Travel guitars - anyone got one/played one/recommend one?

Neill

That's it really, I'm not talking here about scaled down guitars with under 24" scale length, I mean stuff like that Traveller guitar and the Hohner shorty etc., acoustic or electric.  I need something where portability is the priority. 

Elwood

Shorty = super neck dive. I didn't like it and sold it within a week.

It's also not that small.

Sassafras

I had a Pignose guitar that I quite liked. Handy little built in amp was cool.

scrumhalf

Sassafras said:

I had a Pignose guitar that I quite liked. Handy little built in amp was cool.

I had one as well, really good for what it was.

thebreeze

Some people recommend taking the neck off a Fender and travelling with it like that.

BigLicks67

No recommendations apart from DO NOT GET A BABY TAYLOR.

andy1839

Elwood said:

Shorty = super neck dive. I didn't like it and sold it within a week.

It's also not that small.

Agree 100% 

I still have one that now lives in the attic. 
Awful to play, had to have the bridge post removed, dowelled and redrilled in the correct place to get the intonation anywhere near. 

I travel a lot and now just take a full size guitar with a pocket pod in the bag. 

stratman3142

I've got a Speedster Traveler guitar which I take on holidays as a part of my portable set up (picture below).

https://i.imgur.com/0E2aUcv.jpg

TTony

I had one of these for a while



Ministar.

It was surprisingly OK to play, and because the neck isn't compromised in any way, felt  fairly normal to play.

But I realised that most of my travelling was in the car, with a great big boot that could quite easily take a full size guitar in a gig bag, so I really didn't need a travel guitar.

Don't know if they're still around.

mistercharlie

Steinberger. The current wooden ones are good and cheap. The pickups are bland into an amp, but work surprisingly well into an amp sim. I use one with ToneStack on iPhone when traveling. 

Neill

mistercharlie said:

Steinberger. The current wooden ones are good and cheap. The pickups are bland into an amp, but work surprisingly well into an amp sim. I use one with ToneStack on iPhone when traveling. 

That's useful feedback @mistercharlie my plan is to just have the guitar plugged into Garageband on an ipad, but Tonestack looks interesting.

What interface do you use, just out of interest.  I have the Apogee JAM which I've had for a while, I wondered if there was anything significantly better these days.   

notanon

I've got a snapaxe by snapdragon that I bought from here. Google is your friend for review videos it is V1 it will easily fit inside the cabin overhead. I'm pleased with it.

further

I second the Hofner shorty comment,had one played once or twice,sold on.

mistercharlie

Neill said:

mistercharlie said:

Steinberger. The current wooden ones are good and cheap. The pickups are bland into an amp, but work surprisingly well into an amp sim. I use one with ToneStack on iPhone when traveling. 

That's useful feedback @mistercharlie my plan is to just have the guitar plugged into Garageband on an ipad, but Tonestack looks interesting.

What interface do you use, just out of interest.  I have the Apogee JAM which I've had for a while, I wondered if there was anything significantly better these days.   

I have a Line 6 Sonic Port, which I like, because it has lots of ins and outs. It doesn’t charge the iPad or iPhone though, and it doesn’t work with regular USB (no available cable). 

markv

I'll second the Steinberger, on size anyway - when I used to travel a lot I had a Hohner G3T and a Line 6 Pocket POD. The guitar was small enough to go in an overhead locker on a plane, the POD small enough to fit in, well, a pocket. Mind you, this was about 6 years ago, I've heard some airlines are a lot fussier about what you take on board these days.

barnstorm

The Ministars caught my eye a few years ago also. They were sold in the UK by Play Away, so they do occasionally pop up on eBay. I'd point you in the direction of the Play Away site, but sadly the owner has died. He seemed a nice bloke when I called for a chat; I was specifically interested in the Jazzstar, but it wasn't available at the time.



TheBone is a similar but much more expensive design, and Hirsch makes a monstrously expensive option – but I assume that, just as I was, you're after something cheap and cheerful. The Pignose ticks that box. It's a good laugh. So, too, I imagine, is the Fernandes Nomad, but I've not played one of those.

Frizer

Try a Yamaha SLG. The neck is a little thick but it ticks most boxes.

adampeter

thebreeze said:

Some people recommend taking the neck off a Fender and travelling with it like that.

This everytime

simonk

I bought @TTony ‘s Ministar from him and I like it a lot... it’s been on many family holidays with me. Assembling it is a little tedious and I will concede it does look a bit ridiculous.
I also have a Traveler Guitars EG1 which is great too and requires no assembly prior to playing. It’s an utter bastard to restring though.

This is the original and best though... (not that I’ll be taking it traveling).

Xsmnmy

Check out Snap Dragon gtrs - they have quite a range, the Gibson scale neck rotates 180 degrees: clever design - I have this one which has a piezo, but they do solid electrics too

folds to carry-on size


this one is cool:
http://www.snap-dragon-guitars.co.uk/snap-dragon-e-flite-3-p.asp

pigface

Voyage-Air, perhaps? An old mate of mine uses one professionally in the States and loves it:

http://www.voyageairguitar.com/