cheetah1's Full Review: Washburn Rover Travel Guitar
This is a review of the Washburn Rover acoustic travel guitar. This is a very small guitar with unique and innovative design and features. These guitars have select solid spruce tops with a bowel shaped laminate mahogany body.
Washburn is known for making high quality acoustic guitars that have excellent playability. Some of the more expensive models from Martin, Taylor and Larrivee use more expensive, better quality woods which result in better volume and bass responce as compared to most of the acoustic import models that flood our shores from the far east.
The Washburn Rover comes in colors of black, blue, red, and a natural color. There is also a cowboy graphic Rover and a camouflage colored model.
The Rover has a full sized 24" inch scale neck. The upper nut is 1 11/16" of an inch in width. That is just 1/16 of an inch under my Larrivee parlor guitars nut width. What makes the Rover different from other travel guitars is you have access to higher fret notes on the neck. The bottom 3 notes can be fretted up to the 17th fret while the top 3 strings extend all the way up to the 19th fret! On my Larrivee parlor guitar I can only play the top 3 strings up to the 15th fret.
The neck is made of rosewood with tiny dot inlays extending up the neck. There is no inlay on the headsock, it's just a cheap paint job. The nut and compensated saddle are plastic with plastic bridge pins also being used.
The overall length of the guitar is 33 1/2 inches. That is only 3 inches under the length of a standard parlor sized guitar. The guitar seems a bit neck heavy as compared to the smaller sized body being used.
My first Washburn Rover was the blue colored model. I thought it would be a good idea to pick up the classical nylon string Rover in addition to the one I already have. This second Rover they sent me was the the same steel string model that I already have, but in a natural finish.......they made a mistake! My initial reaction was to send it back but I quickly realized this second Rover was a much better sounding guitar than my first blue finish model. It is also a much more attractive guitar as I can admire the grain of the wood which I can't do on the blue model.
This second natural finish Rover I purchased has more sparkle from the strings and is much more lively when playing. The body resonates better. That first blue finish Rover has a duller tone, sounding more like a ukulele. Both guitars use the same woods and construction but this second natural finish Rover is much more fun to play than my blue model.
The overall quality level of the Rover is excellent. The binding on the neck and body is flawlessly done. The only real cosmetic blemish on this natural finish guitar is a very small smudge in the stain on the guitars back.
The strings that come with the Rover are 10 gauge. Washburn states you can use 11 gauge strings for a bit more bottom end from the bass notes while playing. The strings that came with the guitar work fine for me. Going up and down the neck it plays more like an electric guitar with the light gauge strings installed. The Rovers playability and action is fine with no fret buzz that I can find.
The tuners look nice and work well. These are uncovered tuners, the gears are exposed like those on a classical guitar.
With most travel guitars you are lucky to get a gig bag but with the Rover you get a good quality cordura molded case with a felt lined interior. The case is zippered and can't be locked. You can carry the guitar case like a suitcase or clip on 2 straps that it comes with and wear the case like a backpack. The Rover comes with a guitar strap. There is only one strap knob on the guitar, the other end of the guitar strap has strings that you tie around the headstock just behind the plastic nut.
The Washburn Rover is a better guitar and a better deal than the Martin backpacker. The baby Taylor and little Martin are more versatile than the Rover for different styles of playing. They are also double the price and have no hardcase. Another guitar that caught my eye and is worth checking out in the travel guitar category is the Ovation Celebrity Trekker. If you do decide to buy the Washburn Rover I would recommend buying the natural finish model. I had better luck with the natural finish model than with the first blue Rover I purchased.
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