Conference napalm::guitar

    Has anybody ever tried a "travelling guitar"?  I've seen several
    ads recently for such things, which basically consist of a full
    size guitar neck with a reduced size acoustic body, which makes
    them easier to transport.  The ones I have seen advertised have
    very thin, narrow, and somewhat short bodies.  The idea is that
    they are very convenient to drag around on planes and things like
    that.
    
    Obviously the sound quality must suffer, but I'm curious to know
    if any of these instruments have any utility at all.  If anyone
    has seen or played one of these oddities, I'd like to know how they
    felt about it.
    
    - Ram
    

    I think I remember reading something awhile back that said Keaggy had a
    Chiquita travel guitar.  What you described sounds like one.  It's a
    little bitty thing shaped like an exagerated coke bottle, one pickup
    and a short scale.
    
    Van Halen used on on the song Little Guitars and Michael J. Fox had one
    in the infamous "giant speaker" scene in "Back to the Future" (the
    first one).
    
    There are several small guitars around designed for travel, but the
    disadvantage with many of them is the goofy short scale. 
    Stewart-McDonalds sells kits to build three or four body style models
    with a 16.5 inch scale length.  I think the kits were about $150 or so.
    
    Another option something like a Steinberger headless guitar copy.  I
    think that would be ideal for travel.  I believe Hohner still makes
    one.
    
    Greg

    I'm not sure what a Chiquita is, but it is shaped like a mini-Les Paul.
    He used it on "Play Thru Me - 'Papa Song'", "The Wind & The Wheat - 'Shore 
    to Shore'" as well as "Underground - 'Paid in Full'" which he does on the 
    video.
    
    If you Coloradians wish, I can bring it with me next week (the video).
    
    Mike

    
    
    		Robin guitars makes a short scale guitar. Looks like
    	a mini strat. If memory serves me, they run about $350.00.
    
    	DonH
    
    

    
    Yeah, EVH played one of those mini Pauls for "Little Guitars".
    And if my memory serves me right, I think it's exactly 1/2 of 
    the full size Paul.  
    
    I think these tiny axes are cool.  I've considered gettin' a kit
    from Stu-Mac...
    
    J.

    I've seen Ricky Scaggs,the country guitarist/multi instrumentalist,play
    a tiny Tele,about the size of a mandolin,and it had a 'B bender fitted.
    Also Ry Cooder regularly plays slide on a half-size electric,I've seen
    it live and on video,but can't make out the model(looks like a mini
    Vox)
    

    The instrument Ricky Scaggs plays is a Fender "Mandocaster". 
    
    The mini guitars generally have necks which are normal width, only the 
    scale length of the neck changes. The mini Les Pauls I've seen have
    one humbucking pickup, and the mini Strats have two singles. Stewart
    Mac now offers mini Flying V's, mini Explorers, and a *mini-Bass*.
    Guild came out with a strange little Bass a couple years back that
    uses Silicon Strings. It produced incledibly low pitch sound for
    an instrument only about 24" long
    
    I agree that a Steinberger headless (The small one with no body wings) 
    makes a better travel-guitar than one of these mini-guitars. Even the 
    Steinberger with body wings fits into an incedibly small package. My 
    cousin uses one, and when I got into his car one day, I thought he had 
    a racquet-ball racquet on the seat, when in fact it was his guitar.
    Of course, these are a lot more money than most of the mini guitars. 
    The Hohner copies can be picked up used for around $300.
    
    Mark

    Re: .6
    
    A Hohner G3T (Strat pickup setup) is in the MA WantAdvertiser right now
    for $175.....
    
    East Coast Sound was advertising these awhile ago for $350 or so with
    gig bag.
    
    The Chiquitas were originally expensive custom jobs made by luthier Dan
    Erlewine; then Hondo got the rights to crank them out; they even made a
    six-string bass model!!  Despite the short scale, they are tuned to
    concert pitch; the Robin mentioned is an "octave guitar", i.e. tuned an
    octave up.  There were also some mini-Paul and Strat guitars coming out
    of Japan under the D'Mini name a few years ago, and Silver Street made
    a Chiquita clone called the Taxi as well. 
    
    							Brian

The Chiquita company was in part owned vby Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Last time
I saw top he played a bright yellow one (maybe that's where I got the 
inspiration for a yellow tele) on several tunes.

There were several other companies that made them also. Most of them 
didn't intonate well, used cheeze dog electronics and needed meduim to
heavy gage strings to get a tension that was consistant with a light
gage string on a full size.

Wish I had one....

dbii

    My expierience{sp?} with mini guitars is that they are very tough
     to keep in tune.
                 

