Travel Guitar

I travel a lot for business (enough that I can spent lots of time posting on internet forums in my downtime ). Lately I've been gone a week at a time and work has me swamped when I get home. My playing is suffering. In the next few months as things slow down at work, my recording projects are going to ramp up, and there is talks of bigger gigs for the band. It's hard to bring a guitar when I'm flying everywhere, and the last thing I want to haul out of my car when I've driven 200 miles to a hotel is a tele, strat, or variax. So... after being on the waiting list for a while, I got notified that MusicYo.com received the Steinberger Spirit "Brooms" back in stock, and I decided to spend the $320 (with free shipping!). Back in college, a few of my professors had these so that they could ride the train back and forth to the school without their ES-335s or vintage L5.

I'm on the road right now, but my wife begrudgingly informed me that a package arrived for me, so when I get home tomorrow, I'll have a shiny new travel guitar waiting for me. I've seen other travel guitars, but they were a bit more expensive, and perhaps not even "full" sized. I've seen guys actually gig with this instrument and sound good. I'll post a review sometime over the next few days.

What does everybody else use for a travel guitar?

I'm half temped by the new Line6 Pocket Pod, but I already have a paperback book sized Korg Digital Multitrack with a tuner, metronome, and enough modeling effects to keep me happy....plus I'll always have a laptop with me, so I might be better off with a recording interface with a plug-in....like an MBox mini. Besides, I already have a classic MBox that I can stuff in my carry on.

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My current travel guitar is a ukulele

I fell in love with the instrument when I was on my honeymoon in 2002, and this past May when we went to the Big Island I splurged on a $200 locally-made uke.

No, it's not electric, but I've found that it's the perfect size for travel, and because of the difference in tuning, number of strings, etc, picking up the uke after concentrating on the guitar for 20 years really frees up my playing.

I find myself putting together chords I normally wouldn't, and playing melodies i would never consider on the guitar.

Actually, I really enjoy writing something on the uke and then transposing it to the guitar... I've been doing this a lot for the last three months.

Mine is what's called a Super Concert––meaning it's got the body of a concert size uke (small enough to have that real uke sound, get any bigger and they just sound like guitars,) but with a Tenor size neck (frets are still small, but there are more of them so you can stretch out a bit.)

I highly recommend picking one up if you ever come across a high quality instrument. Most of the ukes that tourists are exposed to are the little $20 Gift Shop versions (ie, crappy.)

Congrats on your new guitar!

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egr :: guitar spoken here

I'm looking at the Escape EG-1 after the sale of my HM Strat. I like the body style and the size - and so far the reviews have been good.

Traveler Guitar

Buy Traveler EG-1 Electric Travel Guitar online at Musician's Friend

Yes, congrats on the new guitar - looking forward to your review adaptable...

Ukuleles are very cool. I sat next to the ukulele player in Chris Issac's band a few years ago on a flight. I can see where looking at things from that different perspective can give you some insight when you return to the full six string. I've also heard the ukuleles are much easier to teach children.

I actually have a "Little Martin" that I bought "for my son." It is a scaled down 6 string that is maybe a little bigger than a ukulele. The thickness is actually more of the problem when traveling with it....although it's great for family picnics, etc. It actually has a different enough tone that I use it when we record sometimes for a drier sounding strumming that's not a booming dreadnought.

Another buddy of mine has an EG-1 that he bought off of eBay for ~$300. The string tuning/changing mechanism seemed a be awkward, but it did play rather nicely. His had a single single coil pickup in it.

I've always liked the way the Steinberger's played, and I didn't think the trade off in size was that great....sure the strings are proprietary, but I see them at every Guitar Center. I'm guessing those EMG Select pickups will be compressed and saturated, but I'll know for sure tomorrow. The ones I've played in the past definitely felt better standing up than sitting, but I think the leg rest is something I can get used to. At one point I tried the Steinberger Synapse Model from Musician's Friend, but the rolling capo mechanism was annoying. Also the baritone length neck made it a bit too long for travel. As for other "broom models" in the Steinberger line, I didn't think the $1300 US Made Steinberger GT-1 is worth it for a travel guitar. I'm surprised they stopped making the ones with the transtrem (transposing tremolo bar). That would be a great tool for trying stuff out with singers to get the right key for a song.

Ultimately, I need a guitar that travels easily, and lets me put down some tracks on the road...maybe even use it as a backup guitar when space is tight. It doesn't need to play or sound as good as my bigger instruments, but it would be great if it were an instrument I enjoyed playing.

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I don't own a travel guitar. When I travel for business I generally don't have time to play. When I visit my family in Phoenix my brother-in-law is a great guitar player and has plenty of instruments. And when I travel with my wife...she'd never let me bring a guitar!

My Nashville Tele is a relatively small instrument and rings pretty well acoustically, so I take it with me from time to time when I'm traveling by car.

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Wow. I am pleasantly surprised by my new Steinberger.

First off, the box it came in was huge considering how small the instrument really is. I thought it was a small refrigerator. After unboxing 3 boxes, I got to the heavily styrofoamed and plastic wrapped guitar. It comes with a gig bag that looks like more like a rifle bag than an instrument case.

At first, it took some time to get the thing tuned and with the right tension for the trem lock to working properly. This mechanism allows the tremolo to be "blocked" to keep the guitar locked in place. You need to adjust the tension screw (its a turnable knob) to make sure it sits properly when locked, so it doesn't get knocked in/out out tune when engaged. Took about 10 minutes to get it right.

I started playing the instrument using the "leg rest", but then I quickly moved to a strap to have the strings sit a bit higher on my body. The neck is kind of a cross between a Fender C shape and a Les Paul neck. The frets are a bit smaller....not as small as a vintage instrument, but not as big as the modern jumbo frets. I have no problem playing at even the highest registered (24 frets), especially standing up. I had to get used to playing open chords, simply because the headstock isn't there, but after a few minutes, I felt at home.

I plugged in to my Champion 600, and the 3 EMG Select pickups surprised me. The humbuckers sounded like a Les Paul, the single coil has the thinner sounding strat tone with the ability to blend with the humbuckers using the 5 way switch. The combo gives me the best of both worlds. Yes, there is that "80's saturation" that is the trademark of the EMGs. It sounds remarkably good for jazz in the neck position, and good enough for most rock/country with the rest. It doesn't have the authentic twang or bite of the authentic instruments, but its more than enough to get ideas down and play a gig in a pinch.

So the main reason why I bought the guitar is abundantly obvious. It's small enough to go in the overhead bin of even the smallest puddle jumper, and light enough to carry on my shoulder when I'm also carrying a laptop. I'm traveling all of next week, so I should give it a good enough stress test in this regard.

Ultimately, I think this instrument is a great bargain. It plays well, sounds good, and is very portable....for $320 delivered in 7 days, who can ask for more?

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4 days on the road, and the Steinberger has performed really well. I did have some problems with the blocking trem mechanism (temperature changes probably effect the tension), but I'm just keeping it blocked for now. If I unblock, I may need to re-tune, but as rarely as I use the tremolo, it's not a big deal. It it a bit heavier than I expected, but not a show stopper. I've gotten used to the "knee stand," but my preference is definitely a strap. I'm still digging the pickups and the neck....which are the most important elements in my opinion.

My little Korg Pandora has been a great was to do some self jamming. I found my self putting down blues progressions and layering stuff over the top. At one point I put down the solo to Hotel California with the harmonies. The tones do sound "pixelated" and leave something to be desired but good enough for the road. I might stop into GC and pickup a Pocket Pod if I can get my buddy to throw in the tax.

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