View Full Version : Advice on Guitars for Thru Hike
Hello Everyone,
I'm starting my hike early March and am really struggling with what to do about instruments. I would love advice from people who have done long hikes with backpacker guitars or mandolins. My first preference would be a guitar - that's what I play - and I know the Martin is a bit awkward but lighter and more true-to-size fretboard than a kid's guitar. Is the Martin the best?
I'm open to bringing a mandolin - does anyone have experience with a super light one? Martin? Weber sweetpea?
Any advice (was it a pain in the ass? added a lot of weight? worth it?) would be great. I think the extra few pounds may be worth being able to keep up playing.
Thanks in advance for any help!!
Lennie
The Martin has a neck like a log and sounds like a uke. I'll dredge you up a video link to one which is supposed to have a nice neck and (relatively) decent sound. Personally, I'm thinking on getting one of those or a throw away 3/4 kid's guitar. Link coming soon, along with a link to my "dream" hiking guitar.
Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5li4CALNbc
My dream travel guitar:
http://www.compositeacoustics.com/Files/Product/Acoustic_Guitars_331/OX_365.asp
Check out the audio link and other audio/video links. I'm very tempted to drop the $799 on this one as I expect prices to go up with popularity.
You might consider a uke. They are tuned similar to a guitar (so I hear) in fourths with similar chord shapes (although they aren't the same chords) and they sound real sweet and wonderful on the trail. I carried a pennywhistle myself. The upside was it weighed 1.25 ounces and was very small. The downside was it is loud.
take-a-knee
01-16-2010, 21:44
Buy a D-28 Martin and leave it at home.
Old Grouse
01-16-2010, 21:53
You might consider a uke. They are tuned similar to a guitar (so I hear) in fourths with similar chord shapes (although they aren't the same chords) and they sound real sweet and wonderful on the trail. I carried a pennywhistle myself. The upside was it weighed 1.25 ounces and was very small. The downside was it is loud.
Loud, yes, but if you get in trouble you can always whistle up a leprechaun.
fiddlehead
01-16-2010, 22:16
Search for some past threads on the subject.
I always used the Martin Backpacker and like it although it is hard to get used to and you do need a strap.
They hold up well. (the desert is worse on them than rain)
I've thru-hiked the AT with one but it didn't even last NM on the CDT.
Martin did stand behind it and give me a new one.
Carrying a guitar on thru-hikes has enabled me to learn enough songs so that I am now playing professionally. Good luck.
ps. maybe you can camp near TAK and get him to join in on a sing-a-long.
Thanks guys, I appreciate the advice!!
Loud, yes, but if you get in trouble you can always whistle up a leprechaun.
Ha ha. Once I was sitting in the forest playing some Irish tunes when I heard someone coming. So I put the whistle away. He came up and said he was walking in the forest and heard what sounded like fairies playing music or something. He thought he was hallucinating.
Buy a D-28 Martin and leave it at home.
i agree! no one will think youre as good as you do! :)
sasquatch2014
01-17-2010, 19:27
Tinker when I picked you up from your section hike and we went to the music store you said you were going to go with the 3/4th sized children's guitar in the hot pink Hello Kitty design.
paradoxb3
01-18-2010, 16:47
i agree! no one will think youre as good as you do! :)
i will prove you wrong this year when i entertain thru hikers all the way to maine with my bagpipes! :D
sasquatch2014
01-18-2010, 21:53
i will prove you wrong this year when i entertain thru hikers all the way to maine with my bagpipes! :D
I want to learn to play them I have a dream of walking the above tree line ridges in a bit of fog while playing them. :D
Bagpipes............ a haunting sound especially in the fog.
kombiguy
01-18-2010, 22:10
I've had the same question regarding my banjo.
I just ordered two penny whistles. I'm gonna flush out a leprechaun so help me. Figured it's better than playin' the lotto.
Hosaphone
01-18-2010, 22:54
Just bring a hosaphone, man :cool:
Tinker when I picked you up from your section hike and we went to the music store you said you were going to go with the 3/4th sized children's guitar in the hot pink Hello Kitty design.
Funny you should mention that :D.
My friend, the music coordinator from church and a guitar teacher (graduate of some school in NY) bought an electric Hanna Montana 3/4 scale guitar online and said that it plays well and has very good electronics!
But back to backpacking guitars.
Definitely, absolutely get one with a truss rod in the neck, otherwise you can't adjust it when it starts to warp on you.
The one I was playing on that "Dueling banjos" Youtube video did not have a truss rod and was starting to show it when I gave it away to a fellow hiker here. It was still fine for learning, but getting a little harder to play.
You might consider a uke. They are tuned similar to a guitar (so I hear) in fourths with similar chord shapes (although they aren't the same chords) and they sound real sweet and wonderful on the trail. I carried a pennywhistle myself. The upside was it weighed 1.25 ounces and was very small. The downside was it is loud.
The tuning is different, and, just as with guitars, the sound coming from a good one in the hands of a good player is sweet - otherwise, not so much.:rolleyes:
A beater pawn shop $50 guitar that you won't be mad about if it gets trashed would be my choice. You could always get another in another town. Leave the good stuff at home.
stranger
01-19-2010, 05:09
Keep in mind that many hikers will not appreciate your playing along the trail, regardless of what guitar you choose to carry or how well you play it...Personally speaking, I'm not one of them, but there are plenty out there.
