| Rate This Article |
|
Current rating: 0 stars by 0 user
|
|
|
|
Don't Leave Home Without It
by Chris Kies
If you’ve ever tried traveling with a full-size guitar, you know the headaches involved. Fortunately, a new group of builders has emerged to keep you playing without the hassle. We take a look at the travel guitar and where it can take you.
 For years, professional musicians and hobbyists alike have enjoyed traversing the globe with their favorite guitars and amps. But as airlines have increased volume, capacity and flight frequency, musicians have been left to simply hope and pray that their prized possessions will arrive at their final destination in one piece. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, an average of 10,000 bags a day were lost or mishandled in American airports in 2005, the worst number since 1990. The odds of losing luggage continue to skyrocket with no solution in sight.
To make matters worse, airlines are only liable for compensation if your luggage is damaged due to their negligence, and fragile articles are often excluded from that provision (i.e. your guitar). Throughout the years, the musical community has heard countless horror stories of peers losing their favorite rigs to the black hole known as baggage handling. From destroyed electronics to cracked fretboards, many musical adventures have turned into musical tragedies.
In a post-9/11 climate, those traveling with their gear have encountered shrinking size requirements and thorough inquisitions during baggage checks. While many players continue to cross their fingers and hope for a pleasant reunion with their checked guitar upon arrival, an emerging group of builders in the guitar industry are working within the FAA’s firm regulations to make guitars more portable. Their mission makes sense: allow players to keep their guitars with them at all times.
Travel guitars – essentially guitars that meet the FAA requirements of a length, width and depth of less than 45” – have slowly incorporated themselves into the lines of major companies (for example, Taylor’s Baby Taylor and Big Baby models), but as one quickly discovers, all travel guitars aren’t created equal. With their focus remaining on full-sized guitar production, companies like Fender and Dean have simply reduced some of their popular models and decreased the number of frets. Unfortunately, these downsized guitars don’t give true travel guitars and their innovative luthiers enough credit.
“I don’t think there is a company out there without a travel guitar. What we are always saying is that we are full-scale, and we mean a full scale of 25 ½” or 24 ¾”, so we don’t pull any punches that way,” explains Corey Oliver, CEO of Traveler Guitar. He has helped develop and market some of the most original full-scale electric travel guitars since taking over the Redlands, California based company in the mid-nineties. All their guitars fit inside the conveniently-sized Traveler Guitar gig bag and measure within FAA requirements. Although the idea seems simple enough, creating an ideal travel guitar is no small task.
 |
| Traveler Guitar CEO Corey Oliver displaying a range of models at the 2008 NAMM Show |
|
Travel guitar luthiers have to contend not only with travel regulations regarding size, but also have to appeal to guitarists of the 21st century. Removing excess mass, lowering weight and creating an eye-catching design while maintaining a high-quality sound and tone are just a sampling of the challenges facing these builders every day. But for innovative people in a pinch, obstacles like these often cultivate unconventional and effective results.
“In 1981, I improvised my first Vagabond travel guitar before a trip by using a former locker room bench, an old classical guitar fretboard and other scavenged parts,” says Kevin Smith, founder and luthier of Vagabond Guitars. Smith, like many other travel guitar creators, manufactured a lightweight prototype out of personal necessity rather than entrepreneurial spirit. The result has led to a burgeoning career as a builder based in Castleton, New York. Most of the work behind a handcrafted Vagabond guitar is completed by Smith and a few trusted employees.
Phil Green, founder of Miranda Guitars, located in picturesque Los Altos, California, comes from an even more unlikely background. During the 1970s and 1980s, Green researched and developed two prominent contributions to the medical field: ultrasonic imaging and minimally invasive “robotic” surgery. Although Green received high acclaim for his medical accomplishments, he always wanted to fulfill a long-held dream of conceptualizing a “full-sized guitar with the portability of a violin, yet the feel, playability and full-bodied sound of an acoustic instrument.”
As time passed, Green slowly became taken with the recurring thought of creating a compact, reliable travel guitar. Operating on pure imagination and determination, he hit the ground running and built his own guitar company based on a concept of a take-apart guitar. Green and his cohorts at Miranda have been in production for the past five years.
