Fender Squier Mini Player Electric Guitar Review

I received the Fender Squier Mini Player for a birthday present from my girlfriend.   She wanted to buy me something that I was passionate about but she knew she couldn’t afford to buy above the two full size electric guitars I already own.  Solution:  go practical.

I admit, at first I thought it was a joke or something until she explained why she bought it.  So many times we travel places or just end up in a situation where I would like to play a guitar but I either

A.) didn’t bring it because of space and storage issues
B.)  don’t feel like hauling it out and setting up
or
C.)  just don’t find it practical

Whats great about this little guitar is that the amplifier, speaker and distortion are all built into the guitar.  You have two separate knobs for volume and distortion to tune it just how you want it.  There’s  no cords, no boxes, just pick it up and play.  It also provides a headphone jack for those situations where you need a silent practice.

So what does it sound like?  Surprisingly, and I wasn’t expecting much, it sounds really good.  You get really decent clean tones out of this guitar but don’t expect the neighbor to call the cops on account of you playing to loud.  It has only the one humbucking pickup.  I really wish it was a little louder but when playing without a preamp the volume is pretty low.  Turning up the distortion helps and it does sound pretty cool.   If I need more volume I noticed there’s a 1/4″ jack that allows you to hook up your favorite amp and really rock out.

As far as playing it goes, well, this is where you realize your playing a fender and not just some toy.  It has a nice maple neck and rosewood fret board with 20 medium jumbo frets.  The body is lamenated hardwood and the hardware is all chrome.  It feels pretty sturdy, like it could take some serious abuse.  Even though its a smaller guitar it doesn’t feel awkward at all like some small travel guitars are notorious for.  It pretty much feels just like a normal guitar so playability isn’t a issue.

Overall, I would recommend the Fender Squier Mini Player to anyone who likes to travel, the portablity is just awesome.  Yes, there are smaller electric travel guitars but they do not offer a built in amp and speaker.  Whats interesting is I find myself picking up this guitar over my other guitars even when I’m just messing around at home.  Why?  Because I can just pick it up and start playing.  I really like having it around and I owe it all to by wonderfully smart girlfriend.

What about kids? Well we don’t have any together yet but  this guitar would be perfect for a kid.  A lot of times people buy their kid a guitar for 40 bucks at Walmart to see if they are going to stick with it.  The problem with this is that the guitar sucks and it rarely stays in tune if you can even get it in tune.  Of Course they give up.  This guitar is relatively inexpensive, a quality instrument (not a toy), and its small stature fits perfectly into the arms of a child.

Fender Squier Mini Player Features:

• Series: Affinity Series
• Scale length: 22.75″ (575mm)
• Colors: Black (polyurethane finish)
• Body: Laminated hardwood
• Neck: Maple, C-shaped, (polyurethane finish)
• Fingerboard: Rosewood, 9.5″ radius (241 mm)
• Frets: 20 medium jumbo
• Pickups: 1 humbucking pickup
• Controls: Volume, Gain
• Pickup switching: None
• Bridge: Hard-tail 6-Saddle Bridge
• Machine Heads: Covered tuners
• Hardware: Chrome
• Pickguard: None
• Width at nut: 1.61″ (41 mm)
• Unique features: Built-In amplifier and speaker system, Volume and Gain Controls, easy access 9V battery compartment (battery included), Headphone jack for Silent practice, 1/4″ Input, 9V DC adaptor Input, Black silkscreen Logo, White dot position inlays
• Strings: Fender Super 250L, (.009 to .042) Nickel Plated Steel p/n 073-0250-003

Traveler Escape EG-1 Travel Guitar Review

The Traveler Escape EG-1 is a travel-sized guitar with full size sound. The EG-1 is co-designed by John Carruthers for Traveler Guitar and the craftsmanship put into this axe shows it.

