Even with the FAA easing its rules, these days you never know if you’ll get to keep your full-size axe in the cabin with you. These 10 travel guitars offer an alternative—some collapse, some disassemble, and some are just plain tiny.
TRAVELER GUITAR
LTD EC-1This 24.75"-scale guitar is a joint effort between Traveler and ESP. Features include an ESP ALH-200B humbucker, Traveler’s proprietary In-Body Tuning System, an onboard headphone amp, and a push pot to cycle through clean, boost, overdrive, and distortion tones.
$599 street
travelerguitar.com
SOLOETTE
SongBird JazzThe hard-rock maple SongBird offers a choice of five fretboard woods and has an EMG humbucker, a headphone jack, and a detachable aluminum body frame for easy transport.
$1,500 street
soloette.com
With its tone dial at the midway point, the Z-Series delivers a thick, thumpy low-end sound akin to that of other short-scale basses, while prominent mids belie its modest size. There are no sloppy string-tension problems. The action and feel are impressive. The Z-Series won’t replace your main squeeze, but that’s not what it was designed for. An onboard headphone preamp for silent practice would have been nice, but the Z-Series can be an efficient travel companion, a good option for younger/smaller players, or an easy-to-carry gig backup.
Test Gear: Gallien-Krueger 800RB head, TC Electronic RS410 cab
Ratings
Pros:
Solid build. Light. Usable tones in a svelte package.
Cons:
Limited tone options. No blend control. Short-short scale may feel odd.
Street:
$329
Company
shredneck.com
Tones:
Playability:
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