MusicRadar Verdict
A cut above the usual solid top/laminate travel guitars out there, it looks great and its sound will get you heard.
Pros
- +
Ideal for travelling/campfire playing. Very playable. Strong tones for a small guitar. Nice price.
Cons
- -
A few niggles with the setup.
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We looked at one of Freshman's new, all-solid wood full-size Songwriter acoustics back in August, and on the cute front this little 'traveller' wins hands down.
Centring on a 620mm (24.4-inch) scale, this 14-fret 'mini dreadnought' is just 350mm across its lower bout with a full-size depth of 112mm.
The solid Sitka spruce top and solid mahogany back and sides have a fetching dark sunburst, highlighted with herringbone purfling and edged with what looks like light natural mahogany - also used with an inner white coachline, around the mahogany neck's mid-brown rosewood 'board and black-faced headstock.
It's topped off with gold-plated, open-back Waverly-style tuners, bone nut and compensated saddle on a black- stained (probably rosewood) bridge with ivory-like pins.
Sounds
Like its bigger siblings, this traveller has a modern, bright tonality, it does sound very 'new' and the action seems a little low, although the nut was left rather high.
A slight relaxation of the truss rod and cutting the nut not only loses the slightly buzzy-edged response, but also seems to add a little body to the sound and improves lower-fret intonation.
With almost electric-like playability, it'd make a great holiday/campfire guitar, and its strong, mid-pushed voice will certainly get you heard.
Solid-wood construction, clean build, good looks and slick playability (after a few tweaks), it has a quality gigbag and a tidy price. What's not to like?
Dave Burrluck is one of the world’s most experienced guitar journalists, who started writing back in the '80s for International Musician and Recording World, co-founded The Guitar Magazine and has been the Gear Reviews Editor of Guitarist magazine for the past two decades. Along the way, Dave has been the sole author of The PRS Guitar Book and The Player's Guide to Guitar Maintenance as well as contributing to numerous other books on the electric guitar. Dave is an active gigging and recording musician and still finds time to make, repair and mod guitars, not least for Guitarist’s The Mod Squad.
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