intonation on.

Pros: Nice sound for a small guitar. Stylish. Solid wood top.

Cons: The stench. Oh the stench. Some finish issues (scrapes in the head stock, runs in the pain). Intonation is difficult to get right, I still don’t have it right. Guitar size and where it hangs with strap caused me to hurt my finger.

For the price, I’m pretty happy with it, but if it hurts my finger again, that may be a deciding issue for me for whether or not I keep it. Luckily that is a personal issue and likely not an issue for everyone.

By: Best Travel Guitars

Best Travel Guitars — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:53:19 +0000

@JBoesel Thanks for your tips, great stuff Welcome to Best Travel Guitars

By: JBoesel

JBoesel — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:20:59 +0000

OK I have both the Traveler and the Backpacker; like-em both! For the same price the Martin sounds a tad better but the Travler well, I’m a sucker for bindings and such. I suggest mounting the strap at the neck base but remember to make it off set to the side so as not to hit the truss rod.

Both guitars are made of real wood so they will sound better with age. Leave a radio on the strings when not playing them to speed up the breakin process, old trick.

Either way, once you start playing a travel guitar you may find it’s the one you usually reach for.

By: coyane

coyane — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:12:06 +0000

hi !
i’m writing from france
i’ve got a rover r020
what kind of nylon strings do you use ?
thank you
cheers !

what’s an amaaazing guitar !!!!

By: ZoZo Music

ZoZo Music — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:45:05 +0000

Washburn makes some absolutely beautiful and great playing instruments and the Rover is no exception! The guitar is gorgeous and like most other Washburn guitars, it plays and sounds amazing. Great guitar for the money.

By: playdabooz

playdabooz — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:41:23 +0000

The Washburn Rover guitar has a very solid and seemingly durable build quality. However, the action came quite a bit high the further up the neck I went, over 1/8th inch high at the 12th fret. I will be trying the other saddle that came with it and adjusting the truss rod. I have no doubts that it can be set where I would like it. The frets are good quality and well dressed but not finely polished. The tuners are excellent quality and stay in tune well, by the time you bought a Johnson traveler and put on some decent tuners you would be at the same price range as the Rover. I was able to get mine for $141.95 with free shipping on ebay, brand new and not a 2nd quality guitar. The sound is best described as a cross between a banjo and a parlor guitar. It seems like it would be a great sound for ragtime and finger style blues. The case is well padded and seems like it will provide excellent protection. As most people have said, I discovered that it is rather difficult to play sitting or standing without the strap. All in all, it is a great little guitar and provides a great deal of convenience and fun for traveling or around the house when you don’t necessarily want to break out the full size guitar.

By: What is the best travel guitar? | Best Travel Guitars

What is the best travel guitar? | Best Travel Guitars — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:08:13 +0000

[...] Best Buzz generator and most fun – The Washburn Rover We got a lot of feedback on this guitar when developing Best Travel Guitars and apparently a lot of people have it and love it – the buzz!!! This is funny because I have 7 of these, yup 7, haha. I got addicted to buying them on eBay and every time I see one for cheap I have a hard time resisting. They are just fun to play and I love the sound. I have to confess I play the rover more then I play any of my other guitars. When my friends come over they all pick up the rovers and we jam. We can’t help it – we are sick with the washburn fever. Read the full review here. [...]

By: David Sung

David Sung — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:09:13 +0000

I love this guitar and it cost next to nothing for what you get in the package….full size neck, compact size with all the bells and whistles you need included. Just fab…. ( ;
ps. it is possible to play this without the strap if you wish.
You just have to be sitting on the floor resting against the sofa with you knee bend high… ( ;