Which travel guitar?

[david henman]

...a friend is looking for a travel guitar.

i have a baby taylor, which i quite like, but i'm hesitant to recommend it. the neck is very unstable, and the guitar just feels overly delicate, although i love the sound.

any recommendations?

-dh

[stephenT]

if you really want a cool compact guitar that'll fly, try a Go travel Guitar. Great product, handbuilt, quality woods

http://www.go-guitars.com/

[Jeeves]

I have an S-250 from Miranda Tech - a company in or near Palo Alto, CA.

http://www.miranda-tech.com/steel_string.html

I've had it for a few months and I really like it. After my Larivee parlor guitar got smashed in its gig bag by some farging a**hole's suitcase in the overhead of a cross-country flight, I broke down and bought this. He's not giving them away, but for me it was worth it. I used to stress for days before a flight knowing that it would be a battle to get my larivee in the closet of an aircraft and an even bigger battle keeping it safe in the overhead.

You can hear this guitar without headphones but the headphones are recommended. YMMV but I love mine.

[jamess]

I'll toss in that I really like my Baby Taylor. I agree that it is very light feeling, but I've never had any neck issues and I've hauled that guitar all over the place. Of course individual guitars vary, but I wouldn't take Taylor off the list too quickly.

[david henman]

Originally Posted by jamess

I'll toss in that I really like my Baby Taylor. I agree that it is very light feeling, but I've never had any neck issues and I've hauled that guitar all over the place. Of course individual guitars vary, but I wouldn't take Taylor off the list too quickly.

...thanks for that. my tech is going to work on mine - angle the neck so that the action is lower and (hopefully) the tuning more stable, and round off the rough fret edges.

-dh

[tedm]

I used to have a Vagabond travel guitar by David Smith in NY. Great guitar, I think he still makes them. Best thing about them is standard scale, built in electronics, solid top, and uses standard tuning.

[AaeCee]

I use a Yamaha steel strung 'Silent Guitar'. Breaks down into a carry on-able gig bag, it's very light weight, and it plays/sounds great. Comes with mini headphones for silent practice, but needs a small amp to get any real sound from it. Cool piece.

[Claytone]

Here's a vote for the Little Martin. I just took one to Turkey and back (from Los Angeles), across eight flights and many time zones, and used it every day of three weeks, and it held up well, stayed in tune, and felt like a real sized guitar neck. Great padded case too.

[Gary F.]

Originally Posted by AaeCee

I use a Yamaha steel strung 'Silent Guitar'. Breaks down into a carry on-able gig bag, it's very light weight, and it plays/sounds great. Comes with mini headphones for silent practice, but needs a small amp to get any real sound from it. Cool piece.

I've got the Yamaha silent, too. With good in-ears or std headphones, it sounds great -- no need for an add'l pre-amp, just dump the supplied minis. BTW, how ya doin', AaaCee?

Gary

[AaeCee]

Originally Posted by Gary F.

I've got the Yamaha silent, too. With good in-ears or std headphones, it sounds great -- no need for an add'l pre-amp, just dump the supplied minis. BTW, how ya doin', AaaCee?

Gary

Mah man Gary. Good, thanks my friend. Where're you guys playin' these days? AC

[60HzShuffle]

The Go Guitars are great. I would recommend the Grande size as the walnut one I had sounded pretty good. You can also do a special order and get a 1 and 3/4" nut if you like them that way. I sold mine only because I really wanted an electric. I ended up with a Steinberger and hope to receive it from Brown tomorrow....

[cbpickin]

I have had my baby Taylor since 2000 and have had no issues. No problems with neck stability at all. I have flown extensively with it (fits in the overhead bin), taken it camping, on buses, bicycles, my motorcycle, etc. My 2 year old even plays it (supervised, hey I'm not nuts) with no ill effects. I have written a lot of the material in my electric band on it sitting on the couch and I have even used it on a few recordings.
I can't recommend the Taylor enough. I play it more than any of my other guitars around the house. Great tone for under $300 and it is just fun to play.

[tedm]

I heard once that these are supposed to use a weird tuning?

Originally Posted by cbpickin

I have had my baby Taylor since 2000 and have had no issues. No problems with neck stability at all. I have flown extensively with it (fits in the overhead bin), taken it camping, on buses, bicycles, my motorcycle, etc. My 2 year old even plays it (supervised, hey I'm not nuts) with no ill effects. I have written a lot of the material in my electric band on it sitting on the couch and I have even used it on a few recordings.
I can't recommend the Taylor enough. I play it more than any of my other guitars around the house. Great tone for under $300 and it is just fun to play.

[Robotechnology]

I ALWAYS wanted a baby Taylor. The day before my birthday (and vacation trip to London and Malta) 2 years back, my wife decided to buy one for me. Just on a whim we went to 2 stores to try out ALL the smaller guitars before getting a mahogany topped Baby Taylor that I thought sounded the best and a Little Martin BLEW me away! I didn't want to get it because the Taylor was all solid wood and the Martin was the opposite (all synthetics and compressed sawdust I think) but, the superior tone of the Martin did me in. So now my Taylor 814CE and my Little Martin coexist peacefully It really does sound like 90% of a full size guitar.

[RL in Fla]

Originally Posted by Robotechnology

the Taylor was all solid wood and the Martin was the opposite (all synthetics and compressed sawdust I think) but, the superior tone of the Martin did me in. It really does sound like 90% of a full size guitar.

+1 , had mine over a year now . I found a local store with 2 of the Spruce top Little Martins to pick from after the LM composite knocked the BT's out of the running at GC , and for another 25 bucks it was totally up another notch . Still under 300 , and I've owned several "real" Martins dating back to around '64 , 0's 000's and D's . The LM is the real deal sound-wise . Only thing I did since was put 18:1 Grover Sta-tites on it . Trying to get up enough nerve to put 1/8" abalone dots on the fretboard but I gotta cobble up a rig to hold it on the drill press .

" my cold dead fingers" quote goes here . Great guitar , $mall or not .