 Don’t Mess With a Good Thing
Green and Smith both have origin stories worthy of Fortune Small Business, but Traveler Guitar’s Corey Oliver has an equally ambitious tale of stumbling upon the business of travel guitars. In 1995, Oliver had a prototype for the Pro Series – Traveler’s first guitar – fall into his lap, inspiring him to become financially invested in the company. Soon after, Oliver took control and put production into high gear; these days, Oliver and his Traveler team have over ten different models of acoustic and electric travel guitars. The company has even spawned a travel bass, the Escape MK-II. Out of the three companies we talked to, Traveler Guitar has the largest selection of full-sized electric travel guitars, including a variety of color, size and shape options.
“We are the first to admit our guitars can’t be used around campfires,” says Oliver, referring to the fact that their guitars are designed for silent practice through headphones or with an amp. “But when it comes to size, portability and a full-scale neck, we’ve got that lock, stock and barrel. Our range is fantastic. We’ve got left-handed models, nylon and steel strings, Les Paul scales, Fender scales, jumbo frets, standard frets and various pickup configurations.” Players can choose from a variety of pickups, including a full-size humbucker (Escape EG-I), an L.R. Baggs undersaddle Hybrid Element transducer (Escape MK-II), a Shadow Electronics piezo (Pro Series) or a Dual-Rail humbucker (Speedster). Options like headphone amps, onboard EQ, tone controls and clean/distortion settings are also available for players who want all of their playing needs in one package.
But even with the large selection of extras and options, Traveler doesn’t like to mess with established luthier formulas. “We stick with traditional woods,” explains Oliver. “We use a maple neck and rosewood fingerboards because it’s the look and feel people are accustomed to. These guitars stand up to the rigors of travel just like the Fender you’ve had for 30 years.”
Traveler has also used woods like alder for their non-gloss versions because of the wood’s weight and durability. According to Oliver, another of alder’s benefits is that it wears extremely well, providing an easyto- repair surface when the inevitable dings and dents occur. For players constantly on the go, this equals an instrument able to stand up to their demanding schedule without having a detrimental effect on sound quality.
To keep prices down on these feature-rich instruments, Traveler outsources all of their production to China, completing a quality check when the instruments arrive on American soil. In contrast, while both Vagabond Guitars and Miranda Guitars lack the selection of Traveler catalog, both produce their guitars predominately in-house with only a few people involved.
Vagabond only features one guitar model, available in a left or right-handed configuration. It is created with a traditional solid spruce top, mahogany neck and rosewood fingerboard and bridge. Producing one model by hand has enabled Kevin Smith to incorporate an intricate amount of craftsmanship into each of his guitars. The guitar’s unusual Florentine contour makes it remarkably similar to a mandolin, but it is a guitar through and through with laminated birch sides and back and steel strings. Every order includes an adjustable nylon strap, cordura gig bag and an unconditional satisfaction guarantee.
Miranda Guitars follows Vagabond’s model of limited selection and in-house production, offering both a steel string (S- 250) and a nylon string (CFX-200). In a show of true design prowess, both models lack a true acoustic body, but make up for it with a sturdy, skeletal frame mimicking a full-bodied, classical acoustic guitar. “I wanted to have a guitar in a small package and not a full-body acoustic because I wanted to practice silently in any situation,” says Miranda’s Phil Green. Players also have the option of removing the acrylic heel plate for a sleek cutaway feel, and purchasing tapping plates for the CFX-200 or a pickguard for the S-250.
 |
| Vagabond Guitars keep things light without collapsable parts |
|
Both models feature a lacquered mahogany neck and body, and are coupled with a rosewood fingerboard. Green’s guitars also go the silent route, including an undersaddle pickup system, a line-in headphone jack and ¼” output. But perhaps the guitar’s most notable attribute is the ability to be broken down into two easily transported, travel-friendly sections. Green jokes that with his guitars, “players can be one-minute luthiers.”
And although the uniqueness of Miranda’s collapsible nature provides travelers with a sleekly packaged instrument and other travel guitars find inventive ways to shed weight and bulk, some people are quick to dismiss the travel guitar as being less of an instrument. “A lot of guitar companies say they are full-scale, but they are a full 22” scale and it shouldn’t be said like that,” Oliver emphasizes. Each of the builders clearly stated in their individual interviews that they are proud designers of full-scale guitars built with traveling in mind.
