The key to the TravelTone guitar is a patent-pending mechanism that allows the body to fold around the neck without damaging the strings, creating a uniquely portable, tiny travel guitar.

A hand-operated tension mechanism allows you to easily bring the strings to full tension for playing, or reduced tension to fold the guitar away. The mechanism also maintains a controlled amount of tension on the strings at all times so that they don’t come loose or otherwise flop around during folding, unfolding, or storage.

For electric guitars, most of the tone is determined by the pickup! Yes, we know this is controversial, and yes, we know these are fighting words to some. We acknowledge that different tonewoods and other design choices affect the sound of an electric guitar. Although a particular wood species or body shape might give you a specific sound, they are not necessary for a guitar to sound good (or even great).

If you don't believe us, watch this scientific-ish test.

In fact, an ultralight, ultra-stiff guitar body like the 6061 aluminum frame we use in our guitars dampens the vibration of the strings less than any wooden body, meaning our guitars have the potential for improved sustain.

No, our guitars have standard tone and volume controls, only, because travel amplifiers and effects systems already exist as fairly awesome, affordable aftermarket products! Our expertise is in mechanical design and guitar-making, so we have left the electrical stuff to others to keep costs down for you, as well as to let you choose the amp/speaker/headphone configurations that suit your style.

Our favorite travel amps are:

- Headphone amp: Fender Mustang® microamp

- Speaker amp: Positive Grid® Spark GO

We personally use both the Mustang and Spark Go and feel they work really well with the TravelTone guitar (and no, neither company pays us to promote them). There are many other great products out there, as well!

Yes! The guitar fits comfortably in most laptop backpacks, hiking daypacks, etc., with lots of room to spare. We have packed it under the seat and in overhead bins on dozens of flights in the US and around the world, not to mention never had a problem with airport security. Some budget airlines strictly enforce an ~18” length limit for personal items, but the guitar easily fits at a angle inside most 18” long bags.

No, the TravelTone guitar is designed to withstand folding and unfolding many thousands of times along with the abuse that might come with travel of all varieties. We have accidentally dropped, sat on, and even showered our guitars with metal shavings in the workshop and they still work fine. We dare say that our guitars are among the most durable on the market.

We also cover our guitars with a lifetime limited manufacturer’s warranty, meaning that if something goes wrong that was our fault (manufacturing defects), we’ll fix it. If something else goes wrong with your guitar someday, regardless of the reason, we will still do our best to fix it for a fair price.

We considered various shell body designs to approximate the shape of common electric guitars but in the end, we realized that they didn’t really make the guitar easier to play – we were just used to those shapes!

Do you remember the first time you tried to wrap your arms around a guitar? Awkward, wasn’t it? While we love our traditional guitars (to a fault), we’ve come to realize that solid body electric guitar designs are often more about tradition and aesthetics than function. We find that the minimalist body of the TravelTone guitar not only saves on weight and space, but generally makes the guitar easier to play, especially while sitting down.

Since you asked, there are a few other things we like to (humbly) brag about:

• Adjustable pickup position: The pickup is adjustable so that it can be moved near the bridge for brighter tones, near the neck for warmer tones, or anywhere in between.

• Thermal tuning stability: Unlike traditional guitars, the combined wooden neck and aluminum body of the TravelTone guitar expand and contract with temperature changes at almost the exact same rate as steel strings, meaning that whether you leave the guitar on the dashboard of your car in the sun or forget it in a walk-in beer cave, it will more or less stay in tune. Cool, huh?

• Tool-free operation and string changes: We know that tools can be a pain to bring along. We’ve designed the guitar so that the folding and unfolding, as well as string changes, can be done tool-free (except for cutting off the extra length of new strings, of course).