Travel Guitars?

**Joe Carlson** · 09-17-2012, 11:43 AM

Wow! Thanks for all the input everyone. There's a lot of really good stuff out there. At this point I'm kinda leaning towards a cheapo Steinberger.

**kris** · 09-17-2012, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by henkkicken

Wow Kris monogamous ! Wouldn't call that a problem ... Haha, just kidding, I heard you play the Frameworks; like your playing and the axe sure sounds great. Take care

+1

**konstantine** · 09-18-2012, 03:49 AM

Originally Posted by marcwhy

No one's mentioned these yet, and since price is not a factor in this thread, here goes: Kinal Kompact Guitar

have you tried this? I can't find any clips anywhere.

**marcwhy** · 09-18-2012, 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by konstantine

have you tried this? I can't find any clips anywhere.

No, but I've known people with other Kinal guitars, and they're well made. Here's a clip on the site: http://kinal.dreamhosters.com/pdf/sc-kompact.mp3 Sounds like the pickup model.

**Rustic** · 09-28-2012, 03:03 PM

I love my Soloette Jazz Songbird. It's so comfortable to play that I'm using it as my main practice ax. I can get up and make a cup of coffee with it strapped on. It also sounds good enough amplified to gig on, it's warm - even with the volume and tone knobs opened up. When you add their great customer service, and the fact that you can carry it on a plane, you can't really go wrong.

**Steve Z** · 09-28-2012, 08:35 PM

Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff

... Why not take an inexpensive Tele and unbolt the neck, then fold it up with a towel or pad to protect the strings, and put it in a padded bag - gig back for viola or small scale guitar, etc.? you could even pack it with luggage.

I have heard of this being done, in fact I think a good business opportunity would be to design a folding case for just such a purpose. I'm not sure you would even need to remove the strings if you pad it properly.

This is exactly what I was thinking. There is no rocket science involved with removing the bolts that hold a tele neck onto the body. Place a capo on the 1st or 2nd fret, loosen the strings, remove the bolts, fold the neck and pack. Install in reverse order...

**henkkicken** · 09-29-2012, 07:09 AM

Originally Posted by Rustic

I love my Soloette Jazz Songbird. It's so comfortable to play that I'm using it as my main practice ax. I can get up and make a cup of coffee with it strapped on. It also sounds good enough amplified to gig on, it's warm - even with the volume and tone knobs opened up. When you add their great customer service, and the fact that you can carry it on a plane, you can't really go wrong.

Could not agree more ! I experienced GREAT customer service; answering my questions and good advice

**Anandbhat** · 09-29-2012, 10:17 AM

Can't say enough good things about my new Taylor GS mini. Comes with a great gig bag too.

Here's a link to somebody playing gypsy jazz on a mini:

**SevenStringJazz** · 10-06-2012, 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by FrankLearns

Yes, Frameworks guitars *are* expensive. Yet they are pieces of art and they are high-end quality gear. Call it snobish, but to me it is just wonderful to have a nice instrument with me that plays nice, sounds nice and looks nice so that i have real fun playing it while i am on the road (which is a lot). It is the only way for me to ensure that I consistently practice and make progress. I had a crappy short scale guitar for travelling before and it killed all of the fun while travelling. I understand perfectly well that the price tag might well be prohibitive - but to say these guitars don't make sense is too harsh IMHO. Its a pro quality instrument that in the hands of a good player (not me) is perfectly worthy of gigging with.

FRAMEWORKS! I could not agree more. Frank built me a custom 7-string JazzFrame earlier this year. It's a true work of art and also a serious gigging/recording instrument. I love it! It's incidentally great as a travel guitar yet so much more.

**kris** · 10-07-2012, 02:02 AM

Frameworks are just great instruments.

**SevenStringJazz** · 10-07-2012, 09:03 PM

FRAMEWORKS 7-string Jazz Frame

**SevenStringJazz** · 10-10-2012, 10:26 PM

One cool thing about the Frameworks is the ability to play a true glissandi (not talking hammer on) from an open string to the first fret. This works because of the zero-fret and the fact that there is basically no nut between it an the uber-smooth string holder.

**RyanM** · 10-11-2012, 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by calgarc

what about ken parker archtops... the neck coems right off

A $30,000 guitar ain't leaving the house!

**Keira Witherkay** · 10-11-2012, 01:24 AM

well i have spent about 14 yrs of my life travelling the world ...... and playing music ....... ..... i also find travel guitars interesting and of course have been tempted by a few , even thought of getting one built at one stage ....

however i have yet to travel anywhere in the world where i could not take a fullsize guitar in a good case...... be it london or bangkok or johannesburg , and these days with the arrival of nice sounding small batterry powered amps........ a thin solid/semi hollow body electric is easily the best to travel with......

and of course you won't be travelling with your $5000 L5

but buy a cheap ibanez AF 55 or the likes that will keep you strumming away with a jazz guitar that costs a mere $300 or less and if it's damaged it's a small price .

