Thanks for the review, Phil! As someone who flies a lot for work, this is very tempting. I have a Voyage-Air acoustic, which I really enjoy - but it is big. I could see it not fitting on every potential plane. Also, it is an acoustic. I could see me take this Journey with a spark mini and be very happy. With a full sized guitar, I’d also be ready to hit a jam with friends wherever. I have rented guitars at studios before, but it is always better to play your own instrument.
I don't fly but do travel / live in hotels from time to time. My "travel rig" is a Traveler guitar, Zoom FX pedal and a Casio 32 Child's keyboard. It all fits in my suitcase an allows me to be creative when stuck in a hotel room.
Hey Phil, love the channel. I’ve been using a Steinberger Spirit GT pro for traveling for 20 years (purchased when Gibson ran a website called musicyo). Inexpensive, headless, decent tremolo and super sturdy. They’re still available and would recommend you review one for the group. Dollar for dollar it’s value as a travel guitar is better in my opinion than anything else and it’s a decent headless without the travel consideration. I had to level the frets on mine last year, but heck, it took a lot of wear and abuse.
This looks like an improvement over the pretty confidential Stewart Stow-Away, since it has a headstock with tuners, while the Stewart is headless and is very difficult to tune because the tuners are located in the rear back. However, the Stewart neck can be stored inside the body, which makes it very compact. I'm very frustrated with my Stewart because of the 2 points I mentioned (no head, difficult to tune), but it is still a pretty clever system and a great travel guitar. I hope they'll improve the design, but it seems to remain relatively unchanged since many years
Pretty cool and the price is right (just needs a little setup)! Would love to try one but the one thing I'm not sure about is that tightening mechanism. Looks like that grip could possibly be an issue rubbing against my stomach area.
FWIW I just saw that these were a thing (I actually have an acoustic traveller of theirs but I didn't know about their take on an electric traveller)... and I was hoping and praying to the gods of rock that you (specifically, you) had a video on this! Love your content!
Great review Phil! Wow....I can't believe the price point on this....that's nutz! I own one of their acoustic carbon fiber overhead models and its great. I think I have to get one of these, just because! I recently went on a flight to Austin TX with my LTD guitar from Traveler, however, that didn't fit under the seat and I was darn lucky a flight attendant found a post for it. I know that that Journey backpacks ALONE are well made and fit under the seat. I need one of these in my life! I can't believe they even provide some type of headphone amp....that's unreal! Thx! I had spoke to James on the phone a long time ago and told them they needed to make an electric version...really glad they did!
Those pickups are surprisingly articulate for how warm they are but also seem to to punch out more highs based on the pick-attack. Pretty impressive for a cheap travel guitar.
I like it. Im wondering how much would be involved to lower action. I agree its too high. I realize that may be picky but if I dont enjoy a guitar I tend not to pick it up. overall I really like the idea and it seems good quality. Thanks Phil
I like the design, but you never mentioned -- do they have a minimum string gauge that they recommend using, considering the breakdown for shipping? I could see very thin gauge strings being problematic, and perhaps thicker gauges being a boon for setup.
Awesome review. I have the acoustic version that is awesome and was looking at this. I don't particularly like the 3-piece system, with the headstock not part of the neck, but I guess they had to do that to keep it as a small footprint for carry-on. How would you compare this to a Fender Strat or Gibson Les Paul?
Honestly, this is a great deal for what it is. The whole time watching the video was thinking, nah. It's going to be $1200 or more. Still, it might be worth it at that price. I see the frets. No biggie, I mean the neck comes off. You don't even have to restring to polish the frets. Then you hit me with the price. Sold. I travel a lot. Sometimes, less than I want to I bring a guitar with me. But it is full sized pain.this is perfect with a little blackstar cube amp. I wonder if these sell well enough they will do a thinner, maybe carbon fiber neck.
Thanks Phil! Cool product. I really wonder if the two pickups both being neck pickups was a mistake. The neck pickup is noticeably louder than the neck, probably because they have the same resistance. Maybe lower the bridge pickup to quiet it down a little?
How did that Travel Guitar, Not Sound like a crappy travel guitar!? _ That was really surprising! Cool machine' Love the concept! Thank you Phil' Great product and Video!🎸🎼👍
This isn’t the kind of guitar I’d ever buy but I really enjoyed your review of it all the same! And I especially like that you’ve reviewed it like any other guitar and not just focused in on the novelty of it being a “travel guitar”; it still needs to perform as a good guitar!