    
    	Rick Levine, guitarist for The Limit, owns probably exactly
    what you're looking for. He called it a "backpack" guitar and said
    it was his beach guitar and I guess he got it from somewhere in
    Albany N.Y.
    
    	It looked to me to be maybe 3/4 scale with a ukealele body.
    Not to much on sound projection, but who cares when you're flying
    on an airline?
    	
    	Has anyone else heard of the "backpack" guitar?
    
    	Joe
     

    I remember seeing one like that made by a guy in New Jersey, he even
    had twelve string and 5-string banjo versions!!!  He used to advertise
    in GP.  
    
    They are built pretty cheaply (plywood) and with the small bodies sound
    pretty weird, but for their intended purpose....
    
    							Brian

    The best small guitar I've seen/played is owned by our very own
    Greg House!!!  I forget the make of it, but it was a very well built
    guitar that sounded nice to boot!
    
    I want one.
    
    Buck, who could be doing speed scales on his way to Dallas Tuesday! ;^(

	I believe the "backpack" guitar is made by Vagabond Guitars.  I
	tried one of these out at the Newport Folk Festival.  They had
	a stand there.  Actually they were quite well made and sounded
	pretty good considering how small they were.  They actually have
	a full size scale fretboard.  They only reason they are so small
	is cause the body is small.  After I played it for a few minutes
	I found it very easy to get used to.  It played just like a 
	regular guitar.

	These are acoustic guitars by the way.  You can get one with a
	built in pickup though.  I believe the price on them started at
	just below $300 for a stripped down one.  

	_gary

    re: .12
    
    Wanna buy it?  Dan's (.0) considering it now, maybe you guys can make 
    competating offers on it.
    
    ;^)

    
    Capitalism at its best!!!
    
    J.

    	Out of curiosity...
    
    	If one were to find a cheap used guitar, say, a strat type by one
    of the cheap makers (Memphis, Cort, Harmony, etc.) that had a playable
    neck...  Would there be any harm (apart from the appearance) in cutting
    into the body (and perhaps the headstock) to reduce its length and
    width?
    
    	Dan
    

    Depending on the body style, you'd probably open up the control
    cavity.  You might think about cutting a new (smaller) body for it.
    
    Greg

    I knew a guy who did just that. I was playable, and kindof fun because
    it was so abused. It's long gone now.

If all your lookng to do is travel with a guitar, get a bolt on and 
remove the neck and stuff neck abnd body in yer suitcase

dbii

    
    Cut the body, and you'll lose tone and sustain.  I would not recommend 
    doing this to your even a play-it-once-a-year-guitar if it has a 
    decent tone.  It'll never sound the same...
    
    J.
    

    I saw Steve Earle play a 4 string Tele on friday night......between
    yawns.
    
    
                                        STAYNZ

    I know this isn't exactly what's being discussed here, but . . .
    I once played on a Martin 000-something that was absolutely astounding. 
    It's a tiny acoustic with a short scale, a wide neck, and a mretty
    mighty time for something that small.   Because of ths short neck, you
    could bend the strings like an electric.  

    
    
    
    
    	Hey.. I played a music man this week... AWESOME NECK!!!   I'm not
    kidding!!  It was incredible!  Smooth low factory action, not fretting
    out, loose as a goose strings on a 25.5" scale neck... I am
    impressed!!!
    
    
    Steve

Martin 000-series guitars (14 frets clear) have a 24.9" scale.
Martin D -series guitars have a 25.4 scale.
Some Martin scales go down to 17", but these are rather unusual.

Jim

    
    	I bought one for my 4 year old son. It is a "Tender" strat.
    	It has 3 pickups, and can get 5 positions on the switch
    	and it sounds very close to a strat. I paid $100 for it.
    
    	Guy
    

    
    Does anybody own a "travel guitar"?  I 'm talkin' about the Chaquita
    or the one reviewed in GP that comes with a Rockman ($945!) whose 
    name I can't remember at the moment.  I travel an ass-load and it 
    would be nice to pack a little ax and my Molecular Stack Marshall
    for those hotel stays.
    
    -pat

Steinbergers work well in that role...

dbii who can't wait to travel with his...

    I thought we had a topic on travel guitars in here already...
    
    I used to have an Austin Hatchett travel guitar that was great!  Played
    and looked nice!  My only complaint was that it wasn't terribly
    comfortable to play without a strap.  I bought it when I was working a
    job where I traveled a lot and it was great for those trips!
    
    It did generate a lot of questions in airports though...  Possibly
    because it's little gig bag looked kind of like a gun case.  I never
    had any trouble with the airline security people though.
    
