View Full Version : Backpacking (or travel) guitars / other instruments
Since the website seems to have amnesia, I thought I'd bring up a subject that had been batted around before.
Not all things are best for all people, but I've found a reasonably priced backpacking guitar which is small, light, durable, has a fairly full sound and is quite playable. Here's the website:
http://www.go-guitars.com/
The owner of the company is Sam Radding. He and I talked via email and he helped me decide which guitar to have him make for me (yes, they are handmade in California). It struck me that this might be more of a hobby for him than a business, so I wanted to get the word out before he decides to retire (I have no idea whether or not that is his intention, but if you're looking for a sweet, compact guitar that isn't a throway, check Sam's Go-guitars out).
Btw: Sam suggested given the damp nature of hiking that I get a guitar with mahogany back and sides. I settled on the Grande (deeper body) because a few ounces isn't going to make as big a deal to me than toting something I can't stand to hear myself playing.
Please feel free to inform your fellow hikers of any packable instrument that you feel is worth mentioning.
Jim Adams
10-21-2011, 15:29
Tinker,
I tried to learn on the guitar that you gave me but I am just not musically inclined...fact is I sounded horrible!lol
Just yesterday I gave the same guitar to Green Abe and Ham, a 2010 thru hiker friend of mine and he sat down and played it beautifully. He loves the guitar and can't wait to take it to the AT on his return trip next year. Just thought that I'd let you know that someone is finally playing some good music on it. Thanks!
geek
Sickmont
10-21-2011, 15:50
I prefer taking my piano along on my hikes instead.
Hosaphone
10-21-2011, 16:39
You might guess by my name that I always carry one of these.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWfNN2QQm6E&feature=related&t=35s
Hosaphone
10-21-2011, 16:40
I use a plastic mouthpiece and leave off the funnel to save weight though. Though if you brought the funnel it could serve as a multi-use item at the bars :cool:
[QUOTE=Jim Adams;1210769]Tinker,
I tried to learn on the guitar that you gave me but I am just not musically inclined...fact is I sounded horrible!lol
Just yesterday I gave the same guitar to Green Abe and Ham, a 2010 thru hiker friend of mine and he sat down and played it beautifully. He loves the guitar and can't wait to take it to the AT on his return trip next year. Just thought that I'd let you know that someone is finally playing some good music on it. Thanks!
Jim, I'm glad you "paid it forward" and gave the guitar to someone who could enjoy it and share his talents with others. That's what the best side of life is all about. I shared with you, you shared with him, and now he gets to share with others.
It doesn't hurt that I gave the guitar to a "trail legend". Yes, you! (Well, actually Ziggy was the legend, you were just the beast of burden :p). I hope you're able to take care of business financially these days - it's tough for all of us, but I realize that you had some trouble getting to the Doyle in Feb. (my last hike on the AT due to knee and ankle problems). Me, I'll have to get used to missing events due to my credit overload. I can't afford to throw another cent onto the cards. I need to make a big move to help pay them down, and I might have my opportunity next year as a friend who has some storage space available said that I can use it to start my own bicycle repair business. I think I'm going to go for it. It's just going to require a few tools and a Craigslist ad as well as some strategically placed fliers (flyers?) handed out at the local universities. I also have an idea for my own name brand of bicycles, but I'm keeping that under my hat until I can research it out a bit more.
Best of luck to you.
I have a Martin "backpacking guitar" that pretty much lives on the back porch - a friend, "Crusty", did carry the same one on about a 50 mile hike with me in Joyce Kilmer Wilderness and it was sort of fun but I wouldn't consider it for a serious long distance hike it was pretty much just extra weight - - a harmonica though, (well played) is a nice companion. I'd save the guitar playing for a hostel that has one lying around.
Last Chance
10-21-2011, 21:39
Check out the Baby Taylor!
Check out the Baby Taylor!
I have, and it's a sweet playing instrument. Interestingly, Bob Taylor apprenticed under Sam Radding before he got his own brand off the ground. The Baby Taylor's a bit big in the body to strap on the back of a pack.
I can fit my Go-guitar in the stern storage bag for a kayak which is totally waterproof and it straps right on to my pack.
Jim Adams
10-22-2011, 18:02
Tinker,
Thanks for the kind words. I was really horrible at the guitar even after putting some time into it. Green Abe and Ham thanks you greatly...he has been outdoors playing it everyday since I gave it to him.
I want to definetely hit the Doyle this year. Last year I missed the Doyle and Trail Days due to illness...respiratory problems and also property tax on my house that I purchased last summer...so far all looks good this year!
So good to hear from you.
Ziggy was my hero...I just walked.
geek
Tinker,
Thanks for the kind words. I was really horrible at the guitar even after putting some time into it. Green Abe and Ham thanks you greatly...he has been outdoors playing it everyday since I gave it to him.
I want to definetely hit the Doyle this year. Last year I missed the Doyle and Trail Days due to illness...respiratory problems and also property tax on my house that I purchased last summer...so far all looks good this year!
So good to hear from you.
Ziggy was my hero...I just walked.
geek
I guess in a way while you were carrying him he was carrying you in another way. He must've been a great companion.
Hosaphone
10-23-2011, 19:34
The Baby Taylor's a bit big in the body to strap on the back of a pack.
I wonder if it would be possible to make a guitar with a collapsible body? If you could make one that collapsed down to be flat-ish, you could use it to replace the frame in your pack similar to those frameless packs designed to use a sleeping pad for support :-?
flemdawg1
10-25-2011, 15:44
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Traveler-Guitar-Ultra-Light-Acoustic-Electric-Travel-Guitar-106073653-i1175247.gc#
I thought about getting one of these to keep by my desk and occasionally taking out to the woods or while traveling. I already have a Vox pocket amp to play it through.
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Traveler-Guitar-Ultra-Light-Acoustic-Electric-Travel-Guitar-106073653-i1175247.gc#
I thought about getting one of these to keep by my desk and occasionally taking out to the woods or while traveling. I already have a Vox pocket amp to play it through.
I thought I might like one, too, until I played one at the Guitar Center. Clunky neck and hard to tune. Better strings might help. I like my Squeir Strat better (but it has decent, flat wound strings on it - a la 1970s.
Nick&Bruce
10-26-2011, 00:51
Ukulele. Possibly the bamboo one from Cordoba that (disclaimer: I work for them) Guitar Center has on clearance. I hear bamboo can handle more abuse than hardwoods but I'd suggest doing some research on that.