low cost travel guitars ( easy carry on- stores easily )

[Tony Burns]

i see different guitars of decent quality for travel - but even thou some great guitars like taylor make minis
( which in most cases are still to big for easy carry on or overhead compartment )
their is not alot of choices for halfway decent guitars -thinking maybe one that folds in half for a couple hundred .
Love to travel -but hate the headaches associated with taking a full size instrument , which means on many trips it gets left home .
whats out their or coming down the turn pike ?
part of this question has to do with low cost choices -kinda in the though that if
a guitars not that exspensive but sounds good -it wouldn't be a catastrophy if something
happened to it .

[woodbox]

I've said it many times before, and I'll say it now..
pretty tough to beat a VoyageAir.

I have 3 of them currently and have owned a half dozen previously.
When I see one, I tend to buy it, and then pass them on to friends.
The 04 and 06 models have laminate back and sides and a Solid Spruce top, and sound quite good.
I keep an 02 model (all laminate) cuz it's less susceptible to the top cracking, and it goes camping, air travel,
and sometimes gets left all day in the car.

Full size guitars that play well and sound remarkably good...really.

For the last three years I’ve used a Gretsch Jim Dandy as my travel guitar. It was small and had a bluesy vibe, and was so cheap I really didn’t care if anything ever happened to it. But last week I played a Taylor GS Mini mahogany, and immediately traded in the Gretsch for it. This weekend I took it on a trip and actually performed with it, and it was awesome — it’s just SO much more of a “real” guitar in every respect; the tone and playability are absolutely first-class, and it fit in the overhead bin in its sturdy soft case without any issue at all. Wish I had gotten it sooner — it’s a keeper, for sure.

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by Tony Burns

....different guitars of decent quality for travel....thinking maybe one that folds in half for a couple hundred....

Dream on, amigo. Asking for a complex folding mechanism in a decent quality instrument and only for a couple of hundred bucks is asking a LOT. There are many options, but not at your budget. Maybe an inexpensive baritone ukulele?

My solution to traveling with a guitar is a used Seagull S6 in my least favorite Martin-embossed "steal me first" thermoplastic case. If something happens, the whole package is easily replaced from Craigslist for about $400. Actually my true solution was to stop traveling by air entirely - coming up on four years now since my last ever flight. I have to turn down a fair amount of work, and there will be many places and people that I will likely never see in person again, but air travel has become so much NOT FUN. Give me the dentist's chair without Novocaine any day.

[Skarsaune]

+1 on a Voyage Air.
Nice guitar that happens to have a hinge in the middle.
I put a K&K in mine, and it’s been from here to Norway and back.

[TokyoNeko]

This is a topic I've debated on personally for years, and there have been times I went back and forth between compactness and tonal compromise.

My thinking right now is that, instead of "compromising a little" on tone for a smaller guitar, I might as well go for no tone (at least when unplugged) and maximum portability. If I'm honest with myself, "compromising a little" on tone means I won't be ultimately satisfied with that guitar. So I might as well go with no expectations on tone, and focus on portability and versatility. I might be on a market for a Yamaha Silent in the future.

Now, if Voyager ever comes out with an all-solid Engelmann/EIR guitar, I might be interested in checking it out. But I don't see that happening anytime soon; Engelmann is more prone to dings and scratches than Sitka, hence not as suitable for what a Voyager is meant to be.

Anyway, here is a list of one man's pros/cons on some of the more popular options out there:

- Traveler

• Pros: Super compact storage
• Cons: No volume unplugged, mediocre tone plugged; awkward to play

- Yamaha Silent

• Pros: Compact storage; tons of sound options when plugged in
• Cons: No volume unplugged

- Voyager

• Pros: Size and tone of a full size guitar; commercial flight carry-on possible
• Cons: Still quite bulky, even in the custom backpack

- Little Martin / Baby Taylor / GS Mini / Yamaha CSF

• Pros: Fun to play; "good tone for its size"
• Cons: Very short scale; no guarantee of carry-on on flights; "good tone for its size"

- Carbon Fiber

• Pros: Extremely durable; good volume
• Cons: $$$; non-wood tone

[Oldguy64]