In fact, these luthiers are building for many of the same reasons as those working in larger instruments. “My goal was that if you closed your eyes, you’d imagine playing your old acoustic from home and we’ve gone to great extents to achieve that,” explains Green. “We’ve covered everything to ensure its authenticity – the look, feel, size, dimensions, minor details, and as much as possible, the tone and sound.”
Art has even crept into the world of travel guitars, a niche segment of the industry motivated more by size limitations than aesthetics. “When I’m building, I envision my guitars as a work of functional art in every respect, with fine fretwork and precise intonation, great sound and yet still very stowable,” says Vagabond’s Smith. He has developed and tinkered with his Vagabond design for the last 20 years by changing woods (currently a spruce top and mahogany neck), components, soundhole placement and shape. Throughout all of his experiments, Smith has searched for “a remarkable, full-size and distinct instrument to be respected by travelers, collectors and professionals in the music industry.”
It seems his efforts have paid off. With customer accolades spanning the globe and his Vagabond used by Neil Young during live performances, Smith has received a stamp of approval that few companies can claim.
Help Wanted
Some luthiers are able to conceptualize their perfect guitar, but others seek help in refining their designs. After coming up with several designs, Oliver and his team at Traveler sought outside help in the form of famous luthier, John Carruthers. Before helping out at Traveler Guitar, Carruthers had solidified his name in guitar lore by creating instruments for legends like Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley and Robby Kreiger of the Doors, to name a select few. Carruthers applied his talents and produced the newest members of the Traveler family, the Escape EG-I and Escape R-II. The experience for the upstart entrepreneur was humbling.
 |
A Miranda guitar packed and ready for travel
|
|
“We’d like to think that we know what we’re doing and we just struggled with constructing a new body style, but to have [Carruthers] come up with the whole thing in one day was phenomenal,” says Oliver. “What he came up with in 24 hours was something we couldn’t picture at all. John got it done right away and with unbelievable accuracy, balance, size and proportion. The guitar just looked right
Besides seeking outside help from seasoned professionals, travel builders frequently solicit ideas for improvements from their customer base. These avenues of communication have directly and indirectly influenced several modifications on their instruments. “Everything from our initial prototype [the Pro Series] up to our current selection is derived from customer comments and requests,” says Oliver. “Not one specifically, but we compile comments together until we make a new model where we can incorporate the most popular requests.”
Often the suggestions are as simple as new colors and electronics, but sometimes customers can push for a whole new sound. “Customers always seemed to enjoy what they heard, but some would hint at changing the soundhole or its placement,” says Vagabond’s Smith. “After a little tinkering on the location and reforming the hole from a circle to an oval, this slight change provided the Vagabond with more tone and original sound than ever before.”
Another customer-driven addition at Vagabond was the addition of a pickup option. Their guitars now come with the option of either a Martin Thinline pickup ($85 extra) or a Martin 332 Plus pickup system ($129 extra). “Since giving customers the option of adding pickups onto their guitar, nearly 90 percent have purchased guitars with the added option,” says Smith.
Some shops are more adept to customization and changes than others. “Some people call or email with specialty specifications for their own rig, like less width in the neck, but we don’t really do custom work,” explains Miranda’s Green. “We have two standard guitars, each of which are pretty much typical dimensions of their corresponding acoustic counterparts. Our shop has a limited number of staff and we can barely keep up with our regular orders, let alone custom jobs.”
Meet The Travelers
One might assume that the market for travel guitars exists solely for professional and traveling musicians, needing the flexibility to practice anytime and anywhere. But we discovered that the great majority of customers in the travel guitar market are businessmen, pilots and even active soldiers in the U.S. military.
Guitar builders have gotten a sense of who they’re making these guitars for through message boards and emails. “We’ve had a number of professional musicians who’ve purchased our guitars, but business travelers and pilots seem to be the majority,” says Green. “Businessmen and professional musicians are no different because they both want and appreciate a quality product.”
 |
| The Traveler Ultra-Light shares the basic components of the Pro Series but keeps things even lighter with a detachable lap rest |
|
The success of these companies is evident in the glowing feedback they often receive from frequent travelers. “I love playing the guitar (Miranda CFX 200). I have taken it on the plane without a hassle, practiced on the train to San Francisco and got great practice while camping,” reads a testimonial on Miranda’s website, from J.F. in California. “I’m delighted with my new Miranda and impressed by what you have accomplished. It’s easy to imagine how much effort went into the design and prototyping, as well as the patent process and manufacturing,” adds D.C. in Arizona. “The design, in particular, is intelligent and innovative.”