Whether it was tone, awkwardness, poor action or thin sound, travel guitars of the past have always been encumbered by something that just wasn’t quite right. That has changed with the EG-1. When I first pulled the EG-1 out of the shipping box, I was amazed at the size and weight. Obviously, since it’s a travel guitar that fits in an overhead airplane bin, it’s going to be small, but still, this thing is like a baby. However, we all know the old adage about how big things can come in small packages. The EG-1 delivers.

First, the guitar features a single humbucker pick-up, Alder body, maple neck with an ebonized rosewood fingerboard with 22 frets. I immediately needed to play this guitar, so I sat down with it and plugged in the Pocket Rock-It headphone amplifier and tuned it up. Let me say this, if you don’t have a strap, the EG-1 is a bit awkward when you rest it on your leg in a sitting position. However, beyond that, the sound is amazing. For a stock pick-up, the humbucker delivers big, warm sound. If you’re looking for a hotter sound, though, you may want to switch it out.

The action on the EG-1, for an electric, seems a bit high to me, but it’s really not bad out of the box. It’s also easy to adjust with the top-slotted bridge posts. The fat frets are also a plus. The overall feel of the guitar is pretty stout, even though the neck is relatively thin. I purchased the blue stripe model and I love this finish. From a looks standpoint, it reminds me of a fast car with a wicked racing stripe.

My one complaint about the EG-1 is how hard it is to re-string. After my first session, I decided to go with a lighter gauge set of strings. Due to the design of the guitar, re-stringing it is pretty tough, but after a call to their customer service department (thanks Dave!) I was able to get the job done.

Overall, this guitar is a great investment if you travel a lot. It stays in tune and has great sound, so you can rock wherever you go.

Traveler Escape EG-1 Features:

• Full 25-1/2″ scale
• 5 pounds light and only 29-1/4″ long
• Built-in Pocket RockIt headphone amp with distortion and clean tones
• Fits in airline overhead compartments
• Alder body
• American hard maple neck
• Fretboard: Ebonized rosewood
• 22 jumbo frets
• deluxe gig bag

Traveler Speedster Travel Guitar Review

Perhaps one of the newest innovations to hit the market concerning travel guitars is the Traveler Speedster guitar. It possess the ability to emulate the sound, feel, and look of a solid-body, full-size guitar; and, it’s perfect for any frequent traveler who would like to keep their chops up while on the road and/or concerned about damage to more conventional, valuable models.

Although the Traveler Speedster looks deceiving, the neck has the normal scale of 22 frets, with its width being narrower than a Gibson guitar, and closer to a Fender Stratocaster. It has a comfortable, detachable arm rest which helps it feel like a conventional guitar. The entire package comes with an attractive soft case(can be used as a carry-on), a pick, and a manual you will need regards to tuning and assembly.

This is not a guitar that I would use on a recording session or any gig situation, simply because of the single coil pickup which makes the tone sound deficient, if not a bit weak.   Overall, the sound quality is not that bad for a travel guitar, and as mentioned before, the neck is regular size, so players who have larger hands need not be concerned with any complications.  [UPDATE:  All New Traveler Speedster's come with a dual-rail Humbucker.  In no way is the sound or tone deficient but instead quite amazing.]

Although the action of the guitar was just fine as set by the factory, you can easily adjust the string action by raising the height and/or lowering the roller bridge. The tuning pegs are cumbersome, so extra care will be needed while tuning the guitar. The only disadvantage to the aforementioned roller bridge is the way the strings wrap around it provide an inconsistent tension distributed to the strings. This can make tuning this guitar a nightmare, but still easier to tune than any guitar with a floating tremolo bar.

Overall, I do recommend the Traveler Speedster, despite what I consider to be minor flaws in design. While the tuning system will take you some time to get used to, you will be able to adjust your tuning fairly easily within 2-3 weeks of practicing it. Even more encouraging is the fact that it can withstand knocks, bumps, etc. and still keep its tuning – thus reducing the fear of the tedious process of tuning this guitar. The easy portability of the Traveler Speedster, and full-size feel, make this an excellent choice.