$600 will net you a brand new Journey Instruments OF420.
It is a full scale parlor sized guitar.
I have the CF version because most of our travel is by car and widely varied temperatures and humidity.
It’s twice the price of the wood version. And I still think it’s a great bargain.
The neck comes off. And the entire guitar fits in a backpack that will easily fit in the overhead of a commercial aircraft.
No worries about having to “gate-check” it.
And they sound better than their size would have you believe.
They also have a built in K&K style pickup. And it is suitable for performing.
https://youtu.be/3RtEv8dw0ss

[Earl49]

Good summary Neko. I once had a flash of insight: since Taylor uses bolt-on necks for the Big Baby (a decent full scale length guitar) why not take the neck off and put the whole thing in an indestructible Pelican case? Taylor was not keen on the idea, as the bolt inserts are not meant for repeated use by ham-fisted owners.

I also like the SKB i-Series flight case, but it alone exceeds the OP's budget. It is also big, heavy and bulky. My guitar flies in it while my less breakable clothing travels in a gig bag. On the other end, I stash the flight case and carry the guitar in the gig bag. That worked well the last few times that I flew.

[jaymarsch]

I do not travel a lot but if I did I think I would opt for a full-scale folding guitar such as the Voyage-Air or get a small carbon fiber guitar. As it is, I use a $600 parlor guitar in a hard shell case with a case cover. I gate check it and have not had any problems so far. Lots of choices and it just depends on what your priorities are in terms of budget, risk, sound and play-ability. Good luck on finding what works best for you.

Best,
Jayne

[Jim]

This model can be made nice and compact using the specialize precision tool that comes with it. You can see this specialized precision tool in the below photo along with the guitar in its taken down configuration.

[MChild62]

Originally Posted by TokyoNeko

This is a topic I've debated on personally for years, and there have been times I went back and forth between compactness and tonal compromise.

My thinking right now is that, instead of "compromising a little" on tone for a smaller guitar, I might as well go for no tone (at least when unplugged) and maximum portability. If I'm honest with myself, "compromising a little" on tone means I won't be ultimately satisfied with that guitar. So I might as well go with no expectations on tone, and focus on portability and versatility. I might be on a market for a Yamaha Silent in the future.

Now, if Voyager ever comes out with an all-solid Engelmann/EIR guitar, I might be interested in checking it out. But I don't see that happening anytime soon; Engelmann is more prone to dings and scratches than Sitka, hence not as suitable for what a Voyager is meant to be.

Anyway, here is a list of one man's pros/cons on some of the more popular options out there:

- Traveler

• Pros: Super compact storage
• Cons: No volume unplugged, mediocre tone plugged; awkward to play

- Yamaha Silent

• Pros: Compact storage; tons of sound options when plugged in
• Cons: No volume unplugged

- Voyager

• Pros: Size and tone of a full size guitar; commercial flight carry-on possible
• Cons: Still quite bulky, even in the custom backpack

- Little Martin / Baby Taylor / GS Mini / Yamaha CSF

• Pros: Fun to play; "good tone for its size"
• Cons: Very short scale; no guarantee of carry-on on flights; "good tone for its size"

- Carbon Fiber

• Pros: Extremely durable; good volume
• Cons: $$$; non-wood tone

This is a great list. To the category of "super-compact," I'd add the Snap-Dragon folding guitars. I've had both one of their electrics and now an acoustic. The advantages of the Snap-Dragon acoustic over the Traveler Ultra-Light is that volume is sufficient for playing by yourself in a hotel (you hear it but not the people in the next rooms) and it plugs in if you want to play out, or just increase the volume.

Snap-Dragon acoustic.jpg

The other advantage is by folding, it does not extend beyond the maximum length of overhead bags (around 50 cm).

https://snap-dragon-guitars.com/trav...gon-mini-traxe

The downside vs the Traveler UltraLight is that you have to tune it more often as a result of folding/unfolding. The Traveler just needs a little tweaking. And I also thought the Traveler neck (at least that I've tried) feel good.

I've said this before, if you are traveling for a few days and don't have the time to check a suitcase, ie, guitar and all your clothes and toiletries go into your carry-on bag, then the ultra-portables are the way to go. A Journey or Furch is great if what you really want is tone, but you have to give up room for a suit jacket, changes of shirts, pair of shoes, toiletries, etc and put it all into a checked bag.