Instead of trying to develop more traditional models and expanding into other customer demographics, travel guitar companies have realized that it’s better to fly inconspicuously under the radar of the industry giants. “Someone recently said to me, ‘Why don’t you go after this demographic?’ but I’ve said since we started this that our demographic is our demographic,” emphasizes Oliver. “We’re not in control of our demographic; our demographic is in control and it has always been the same. It has been the 42-year-old male, airline pilot or businessman who has been playing for 15 years.”
Of course, traveler guitars don’t just sit in overhead storage compartments; members of the travel guitar family wear their accumulated mileage like a badge of pride. “I recently received a letter stating how many thousands of miles a particular Israeli commercial pilot has flown with his Miranda guitar,” says Green. “However, one email that sticks out in my mind is one I received with a picture from a man in a Santa Claus suit in Finland.”
Recently Vagabond’s Smith had to do something he doesn’t do very often. “I just received one of my guitars back with a request to have it refurbished,” says Smith. “But this wasn’t an ordinary recondition. It was from a soldier who served during the [first] Gulf War and his guitar was plastered with dust and sand.”
When Alaskan climber, Vern Tejas, looked to test his physical and mental boundaries, he turned to his Traveler Pro Series guitar for moral support. Tejas impressively strummed his guitar on the “Seven Summits,” the highest points of each continent. He most recently conquered Mt. Kosciuszko (7310 ft.) in Australia. “I love playing my Traveler guitar all over the world, especially on top of the continents,” says Tejas. “I love the portability and durability, and you should see the locals light up when they know you have a guitar strapped to your back.”
Most guitarists practice with their feet safely attached to the ground, but only one guitar company can boast an out-of-this-world experience. As mentioned in their catalog, the Martin Backpacker – the guitar that helped establish the traveler niche – has been played by NASA astronauts while orbiting the Earth.
 |
| Climber Vern Tejas on top of the world with his Traveler. |
|
To Infinity and Beyond
The travel guitar sector is definitely poised for growth in the years ahead, but the founders of these small companies can’t seem to agree on the direction that growth will move. More features and smaller designs are inevitable, but will tradition be pushed aside for the sake of technology? For some builders, the possibility of expanding the technology available on their guitars is exciting. In addition to incorporating headphone amps into their guitars, Traveler is looking to include an equally advanced feature on their latest model, which won’t be released until later this year. “We have a model coming out with an iPod interface,” says Oliver. “We’re really excited about someone being able to take one of our guitars and plug in a laptop with some jam tracks or an iPod and just play along.”
Even with technology on his side, Oliver doesn’t see a problem with eventually incorporating an iPod interface into every Traveler guitar. As technology continues to shrink things down, the opportunity to increase the marketability of the Traveler brand to a wider audience grows. “As things continue to get smaller, we plan to standardize more options on our guitars,” says Oliver. “I don’t think it’ll ever be the cell phone, camera and email, but you’ll see more options improving the appeal of travel guitars.”
While Traveler has found a solid market for technology driven guitars, Miranda and Vagabond feel most comfortable making traditional instruments with a travel spin. Neither company has plans for any major changes on the horizon, but they suggest that some modifications and additions could be possible. “We may develop a left-handed version of our steel string model [S-250] because of its increasing popularity, especially with U.S. players,” says Miranda’s Green.
Worth the Trip
As the amount of traveling we do increases and security tightens across the globe, travel guitars continue to be the best bet for getting your instrument to your destination unscathed, whether it’s that arduous business trip or the obligatory visit to Aunt Bertha’s every summer. Even though these guitars exist in a microcosm of the larger guitar industry, there is an impressive variety of designs and options to choose from. Whatever turns you on, whether it’s sleek design and lots of options or a classic, traditional sound and feel, these guitars are the ticket to a more tune-filled trip.
travelerguitar.com
miranda-tech.com
stringsmith.com (Vagabond Guitars)
» Click Here to view the Digital Edition Version of this Article
Commentary
Link to this Article
Want to link to this article? Just copy and paste the text below into your website.
|