“Endless possibilities for modern setups”: Donner’s Hush-X was lauded as the ultimate affordable travel guitar – now it’s been given a major upgrade
Lightweight and tonally versatile with onboard tones and effects, the Hush-X Pro shows the Chinese firm is continuing to push the envelope
NAMM 2025: Donner has announced the Hush-X Pro, a next-generation version of its widely acclaimed travel guitar the Hush-X, which adds new guitar and amp modeling, built-in effects and third-party IR options, all available via the guitar’s onboard electronics.
Unlike other recent travel guitar creations, Donner’s build doesn’t rely on foldability for its portability. That approach has delivered Mogabi's “game-changing,” tech-heavy smart guitar, Ciari Guitars’ Ascender Standard, which folds a full 180 degrees, and a guitar that folds into a briefcase, which is very James Bond.
Instead, Donner’s Hush guitars are pure guitars with slim bodies augmented by a newly upgraded detachable frame, thus turning a Steinberger-looking guitar into a more traditional silhouette. Its headless design, akin to Strandberg guitars and the ilk, ensures it packs away into a fairly small bag.
The Donner Hush-X, a lightweight headless electric guitar with a neck-through design and Alnico V pickups, launched in 2023, and remains one of the best travel guitars for your money today. Now, the Hush-X Pro takes several steps forward, while keeping its best-loved features.
Like its predecessor, it is crafted from mahogany, with two choices of fingerboards – high-grade roasted maple (on White models) or high-density engineered wood (Black). Both come with fretboards with 22 stainless steel frets.
There’s a C-profile for its neck-through design, and Donner Lab Alnico V Pickups, with a humbucker in the bridge, and a single coil in the neck.
However, recognizing that most players in the market for a travel guitar won’t want to take a pedalboard with them, Donner has added some handy extras to the Pro, with four electric guitar and three acoustic guitar tones, as well as a host of effects, all unlockable via the guitar’s onboard computer.
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Its “comprehensive effects chain,” includes an overdrive, amp simulation, reverb, delay, modulation (chorus, flanger, tremolo, autowah, and phaser), and an EQ. A total of 18 slots have been preserved for player presets, and 10 third-party impulse responses can be loaded onto the guitar at any one time.
The Chinese-based firm is targeting modern players with the Hush-X Pro, with amp modeling of classic tube amps and cabs ensuring “diverse sonic possibilities,” fall to the fingertips of whoever picks one of these guitars up.
Navigating the guitar’s settings, tones, and effects is made simple with a one-knob user experience for its OLED screen. It’s powered by a lithium battery, quickly rechargeable via USB-C, and a built-in tuner is a useful bonus, too.
It accommodates headphone jamming and Bluetooth playback. Players can also plug directly into amps, and there’s even a return loop for those who do want to bring pedalboards into the equation. On-the-go mobile connectivity is also on hand, as Donner looks to “provide endless possibilities for modern setups”.
Donner’s portable riff bringer weighs just 5 lbs., with its body boasting a comfort-first 45-degree bevel. Quick-release brackets also make storing the guitar away in a hurry a streamlined process.
“The HUSH-X Pro adapts to any musical environment, whether a guitarist is recording, practicing, or performing,” says Donner.
The Donner Hush-X Pro costs $299 and is available now.
Visit Donner for the full list of specs.
A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He's also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.
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