Traveler Speedster Features:

• Full 24-3/4″ scale
• 4 1/2 pounds light and only 28″ long
• Fits easily in airline overhead compartments
• Dual-rail humbucker
• Volume and tone controls
• Upper armrest detaches for travel
• high quality gig bag

Ministar Castar Travel Guitar Review

The Ministar Castar is a travel electric guitar that is designed to resemble a Stratocaster and is great for playing rock music. The price is relatively affordable at $199.99. This type of guitar is great for travelers because it is extremely portable. It can be taken just about anywhere. It will even easily fit in the overhead compartment of an airplane. Even though the Castar weighs only 3 pounds, it has all the features of a full sized Stratocaster.

This guitar features a maple neck with a 24-fret fingerboard, an adjustable bridge and nut, master volume controls, an on/off switch, 3 single-coil pickups, die-cast tuners, a tremolo bar, a leg rest rod, and extension rods to resemble a full-sized guitar body. It also has a one-piece construction to allow for maximum tone, sustain, and strength. The Castar is packaged with a strap, should strap rods, a gig bag, and an amplifier lead.

Even though this a great travel guitar, it does have some flaws. The tremolo bar will frequently come loose while you play. Also, the volume control does not work like a volume control should. When the knob is set to high the volume will not change for most of the turn. Then the tone will change when the volume is almost set to “off”. Other than these two flaws the guitar is designed pretty well and the playability is impressive for something so compact.

The sound is pretty impressive as well. The tone is comparable to a regular sized guitar. The pickups are custom made and they give a clear quality tone making this guitar sound great through any amp. The bridge pickup creates a great “twang”. The neck even feels like a Stratocaster neck. The action is quite low and can be adjusted to reduce fret buzz. It also stays in tune surprisingly well. The Castar is very easy to assemble and comfortable to play because it is so light. The adjustable floating armrest works great to comfortably hold your arm in place.

This guitar is basically made from one piece of maple wood, which gives it durability and strength. This product is a quality instrument with the exception of the volume control and the tremolo bar. It is ideal for the traveler and is less expensive than some of the other travel guitars on the market. This guitar is unique, but simple and fun to play. If you want the ultimate in portability, this is the instrument for you.

Ministar Castar Features:

• 3 matched B-M-F pickups
• 25 1/2″ Scale
• 22 Frets
• 1 volume, 1 tone
• 1 5-position switch
• Micro-Adjustable Vibrato
• Sit Rod
• Carrying Bag
• Cord and Strap

Ministar Lestar Travel Guitar Review

I was going on a trip where space was at a premium, but I wanted to bring a guitar. I had heard good things about the Ministar Lestar guitar on an online chat and so I ordered one and received it really quickly. With the tool I needed included and in hand, I first picked the Lestar up and adjusted the truss bar. Then I took my time looking the Lestar over. I guess I had kind of expected it to be slightly shoddy workmanship because of its low price, but I was surprised to see that the instrument was free of rough fret ends and its wood had a nice and smooth decent finish.

It’s still difficult to call it a guitar, because it’s so super lightweight and there is no body, just a neck. It’s really strange and a little awkward to play at first, but now that I have gotten used to it I am still surprised by how easy it actually is to play! The neck holds twenty-two frets, and because I have rather small hands, I really like that the guitar is thin, too. It makes it so much easier for me that I am able to play for a lot longer. I find that I no longer miss the presence of the normal guitar body, and am enjoying more maneuverability while I’m playing.

Some full-size guitars come with way too many bells and whistles. The Lestar has just two: one button for volume, one for tone. Nice and simple, just like I like it. The action feels a lot like what you would find on a more expensive guitar, though. It’s slightly high, but still good. The sound I am getting out of the Ministar Lestar is surprising for such a small piece of wood. It’s gutsy and bluesy and is just what I need to play mini-concerts in my living room. I play a lot of classic rock and rock ballads and I am even able to get some funky distortion buzz out of it through my amp!