[raysachs]

Everybody else has the acoustic side well covered, but I play acoustic and electric. I do what I can to avoid needing to take a guitar by air (drive on a lot of trips, store a cheap acoustic at my more distantly located daughter's place for when we visit, etc). But when I'm going to be gone a week or more and are not making a lot of stops - i.e., just going someplace and staying a while - I just keep a cheap telecaster around for such purposes. Any tele or strat will do, or maybe something else with a bolt-on neck.

I just unbolt the neck and stick the guitar and neck in my suitcase. I also have a little Blackstar Fly amp that sounds OK for this type of use. And a tiny pedal board I made with a small cutting board. It all fits easily in a checked bag, along with all of my clothes and stuff. Just take a screwdriver to put it back together and an extra set of strings...

Here's a tele I've used this way, and the tiny amp and pedalboard:

untitled-1-17 by Ray, on Flickr

unnamed by Ray, on Flickr

[lowrider]

Nobody mentioned the Dread Jr. It’s the best guitar in its class, the only solid one and it’s an easy traveler.

[MChild62]

Ray, that's an amazing rig!

But what about the weight? At least here in Europe, many airlines have limits for carry on bags, 8kg for budgets and Alitalia (grrr...), up to 15kg for Lufthansa. In looking at your set up there, I'm guessing that's a total of about 8kg (18 pounds).

When I used to travel with a folding electric, I would pack a Smokey amp. It's nowhere near the Blackstar Fly 3 in tone and versatility (or volume) but does the job... I have a plastic one that's the same size and a little more durable than the cigarette pack versions. Now with the acoustic, I just pack a headstock tuner or the Korg Beatboy, which has a tuner, metronome, drum machine, a looper, and even the world's smallest amp speaker (about a quarter of an inch).

Smokey amp.jpg

Korg Beatboy.jpg

If you ever see a guy alone in a row in the back section of an overnight flight with headphones and playing to himself, there's a good chance that's me...

Not to hijack the thread, but the ease of traveling with a guitar has made going on business trips so much more bearable and even enjoyable for me.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by MChild62

Ray, that's an amazing rig!

But what about the weight? At least here in Europe, many airlines have limits for carry on bags, 8kg for budgets and Alitalia (grrr...), up to 15kg for Lufthansa. In looking at your set up there, I'm guessing that's a total of about 8kg (18 pounds).

When I used to travel with a folding electric, I would pack a Smokey amp. It's nowhere near the Blackstar Fly 3 in tone and versatility (or volume) but does the job... I have a plastic one that's the same size and a little more durable than the cigarette pack versions. Now with the acoustic, I just pack a headstock tuner or the Korg Beatboy, which has a tuner, metronome, drum machine, a looper, and even the world's smallest amp speaker (about a quarter of an inch).

Attachment 23862

Attachment 23864

If you ever see a guy alone in a row in the back section of an overnight flight with headphones and playing to himself, there's a good chance that's me...

Not to hijack the thread, but the ease of traveling with a guitar has made going on business trips so much more bearable and even enjoyable for me.

I don't do it with a carry-on. For trips short enough that I'd only take a carry on, I figure I can do without a guitar. But a week or more, I'm gonna check a bag anyway. And even with a checked bag, the weight can be an issue. My wife and I have found ourselves partially unpacking at airport check-in counters and putting some of my heavier stuff in her bag and her lighter stuff in mine so that I stay under the weight limit. The Blackstar Fly weighs almost nothing, but the tele has some weight as does the little pedalboard. I'm mostly using a low cost thinline tele with P90s lately, so that cuts down a tiny bit. But it's a juggling act for sure.

I've thought about getting another Jim Dandy or something (had one once, loved it for what it was), but I already HAVE to carry on a CPAP machine and various other small medical necessities and adding the hassle of dealing with a guitar is more than I want to deal with.

I'm not sure if it's a thread hijack or not. If the OP absolutely wants to travel with an acoustic, it's not much help. But if we're just talking about taking a guitar along on a trip, it's an option worth considering. For four or five days I'll just go without playing, but a week or more I really want to be able to play. And I love playing electric every bit as much as acoustic, so for me there's no real sacrifice to it. This clearly doesn't work if you're doing a trip where you have to pack up and move every night or two, but we almost never do trips like that. We like to go someplace and stay put once we get there to get a bit more of a feel for the place, rather than bouncing from site to site.