Ultra-Light Traveler Guitar

[Jim Soloway]

Thinking of one of these for some upcoming travels. Anyone tried one in person? Does the lap rest put it in a decent playing position?

[medblues]

I have two of the regular light ones (nylon and steel string), I felt like the lap rest was going to be more of a nuisance and postural issue than a strap so I got dedicated straps for them.

[Woody Sound]

I wouldn't know what to do with my right arm. Would be more comfy on something that folds up, like this. JMO

Silent Electric Traveler Guitar Folding Wings, Nylon String w/Gig bag EC-1 | eBay

[Badge]

I have one. I find the balance is not as good as it could be. you have to support the neck with your left hand. The other traveler guitars don't suffer this though.

[JakeAcci]

I LOVE mine. It is not the most comfortable to play for long periods but I find it makes up for that in how incredibly convenient and light it is. I can fit it in a backpack, I can play it in an airline seat.

I think mine is called the ultra lite pro

[marcwhy]

Look at the Aria models (licensed by Soloette!).

[jasaco]

I have the Traveler Guitar (EG-1) pictured here: Traveler Guitar EG-1 Blackout Travel Electric Guitar Black | Musician's Friend

It doesn't need a lap rest and I find it comfortable to play and great when I'm traveling, to practice in hotel rooms, etc.

I have it on offer for sale locally but was thinking of keeping it after all. I guess I'm still on the fence about it so if you're interested, let me know. They sell for $399 at Musicians Friend and I'm asking $279 for mine in perfect condition.

[JSP737]

I have one of the original ones that had a wooden lap rest instead of the wire one. I will say it's well made, highly portable, and a good practice tool. My two biggest complaints are that it goes out of tune quickly, and it's just a little small to comfortably hold.
I also have a Traveler Guitar EG-2 Mini Strat that I take everywhere with me (airline pilot), and I like it much better. Much easier to hold and stays in tune better. Works great for travel plugged into an Ipad though an iRig.
Traveler Guitar EG-2 (Sunburst)
JP

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[PatrickB]

I have the Traveler Speedster (in red) and like it a lot for just picking up and playing. I put on 11-50 flatwounds so that it feels more like a jazz axe. It is lightweight, so wearing a strap you can pretend that it is a budget ergo guitar due to its headless design. I've taken it on flights as carry on luggage, since the soft case is only 30" long.

Down side is the blade mini humbucker pickup is located at the bridge; it sounds kind of twangy without some processing using EQ or preamp.

[GNAPPI]

I also have a Traveler Guitar EG-2 Mini Strat that I take everywhere with me (airline pilot), and I like it much better. Much easier to hold and stays in tune better. Works great for travel plugged into an Ipad though an iRig.
Traveler Guitar EG-2 (Sunburst)
JP

I had never seen that one, with a neck pup you could put a strat sized bucker to get away from the Strat sound. I have no problem with the strat sound, but I have enough strats, another would not work well. Thanks!

[kris]

The best travel guitar is Frameworks.
It is not only the travel guitar but also it is a great instrument for any gig.
Best
Kris

[medblues]

I spent a lot of time with the dimensions of travel guitars. In my opinion, a headstock and any real estate below the bridge is "wasted opportunity" for compactness adding too many inches to the total length. Some companies try to compromise with scale length.

Traditional tuners in the back of the guitar (strings wrap around) or Klein/Steinberger style tuners at either end is the way to go.

For that reason, I prefer the Traveler Escape, Klein/Steinberger and Miranda (discontinued?) models.


http://www.miranda-tech.com/images/pic2.jpg

http://www.guitar-planet.co.uk/wp-co...S-2FA-900b.jpg

[Bach5G]

The price on the Framework is impressive as well.

[marcwhy]

The best travel guitar is Frameworks.
It is not only the travel guitar but also it is a great instrument for any gig.
Best
Kris

I'm pretty sure we can't get those (legally) in the States, but maybe Jim (the OP) can get one in Canada? [There have been licensing/trademark disputes between Soloette and Frameworks, hence the problem.]

