CA Cargo vs Klos Travel (no electronics)

[howband1948]

Anyone have any opinion in how these 2 guitars compare. Eapecialy tonewise. i am a flatpicker and Im looking for a travel guitar that’s relatively easy to dly with.

thanl you,

Howie

[Aspiring]

I have a Klos travel and played a Cargo once in a store.

The Klos is a well made guitar and the detachable neck make it much more compact for actually travelling and the gig bag is great for that as well. It is also incredibly light and compact. It definitely has a small guitar sound to it although I find the neck and setup very playable and enjoy it. The neck is also closer to full scale than the Cargo.

The Cargo definitely sounds much fuller and the neck is wider.

Between the two it's going to depend on whether compact travel is the priority or the tone.

[DaveVA]

I haven’t played the Cargo but I did play a Klos travel hybrid and would agree with Aspiring’s assessment. I have a CA GX full size guitar though and it’s very well built.

As another option it looks like Klos is now selling a Grand Mini cutaway that’s almost identical in size to a Taylor GS mini and has a detachable neck.

[howband1948]

Will the Kloss CF Travel fit in an overhead compartment w/o dethatching the neck. And, they talk about the neck being detachable w 4 screws. I cannot find a video showing the removing and reattaching of the neck. Is it convenient? My concern with a 3/4 or mini guitar (i.e. Taylor Mini) do not technically qualify as carry on. I don't want to show up with one of these and wind up having to check it w a soft case.

Are there other CF travel guitars that that will "for sure" qualify as a carry-on?

I'm NOT at all interested in electronics and would actually prefer a guitar w/o electronics.

Still searching...

How

[Aspiring]

Originally Posted by howband1948

Will the Kloss CF Travel fit in an overhead compartment w/o dethatching the neck. And, they talk about the neck being detachable w 4 screws. I cannot find a video showing the removing and reattaching of the neck. Is it convenient? My concern with a 3/4 or mini guitar (i.e. Taylor Mini) do not technically qualify as carry on. I don't want to show up with one of these and wind up having to check it w a soft case.



Are there other CF travel guitars that that will "for sure" qualify as a carry-on?



I'm NOT at all interested in electronics and would actually prefer a guitar w/o electronics.



Still searching...



How

The Klos travel is smaller than a GS mini in overall size with the neck attached. I keep mine on my sailboat where space is at a major premium. The other bonus for the Klos is the gig bag adds very little bulk so the overall size is kept down further.

Detaching the neck for air travel is not a big deal. You slap the travel capo on at first fret to keep the strings in place and then detension them. The bolts are on the back of the neck joint so very easy to get at. They have a long threaded portion so they do take a number of turns. But overall, only a couple of minutes to release the bolts or reattach. Klos has an ultra portable screwdriver that comes with the deluxe kit that works very well and it extremely compact.

For me, I find detaching the neck too much effort for short trips, mostly due to having to fully de-tension / tension the strings. But no big deal at all for occasional bigger trips like jumping on a plane.

As to carry on qualifications, I have done a business trip where I carried the Klos with neck detached inside a larger rolltop knapsack which obviously qualified as a carry on. It also has the bonus feature that it is perfectly capable of taking socks and or other clothes stuffed inside the body for travel.

[howband1948]

Thank you for this info. Very helpful!

[Frettingflyer]

The Journey Of660, and even the wood guitars that break down definitely “qualify” and fit the overhead on mainline aircraft(737,320 and up)
Worth a look.

[Aspiring]

To add to the comments with the Klos cutaway mini, I have also travelled with the Klos gig bag and my Klos dreadnaught and my Enya X4 pro.

With the necks detached both of those options would all qualify for us overhead bins albeit as your carry on not personal item.

The Klos cutaway mini looks like it would be a great compromise between size and tone.

The Klos travel will fit under seat in a flight the others I am not sure on.

I also think an Enya x3 or x4 mini with the Klos travel bag (which you can buy separately) would be a good airline option for occasional airline travel. However the neck bolts are less accessible and the neck is not as clearly setup for frequent detaching like the Klos. My issue with the Enya minis are the nuts are super small.

[DDW]

Does this not depend where you are? In the USA, by federal regulation, musical instruments are carry on if there is space in the cabin when you board, regardless of size. I think even a medium sized guitar in a hard case will fit in the typical overhead (say 737). Might not on a commuter flight. Might not if you are last to board.

Has anyone attempted to board a US airline and had their guitar refused? I've carried mine on a few times, no one even batted an eyelid.

[Aspiring]

Originally Posted by DDW

Does this not depend where you are? In the USA, by federal regulation, musical instruments are carry on if there is space in the cabin when you board, regardless of size. I think even a medium sized guitar in a hard case will fit in the typical overhead (say 737). Might not on a commuter flight. Might not if you are last to board.



Has anyone attempted to board a US airline and had their guitar refused? I've carried mine on a few times, no one even batted an eyelid.

I've had them push for making me use gate check with full size cases several times.

I've had them give me some grief on a guitalele once as well. That said my X4 pro had some troubles fitting physically in one of the overhead bins with the neck detached and no way it would have fit with the neck attached. All depends on the plane. A number of the domestic 737 I fly on regularly in the US have compartments that a GS mini would only fit in one side of the plane and take the entire compartment.

That said my full size Woolson sound in carbon case fit in the bins of the 737 I took back from Austin (taking the whole bin)

On top of that the difference in carrying a detached neck guitar around with your other luggage is noticeable in the airport vs even the same guitar in a regular gig bag.

Yes you can travel on a plane with larger instruments but speaking from a lot of experience the travel instruments are way less effort and hassle. Of course if your purpose in carrying the guitar is to perform at your destination for a larger audience then the extra hassle makes sense.

[mountainmaster]

Originally Posted by Aspiring

Klos has an ultra portable screwdriver that comes with the deluxe kit that works very well and it extremely compact.

My concern would be the screwdriver. A sharp pointy metallic object in your carry on luggage may be regarded as a possible weapon. It happened to me once in Italy. I was not allowed to board unless I left the small toolkit that I carried behind.

[Aspiring]

Originally Posted by mountainmaster

My concern would be the screwdriver. A sharp pointy metallic object in your carry on luggage may be regarded as a possible weapon. It happened to me once in Italy. I was not allowed to board unless I left the small toolkit that I carried behind.

While I've also run into this with an Allen key for a bicycle in Europe, Klos lists it as TSA approved and the policy is tools smaller than 7".

It is also the size of a quarter and about 1 inch long. Even if you did get hassled it's a Phillips screwdriver which would not be hard to come across anywhere in the world.

[mountainmaster]

Originally Posted by Aspiring

While I've also run into this with an Allen key for a bicycle in Europe, Klos lists it as TSA approved and the policy is tools smaller than 7".

It is also the size of a quarter and about 1 inch long. Even if you did get hassled it's a Phillips screwdriver which would not be hard to come across anywhere in the world.

I see. That is one tiny screwdriver.