Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Some Facts About A Travel Electric Guitar

By Katy Dinardi


Guitars can be awkward items to travel with and especially so if flying is to be part of the mix. The travel electric guitar is a hybridized version of the standard instrument that addresses some of these size and shape problems. It may even save the owner some money in some circumstances.

Non complying items of baggage that can freely accompany a passenger have been increasing over the last few years as air transport becomes more cut price. To recover their costs some airlines have been charging additional amounts for any baggage that does not meet their strict criteria. This criterion seldom includes the humble standard instrument which can be classified as over sized or at least addition baggage.

The objective of a travel electric guitar maker then is to produce a smaller guitar that will comply with size restrictions or will fit into an allowable bag. This would eliminate the charge for an additional baggage item. In many cases this small instrument is manufactured by a reduction of the scale and thereby a reduction in body and neck length. These items might look like they've been designed for children as indeed they might have been in some cases.

Some makers choose to keep the full scale (distance from the nut to the bridge) but use other techniques to keep the length of the item to a minimum. This might include dispensing with the head stock. In such cases the tuning is carried out from the guitar body. It might also include placing the bridge as close as possible to the end of the body.

It is often desirable to control the care of your precious possession and this can only be achieved by taking it in to the cabin with you. In days gone by aircraft used to have special lockers in the cabin where fragile items could be stowed.

This has an added advantage of being able to under the owner's careful eye for the duration of the trip. The owner then does not have to worry bout having the instrument's welfare subject to the vagaries of a bulky airport baggage handler.

For the older romantic rocker however the term travel electric guitar probably conjures up an image of a favorite old beaten up instrument that has been taken on the road. The fact that it could be relied upon to perform at every occasion despite it's treatment added to it's the travel status.




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