[Jim Soloway]

I guess it's really a question of what we (my wife and I) are going to do with our lives over the next few years (a question that is much more up in the air than any of you might think). If we are going to be settled (here or elsewhere) then a travel guitar is just something to keep my hands in shape and the musical part of my brain semi-active while we travel a bit. In that case I want something inexpensive and really easy to travel with that is more comfortable than the Traveler Sonic L-22 that I have now. If we're going to make our lives significantly less rooted and more mobile than we have been (a possibility) then I become more interested in what would be the highest quality instrument that I could get my hands on. At the moment the former looks more likely than the latter (although definitely not a certainty). If that's the case then something for less than $400 US would be appropriate. If we decide to really become retired vagabonds, then something like the Framework (or something similarly priced) becomes much realistic.

[Jim Soloway]

The deal is done. I got an e-mail from Sam Ash today giving me $50 off a purchase of $299 or more so i moved up one level to the acoustic/electric hybrid with the wood lap rest.

[JakeAcci]

congrats Jim, that is exactly the model I have. You can fit in a backpack, store it at your feet under a plane, leave it in a cold car all winter. For the price especially I think you will be pleased. I also have convinced several of my students to get this model or its variants.

[JakeAcci]

something somewhat ironic is that hte guitar would be very comfortable to play if that wooden rest could simply be angled slightly. I wrote to traveller about this and they did not respond.

[jetrier]

Has anyone tried the Traveler Pro Deluxe with the dual-rail humbucker?

Traveler Guitar Pro-Series Deluxe (Mahogany) - Full-Scale Hybrid Guitar – Traveler Guitar

I'm wondering if it sounds better than the single coil model which is too bright for my taste. I'm sure that moving the pickup to the neck would do the trick, but that's out of the question. Maybe dialing in enough acoustic along with the humbucker would get good jazz tones

[Doctor Jeff]

Check out the Voyage Air guitars--acoustic and electric. I have the acoustic mini-dread version, and would highly recommend it. The hinge mechanism is ingenious, and virtually undetectable unless you're looking for it. It's not only a great travel guitar, it's a great guitar for the price. I have a soundhole pickup just in case I want to amplify. I think it would do just fine for jazz--it's got more of a mellow Taylor sound than a boomy Martin sound.

Best travel guitar by Voyage Air - as seen on Shark Tank - the guitar that folds in half for easy travel

Having had one, I would never want to compromise on size and functionality. If the electric is as good as the acoustic, and I don't see why it wouldn't be, that would be my recommendation.

[jzucker]

i had one and hated it. The kiesel Zeus is a much better instrument and nearly the same size.

[Doctor Jeff]

I should say I have never tried one of the Traveler guitars, other than seeing them in guitar stores. Most people seem to like them. So not dissing them, I just like the size of a full size guitar.

[Jonah]

A few years ago I checked different options. Traveler is a nice conception but imho not really the most optimal realization and overpriced.


As a result I bought used Aria Sinsonido that I eventually modified step by step - first I installed humbucker then changed bridge and tuners...
It is one of the most comfortable electric guitar I ever played.. and it sounds cool now, it became one not only for travel.
Their bag is nice but later when I carried it a lot I made more compact one - it looks now as I am carying folded fishing rod or a shotgun something like that.


And the neck is detachable (if you want to do it very often you have to install threaded inserts),
when it was really needed (some lowcoster flight) - I managed to put it into soprano uke bag!

It also moved me into headless guitars.

[mje]

I’ve owned two Ultralights, one “acoustic” (piezo bridge) and one electric. They’re handy to travel with, as they easily fit in a suitcase, and kind of fun to play, but a hassle to tune and a major annoyance to restring- I scratched and stabbed my hands up worse than restringing a Rick 12.