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All Thumbs
Aloha
35 Posts |
 Posted - 09/23/2007 : 09:36:40 AM
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I have been looking for a travel guitar for about a year, trying most of the more popular versions available in the U.S. The three primary criteria that I used in judging the guitars were: portability, playability, and sound, in that order. Portability was of primary importance because I travel to some very remote areas in small planes, where field equipment has top billing over personal luggage.
Placing playability in second place was a tough choice. I figured that if the travel guitar that I selected ended up being too large to squeeze onto the plane, even if it played great, it would do me little good if I couldn't take it with me, so playability came in second.
The last criterion was sound. I figured a bad-sounding guitar was better than no guitar at all, and when you're two or three weeks in the bush without a guitar, even a cigar box strung with rubber bands begins to sound good.
I began my search with the realization that selecting a travel guitar, for the most part, is an exercise in compromise - you gain in some areas and lose in others. The trick is selecting a guitar that gives the best balance of gains and losses, which is strictly a personal decision.
As I said, I tried about all of the more popular travel guitars - Martn, Taylor, etc. - and was not particularly impressed with any of them. Then I read a thread on Taropatch about the Brunner Outdoor (OG) Guitar (www.brunner-guitars.com). I researched this guitar fairly extensively and finally contacted Lukas Brunner, who is located in Switzerland. I told him what I was looking for and the conditions to which the guitar would be exposed and he provided advice on what woods would best withstand the extremes in temperature and humidity that the guitar would be subjected to. I was impressed with Mr. Brunner and made the decision to place my order with him.
I had never ordered a guitar that I had not actually touched and played. It was a big risk, although Mr. Brunner guarantees his guitars and said if I did not like the guitar I could return it and get my money back.
I just received my Brunner OG. What a surprise. For those of you unfamiliar with the Brunner OG, it has a detachable neck that makes for a very portable guitar. The workmanship is superb. I selected the deluxe model with an Engelman spruce top and mahogany back and sides (all solid woods, no laminates). I also got the cut-away verson. When I attached the neck to the body and played my first few licks, I was imeediately impressed with the playability and the sound. Granted the sound is not what you would get out of a full-sized guitar of comparable quality, the sound was the best I've heard in any of the other travel guitars that I played. I'm absolutely in love with this guitar. I've not stopped playing it since I received it. My other guitars are collecting dust.
If anyone is looking for a travel guitar and is willing to spend more than what most of the more popular tavel guitars sell for, then consider the Brunner OG. I believe the base price starts around $900 and goes up from there, depending on the woods and other options that you select. Mr. Brunner can give you just about anything you want on your guitar. Although it is not an inexpensive guiar, it is a quality instrument which should last many years.
Aloha,
All Thumbs
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I have learned that there lies dormant in the souls of all men a penchant for some particular musical instrument, and an unsuspected yearning to learn to play on it, that are bound to wake up and demand attention some day. Therefore, you who rail at such as disturb your slumbers with unsuccessful and demoralizing attempts to subjugate a fiddle, beware! for sooner or later your own time will come.
Mark Twain
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noeau
Ha`aha`a
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2007 : 8:10:55 PM
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| Very interesting thanks for sharing. Acoustic travel guitars are hard to come by.. I had a martin backpacker that I never card for very much and this guitar seems like a vast improvement. I have a Yamaha nylon string that you need to p[lug in to hear or you can use ear phones. I like the the compactness of my Yamaha but of course it doesn't have that acoustic unplugged capability. You may have hit on something my man. |
No'eau, eia au he mea pa'ani wale nō. |
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nick_borho
Aloha
USA
13 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2007 : 9:35:02 PM
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| The Baby Taylor Guitar is an excellent travel guitar, and the ones with a Mahogany top really sound good for slack key. It's also nice to take to the beach if you don't want to expose your "good" guitar to that much salt air. They also make a "Big" Baby model, but not as portable. Both come with a gig bag. For something a little fancier, Larrivee makes a nice parlor guitar, but I would be afraid to travel around with that too much... The other thing a smaller guitar is nice for is sitting around practicing - easier than holding your dreadnaught on the couch. |
Nick Borho
Kona
http://www.nickborho.com |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2007 : 03:42:12 AM
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The Brunner guitar is very interesting. The OG has that massive neckblock that takes up some of the strain, the short scale drops the tension a lot and, most interesting, the double layer of the top - as a kind of bracing - gives a very similar effect to Goodall's lenticular top. Of course, Goodall's individual sanding of each top also tunes a particular piece of wood, to some extent.
That shop is quite large and well set up, compared to most individual luthier's shops - Brunner really should be compared to a "small shop" (like Collings or Goodall, but at the low end of that range 120 guitars/year is a pretty good volume - compare around 15-30 for a solo and about 350 for small shop) rather than to a solo luthier's. Those jigs for multiple part formation, and body routing are very ingenious. Even at Goodall's, James routes by hand and eye.
It is also interesting that Judy Threet, a top level luthier, would endorse his product - most unusual.
I wonder how that short scale handles dropped tunings. Did you have to fool with different string gauges? Can the light bracing handle heavier strings?
Could you describe the sound more? You say it is not like a full sized guitar? In what way? Volume? Tone?
Harvey Leach makes a *full size* travel guitar equivalent to Brunner's deluxe model, in various shapes, at over twice the price though (about 4500). Harvey's guitar neck is hinged and simply folds into position - you never touch the strings. He has a carry-on sized case specially made for it. OTW, it is just like any other custom guitar.
http://www.voyageairguitar.com/
...Reid
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