If you are a kayaker and a guitarist then chances are very good that you have tried to find a way to get your guitar out on the water with you. I sure have and the thought of stuffing my full-sized acoustic guitar into the rear hatch of my kayak has bothered me for a couple of reasons. First, because there was never a prayer that it would fit in there. Second, because all guitarists know how much havoc moisture can play on an acoustic guitar. I’ll work on the second problem in a later post but now I’d like to introduce you to a marvelous solution to the former: THE Washburn Rover
The Washburn Rover is marketed as a backpacker’s guitar but it can easily make a great companion for the kayaker/guitarist too. Its compact size is the key to the “How the heck am I going to fit a guitar through my rear hatch” problem. It fits easily into the hatch with the neck along the side of the skeg box. The body of this guitar is sized way down but the dimensions of the neck and fret board remain standard. At first it feels like you’re holding a baby but no adjustment is needed in the chord fingering like what happens with scaled-neck guitars. I’ve found the tone of my Washburn Rover to be soft and sweet but certainly less full than a full-body guitar. None-the-less, the Rover does the trick for those island campfires and sunsets that you’ve always wished you had a guitar for. You’ll be jammin’!
More info at: http://www.washburn.com/acoustics/travel-series/
Final Verdict:
Pros: Small, packable, warm sound, full-sized neck and fret board.
Cons: It’s certainly not a full-sized acoustic guitar in the tone department. Takes time to adjust to the feel of the small body.
Kayak Dave Rating: