# Nylon string travel guitars



## hummingway (Aug 4, 2011)

I was flying to play at a funereal last January and Air Canada, after insisting I had to put my guitar in baggage, lost my guitar on route. My brother accompanied me on piano for the funereal and eventually they did get the guitar back to me unscathed but who wants to go through that?

It's got me thinking of travel guitars. I've looked a bot at the options, going from a Martin backpack guitar at about $150 to a Blackbird carbon fiber at over $2000. In between there's the Escape, Soloette, Miranda and I'm sure many more! Does anyone have any comments on nylon strung travel guitars they have played? Any rumours to share?


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## Clean Channel (Apr 18, 2011)

I've had a Soloette since the mid 1990s. I've used it in countless situations, from practicing, to travel, to gigs. Being able to plug into headphones or an amp makes the whole thing very versatile. You would need to get your hands on an amp if you were travelling to a gig. The built quality is excellent, and the guitar has held up very well despite the amount of use it's received. You'll want to toy with the amp EQ or bring along an EQ (I use the Empress ParaEQ) to dial in an ideal tone.

I've never tried anything else, only because the Soloette has done everything I've needed perfectly.


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

The Yamaha Silent series will get the job done. It packs very lightly for travel, as well.


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## Stephen W. (Jun 7, 2006)

Have you looked at Brunner's website?
http://brunner-guitars.com/flash/index.html

I have knowledge of his steel string and harp guitar models as shown here. 
http://www.harpguitarmusic.com/listings/hg-ohg.htm

He does build nylon / classical models.
Make no mistake though, these are full size, real guitars not to be confused with other "backpacker" styles.

Check out youtube, Don Alder has some great videos showing off the break down / changeable necks.
[video=youtube;w98NyPbmsf0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w98NyPbmsf0[/video]


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## hummingway (Aug 4, 2011)

Clean Channel said:


> I've had a Soloette since the mid 1990s. I've used it in countless situations, from practicing, to travel, to gigs. Being able to plug into headphones or an amp makes the whole thing very versatile. You would need to get your hands on an amp if you were travelling to a gig. The built quality is excellent, and the guitar has held up very well despite the amount of use it's received. You'll want to toy with the amp EQ or bring along an EQ (I use the Empress ParaEQ) to dial in an ideal tone.
> 
> I've never tried anything else, only because the Soloette has done everything I've needed perfectly.


It looks like there's no resonant chamber on the Soloette so you can't hear much without amplification?


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## Clean Channel (Apr 18, 2011)

hummingway said:


> It looks like there's no resonant chamber on the Soloette so you can't hear much without amplification?


Correct. It functions just like a solid body electric guitar; silent unless amplified. I've used it through all kinds of amps over the years, and it has always done an excellent job.


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## hummingway (Aug 4, 2011)

Stephen W. said:


> Have you looked at Brunner's website?
> http://brunner-guitars.com/flash/index.html
> 
> I have knowledge of his steel string and harp guitar models as shown here.
> ...


What a great idea! They offer all of there OG's with a nylon string option. I don't imagine they'd have much projection but for a little over $2000 it would be more useful then some other models. The Blackbird in carbon fiber sounds pretty good on the clips I've heard but it doesn't look like it will fit in an overhead bin for sure.


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