but in all my years of travel and with pro intruments as most of my travels were to perform ... just invest in an skb case they have protected my gear and only once on a trip to dubai did the case get broken on the one corner but the fender inside was 100% intact and i also travel with acoustics in skb cases ... as i went through a flamenco /world music stage a while back and never an issue even travelling with delicate acoustics if they in skb type cases.............

so what i'm saying is travel guitars are fun and interesting but unless you touring on a bicycle/motor bike not neccessary .......

buy a good case and a cheap but playable archtop/thinline and either use a pocketpod/korg pandora /mobile cube/ vox mini3 /zt lunchbox jr ....all mobile and batterry powered and you have sound on the go and for a jazz player why play anything else than a jazz guitar

the last method i have used once is when i travel to a place........... i don't travel with a guitar but when i arrive i simply visit the nearest music store that has 2nd hand gear but something i like and sell it just before i leave ...even easier ifyou gonna be in one place for a few months

but yes the travel guitar market is in my mind purely a money spinner unless as i mentioned you travellling on foot or with a bicycle ..........

**kris** · 10-11-2012, 02:01 AM

Originally Posted by SevenStringJazz

FRAMEWORKS 7-string Jazz Frame

nice pic!

**Kojo27** · 10-11-2012, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by Keira Witherkay

but yes the travel guitar market is in my mind purely a money spinner unless as i mentioned you travellling on foot or with a bicycle ..........

I won't argue with you, Keira, but I know of one case (maybe not an exception, given the "foot or bicycle" caveat) that's so cool, IMO, I have to share it. He's a member of our forum and a super-talented player, a Brit who, after suffering some of the "occupational hazards" of being an artist, finally got it together and is learning to read music and has his eye on working in NYC, perhaps as a studio player.

What's he up to now? Now he has moved from England - to practice. To woodshed his ass off. For a long time now (2 years?) he and his gal have lived in Vietnam - cheap - where he can practice 6 hours a day or more and read his brains out. And his guitar is a Martin backpacker - and that's it. I don't know that an Artcore would have survived what the backpacker has - perhaps so. But his videos sound wonderful - the Backpacker w/a PC mic dangling inside the soundhole and plugged into his Macbook.

Maybe he'll let me link one of the vids here. You guys gotta see this. Dedication to art - living in Vietnam to avoid distractions, to learn to read, to hone chops, to learn software - to reach his potential as a guitar player.

**Keira Witherkay** · 10-12-2012, 12:39 AM

Oh yeah , there are exceptions to every point i made but i did mention that my perspective did not apply if you a touring cyclist or walking the world , or climbing kilamnjaro but truth or fact is most travellers fly , catch cabs and stay in hotels where a guitar case of normal size is no prob but yes there are exceptions

that said , please send me a link so i can hear him , as a fellow traveller i would be keen to follow his progress , btw i travel to thailand regularly since i love it , and like vietnam its cheap , and i take full size guitars with me which survived the rainy season and heat , btw singapore nearby has some fabulous jazz ,

and one of my current students a very nice jazz player has a yamaha silent guitar which is also a framework style guitar and its the steel string version and i played it a few times and coaxed a very acceptable jazz tone out of it despite it only having a piezo pickup , and it has reverb and headphone amp onboard

**SevenStringJazz** · 10-14-2012, 06:41 PM

Here's a recording of me playing the Frameworks Jazz Frame 7 done yesterday.

**yebdox** · 10-16-2012, 12:16 AM

+1 on the Steinberger Spirit - replaced the pickups with Seymours, added push pull coil tap... very versatile and rugged. You can defend yourself on the streets of Pnom Penh from aggressive pick pockets and still stay in tune. Not sure what they are up to in price, but it works for me. Had a Martin electric Backpacker... couldn't get past the banjo tone, although it did allow me to do a pretty good imitation of Bela Fleck as a guitarist. There's no way to hold the Martin... seems designed to defy gravity. Would be useful at NASA as a re-entry vehicle design, I would think.

**Kojo27** · 10-16-2012, 12:30 AM

Originally Posted by yebdox

+1 on the Steinberger Spirit - replaced the pickups with Seymours, added push pull coil tap... very versatile and rugged. You can defend yourself on the streets of Pnom Penh from aggressive pick pockets and still stay in tune. Not sure what they are up to in price, but it works for me. Had a Martin electric Backpacker... couldn't get past the banjo tone, although it did allow me to do a pretty good imitation of Bela Fleck as a guitarist. There's no way to hold the Martin... seems designed to defy gravity. Would be useful at NASA as a re-entry vehicle design, I would think.

Check this guy out - he got the Backpacker that *doesn't* sound like a banjo, I guess. Heh. Plus, he's miking it inside the soundhole, I think. Take a listen:

**yebdox** · 10-16-2012, 10:30 AM

He plays well and seems like a happy guy, so he gets my vote, but I think he got the "Uke" model. (actually, the "switchable Uke/Banjo mode" requires that you pick closer to the neck - I forgot it had that "built in" feature!) Can be a fun tone, just not that inspiring to me. Thanks for posting it!