The Lestar seems like it’s going to hold up pretty well, too. The guitar feels solid and durable, and I think it’s going to last for a long time. My friends kind of made fun of me for playing it at first, at least until they played it. Even though they thought it looked really odd, they all admitted that it played well and sounded good.

Ministar Lestar Features:

• 2 Humbuckers
• 24 3/4″ Scale
• 22 Frets
• 1 Volume, 1 Tone
• 1 Selector Switch
• Sit Rod
• Carrying Bag
• Cord and Strap

Ministar Rokstar Travel Guitar Review

Packed up and ready to roll, the MiniSTAR Rokstar is perhaps one of the smallest electric guitars on the market; but make no mistake, this guitar is no toy and has a tone that competes with some of the best guitars sold. It is made to travel, designed as one solid piece of maple with wood grain running from the bridge of the guitar to its headstock, which gives the instrument maximum strength and a minimalist style. It weighs about three pounds. The fretboard is full size and the pickup (P-90) is crafted to sound and perform like a regular guitar. It has a 25.5 inch, full scale neck, open E Key, nickel hardware, diet-cast tuners, and comes with an alpine white or black finish. The guitar has a maple fingerboard (24-fret) and the volume/tone control is stacked. It comes with a nylon, padded tote bag, cord and shoulder strap. The Ministar Rokstar is made to travel; portable and affordable, with prices starting under $150 on eBay where I bought mine.

The first thing I did when I pulled it from the package was check the craftsmanship.  For such a inexpensive guitar the fit and finish looked really good although there’s not really a lot to this guitar.  Even more surprising were the sides of the fretboard and fret ends, they were clean and smooth.  I had to play it right away and all I can say is awkward but mostly due to the fact that I hadn’t taken the time to assemble the rods and hardware.  You basically can’t play it until you do or if you try its difficult to say the least.

Once I took  the time to set the guitar up properly and started playing I was instantly exicited about my new purchase.  Sometimes when you buy something online it comes in the mail and within the first few minutes you think to yourself, what did I buy?  Not this time.  I love the Rokstar.  It still took a little getting used to but soon I was jamming freely like I had owned the guitar for ever.  It felt good to hold, not like another travel guitar I own that feels heavy in the neck and not really balanced.  The playability is just really a lot better then what I originally expected.

Another thing I really liked was the quick setup.  The adjustable bridge allows for optimized play, with a neck tension rod that is adjustable as well and an adjustable nut that sets strings easily without buzz or rattles.  I made very little adjustments and the sound and tone were better than a lot of full size electric guitars I have played within the price range.  Still, it is a travel guitar and if you compare it to your Stratocaster or something the tone might sound a little deficient.  The Rokstar is great for travelers, those just learning how to play guitar and for seasoned players with a true understanding of how simplicity adds to the charm of this instrument and how it is played.

Some guitar aficionados find the Ministar Rokstar awkward and complain that although it is small; it is not quite short enough to fit easily into a suitcase. But for those who like to play electric guitar while on the road, the Rokstar is designed to transport easily, meant to be carried like a backpack or placed easily in an overhead rack on a bus, train or plane. It’s meant for those looking for adventure around every corner and will hold its own in any notable jam session. And, there are those aficionados that argue there is no better sound than the Ministar Rokstar that comes equipped with an arm rest and rods that allow for playing whether the user is sitting or standing. Ready to rock and roll whenever and where ever, the Rokstar is a lot of guitar in a mini body that packs a powerful sound that will leave a lasting impression no matter where it is played.

Ministar Rokstar Features:

• 25 1/2″ Scale
• 24 Playable Frets
• p-90 Pickup
• Die-Cast Tuners
• 1 Volume, 1 Tone
• Sit Rod
• Carrying Bag
• Cord and Strap