My advise to you would be: If you can't play it like a pro, leave it home.
Nothing worse than to sit around and listen to someone learning to play.
My advise to you would be: If you can't play it like a pro, leave it home. Nothing worse than to sit around and listen to someone learning to play.
I am a music lover and I own a couple guitars. Yet, I think that the above quote is some pretty good advice not only on the AT--but any trail.
I would add: Even if you CAN play like a pro--please remember that not everyone is interested in hearing you play your music and sound carries for a VERY LONG distance outside (sometimes for a mile or more). Furthermore, even if someone was open to hearing you play yesterday--they might not be in the mood to hear you play your music today.
There needs to a careful balance struck between your right to enjoy playing your music--and other people's right to be "music free" for all (or part) of their hike.
It may be true that some people will not like to hear the guitar, and with the whole shelter system, it'll be hard to get away from those people. But the guitar is a pretty quiet instrument, so I think you could get away by yourself once in a while to play it. But if you have to do that, it might not be worth the weight.
I just ordered two penny whistles. I'm gonna flush out a leprechaun so help me. Figured it's better than playin' the lotto.
You'll want to take a lesson. This guy is really good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0Xf1Ume0zA&feature=related
The tin whistle is the most awful noise when you're a beginner.
I was looking for a new guitar for backpacking and I found this one: http://macnichol.com/product/emerald-guitars-x5-life-natural-carbon
Pricy, but the only thing that the weather could damage on it is the set of strings.
I might order one once the job situation stabilizes.
wcgornto
11-06-2010, 01:12
My advise to you would be: If you can't play it like a pro, leave it home.
Nothing worse than to sit around and listen to someone learning to play.
Yes there is ... listening to someone who can't play AND can't sing trying to do both.
I like the sound of good playing and or singing. On the other hand, there were a cople of nights during my thru hike last year when a couple of late arrivers decided to sit around a camp fire into the late hours torturing a cat (i.e. poorly attempting to play and sing) when several exhausted hikers were trying to get some sleep.
A little consideration goes a long way, but unfortunately, some people have too little consideration for others.
oh, like all things, it goes both ways. for me, sobo, first day in new hampshire, a youth group leader played a guitar, and his kids joined in on chorus, having picked-up the words as he had sung them before. even though i was falling asleep, it wasn't too loud, and it truly was one of the best moments on the trip for me. he could play and sing, though. and the kids were earnest. ;)
WILLIAM HAYES
11-11-2010, 17:57
leave it at home i don't need to be entertained on the AT-most hikers find it annoying and an imposition to listen to someone plinking on a guitar after a long day on the trail- buy an Ipod and dont annoy people
As long as you can play I don't mind hearing some music.
northernstorm
11-11-2010, 19:51
the backpacker is your best bet, trust me. 20 years experience with guitar and this thru hike will be the first time i DIDNT pack some form of guitar. imagine weeling some marshall stacks out into the woods. that would be a wild treat for anyone walking through.:banana
Sassafras Lass
11-11-2010, 19:58
Buy a D-28 Martin and leave it at home.
Screw that; buy an HD-35 and play the nuts off of it :)
Sassafras Lass
11-11-2010, 20:10
In all honesty, the backpacker is . . . . passable. Missing a lot of tone in the mid- and low-range. Plus the difficulty of finding/constructing a gigbag for it - check out this thread for more info about instruments on the trail http://whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=64207 - can be difficult.
Mandolin is tuned the same as a violin so if that won't throw you then that could be a good choice. Plus it sounds awesome when you play the "Godfather" theme on it. :)
Ukelele could be cool, also very small.
Or just go all-out and bring a banjo - very fitting for Georgia through Virginia.
Slo-go'en
11-11-2010, 21:13
Many a string insturment start the trail - very few, if any, finish the trail. A large number of them end up at the pawn shop in Erwin.
I've meet a few good musicains on the trial - and a lot of really bad ones...
Please, no Wagon Wheel. :D
the "flea" uke from fleamarketmusic is made in the usa (CT) and is a very credible instrument -- with a molded plastic body, it is both light and way more durable than an instrument made of more wood. the uke is soooooooo easy to play if you can play the guitar -- fingering, as said elsewhere, is similar for different chords. i think it's the perfect backpacker instrument, although i only bring it on short overnights, myself... check out jake shimabukuro on youtube if you don't think you can get good sound out of a uke. oh, and not crazy-expensive.
wannahike
11-12-2010, 08:53
Someone mentioned a violin
http://www.wiplstix.com/ws/whos_using_wiplstix.html
Sierra Echo
11-12-2010, 19:58
You should take a banjo! If a shelter is full hide behind and start playing "dueling banjos". That should scare the shelter empty! :D
You should take a banjo! If a shelter is full hide behind and start playing "dueling banjos". That should scare the shelter empty! :D
That would be funny. If I heard banjos and couldn't see the people playing them I would definitely not stay at that shelter.