What do you use or want in a Camp/travel guitar?

[jvin248]

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Acoustic: Yamaha, Washburn, Fender, Epiphone

Electric: Squier Mustang Bullet HH (remove the neck to pack the guitar and neck in your carry on). Or one of the Squier 'Mini' ones but they have skinnier carved necks.

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[Boreas]

John, does that Martin LXM have a Richlite fretboard? I've never owned a guitar with that kind of fretboard, but I've test driven several Martins that have it. To me, it looks and plays like ebony. It feels good under my fingers.

The fretboard is one of my favorite aspects of the guitar. It is very stable, so you don't get sharp fret ends in low-humidity settings. No fingernail divots.

 

[Boreas]

If you're a Johnny Cash fan, Martin offers the LXM in black. I call it my mini-Cash guitar. I also have a Felix III. Chris Martin IV loved Felix the Cat cartoons when he was little and he worked with Don Oriolo to cone up with three Felix LXM's. III is a Tie Die with Grateful Dead-looing dating Felix's. This was a fun eBay score. This one stays home. It's signed and numbered inside.

Occasionally a Jimmy Buffet edition comes up on eBay for double what it cost new. Very desirable. I don't recall if it has a laminate or spruce top.

 

[PJ_Tele_fan]

I realize that some time has passed on this thread; but I go backpacking & am interested in a lighter weight (around 3 lbs or less) guitar that cost less than $200 so if something happens to it I’m not out too much.

I’m looking at the Gretsch Jim Dandy, which while a little bulky for backpacking, only weighs 2.2 lbs. It has a 24 inch scale length, and an overall length around 33 inches (as best I could find). It comes in around $169.

Also looking at the SX Trav 1, a lesser known travel guitar which is less bulky than the Jim Dandy, but weighs 3 lbs, a bit more than the Jim Dandy. It’s got a scale length of 22 4/5 inches, and an overall length of 33 1/4 inches. It comes in at $150. The Martin Backpacker is better known for a similar sized guitar; but from personal experience at guitar shops, and watching YouTube videos, I prefer the sound of SX Trav 1, and the Martin Backpacker costs $230 and weighs 5.3 lbs, more than the Trav 1.

Also looking at some guitaleles/guitarleles, a 6-string hybrid between a quarter sized guitar with a tenor or baritone ukulele body. Typically tuned A-D-G-C-E-A, like a guitar with a capo on the 5th fret. The higher (in tone) strings, the G-C-E-A, are the same as on a ukulele, though the G is an octave lower than it is on a standard uke, where the G is typically higher than the C. Anyhow, guitar shaped chords play on it (if you have to figure what chord it’s shifted up to), and uke players have a point of entry with the G-C-E-A strings.

I’m looking at the Yamaha GL1, which is 3 lbs, has a scale length of 17 inches, and a rough overall length of about 27 inches. It comes in at $99; the least pricey of these instruments, the least loss if something were to happen to it. Has a pretty good sound from the YouTube videos I’ve seen.

Also looking at is the Flight GUT 350 guitarlele, which weighs 3.15 lbs, has a scale length of 16 inches, and an overall length of around 26 1/2 inches. It costs $149, and from reviews, its solid spruce top gives it a better tone than the laminate on the Yamaha GL1.

Any opinions?

 

[Weazel]

@skitched the Jim Dandy would be a pretty good choice. I bought mine partly because it kind of resembles a guitar my Dad had when I was a boy, but I bought it mainly to use for trips to the beach, camping, that kind of thing. I also choose it a lot of times when I just want to sit on the deck in the back yard and play.

Sorry for the blindingly white legs. Except for going to the beach, I rarely ever go outside without wearing blue jeans and boots...and I guess it shows!

I recently bought a Hartwood Villanelle parlour, with a solid Engelmann top (?). It is obviously based on the JD, and it's just a sweet, easy beater I paid $90 for used. Made in Indonesia. Very nice sound, great intonation, and now my go-to guitar when I can't be bothered with cables and amps and stuff...

Oh, and i've seen worse legs. In fact, I once saw a guy with no legs at all...

 

[LGOberean]

I recently bought a Hartwood Villanelle parlour, with a solid Engelmann top (?). It is obviously based on the JD, and it's just a sweet, easy beater I paid $90 for used. Made in Indonesia. Very nice sound, great intonation, and now my go-to guitar when I can't be bothered with cables and amps and stuff...
Oh, and i've seen worse legs. In fact, I once saw a guy with no legs at all...

Yeah, that Hartwood parlor does look like the Gretsch Jim Dandy, which was also made in Indonesia. Same factory, maybe? But the Jim Dandy is all laminate agathis, IIRC.

 

[Weazel]

Yeah, that Hartwood parlor does look like the Gretsch Jim Dandy, which was also made in Indonesia. Same factory, maybe? But the Jim Dandy is all laminate agathis, IIRC.

Yup, probably some connection anyway.
I guess a laminated top would cope better than a solid top in this norwegian climate, but time will show as we soon enter the worst months of the year.

 

[boris bubbanov]

I do a lot of camping. When possible we camp at remote sites, away from others. I try to select a spot, if there are spares, that won't crowd other campers.

And we quiet down, fairly early, even if we don't turn in ahead of everyone else.

