Travel Guitars
With the growing levels of frustration associated with guitar travel, several builders are seeking to make the whole process easier and less nerve-wracking. Some builders are focused on the acoustic market, like Journey Instruments, building quality collapsible steel-string and nylon guitars. (Here’s an article I wrote about traveling and performing in Europe with a Journey Instruments Carbon Fiber Guitar.) But traveling with electric guitars can be just as daunting. Thankfully, this year at the Summer NAMM Show, we stumbled upon a company that’s trying to solve the travel issue for electric guitarists.
The Ascender by Ciari
The Ascender by Ciari Guitars is a foldable travel electric guitar and the product of years of research and development. A hinge hidden in a cavity carved into the lower part of the body can simultaneously relax the string tension and release the neck. The neck then folds to the back of the guitar as seen in our video interview with Founder and CEO Jonathan Spangler. From the back you can see through the removable, clear cover to the impressive feat of patented engineering that went in to making this all happen.
Specs
- Frets: 22, plecked
- Neck Profile: C shape
- Tuners: Graphtech Ratio Locking Tuners
- Fingerboard: Ebony
- Pikcups: Seymour Duncan 59
- Body Wood: Alder
- Finish: Satin
- Mechanism: Aircraft-grade 70/75 Aluminum
Cost
Ciari set out to create an electric guitar that was not only foldable, but could also compete with other high-end, traditional (non-folding) guitars with premium parts and features. That being said, the Ascender comes with a base price of $3,000. There are, however, ways to lower that cost. Since Ciari isn’t dealing with dealers at the moment and only selling direct to customers, they offer an affiliate program. If you purchase one of their guitars and refer another customer who also buys one, the new customer gets a discount, and you receive a check. With enough referrals, Ciari claims you can offset the cost of the instrument by 1/3 of the original cost (around $1,000). We are not sure how many referrals you would need to reach that discount.
The first 100 guitars are available for reservation. You can reserve one of these guitars for a $500 deposit.
Learn more about Ciari Guitars www.ciariguitars.com.
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