Considering Travel Guitar

[bsman]

Ive had three ‘travel’ guitars - a Go Guitars grande (they’re out of business, I think), an Emerald X7 CF, and a non-CF Journey overhead. They’re all different, but all were/are fantastic travel guitars.

[rstaight]

Thank you all for your post so far. A lot of nice suggestions.

Still wanting some thoughts on the Taka-mini. That may be the easiest one for me to get my hands on and give it a try.

[Juliussharpe]

I love my Blackbird Rider (carbon fiber, fits easily under coach airplane seat). Having been through a few smaller guitars, I highly recommend if you can find one in your budget.

[BT55]

If you want a reasonably priced full size travel guitar there's only one choice, Voyage-Air. Packs in a backpack, solid top and laminated sides and back. I've traveled extensively with one and it's great.
If you want a bulletproof travel guitar CF is your best choice for at about 1k more.

[CoastStrings]

If you don't need to play it acoustically, how about a Yamaha silent guitar (SLG200S)? You use headphones or plug it into an amp. The mic-modeling makes it sound like an acoustic.

One of the wings can be detached to make it easier to travel with. But it is as long as a regular guitar (which might be a negative since it's not as short as a 3/4 guitar, or a plus since you don't have to adjust to the scale).

Obviously, it being a solid-body with a truss-rod means that you no longer have to worry about humidity.

This is one of the better unboxing and thoughtful feature tests I've seen.

[JackC1]

Can a 3/4 sized guitar air travel easily? It seems too long and risk damage in the overhead. Or as a checked bag, then it won't fit into any suitcase and needs its own flight case.

I recently flew with a Traveler Speedster guitar. The guitar fits into my backpack. This guitar also fits into my suitcase should I want to check bags.

It's solid-body electric so it can take a lot more abuse than an acoustic. I have no problems letting it bump around in the overhead.

It's similar price to your Taka-mini (right now, it's on sale for $400)

https://travelerguitar.com/products/speedster-deluxe

It's got a built-in amp, so if you fly with headphones, you can play the guitar when bored in the airport But more importantly, you can connect it to any speaker or sound system and play at your destination.

It's not acoustic, but that also means you can play your heart out in the hotel at anytime.

[davidbeinct]

I’m on travel right now and my Taylor Baby was easy to carry on Southwest. It’s very boxy sounding and now that I’m playing it this much it’s definitely heading for a setup but it’s proven easy to take on a plane.

[renoslim]

My voyage-air has been all over the world. It is the one that actually sound GOOD when you get where you are going. This last trip (Viking Bucharest to Amsterdam) I even had the chance to repair it. I have "Gate checked" the guitar many times but got blind sided in Frankfurt for the flight to Bucharest. They SAID gate check but ran it through the conveyor system. Headstock break !!.

My first UBER ride was to the the Romanian "Home Depot" for glue and clamps. Facinating place. Where our stores have barbeques out front this "Home Depot" had a large variety of stills on hand (for brandy).

After lots of interesting gesturing we got what we needed. We were going to be in Bucharest a few days so i glued and clamped her up.

The break was not complelely through so it came out OK.

I was reminded of all the glue discussions here on the forum. All I could be sure of was that it was "white" glue

Still going strong.

This story reminds us that we cannot control all aspects of travel. (especially overseas). There will be times you will not get your guitar into the passenger compartment. I is not always about size. For me , I was something worth the trouble of hauling it. The Voyoage-Air is that for me.

Lee

[RLetson]

I've been flying with guitars for more than 20 years, and I see two factors: the size of the guitar and the sturdiness of the case. For a full-size instrument--one that in the current travel environment* will almost certainly not fit anywhere in the cabin--it's the case that matters most, and that means something more resistant to the whole range of hazards (impact and crush primarily) that a baggage system can present.

For guitars that *might* be cabin-stowable (Baby Taylor or GS-Mini class or even a size 1 Martin), a fairly light but sturdy case is still necessary. I've heard plenty of anecdotes about getting along with well-padded gig bags, but carrying them on depends on the size of the aircraft and the tolerance of flight crews. In my recent experience, gate-checking has been the rule, and that means that even with a tough and travel-friendly guitar, I don't feel comfortable with anything but a drop/crush-resistant case--and my favorite line (Saga's Travelite, mentioned upthread) seems to be out of production.

* Smaller aircraft on many routes, reduced overhead space even on long-haul aircraft, and fuller flights, leading to increased competition for whatever space there might be. There was a time when I could actually fit a full-size SuperCase in the overhead on long-haul domestic flights, but recently even the closet is too small for that.

[Chipotle]

I just bought an Enya Nova Go as a travel/camping guitar. It's carbon/composite and listed as a "1/2 size"; overall length 35", 3" deep, 23-1/8" scale. It does have a narrow nut, just 1-5/8". It's well made and sounds pretty good for its diminutive size, not like a toy at all and certainly better than something like a Martin Backpacker.

It lists for $230, but can be had regularly for $200 and I picked it up for $160 on sale.

There are several threads on it in the Carbon Fiber forum here right now, and a number of YouTube video reviews you can search for.

[MikeMcKee]

I've got a Rainsong Parlor that has worked really well for me. But, just looking now it appears the prices have really shot up on them.

[stuartb]

The only travel guitar that i have run across that wasn’t hugely disappointing was a voyage air guitar - and the only reason i had to sell mine was i needed a nut width of 1 13/16. They max out at 1 3/4 last time i checked. it’s all about the guitar that’s in your hands when you get there.

stuart.

[lapetrarca]

Another vote for the Guild Jumbo Junior. Loving mine with Maple back and sides, solid Spruce top.