I would say, it has been almost 20 years since I heard someone playing at an adjacent campsite, that was fun to listen to. Most of the time, it is pretty awful.
We've even packed up and moved our campsite at midnight, to get away from some guitarist.

My advice would be, sell your camp guitars. You're just not at your best, when you play for unwilling listeners.

 

[Weazel]

I do a lot of camping. When possible we camp at remote sites, away from others. I try to select a spot, if there are spares, that won't crowd other campers.

And we quiet down, fairly early, even if we don't turn in ahead of everyone else.

I would say, it has been almost 20 years since I heard someone playing at an adjacent campsite, that was fun to listen to. Most of the time, it is pretty awful.
We've even packed up and moved our campsite at midnight, to get away from some guitarist.

My advice would be, sell your camp guitars. You're just not at your best, when you play for unwilling listeners.

Impressive.

 

[brookdalebill]

This!
It’s a Yamaha NTX700.
They’re $499 new, I got mine for $250 on CL.
It has a solid top, cutaway, built-in tuner, pickup, and is a joy to play.
Nice and quiet if that’s necessary, too.

 

[Chandlerman]

CA Cargo. It's carbon fiber. Never mind the weather, don't worry about damage.

 

[PJ_Tele_fan]

...I realize I’m piggybacking this thread, but it’s a similar enough a subject.

I realize that some time has passed on this thread; but I go backpacking & am interested in a lighter weight (around 3 lbs or less) guitar that cost less than $200 so if something happens to it I’m not out too much.

I’m looking at the Gretsch Jim Dandy, which while a little bulky for backpacking, only weighs 2.2 lbs. It has a 24 inch scale length, and an overall length around 33 inches (as best I could find). It comes in around $169.

Also looking at the SX Trav 1, a lesser known travel guitar which is less bulky than the Jim Dandy, but weighs 3 lbs, a bit more than the Jim Dandy. It’s got a scale length of 22 4/5 inches, and an overall length of 33 1/4 inches. It comes in at $150. The Martin Backpacker is better known for a similar sized guitar; but from personal experience at guitar shops, and watching YouTube videos, I prefer the sound of SX Trav 1, and the Martin Backpacker costs $230 and weighs 5.3 lbs, more than the Trav 1.

Also looking at some guitaleles/guitarleles, a 6-string hybrid between a quarter sized guitar with a tenor or baritone ukulele body. Typically tuned A-D-G-C-E-A, like a guitar with a capo on the 5th fret. The higher (in tone) strings, the G-C-E-A, are the same as on a ukulele, though the G is an octave lower than it is on a standard uke, where the G is typically higher than the C. Anyhow, guitar shaped chords play on it (if you have to figure what chord it’s shifted up to), and uke players have a point of entry with the G-C-E-A strings.

I’m looking at the Yamaha GL1, which is 3 lbs, has a scale length of 17 inches, and a rough overall length of about 27 inches. It comes in at $99; the least pricey of these instruments, the least loss if something were to happen to it. Has a pretty good sound from the YouTube videos I’ve seen.

Also looking at is the Flight GUT 350 guitarlele, which weighs 3.15 lbs, has a scale length of 16 inches, and an overall length of around 26 1/2 inches. It costs $149, and from reviews, its solid spruce top gives it a better tone than the laminate on the Yamaha GL1.

Any opinions?

 

[LGOberean]

I do a lot of camping. When possible we camp at remote sites, away from others. I try to select a spot, if there are spares, that won't crowd other campers.

And we quiet down, fairly early, even if we don't turn in ahead of everyone else.

I would say, it has been almost 20 years since I heard someone playing at an adjacent campsite, that was fun to listen to. Most of the time, it is pretty awful.
We've even packed up and moved our campsite at midnight, to get away from some guitarist.

My advice would be, sell your camp guitars. You're just not at your best, when you play for unwilling listeners.

Well, here's a post to make a guy feel self-conscious!

I'm trying to be funny, but I'm kinda serious at the same time. I want to play guitar on camping trips. I "baptize" every camping with guitar playing. I'd be sad to give it up. But I also don't want to bother anybody.

I've never gotten a negative reaction, to my knowledge. In most state parks and RV parks, I've gotten positive responses. Last month in the Davis Mountains State Park, no one commented. That's the only time I can think of in the last 9 or 10 trips that no one's said anything about it. Every other experience, I've had grateful responses.

I'm on a camping trip right now, as a matter of fact. I didn't bring my Jim Dandy on this trip, because it needed a string change and I was lazy about it. As you can see in the pic below, it is an acoustic/electric tele style, my Logan Custom.

I'm playing it unplugged, so you can imagine that, given the tele dimensions, it's not loud. I've been playing and singing, and getting compliments from neighboring campers. Last night one lady walking her dogs around the loop stopped just to listen and sing along. Gave us and our dogs and chance to meet.

I figure it this way. I've camped where neighbors were listening to radio or Pandora or whatever. I don't begrudge them that, because I can certainly relate to listening to music. When I played guitar, I didn't notice their music, so I figure mine can't be much louder than theirs.

So I will continue to take guitars on camping trips, and since I'm playing and singing unplugged, I'll continue to assume that it's not overbearing, and hopefully it's not unwelcomed. If others ever indicate they want me to stop, I will.