Traveler Guitar TGA-1A Acoustic Guitar Headphone Amplifier

Quite honestly, I didn't expect much. I have three other headphone amps from another leading brand but they are only quasi-portable. More on this in a minute. I tested this amp on several guitars that had both passive as well as active pickups. Some of the exceptional features: 1 - Volume: Others have complained that the volume is only marginal. I am functionally hard of hearing. This Traveller packs a wallop! I had to turn the volume DOWN! 2 - Construction: A few other reviewers complained that this amp has a flimsy or "cheap" feel to it. I did not find this to be the case. Indeed, it feels quite sturdy and robust. 3 - Tone: I was surprised at the remarkable tone this amp provides. It amplifies my guitars' "voices", retaining the essential quality and color of their unique sounds. There is no EQ or distortion and no effects except for simple "blend" and "tone" wheels, which make very subtle but distinct enhancements. In short, the tones are pure and clear. I have a wide range of "quality" guitars (very inexpensive up to $2000. This amp treats all of them with respect and equal attention. However, even my cheapest guitars have strong voices, so I cannot speak to how this amp would interact with a guitar of poor quality. Portability: As I referenced earlier, I have three other headphone amps made by a well-known brand. These amps are modeling amps with loads of presets, and they are excellent! They also cost four times as much as this amp does. Additionally, while they work great with active pickups, they only work with passive pickups if they are paired with a preamp. I resolve this issue by using a battery-operated micro-preamp. To my amazement, the Traveler amp stands on its own with passive pickups (in my case, usually piezo pickups!); They do not require an additional preamp. Two things in the design stand out that, in my view, could be improved, although I did not take off any stars because I knew about these before I bought the amp: 1 - Range of Motion: The amp only swivels across one axis. 2 - The USB: The amp uses a mini-B USB cable rather than the more common standard USB-C. This is very picky on my part and does not in any way detract from the functionality of the device, so obviously, no loss of stars. I don't regret purchasing the more expensive headphone amps with multiple presets. The sound quality on both brands are similar. The only appreciable difference is that the more expensive ones have the additional features of presets, more ROM, and a USB C cable. However, I am shocked that this headphone amp, at a fraction of the cost of the others I have, can amplify my guitars, passive or active, without the need for additional hardware while the more expensive ones must have external pre-amps. For excellent amplification with great portability and at a remarkable value, you cannot go wrong with this headphone amp!

This mini-headphone amp does what it is supposed to. It lets you listen to yourself playing on the Traveler Guitar (or any other silent guitar with a 1/4" pickup socket). It is convenient, compact, easy to use and the battery has a decent life. The only neutral comment I have: It is hard to get a natural sound out of it. The output quality is very compressed and/or EQ'ed flat (not sure which). There are a couple of controls that do have an effect, but not very much. Anyway, it does fit neatly in the Traveler Guitar bag with my other essentials, so I am keeping it for the times when I need a "minimalist" option for listening to myself playing. I would not count on it when you want good sound quality, however. Luckily I have some other portable options for that (LR Baggs DI, Zoom H4, etc.)

Arrived when expected, and is and performs as expected. This product provides EXACTLY what I was looking for, an EASY method for me to hear myself playing my fiddle! I use this both when I practice alone (helps me w/my intonation and volume) and when I play in a large group jam (can hear myself). I plug it into my fiddle pickup. I use an AUX connector cable and my iBeats headset. I will mention that I noticed that the quality of the sound you hear is dependent on the quality of AUX cable and headset you use with it.

$25 shipped is about the right price. The Chinese-made 1/4" connector is smaller than spec so it spins freely in a 1/4" jack, which can be inconvenient. The ground connection is marginal on most 1/4" jacks, so you will get fairly regular popping noises with the intermittent connections. There are 3 power switch positions: Standby (off), On, and FX. FX is, apparently, some sort of EQ function. It thins out the sound slightly, but mostly seems pointless. The 1/8" headphone jack is slightly smaller than spec, which isn't a problem. I bought the "acoustic" version and it produces plenty of volume, sounds like a DI'd electric guitar, and is just fine for my traveling practice. purposes.

I have moderate hearing loss in both ears. I lost most of the hearing (the range for music and voice) in my right ear several years ago. In the past year the hearing in my left good ear started to sound muffled and watery. I can still hear (or so I swear to my wife), but music sounds toneless to me and often I can’t even recognize songs that I know. This obviously affected my guitar playing. The upper strings sounded ok but the lower ones were muffled or sounded like elephant farts (or what I imagined elephant farts sounded like). I can tune with an electronic tuner, but had a hard time hearing myself play. For composing, this was a nightmare. I play an acoustic-electric, but never needed the electronic component. I don’t play in public and don’t have amps or much of a recording studio at home. So, annoyingly, I’d set up a microphone connected to iRig through to my iPad and then listen through earbuds while running Garageband or iRig’s app. The sound wasn’t great and it was a pain to set up if I just wanted to sit for 10 minutes to do some fingerpicking. Finally I did some research and found this acoustic guitar amp. It’s exactly what I needed. Once I figured out how the guitar’s pickup worked (uh…add batteries) I just plug the amp into the guitar cable jack, attach ear buds and I’m set. The sound is clear and adjustable (though bear in mind I’m not the best judge these days), and the device has settings to adjust tone, volume, and other subtle things. The best part is it’s very simple to set up and use. No getting out cables, mics, iPads, etc. which is a time and nuisance hit when you just want to play for a few minutes. The amp comes with a UBS cable for charging and is small enough to fit in your case’s compartment. For the price and convenience, it’s phenomenal I highly recommend.

Product works well for me with my acoustic guitar. The fx is a light chorus, decent power consumption. No issues with this device. I use a Dean acoustic pick up with 1/4 female to female adapter to this amplifier where I can use either headphones or onn bookshelf speakers by 3.5 mm aux plug either way rich sound and which you can raise to the desired volume lvl you want.

Doesn't have a huge assortment of features, but for the price does it's purpose and does it decently well for travelling. Rechargable, plug and play. Enjoy!

This is perfect! With ear buds or headphones it sounds like an acoustic electric. Perfect for stowing in the travel case and using when you want to be quiet but want to enjoy the richness of what the guitar can do. I wish I would have purchased one earlier.