# Silent Travel Guitars?



## ElRay (Apr 15, 2008)

I know they're out there, but annoyingly, I can't find any reviews of anything but the high-end ones. I had started down the path of getting something good, but I dawned on me this morning, that that's not the most prudent route to go. 

So, I'm seeing MiniStar, LesStar, etc.:



by Codel Enterprises in the $150 range and some sub-$100 models from Santini on eBay:


but I can't find any reviews, etc. about these.

Another decision factor is that the Codel *stars would need some kind of a headphone amp, but the "acoustic" ones have them built-in.

Ray

Edit: I forgot to thank Sebastian (Apophis) and Mike (msherman) for the effort they put into spec'ing something "good" before the reality of taking a custom-made baritone 7-string travel guitar to Afghanistan sunk in.


----------



## Zugster (Apr 15, 2008)

I have one of these, a Speedster by Traveller Guitar:





The arm rest is detachable and it comes with a small gig bag. I use a headphone amp with it. I used to use a CTech V2 Pocket Rockit, but I switched to a Pocket Pod, which sounds way better.


----------



## ElRay (Apr 15, 2008)

Zugster said:


> I have one of these, a Speedster by Traveller Guitar


I saw these, and I am tempted (there's one with a Pocket Pod on ElBay), but then I'm pushing that $300+ range, and I'm not sure I should take something like that to Afghanistan.

Ray


----------



## wes225 (Apr 15, 2008)

ElRay said:


> I saw these, and I am tempted (there's one with a Pocket Pod on ElBay), but then I'm pushing that $300+ range, and I'm not sure I should take something like that to Afghanistan.
> 
> Ray


military allows for that stuff to go wit you? wow. thats sweet. anyways


----------



## ElRay (Apr 15, 2008)

wes225 said:


> military allows for that stuff to go wit you? wow. thats sweet. anyways


You get reasonable personal "stuff". Still, I don't want to push it. Also, FOB's are noisy places, there shouldn't be any problem within the wire; outside is another issue. It wouldn't leave my "bunk" area. All the same, that's why I'm leaning towards something small, and silent.

Ray


----------



## Zugster (Apr 15, 2008)

ElRay said:


> I saw these, and I am tempted (there's one with a Pocket Pod on ElBay), but then I'm pushing that $300+ range, and I'm not sure I should take something like that to Afghanistan.
> 
> Ray


 
Wow... didn't realize you'd be taking it there. Good luck to you.
I first saw the speedster at a GC and balked at the $350 tag. Later I saw one on Craigs List and got it for 1/2 price.

Edit: One other thing about these guitars... the tuner placement makes changing strings a real pain, and they are cheap crappy Ping tuning machines. I used some of the savings to put in a 3x3 set of Schaller locking tuners. They were a drop in replacement. It makes a huge difference.


----------



## ElRay (Apr 16, 2008)

Zugster said:


> One other thing about these guitars... the tuner placement makes changing strings a real pain, and they are cheap crappy Ping tuning machines. I used some of the savings to put in a 3x3 set of Schaller locking tuners. They were a drop in replacement. It makes a huge difference.


That's another reason I'm looking at the cheaper acoustic-like one. Unless I start pushing $800+ (at that price point, I'd rather have Mike or Sebastian make me a 28-5/8" 7-string), I expect a certain level of suck. So with the sub-$100 model, I'd be more willing to replace the tuners (if needed) and upgrade to a Tusq saddle.

That said, the idea of a LesStar and a Pocket Pod is still tempting.

Ray


----------



## ElRay (Apr 25, 2008)

Hey, if anybody is following this thread, I'm about to make a purchase. As much as I'd love something like the Traveler models, I just can't taking a $300+ guitar to Afghanistan for a year (If I did, I'd have gone the Sebastian/Sherman/I-Forgot-TheIllustrated's-Real-Name route.).

I'm leaning towards the "self contained" model (the 2nd one), because all I'd need would be headphones. But, getting something like the MiniStar and a PocketPod doesn't sound too shabby either. Any thoughts?

I'm also seeing Galveston and other mini-electrics. For some reason, the MiniStar seems to be a better guitar than these off-brands. Agreed?

Ray


----------

