Although guitarists have traveled with their instruments to every corner of the world, lugging around a full-size jumbo guitar can be quite a drag. And while getting a guitar into the cabin of a plane has become increasingly difficult. Even checking in a guitar complete with a suitable protective case has become riskier than it once was, because luggage can no longer be locked.
But you don’t need to be a seasoned traveler to appreciate the advantage of small guitar designed for travel. If you enjoy taking a guitar along when you’re hiking or camping, or if there’s little room left in your car after loading up the kids and dogs off for the week end, a compact and lightweight instrument may make the difference between having music with you or not. The question is choosing the one that suits your own preferences and as with the free market system there are so many to choose from.
There's likely to be many factors which make the best travel guitar for you different from the best travel guitar for someone else.
Little Martin, Martin Backpacker, Baby Taylor, Blackbird, Amigo, Applecreek, Johnson variations, Aria, Yamaha, Montana, Applause (by Ovation), Washburn, the list is endless, well almost. There is even something called a Pignose that has built up a respectable following.
As for me, I was looking for something essentially wooden, with steel strings, and a realistic scale length that played like a real guitar. I was not into anything plastic or composite. I also wanted a bit more noise than the silent guitars made by Aria and others.
After reading the reviews and looking at the pictures and even a few clips on Youtube, I decided on those that appealed to me were like the Johnson Trailblazer, the Amigo and the Montana.
The Amigo, Montana and Hora have a similar appearance with an interesting teardrop shape. Rather like a lute or bazouki, which appealed to me as opposed to the scaled down traditional guitar shape. To my minds eye the Washburn designed travel guitar was not very appealing at all.
There is the Brunner whose neck slides back into the full size body. And the Voyage-Air whose neck is hinged and folds back over the body. Besides being prohibitively expensive, the idea of stretching and relaxing the strings each time did not impress me. There are also some cheap copies of the Martin Backpacker available. But I wasnt only going for cheap. And after covering the shipping you wouldnt get away with less that R600 so pay a bit more and get something approaching decent.
Most of these brands, mostly American in name and tradition, are made in China. So when the Hora caught my eye it held my focus and I ended up buying a teardrop shaped travel guitar straight from thre factory in Romania. I paid 73 euros which is around R730.00 plus 29 euros for shipping.
They packed it well and 10 days later it was in Johannesburg. I am in Cape Town and it took another two weeks to get it from Johannesburg to my local Post Office! (Well done SA Post Office)
It has a solid spruce top with mahogany sides and a laminated lime back. Thats a first. The fretboard, some kind of blackened acacia wood.
It has a classical style bridge as it is built for either nylon of steel strings. I was a bit concerned about this but the bridge seems to be strong.
The machine heads have plastic lobes.
The scale length is 610mm which is only slightly shorter than a standard 650mm of a standard guitar. The neck width at the nut is 48mm. The overall length of the instrument is 890mm by 220mm wide and 60mm deep.
I bought a scratch plate locally just to protect the finish.
It has a nice clear tone with no rattles or buzz. It has a good volume although it cannot compare with a jumbo in either volume or sound quality. But hey, that's what you sacrifice for a compact little instrument like this. Having a small body makes it something to get used to and I had to find a new way to caress my new prize. A strap would help to hold it in a suitable playing position.
It comes with a gig bag and I made a strong case so that I can cram it into any luggage compartment or car boot without it sustaining up any injuries. Its a strong case now that I can stand on or even jump on!!
You can see their website at www.hora.ro
I hope these pics load ok!!
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