I travel extensively for business and find myself in hotel rooms 3 to 5 days a week..although it requires a strap to play the hofner for half the price has proven itself tough and reliable..but I am on my 2nd gig bag
Definitely an interesting concept. My main concern would be once you take your time to do a decent set up, is it going to be stable after you remove and reattach the neck. I guess the question really is how accurate and repeatable is that neck joint.
Allways value your honest opinion Phil+1, I think there would be a pretty small market for this guitar. I think there could be a wee problem with wear on heavy useage. Enjoyed the show bud. 👍👍🥃Respect to you mate.
Depends on your experiences, I guess. Around me, I see people tote full-size keyboards camping. Also, decent guitar for busking. Small battery-powered amp and this and off you go. Small open mic night.
I wonder how much a tech would charge to customize a tele to do similar (the Danny Gatton trick)... any techs out there want to give their 2 cents? Julian Lage wrote: "Thank you Ron Ellis for teaching me the Danny Gatton trick of traveling with a tele by taking the neck off and throwing body and neck in a bag so there is nothing to check! We put in metal screw inserts in the neck so it doesn’t strip the wood with each removal. It also makes the guitar sound better than ever! - Julian"
Okay, $500 isn't too bad. That's reasonable. You might be able to find a better cool used bolt on guitar for that if you shopped around, though, and accomplish the same thing with a little bit of extra fuss (which may include making some set up adjustments as well depending) if you're so inclined..
I switched to guitar only three years ago, and built my guitar myself. I'm surprised you measured the string height from the top; I always thought I should measure the action instead given the strings are different gauges. Is that the standard?
This just seems like a bad idea. I get the use case, but I would think that keeping it set up correctly would be a chore each time you reassemble it. And I would think that string breakage would be a big concern.
Well in my case, my girlfriend has a Mazda MX5 /Miata and there's bugger all, guitar wise, you can fit in the boot/trunk except my baby Taylor or Blue Lava. So this and my Blackstar ID core BEAM is perfect for electric stuff 🧐
I bought one it took 4-6 month to get LOl the body is ok but the neck of guitar is so bad including frets - I went to see luthier he cannot fix the neck and lower strings ! it is so hard to play guitar solo in this guitar ! not good quality of neck and frets - shame !!! need to sell this shit !
Showing the $6 switchcraft jack next to the cheap jack, is why we love you Phil. You are staying true to your brand and we heart you.
Thanks for the review, Phil! As someone who flies a lot for work, this is very tempting. I have a Voyage-Air acoustic, which I really enjoy - but it is big. I could see it not fitting on every potential plane. Also, it is an acoustic. I could see me take this Journey with a spark mini and be very happy. With a full sized guitar, I’d also be ready to hit a jam with friends wherever. I have rented guitars at studios before, but it is always better to play your own instrument.
I think Phil has been spending some quality practice time. Nice smooth riffs!
I don't fly but do travel / live in hotels from time to time. My "travel rig" is a Traveler guitar, Zoom FX pedal and a Casio 32 Child's keyboard. It all fits in my suitcase an allows me to be creative when stuck in a hotel room.
Hey Phil, love the channel. I’ve been using a Steinberger Spirit GT pro for traveling for 20 years (purchased when Gibson ran a website called musicyo). Inexpensive, headless, decent tremolo and super sturdy. They’re still available and would recommend you review one for the group. Dollar for dollar it’s value as a travel guitar is better in my opinion than anything else and it’s a decent headless without the travel consideration. I had to level the frets on mine last year, but heck, it took a lot of wear and abuse.
Thanks for the review. I like seeing these travel designs.
Thanks!
Man... in that Overdrive setting... sounded brutal... in a good way!!! Very very cool guitar! 😎🤘🎸
Thanks Phil!
Clever design and sounds nice. Thanks Phil.
Definitely priced appropriate!
Wow! Sounds good! Nice to know that there's guitars out there like that!
Great playing. Tim's lessons coming through
Thanks Phil. I was considering this. Good info
Thanks for the review, Phil. RAWK!!! 🤘🏼
You bet!
I love my journey parlor travel overhead guitar. Outstanding quality. I’ll be looking for one of these for sure for work and family travel!!
