Looks like I’m going to be traveling more for work now, so I’ve been geeking out on travel electric guitars. There is an excellent post at The Unique Guitar Blog. Surfing around a bit, I was able to find a found a few more options. So this post will just focus on my favorites.
So the first question you should ask is, why not just bring your regular guitar? You can take it in a hard case. Or even a gig bag. If you need it to be smaller, you can remove the neck. And if you remove the neck a lot, you can add threaded neck inserts like this guy on Strat Talk.
Ok, so let’s say you don’t want to bring or modify one of your main guitars. Well, you could buy a cheap guitar off Craigslist and take that. Need something smaller? How about one of those cool little Mini Strats? My favorite, though, is the full 24″ scale Xaviere JTT Travel Guitar sold by Guitar Fetist for $119. It’s already pretty short at 33 inches, can be ordered with a cool carrying case and will be pretty darn compact if you take the neck off.
Alright, so let’s say you have a bigger budget and want something more innovative and compact. The Strobel Rambler Classic seems to be about the most compact guitar out there–it will break down to fit in a briefcase–and seems well worth the $599 price.
If you like Teles (and who doesn’t) how about the TelAir by Voyage Air? They have a Gibson-like version as well. It comes with a very cool hard case. These seem to go for around $700 at many retailers.
I think the Snap Dragon is the coolest travel guitar out there, but it’s not cheap. You have to order it from the UK and should expect to pay around $1,000, depending on the current exchange rates.
Right now I think my favorite is the Stewart Stowaway, which goes for $499. With the removable neck it has the shortest overall length, but it converts to a full size Strat.
I want all of them!
You should should check out the Lap axe travel guitars. Good things do come in small packages!
Terrific post! thanks for taking the time. I surveyed the entire range of what is out there and ended up ordering a Snap Dragon, although I got the much cheaper e-Go model, about $500. Unlike its more expensive brother, the e-Go only has one pick up (twin rail humbucker) and does not have the Evertune bridge. But it fits beautifully in a carry on case, plays well, and sounds surprisingly great. (I’ve been plugging into JamUp on my iPad and playing with earphones when I travel, so I don’t have to carry other things, and I can basically make it sound like what I want.)
Also bought a Chiquita on eBay… fun little guitar, great looking, but not nearly as easy to play and…worse… won’t fit into a carry on bag. Basically, if you bring a Chiquita on board with you for a trip for more than a day or two, then you are probably going to be checking another bag as a result.