Solid Sitka Travel Guitar – PJ410N Traveler Acoustic Guitar with Collapsible Patented System – Portable Backpack Case (African Mahogany)

I love this little guitar. It looks and feels like a well made instrument. Is competitively priced. It has a good tone and is very LOUD. (Compares well to my 00028 Martin or Gibson acoustic). Action is a little high but adjustable, and otherwise very playable. The bag does (just) fit under the seat in front so this works as hand luggage on BA. Most importantly it stays in tune once constructed and is easy to assemble and dis-assemble. Just a super bit of kit for a travelling guitarist. Mine has just accompanied me to Greece and will be heading to the US shortly.

Once you get the knack of taking it apart etc it’s a great wee guitar. I’m taking mine on holiday and I cannot wait! The aftersales service is amazing also. Have no doubts about purchasing this travel guitar it’s great.

Ok I am a beginner plus 3 years when it comes to playing the guitar. I have about 10 acoustic and electro acoustic guitars in my collection. I wanted a guitar that I could take away on holiday with me. Being 73 years old sitting under a tree on holiday with my guitar is my idea of relaxation. I’d looked around at various options and found this guitar The Journey Instruments Solid Sitka Travel Guitar PJ410N Traveler Acoustic Guitar. The reviews looked good and what sold it to me was the fact the arm detaches and it can then be stored in a travel bag which fits the dimensions of most airlines for being cabin baggage size. The guitar arrived and in the box it was inside its travel bag. That alone was surprisingly good quality with pockets for various bits and pieces like capos, picks, etc. There’s a larger pocket that contained instructions and a spare set of Elixir Phosphor bronze strings. This pocket would be fine for carrying a laptop or tablet and also passports and papers etc. Some of the bags the supply also has wheels and an extendable handle. My bag didn’t have wheels just a carry handle and straps on the back to carry it as a back pack. The guitar was in the bag and the arm sitting in a long nearby pocket. A fold over part of the bag protects the guitar from string scratches. The guitar had a set of Elixir Phosphor bronze coated strings 13 gauge in place. First impression was the guitar looked well made and with nice rounded edges. I did note the arm needed a better finish, maybe a better coat of stain or polish and one or two of the frets had slightly sharp edges. Ok not the end of the world but should be better on a £400 guitar. But its Chinese made. The quick instructions are easy to follow. Put the arm into the slot on the guitar box and then pull the arm upwards until the locking mechanism locks in place then using the large screw in the back of the sound box, screw this until tight. Easy. Its been said by many that its amazing how much in tune the guitar remains when taking off and putting the arm back on and this is true but it does need a retune each time. The action on the guitar at the 12th fret was quite high for me but they do supply in the tool kit a second saddle to lower the action height and this worked for me. If you wanted it even lower then it is not a difficult job to buy another bone compensated saddle and file it down maybe a mm further. But with the second saddle I found my action height at about 2.5-3 mm. The guitar has a quite amazing sound from such a small sound box. It played surprising well it has 17 frets (icl the nut) in a 15 inch long arm. It takes s a bit of getting used to and if like me you have fat fingers it can be a learning curve. I have played it with strumming fingers and a pick and finger picking notes and it does sound good. Being a small acoustic guitar it does take some getting used to. I’m used to full size guitars so this is new to me. The instructions, the reviews say you can just put the arm on and off at will retaining its tune. Partly true. But my recommendation is to slacken off the strings when you want to take the arm off or put it back on. This reduces the chance of a string snapping and it means far less strain is placed on the locking mechanism. When putting the arm back on this is important as it means you get the arm correctly into position and it makes tightening the locking screw far easier. In addition to remove the arm you undo the locking screw un til completely undone and then press a small button to release the arm from its catch. Again this processis made far easier if the strings are loose first. If there is a weak point for future damage its in the locking mechanism so I strongly recommend slackening the satrings before taking apart and before putting together again. I really think the manufacturers/retailers should advise customers to do this. After all any guitarist worth their salt is going to tune or retune their guitar before playing it. The instrument is supplied with 13 gauge strings. I did contact Journey UK Ltd to ask if other lower gauge strings can be used and the reply I received was yes but they recommend 13 gauge to avoid breaking a string. Well this is not going to be a problem if you do as I suggest and slack the strings before replacing or removing the arm. I prefer 11 gauge strings and may change to this next time. Strings are held in place near the nut with a small plastic retainer and strings thread through it. I have yet to go on holiday with it. Maybe August and It’ll be interesting to see if I get it on ok as cabin baggage. I’ve measured it and it seems ok. So in summary its great travel guitar that folds into a travel bag. Easily and quickly reassembled. It sounds good. Powerful for its size with good clear crisp tomes that ring out. Plays well with a capo though I found it worked better one fret less than on my full size acoustics if the song required a capo on a particular fret. Whilst it’s good travel bag I’d also add some bubble wrap inside for added protection.

Nice bright guitar. Amazing sound for the size. Support very helpful - I will use this company again.

Well happy with this beautiful little guitar

I am surprised on the quality and ease to put the guitar together. It was nice to have another bridge so to lower the action. Sound is nice, for the price. Nice to have to take to jams.

Surprisingly good sounding a easy to play. However, no place for a clip-on tuner. Action level is great, it feels durable and is good value for money. Only a slight string buzz when you don't tighten the screw. All in all, great thing and had no problems whatsoever taking it in the airplane!

Was really looking forward to travelling with this guitar. Unfortunately, while keeping in mind that this is their most inexpensive model, I had to return it shortly after purchasing it. The intonation was terrible. Just not playable. It honestly feels like once this was assembled, no one bothered to actually play a chord on it. Or they would've known to start over. Also, the action was really, really high. I'm sure that you could adjust that, but not so the intonation. On the plus side, it did look like it would be great to travel with. Nice light package, and the neck popped on and off with not a lot of trouble. But what's the point if it's just terrible to play? Let's hope that for Journey Instruments, I just got a lemon from the production line, because I can see that there are a lot of positive reviews for the company. UPDATE: Just found a Journeyman FP412 at a local store. It's about twice the price ($750) of the one I purchased from Amazon. This was MUCH better. The intonation was not perfect, but it was definitely playable. The action was much better as well. A much louder guitar with a more even tone, but it was also noticeably heavier, neck heavy actually. Would advise staying away from the PJ base models and go higher end with something like the FP.

I have a Martin travel guitar, that is the one like a strumstick. This guitar has the full body, it is only 12 frets/octave/ to the body, it is the size of a parlor guitar. This one has a better sound than the Martin Strumstick style guitar. No bass on that guitar, too small a body. This sounds great and holds a tune as long as temperature and humidity are constant. If it varies much, the guitar will need tuning, but so what. It is easy to take down and set back up. The travel bag is nice. Small bag for a guitar! Amazing. No need to loosen strings, etc. The large wing nut on the back gets tightened up after initial set of neck. To remove, loosen wing nut, THEN the button will loosen the neck. Very secure, solid neck set. You get two bridges, one taller. The taller one is fine, the shorter one was too short and would buzz strings.

Amazing!! It was just what I needed for a compassion trip to Kenya. It traveled well, went together and came apart beautifully, tuned quickly and was easy to play. After having previously lugged my full-sized guitar to Kenya, this was a miracle! LOVE IT!!!!