Travel Guitars

[Robert_the_damned]

Hi I've just joined as I wanted to talk to some others who were crazy and desperate enough to make there own guitars! (only sensible people buy them and who'd want to be sensible!!).

just a little question: has anyone here made a travel guitar? are the worth making or should I just put up with the few extra kilos?

also (though I should probably up this into the electronics fourm) is it a good idea to try and make an 'inbult' amp with speaker?

thanks,

Robert

[joej]

just a little question: has anyone here made a travel guitar? are the worth making or should I just put up with the few extra kilos?

←

I think its worth making a small electric travel guitar.

Check out www.etribe.com if you want some free plans & picts.

I'm in the middle of a similar style guitar now (small, mostly hollow, electric travel size).

--joe

[Robert_the_damned]

cool I'll have a look at that site.

I've already had some ideas in my head: basicly a very thin les paul design with a LOT of the body cut off!! I'm rather stuck playing Les Paul type guitars. its what I'm used to and its what I feel comfortable with!

[Mickguard]

cool I'll have a look at that site.

I've already had some ideas in my head: basicly a very thin les paul design with a LOT of the body cut off!! I'm rather stuck playing Les Paul type guitars. its what I'm used to and its what I feel comfortable with!

←

Well, what's you objective? Are you looking for a travel guitar--that is, more compact than a normal guitar--or are you just looking for a lightweight guitar?

If it's the latter, then have a look at the Les Paul Melody Makers that Gibson has been putting out lately --that should inspire you! You'll keep your Les Paul shape, but you'll have a really nice lightweight guitar. (My 60-era Melody Maker weighs in at about 6 pounds....)

On the other hand, I really like the look of those Fernandes Nomads --built in amp and all.

[Robert_the_damned]

I'm not *that* bothered by weight. its more a combination of the weight and the size. plus I'd like an onboard amp so that's one less heavy thing to carry.

I'm just worrying if it'll sound like I'm playing a tissue box with rubber bands if I don't have enough wood in the body.

The design I've got that the moment :

I have some good hard wood about an inch thick to make the body and my design would essentially remove the top 'bulge' in the body where the pickup selector switch is and remove a lot of the rear of the body as well but try and leave the lower parts of the guitar there so it still plays like a LP when sat down. this with a combination tail piece/wrapover bridge and two humbuckers wouldn't leave me with a lot of room for an inbuilt amp. I have a range of small-sih speakers which would fit with some wood hacking.

I'm just worried that the tone will suffer too much. but then again its only a travel guitar.......

[Mickguard]

I'm just worried that the tone will suffer too much. but then again its only a travel guitar.......

←

Someone posted somewhere a picture of John Mayall (think it was him) playing a chopped down Squier...all that was left was basically the center column (cut off at the bridge). And have a look at these Log Guitars

If you're looking for any kind of volume from the amp, I don't think you'll be so pleased with a built in amp. There are plenty of mini amps.

On the other hand, you could steal a page from Danelectro/Silvertone and mount the amp in the guitar case! Like this:

If you're only playing for yourself, get a headphone amp.

Edited May 6, 2005 by idch

[Robert_the_damned]

thanks for the links idch

and you're probably right about the headphone amp thing.....saves other people from my racket too!!

other than that there are always thoes 'mini marshall stacks' that are about 12" x 4" x 2"

[marksound]

thanks for the links idch

and you're probably right about the headphone amp thing.....saves other people from my racket too!!

other than that there are always thoes 'mini marshall stacks' that are about 12" x 4" x 2" 

←

Portable don't get much better than this.

Or if you want really small, this.

[mledbetter]

The smoky's are really cool little amps. I was going to recommend one. in fact, you could gut one and mount the electronics in your guitar if you wanted to. But i think the cig pack ones are pretty funny.

[Robert_the_damned]

the only problem I see with those cigarette pack amps is if you sit on them! crunch!

I did think about a pignose. but I think I could make one pretty easily and save myself some money.

[marksound]

When I got the Smokey I ordered the plastic case. The speaker is mylar or something and seems pretty durable.

The Pignose sounds amazing for its size. Hey, check out the Piggy in a Box thing. It's the amp guts in a stompbox. Use it as an overdrive or just to drive an external speaker. The Detonator is a pretty cool distortion too. And they all come in pigskin brown vinyl with the pig nose knob.

[mledbetter]

A friend of mine played a pignose.. the best was the line in the instructions "have a friend open and close the lid while you play for that funky wah wah sound"

[Robert_the_damned]

yes I can see that happening on stage at a gig!!!

some instruction manuals and even warnings on products

my friend has a bag of cable ties that have : "do not open until used" on the front!

[Jehle]

I have a small travel guitar that's made from acryllic. Plugged into my amp, it sounds really good actually. The neck is horrible and the frets suck though.

I do think you should make your own travel guitar. It seems that travel guitars are made to be cheap since they figure it's not going to be used all the time. I'd rather have a really nice small guitar to take on trips, rather than one that's just small. I also know that if I made one, I'd actually build it with a full scale neck and reduce the headstock and body behind the bridge to shrink it down to size.

On the other hand, having recently flown across the Atlantic with a full sized guitar, I'd say stick with the full size guitar and get a gig bag. It's the case that takes up so much room. I was able to carry the guitar with me on the plane and it fit in the overhead bins on every plane I was on. Even a dinky little airbus had no problem.

[Hughes]

the danelectro mini amp is pretty cool and slick, it also has a distortion pedal if you want to use your big amp http://images.misupply.com/products/origin...tro/120611O.jpg

[joej]

Few more design notes from my travel guitar forays ...

1- I dislike the micro/mini amps ... they sound bad.

So, if I do stick a preamp/amp inside, then it'll be a MIMF preamp or a real amp circuit (not based on some audio preamp chip that sounds bad)

2- I like full scale, not some 19" neck scale

Playing an Epiphone Pee Wee Les Paul is like having the capo on the 3rd fret all the time. Ugh. I'd rather lose some upper frets by shifting the neck farther into the body than lose scale length.

3- I don't think I'd like headless

eTribe is headless

Neat idea, but I don't like how his tuners are mounted (angle is all wrong). I think more problems get introduced when you try to have the strings terminate at the body/endblock area. I don't know if I want that hassle.

[selmac]

why not do something like the martin backpacker? or even a solidbody backpacker with a speaker instead of the soundhole?

[Jehle]

why not do something like the martin backpacker? or even a solidbody backpacker with a speaker instead of the soundhole?

←

An electric backpacker? Now that's a cool idea. I've always liked the small headstock that have on them. For a travel guitar, it seems like the right way to go.

[Robert_the_damned]

thanks for the ideas!

I hate making decisions : its a travel guitar or a 12 string as my next project (after I've finnished the ones that are going at the moment!!)

I just can't get over the sound of a 12 string at the moment!

anyone made a 12 string eletric travel guitar?

[erikbojerik]

anyone made a 12 string eletric travel guitar?

←

Well.....you wouldn't be totally hosed if you broke a string and had no spares on the road (like me).

I made a travel guitar specifically so I could take it on business trips and practice/play/write in the off-hours. Axe, V-amp2 and headphones, works great.

[Robert_the_damned]

I didn't think about the spare string thing!

only probelm is if you've got an hour out you'd spend that long getting a 12 string back in tune.

I think my travel guitar idea might get shelved for a little while. I might make up a body but I donno if I'll be making it into a guitar any time soon.