This looks like an improvement over the pretty confidential Stewart Stow-Away, since it has a headstock with tuners, while the Stewart is headless and is very difficult to tune because the tuners are located in the rear back. However, the Stewart neck can be stored inside the body, which makes it very compact. I'm very frustrated with my Stewart because of the 2 points I mentioned (no head, difficult to tune), but it is still a pretty clever system and a great travel guitar. I hope they'll improve the design, but it seems to remain relatively unchanged since many years
Pretty cool and the price is right (just needs a little setup)! Would love to try one but the one thing I'm not sure about is that tightening mechanism. Looks like that grip could possibly be an issue rubbing against my stomach area.
Agree but it's pretty slick though!✌️🤘
Wouldn't want to do a RHCP and wear only a sock while playing that thing lol
FWIW I just saw that these were a thing (I actually have an acoustic traveller of theirs but I didn't know about their take on an electric traveller)... and I was hoping and praying to the gods of rock that you (specifically, you) had a video on this! Love your content!
Great review Phil! Wow....I can't believe the price point on this....that's nutz! I own one of their acoustic carbon fiber overhead models and its great. I think I have to get one of these, just because! I recently went on a flight to Austin TX with my LTD guitar from Traveler, however, that didn't fit under the seat and I was darn lucky a flight attendant found a post for it. I know that that Journey backpacks ALONE are well made and fit under the seat. I need one of these in my life! I can't believe they even provide some type of headphone amp....that's unreal! Thx! I had spoke to James on the phone a long time ago and told them they needed to make an electric version...really glad they did!
Those pickups are surprisingly articulate for how warm they are but also seem to to punch out more highs based on the pick-attack.
Pretty impressive for a cheap travel guitar.
Cool concept, with a little work might be a great guitar
Would be awesome if they made an hss strat with that conecpt. That would be the perfect allrounder travel guitar! :)
For the price point it looks great. A little fret work, and setup and you’ll be good to go. Might have to get one for my upcoming trips. Thanks Phil!
Thin king the same thing. I have a few emg's laying around too
I like it. Im wondering how much would be involved to lower action. I agree its too high. I realize that may be picky but if I dont enjoy a guitar I tend not to pick it up. overall I really like the idea and it seems good quality. Thanks Phil
If they got the neck angle right, then all one would need to do is lower the bridge saddles.
Ciari Guitars make a folding/compact guitars... but it cost 2k+ dollars. Also fits in a back pack.
I like the design, but you never mentioned -- do they have a minimum string gauge that they recommend using, considering the breakdown for shipping? I could see very thin gauge strings being problematic, and perhaps thicker gauges being a boon for setup.
You would be good with 8s, 9s, 10s, 11s or 12s,
I like this a lot! Very cool design :)
I want get my hands on the Ciari Guitars travel guitar
So cool
Awesome review. I have the acoustic version that is awesome and was looking at this. I don't particularly like the 3-piece system, with the headstock not part of the neck, but I guess they had to do that to keep it as a small footprint for carry-on. How would you compare this to a Fender Strat or Gibson Les Paul?
Honestly, this is a great deal for what it is. The whole time watching the video was thinking, nah. It's going to be $1200 or more. Still, it might be worth it at that price. I see the frets. No biggie, I mean the neck comes off. You don't even have to restring to polish the frets. Then you hit me with the price. Sold.
I travel a lot. Sometimes, less than I want to I bring a guitar with me. But it is full sized pain.this is perfect with a little blackstar cube amp. I wonder if these sell well enough they will do a thinner, maybe carbon fiber neck.
Thanks Phil! Cool product. I really wonder if the two pickups both being neck pickups was a mistake. The neck pickup is noticeably louder than the neck, probably because they have the same resistance. Maybe lower the bridge pickup to quiet it down a little?
What is the size of the backpack? Wondering if this would qualify as a "personal item" on spirit/frontier.
Neat system..was that coltrane while you were checking frets?
1:25 The phrase is “et voila,” meaning “and there it is,” not walla
How did that Travel Guitar, Not Sound like a crappy travel guitar!? _ That was really surprising! Cool machine' Love the concept! Thank you Phil' Great product and Video!🎸🎼👍
This isn’t the kind of guitar I’d ever buy but I really enjoyed your review of it all the same! And I especially like that you’ve reviewed it like any other guitar and not just focused in on the novelty of it being a “travel guitar”; it still needs to perform as a good guitar!
I travel extensively for business and find myself in hotel rooms 3 to 5 days a week..although it requires a strap to play the hofner for half the price has proven itself tough and reliable..but I am on my 2nd gig bag
Looks like good bones, and sounds pretty good for what it is. Sturdy, dependable.. 8) --gary
Definitely an interesting concept. My main concern would be once you take your time to do a decent set up, is it going to be stable after you remove and reattach the neck. I guess the question really is how accurate and repeatable is that neck joint.
