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Posted

I've never heard a decent sounding , small bodied acoustic. The small bodied electrics seem to do fine (steinberger, etc)

I found this one quite interesting, until I heard sound-clips of it

http://www.etribe.com/guitar/index.html

not sure if he/she still has the sound clips on the site

Never heard the Martin backpacker. You could check reviews at harmony central

How small does it have to be ? A strat makes a pretty good travel guitar, if you take the neck off during the traveling, but if you want it playable during the whole trip, I can understand why you'd want something " steinberger like "

Posted
I think Martin has(had?) the backpacker... and I seem to recall a Washburn. Let me do a search.

Edit: Ah, that was quick :D

http://www.tranjo.com/travelinstruments2.shtml

You can probably use some of those as a guide to make one? Someone mentioned using a mandolin truss rod to build a short scale neck, etc.

I'm REALLY interested in this one :

http://www.travelerguitar.com/

The way the tuners are in the middle of the body. that is severely cool

Posted

I was looking at an ad for the Martin backpacker earlier today, thinking, "this might be a fun kind of guitar to build." By looking at it (and I might be wrong about this), it isn't constructed with the usual sides, purfling (?), bracing, etc. that a regular acoustic would be. I don't know any specifics on how it's made, but I imagine even someone without true skill in acoustic guitar luthiery could throw something together. It won't sound any good, but I don't imagine anyone's expecting dreadnought or parlour tone from a wee backpacker guitar.

It seems to have similar construction as a thinline-type 'solid body' (I know, that's a contradiction, but I'm just referring to construction technique) guitar.

Posted

Why don't you make a compact electric and build or buy one off those tiny 1watt amps. Should be louder than an acoustic.

Keith

Posted

That's another excellent idea... you can get one of those belt-clippable Marshalls for peanuts. Of course, it all depends on how long you'll be "backpacking" and whether or not you'll be able to carry enough batteries.

Then again, batteries don't need to be a big deal:

a) I play my electrics without plugging them in all the time anyhow

:D If you hollow out a chamber of some sort, you'll get a BIT of acoustic amplification, anyhow.

Posted

that rocks..the thing is, i have a guitar i can do that to without worry....travel guitar here i come!

Posted

if its headless, does that mean tuners at the bridge??

this is a noname 3/4size acoustic thats sat in my room for a while...like the 3/4 encore, that awaits..um...'stuff'

Posted
if its headless, does that mean tuners at the bridge??

this is a noname 3/4size acoustic thats sat in my room for a while...like the 3/4 encore, that awaits..um...'stuff'

Yeah, tuners at the bridge, because I'm thinking that with a travel guitar you want it as small as possible, and a headstock adds several inches that really don't have to be there, plus doesn't balance well with a downsized body.

You're the king of "show me a picture", so I thought maybe you could make a thread about it in the poll section :" should I give this sucker a haircut or not "

Posted

as soon as i get access to a decent digital camera, i'll shove some pics up...got many things that need photographing...but it has to be a decent one that can show off the floorwax neck on the tele well enough :D

Posted

I have played a Martin backpacker and the sound was not bad considering the size and shape of it. It's by no means a D-28 but it serves the purpose for travelling.

It's available from Martin for $274 but you can probably find it somewhere else for less.

Musicians Friend has it for $179.00 ($149 for lefties). They also have an electric model available for about $50.00 more.

:D

Posted

If you're dead set on building a traveller, I have looked all over the web and can't find any kits available. The closest is StewMac's Army-Navy mandolin. You could modify the peghead and install a small bridge (possibly for a Uke). The only other option is to go the old fashioned way and start from scratch. Either way, you get a custom piece with the satisfaction of "I did it myself"

Good luck

:D

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