C. F. Martin Company, the brilliant acoustic instrument company known for decades to produce quality instruments, also makes a small travel model called the Martin Backpacker guitar. These Backpackers are primarily known for their great portability and uniquely shaped body. The Backpacker comes in nylon-string and steel-string variations, with options for a pickup or left handed construction. Each Backpacker has a 24" scale and 15 frets, while each body has a solid mahogany back and sides, with a solid-spruce top.

The decision between nylon and steel strings is merely personal playing preferences. For someone who plays classical guitar or similarly styled music, they can expect to get sound proportional to price, as can the steel string players, out of this tiny, portable guitar. The body is small enough to be transported where-ever you're going. The classical nylon string Backpackers are going to have the common g-string problem, like its classical brethren from other manufacturers.

As to the body of this travel instrument, no one should expect the Backpacker to sound like their favorite dreadnought or even an "00" sized guitar. It's a travel guitar: that's what it's built for and that's what it sounds like. Compared to most travel instruments, however, the tone can be quite rich. The exception is the low E string, which can sound a bit dull with flat picking or fingerstyle.

The tone is mostly warm and responsive, especially with fingerstyle, but some owners have complained the flat picking tends to bring out a thinner, more metallic tone. Expect the sound to be a bit like a cross between a banjo and a small acoustic guitar. Replacing the strings with Martin Silk & Steel, rather than those provided by the manufacturer, can drastically improve the tone of the instrument.

One consequence of the Backpacker's build is that the guitar tends to tilt towards the headstock, which, due to the small body of a Backpacker, makes it sort of top-heavy. Some people have recommended moving the guitar strap up to the tuners or behind the nut to rectify this problem, but most playability issues get resolved when people stand up and play anyway. Most players aren't comfortable with balancing this guitar on their knee like a banjo, although this style works just fine.

If you're springing for the pickup on either the nylon or the steel string incarnations of these Martins, you'll find that the pickups sound really good and definitely improve the overall sense of the guitar's tone. The pickup option is also nice for college students or frequent coffeehouse players if they have access to plugging into the sound system but need a portable instrument.

These Backpackers are Mexican-made, but overall the quality hasn't been an issue for most people who buy the guitar. Minor adjustments such as nut and saddle height have been the most frequent repair that people have had to make or pay for, as well as an issue with bizarre nut angles that make the lower string have to be wound the wrong way.

Overall, the Martin Backpacker guitar is going to be subject to the same rule of thumb for all acoustics, which is the extreme variance in sound that can be achieved from guitar to guitar of the same model. Trying acoustic guitars in person is generally the way to go, especially for mass-produced instruments like this one, where you can discover the best-playing one of all those for sale.