    Greg

I've recently had the same thoughts about travel guitars, and these
are the ones I've found on the market. I've not had a chance to kick
the tires on them yet:

Acoustic:

	Essential Guitar, 2lbs2oz 6string 32"long 7" wide 24" scale
		   15 frets, ~$365   (201)983-9153

	Martin Backpacker (similar to essential) ~$170 + $29 for case
		   (800)345-3103

	Vagabond   32"long 24.5"scale 2.5# 21 frets start at $339
		   (518)758-1690

	Outbound   36"long 25.4" scale length 19 frets, ~$350 
		   (800)487-1887

Electric:

	Mighty Mite - a minature LP, I've seen these on 48th St. in NYC

	Chiquita- 4.25# 27" length , 1 humbucker (512)472-4859

	Gadden  claims to have "smallest full-scale guitar possible"
		800-582-2297  starts at $518


My impression is that all these guitars have comprimises but as someone
said "They're better than no guitar at all". Definitely designed for the
road.
	

    Wehn I last saw ZZ Top Billy Gibbons played several Chiquita's (I've
    heard that he's part owner of the company but don;t known if that's
    true). They all sounded fine to me, if there were any compromises in
    the guitar he certainly wasn't held back by them.
    
    dbii

    Didn't John Kay of Steppenwolf once endorse/use/invent a little
    guitar called a "pack-axe"?
    
    Edd

    Can anyone give me some advise of suggestions for an AMP suitable
    for traveling and use with a travel guitar? I have ruled out my
    Fender Twin Reverb. :+)
    
    jim

    There might be a separate note for this somewhere, so sue me ;7)
    but there are a few different ways to go:
    
    The cheapest are the micro-amps marketed by Fender, Marshall, and Dean
    Markley.  They are powered by a 9-volt MN1904 battery.  I have the
    Marshall MS-2 microstack.  It has two channels (!), tone control, and a
    headphone output jack that silences it, and a belt clip.  It cost $40. 
    I like it; it's better than nothing, good for hotel rooms, tiny,
    doesn't eat batteries, and I was able to use it with headphones on a
    long flight.
    
    You can also roll your own from Radio Shack but that might be below the
    minimum level of acceptability (?).
    
    Then you move up to the Rockman-type headphone amps at around the $100
    price point.  Someone else can comment on these.
    
    There's also the Pignose that has a speaker and runs on batteries. 
    Don't know much about it, either.
    
    At this point, you are into plug-in jobs at the 10~15-amp range; not
    too handy for air travel, but OK for auto trips, I guess.
    
    Next.
    \Gary

    
    
    I have a boss headphone amp that came out a little after the Rockman
    emerged.  Mine has switchable clean/distortion settings with separate
    preamp and volume sliders.  It also has switchable chorus/delay with
    depth and rate sliders for the chorus.  It has two headphone jacks, an
    instrument input (naturally), a mic input (that has it's own slider), a
    stereo line level input that you can drive from a walkman headphone
    output, and a jack for something called the P-bus.
    
    Add a pair of those little powered speakers and you've got yourself a
    very flexible little solid-state traveling practice rig.
    

    Personally, I don't like headphone amps (or headphones in general) very
    much, so I prefer something with a little speaker.  I have a Marshall
    MS-2 that works good.  My wife got it for me for Christmas year before
    last, kind of as a joke, but it works great for a travel amp.  Doesn't
    sound like a stack (as the ad's might claim), but it's good enough. 
    What do you expect for $35 anyway?
    
    Greg

    -1
    
    If it has a line out, you should plug it into Coop's SP-1000 and see
    what it sounds like!!  8^)

    
    Anybody know the overall length of the headless Hohner?  The 2GT (with
    Steinberger trem/SD pickups?) is going for $350 at East Coast Music
    Mall.  If it's about the same size as a Chaquita...
    
    -pat(man)

    
    
    
         The real thing (Steinberger GL??) is 32" in the gig bag.
    
    
    

    
    Yes, that does help.  Thanks a lot.  I was guessing that it would be
    about 5 inches longer than the Chaquita (27").  
    
    -pat

    On the topic of small guitars,, Last Friday I took a the tour of the
    Martin guitar factory in PA.  We were one of the first to see their new
    "Backpack Guitar"..  It reminded me of Russian instrument because of
    its triangle shape body, short thin neck and small headstock.  They
    haven't established a price yet, but I gotta have one>
    
    
    Bruce
    

    
    Bruce,  How's it sound?  The Martin backpack guitar?  
    
    Justine

    Re Hows the Backpack martin sound??
    
