Meet Donner’s Hush-I Silent Guitar
The travel-ready headless instrument is a novel design weighing, as Guitar World Tech Editor Paul Riario says in this demo, “pretty much the same as a laptop and coming in a travel bag that’s as long as a yardstick.”
Transcript
00:00 (guitar playing)
00:02 What's up, Paul here from Guitar World,
00:11 and today we're going to be checking out
00:12 a travel-ready, headless guitar from Donner
00:15 that I'm currently obsessed with.
00:17 The Hush One Silent Guitar.
00:19 Let's check it out.
00:21 (explosion)
00:24 (guitar playing)
00:28 Donner makes a dizzying amount of musical products,
00:31 and the Hush One Silent Guitar
00:32 is a novel design from Donner,
00:34 weighing pretty much the same as a laptop
00:37 and coming in a travel bag that's as long as a yardstick.
00:41 It even comes with headphones.
00:42 (guitar playing)
00:45 (guitar playing)
00:52 (guitar playing)
00:55 Let's take a look at some of the key features of the guitar.
01:02 The first thing to note is, as I mentioned before,
01:04 is its matte-finished hush shape
01:06 that comes in either a maple or a mahogany body.
01:09 In this case, I have mahogany hush.
01:12 The neck has a progressive neck curvature
01:15 that encourages stress-free comfort for your wrist,
01:18 and 20 rounded frets that feel smooth
01:21 and won't nick you as you're playing.
01:23 The guitar comes with a piezo pickup
01:25 and Donner's custom-designed preamp
01:27 with two-band EQ adjustment
01:29 and phase button to eliminate feedback.
01:32 It also has a headphone output,
01:34 an aux MP3 input, and a guitar output.
01:38 It takes a nine-volt battery that'll last up to 50 hours.
01:42 Because of its headless design that's ideal for traveling,
01:45 the guitar does come with removable upper and lower frames
01:49 to convert it into a more traditional guitar,
01:51 and also to make it easy to play on your lap.
01:55 Let me show you how that's done.
01:56 (guitar playing)
01:59 So here are the two upper and lower frames,
02:03 and you can see they kind of follow that silhouette
02:07 of a traditional guitar body,
02:09 and I'll show you how that works.
02:10 Really quick, on the guitar itself,
02:15 there are two holes, one here,
02:17 one here for the upper, for the upper frame,
02:21 and then one drill hole for the bottom frame.
02:26 So it couldn't be simpler.
02:27 All you have to do is attach,
02:30 line it up to the holes, push down,
02:34 and the same goes for the bottom one.
02:38 Just like that.
02:41 And now we have a more comfortable
02:43 and traditional guitar silhouette.
02:45 Also, another great thing about the way this guitar
02:47 is the setup is great, 'cause the action's nice and low,
02:50 so you can really just solo on this as well.
02:53 (guitar playing)
03:16 You'll notice the tuners are headless
03:18 and are located at the bottom of the guitar,
03:20 so they are out of the way,
03:22 and reduce the chances of knocking it out of tune.
03:26 You'll also need to use the Allen wrench tuning key
03:29 to adjust the tuners and drop it back
03:31 into its hidden magnetic holder
03:33 once you're done tuning, like so.
03:36 Here is that magnetic Allen tuning key.
03:39 Sits here firmly, 'cause it's magnetic.
03:41 You just pop it out, and to simply, you know,
03:45 start moving the tuning gears, pop it in like that,
03:49 move it left or right, depending which way you're going.
03:52 Just follows suit, makes it easier.
03:54 You can use the actual headless gears
03:57 and move it back and forth,
03:59 only thing is, there's not enough grip,
04:01 so that's why you probably need a little bit more
04:03 of this tuning key to get a quicker travel.
04:07 What's really surprising is how full
04:08 and balanced the tone is coming
04:10 from the headless design guitar.
04:12 (guitar music)
04:16 The Hush One silent guitar is a fantastic guitar
04:18 because it appeals to all players.
04:20 If you're a beginner, it's great if you use
04:23 a headphone and aux inputs to quietly practice
04:25 and immerse yourself in its sound.
04:28 Or, if you're a more casual and advanced player,
04:31 it has a really comfortable neck profile
04:33 that allows you to freely move all across the neck
04:37 without any stress to your wrist.
04:39 And if you wanna take it out live,
04:40 the onboard two-band EQ is tailor-made
04:42 to take this guitar on stage.
04:45 (guitar music)
04:47 With a truly plug-and-play pickup system
04:55 and the ability to play anytime and anywhere
04:57 in utmost comfort, the Hush One silent guitar
05:00 is truly the ultimate portable, travel,
05:03 and gig-ready guitar.
05:05 Definitely check it out.
05:07 (guitar music)
05:09 (guitar music)
05:12 (guitar music)
05:15 (guitar music)
05:18 (upbeat music)
05:20 (upbeat music)