That amp sounds excellent
Every guitar's neck is detachable, at least once...
Allways value your honest opinion Phil+1, I think there would be a pretty small market for this guitar. I think there could be a wee problem with wear on heavy useage. Enjoyed the show bud. 👍👍🥃Respect to you mate.
Depends on your experiences, I guess. Around me, I see people tote full-size keyboards camping. Also, decent guitar for busking. Small battery-powered amp and this and off you go. Small open mic night.
How cool would this be if it offered different neck lengths.
For some reason, this gave me an idea for a future segment: could you make an electric guitar out of just spare parts in your shop?
Putting together these Traveler Guitars, I always feel like a Sniper Assassin assembling a Firearm.
As intended.
I wonder how much a tech would charge to customize a tele to do similar (the Danny Gatton trick)... any techs out there want to give their 2 cents?
Julian Lage wrote: "Thank you Ron Ellis for teaching me the Danny Gatton trick of traveling with a tele by taking the neck off and throwing body and neck in a bag so there is nothing to check! We put in metal screw inserts in the neck so it doesn’t strip the wood with each removal. It also makes the guitar sound better than ever! - Julian"
Could the 'N' on the pickup stand for "north", referring to the magnetic pole?
A Tele, a capo and a screwdriver. That’s my travel guitar.
I like it, it's not perfect, but the price makes it acceptable. I only wish they offered a model with 3 single coils...
Very cool
SWEET
It's great if you wanna travel and have something to keep your fingers moving.
This with an Evertune would be perfect
Interesting 👍
Can’t factories do something to prevent polishing compound from collecting in the routed areas? It looks so crappy.
Cool guitar! Can I play “don’t stop believing” on it, or is that too meta?
Pretty damn amazing - huzzah!
Okay, $500 isn't too bad. That's reasonable. You might be able to find a better cool used bolt on guitar for that if you shopped around, though, and accomplish the same thing with a little bit of extra fuss (which may include making some set up adjustments as well depending) if you're so inclined..
♫ ♪ We all live in a yellow tambourine ♫ ♪
We're all drinking yellow listerine
I switched to guitar only three years ago, and built my guitar myself. I'm surprised you measured the string height from the top; I always thought I should measure the action instead given the strings are different gauges. Is that the standard?
Watch again, he measures from top of fret to bottom of string. That is standard.
You don't fly in Europe with easyjet or Ryanair. Neck board will be to long to take as a hand luggage on board.
isnt that more a D-shape on the neck?
This just seems like a bad idea. I get the use case, but I would think that keeping it set up correctly would be a chore each time you reassemble it. And I would think that string breakage would be a big concern.
cool . . .
How can we order sir?
OH ITS A GIBSON!!!!
oh no wait the headstock is meant to be off!!!!
Woot
the type of player that would need this can afford a more expensive guitar and would want one
When I saw the thumbnail I really thought it was a Gibson.
any neck is detachable if you're stubborn enough
I guarantee I would scratch that finish the first time I went to put it all together. I need an idot proof system like PRS, Gibson and Fender makes.
Other than International Airport Buskers, I can't see the market for this Guitar🤔
Well in my case, my girlfriend has a Mazda MX5 /Miata and there's bugger all, guitar wise, you can fit in the boot/trunk except my baby Taylor or Blue Lava. So this and my Blackstar ID core BEAM is perfect for electric stuff 🧐
At first I thought this was a guitar the band journey had made up where they could smash it at every show and reuse at the next show
I swore your thumbnail on social media was a Photoshop...
I bought one it took 4-6 month to get LOl the body is ok but the neck of guitar is so bad including frets - I went to see luthier he cannot fix the neck and lower strings ! it is so hard to play guitar solo in this guitar ! not good quality of neck and frets - shame !!! need to sell this shit !
Uh oh, pretty sure Gibson already patented that headstock 😁
I think I'd rather just get a Steinberger GT-Pro
Nah
I don’t just. Don’t. But nice tho but just don’t.
Of all the guitar necks that would be easy to do perfect fret work on. What an utter disappointment.
Another "Crap, Holy cool" guitar ;-)
Man that action is absolutely terrible
👍
Nice video. That guitar, no thanks.... Looks cool but same time looks like a total hassle.....