    Sorry to say that none of them were finished. They were in various
    stages of assembly (or dis-assembly).  The tour Guide led me to believe
    that they had just finished the first few a couple of days before but
    were no wheres to be seen. Darn!!!   He had no guestimate on price
    either.
    
    Bruce
    

I saw a picture of a small guitar in a UK mag which was said
to be Japanese and had an integral amplifier and speaker.
I think it was called the "Elephant guitar", but of course
it could have been the April edition of the mag....
 

    I just traded a couple of guitars into a music store for a Martin
    BackPack guitar. It came with a Martin strap and nylon carrying
    case. It is a little wimpy in the tone/volume department, but 
    passable. The fact that it is not too loud is actually a plus.
    You can get thrown out of camping areas for playing too loud.
    
    I'll be on a 2 week vacation starting this Friday. Can't wait !!
    Wherever I go, the BackPack guitar comes with me.
    
    Mark
    

    More rambling on the Martin backpack guitar.
	
    It had a pricetag of $199 including a case and strap. I didn't 
    pay cash (traded). If I had, I would have expected them to knock 
    ~$25.00 off the price.

	The guitar is constucted of mahogany with what appears to
    be a solid top, but it could be plywood. It has a simple oil 
    finish and the pores of the mahogany are not filled.

	The neck on this guitar is very comfortable and has ~15 frets.
    The Body begins at the 15th fret so you get full access to all
    the frets. I did some flatpicking with it last night and found
    the neck to be quite nice. 

	The small body size presents one minor nit which takes
    some getting used to...If you are used to anchoring your wrist to
    the top of the guitar (like I am) you find there is no where to rest 
    your hand on the top, so you end up resting it against the rim of 
    the guitar. It helps if you are used to sweep picking. You definately 
    need to wear the strap even when sitting down. 

 	The cheesiest feature on this is the finish. It appears to
    be an oil finish with no paste wood filler. This leaves the grain
    of the mahogany open and gives it a fairly rough feel. I may refinish
    it later on when I'm working on other refinishing projects.

	The case is a really nice black nylon bag with shoulder strap 
    and accessory pouch. The strap is an adjustable nylon strap with 
    the Martin logo. 

	I'm starting a 2-week vacation on Friday. I'll post a better
    review after I put a few hundred miles on it. 

	Mark
    

    So... How was the Martin BackPacker on your trip?  I've seen 'em in the
    Music Emporium catalog for $179 now.  Does it feel like (fret) like a
    steel-string flatttop?
    
    Charlie

    I have one.... it hangs on the wall (most of the time).  It sounds
    horrible, has absolutely no balance (nose heavy), and the only
    comfortable way to play it is when you laying down on the couch!!!
    Theres nowhere to rest you right hand or forearm. Sounds like a banjo!!!
    The case handle came unstitched two days after I got it.  The action 
    was like every other Martin shipped from the factory,, High!!!! but I 
    fixed that.  Other that that they aint bad.
    
    Can you tell I am real happy with it???
    
    
    Bruce
    
    

    Sorry if this is in the wrong place, but I did not have
    time to search for this topic...
    
    Have people carried their guitars on the plane in a gig 
    bag as a carry on in the overhead compartments?  My guitar
    teacher, who does some touring, says this is how he travels
    with his.  I am just wondering if anyone else has had any
    experience doing this.  I don't want them to give me a hard
    time and force me to check it in at the last minute since it
    is important for me to take only carry on luggage on this
    particular trip.
    
    Thanks for any advice/experience.
    
    _kathy

    Steve St Croix, who writes for Mix Magazine, recommends Steinberger
    guitars for this purpose (they tend to be pretty compact). Not only
    do they fit in the overhead bin, they can even be played through
    a headphone amp on the plane! (something to do while you're flying)
    However, seeing people squash elephant sized "overnight bags" into
    the overhead compartments, I would never even consider this; imagine
    one of these things pushing against the neck of your guitar. Either
    get an ATA approved flight case with a sturdy lock and check it as
    baggage, or leave it at home.

    Brian

    I seen lots of people bring the guitars on board as carry on...call the
    airline your are going with and ask....they will most likely put it in
    a closet (not the overhead area)
    
    once coming back from Dallas, a woman brought her cello on board, she
    straped it in in an empty seat :') (unless she paid for its seat, I
    didn't ask !)
    
