There are travel guitars and then there are travel guitars like Donner’s all-new Hush-X Live and Live Pro, and yes, we said something similar when the Hush I-Pro was launched (and it’s still incredible) but this takes the concept further with a fully detachable speaker module.
Donner launched the Hush-X Live and Live Pro at Sound Messe Osaka, presumably with a mic drop, because it’s hard to see where they take the series next. I mean, this is your electric guitar and guitar amp and your pedalboard all in one radical instrument.
Both guitars are very similar. Though the Live Pro version is a little more high-end and was co-designed by Japanese percussive guitar virtuoso MIYAVI, who also serves as the brand’s creative director. It features a custom-voiced Alnico V humbucker/single-coil pickup pairing, a MIYAVI custom neck and headstock design, and you get a 13.7” radius HPL fingerboard, a roasted maple neck with maple strips, a Canadian maple body.
The standard version has a 15.7” radius and you get the choice of HPL or maple fingerboards. It has a mahogany neck with maple strips. And it has Alnico V H/S humbuckers too.
What’s particularly impressive about these guitars – before we get to the fact they have an actual amp and speaker onboard! – is the neck-build, the truss-rod adjustment wheel at the top of the fingerboard, the stainless steel frets. These retail for $439 and $599 respectively and yet the build is very impressive.
But yes, these have a detachable five-watt speaker module – a speaker that Donner says is compatible with other guitars, too. We’re just getting out heads around the idea of it being used on this one for now. The standard edition Hush-X Live’s onboard amp has five different amp models and cab sims, plus delay, reverb, modulation, and noise gate. You even get tap tempo on the time-based effects.
The MIYAVI edition has seven amp types, custom-voiced to his specifications, and it has revised custom “high-output” circuitry. Charge this up via USB-C and you’ve got up to nine hours of playing time, all wireless, and a speaker that you can take off the guitar and place down in front of you.
At the top of the page we called this a travel guitar – and it most certainly is. It ships in a gig bag, in which you've got a guitar tuner, a guitar strap, polishing cloth and guitar picks, and even at a full 25.5” scale length it is a super-portable proposition.
But it’s also a superlative practice tool, with a headphones output that allows you to woodshed in relative silence, and there’s Bluetooth so that you can stream audio to the guitar itself. It’s pretty far out.
Check them out over at Donner.
