I once traveled back to Los Angeles from Antarctica carrying
nothing but my backpack and my guitar (and far too many books). But I have to admit
in hindsight that the guitar was a pain in the
arse to carry. It slung well enough over my shoulder, but stowing it away in car trunks, cow trailers, train
overhead bins or next to me while I slept in crappy hostels grew old. I remember thinking to myself at the time that it
would be great to invent a small travelers’ guitar that could fold up to the size of a book, and then when I wanted to
break out the ax around a campfire in Botswana and belt out my favorite Jimmy Buffet tune (ok, everybody, now in
Swahili!), no problem. So I did some searching and found this one, the
Escape Traveler Guitar. First
thing about it: it fits in the overhead bin on airplanes. That is HUGE. Of course, the big issue is sound
quality, since so many traveling guitars sound tinny and awful, and you don’t want to be playing for a group of fellow
travelers and sound like some dude with a stick, a can and rubber bands.
According to the site:
a piezo pick-up and on board pre amplifier with EQ offer rich, realistic steel string acoustic guitar tones
through the included headphones. Connect it to a guitar amplifier or PA system to share your playing with others. The
body is constructed of beautiful mahogany satin stained alder, and the neck of premium maple with a Pao Ferro
fretboard.
While it neither folds nor is it the size of a book as I’d imagined my ideal guitar, it is a big advance
on the guitar I had years ago. So if you are packing for a long trip and know you’ll be Jonesing to pick, this
might work for you. (Warning: even foreigners are tired of Stairway to Heaven)