    I've seen them in soft and hard cases btw...me I've never brought mine
    on a trip, hell I've never took mine out of the case in two years...I
    just read GUITAR for the Debbie Gibson updates :')
    
    Chris

    I had a Steinberger bass that I took on a plane trip on a couple
    of occasions. I had good luck and bad. On one trip, I was able to 
    fit it in an overhead that wasn't stuffed (an VERY RARE occurrence!!)
    On another occasion, I was able to store it on the coat closet up near
    first class. On the last trip I ever took a guitar on, I was forced
    to stow my stein-bugger with loose baggage in the cargo hold. I was
    allowed to bring it on the plane, but the carry-on containers were
    not wide enough, the stewardess woduln't put it in the closet and would
    not allow me to place it under the seat... So, she took it and put
    it in the cargo hold .... NEVER AGAIN!!!!
    
    /Billy_K

    
    See also topic 1507 for tips in case you can't go the carry-on route.
    
    JP

    
    Definitely gotta second the Steinberger recommendation...everything
    else is too big for convenient carry-on...take along your wireless unit
    and serenade the cockpit crew!
    
    Neat thing about the Steinies is...in case of emergency you can use it
    to open up cabin walls -- they're tough!
    

    I carried on my guitar when I left Scotland and had no problems with
    it.The stewardess put in a wee cupboard that devided the club class
    from the rest of us.When I arrived,it was in as good as condition as I
    put it in.There was no way in hell I was going to put it in the cargo
    hold!
    
    
    						ian

    Back in the mid 80s, I was travelling a lot for work and often took
    guitars with me.  What I found was that if you called and asked, they'd
    rather consistantly tell you that you couldn't carry it on, it'd have
    to be checked, but if you showed up with it and just took it to the
    gate with you, no problem.
    
    I've seen gig bags with hangers on them (or places to put one one), so
    if the plane has a closet for hanging bags, something like that would
    probably work.  The overhead bins vary in size and shape, some you
    could get an electric into, some you couldn't.
    
    On one flight, the stewardess put it in a little closet with a bunch of
    other slightly oversized carryon baggage.  That was ok, but the thing
    was a bit overstuffed and the tolex on my guitar case was torn in a
    little spot.  No big deal, not like freezing the thing to sub-zero
    temperatures and then putting a fork lift arm through it in the baggage
    compartment below...
    
    I did care about my case cosmetics, so I got a little travel guitar
    not long after that.  Fit on the plane great, didn't fit on me very
    well.
    
    Greg

    
    Like Greg reffered too, I always take a guitar with me when I travel
    to see my folks back in Europe. What I do, is just show up with it.
    The stewardess usually takes it from me and puts it in some closet, 
    I have never had a problem with this. 
    
    Shaw

    I have a stick bass (Westone Rail) which I bought without a case. I
    looked around and found that a rifle case fits it perfectly. But I
    can imagine the reaction when I walk into the airport with it,
    especially Heathrow in London which has very tight security.
    
    Any ideas for making it obvious that this is not a weapon?
    
    Regards
    
    John

    
    
    
    Well, for one thing, the ski mask and those camo pants have got to
    go...
    
    And don't even think of using an old ammo box as your gig bag...
    
    

    A weapon!!!! Look, if you whack someone over the head with your Westone
    bass, which is about all *it* is good for, it is a weapon. A *firearm*,
    on the other hand, is *not* a weapon until you use it as one.
    
    Besides, on Newbury Street in Boston, I once got an obnoxious Scientology
    type to go away *fast* by telling him my Steinberger was a high-power
    rifle.
    
    This Terminology Moment Brought To You By Brian
    (A proud *firearm*, not weapon, owner)

    This is my rifle, and this is my gun...

My problem with the gigbag plan is that if they say it has to go into the
cargo hold, it goes into the cargo hold in a gigbag and not a hardcase.
My solution has been to have over-the-top hardcases and check them. 
Unlike a previous note, the cargo holds are heated and pressurized 
(remember this is where pets travel).  I have a Mark Leaf case for my
acoustic.  I think an Anvil case would protect just about any electric.

Jim

    Don't know if this was mentioned here before, but Steinies being
    mistaken for firearms is serious business.  There was a news story
    last year about someone who was shot and killed by police because they
    mistook his gig-bagged Steinberger for a rifle.
    

   re: .51

   Geez Billy, thanks for letting me know my Steiny has been thru such
   hell!  :-)  (Just kidding, I love the guitar and couldn't be happier
   with it.  Thanks.)

   For all you bass players out there, I highly recommend the Steinberger
   XM2 ("normal" (sorta "strat" shaped) body, not the little rectangular
   thing) as both a travelling guitar and a "main" axe.  Not cheap, but worth
   every penny.  My wife hates the headless look, but hey, it's *my* bass. 
   :-)  

   -- Sam