14 DAY TRIAL // People have "traveled" everything and still they would not stop at anything: you have the travel TV, the travel blacksmith workshop, the travel Steam iron and so may other things, some of them great, some of the monuments of ridicule.
It's time to introduce you the travel... guitar, from Miranda (Guitars, obviously). Until I saw the photos, I couldn't imagine it, but it's some weird fold-up-type of instrument, with a very weird shape and being actually - crap. Well, I must admit I was quite surprised, especially as I have seen that there are actual people playing this instrument and I have also listened to samples recorded using it.
Basically, the Miranda Travel guitar is a classical guitar's mahogany neck, period. Of course, its shape and functionality had to undergo substantial changes as it had to be turned 180 degrees due to the tuning posts solution Miranda went for.
So, we have a guitar neck with no headstock and which acts like the solid body of a hollow-electrical guitar. The tuning pegs are in the actual middle of the guitar and this makes it substantially shorter in absolute size while retaining its normal scale.
As reported by Julia for The Gadgeteer (who has made a hands-on review on the Miranda), the placement of the tuning section is rather awkward and may be a pain in the neck for those guitarists not so willing to accept radical changes. Nevertheless, considering the overall craftsmanship and engineering approach, this is a thing a man can live with, definitely.
The Travel guitar has a hi-gloss, hi-impact acrylic "body"; I say body because it is the closest term to what it has exactly for the purpose. In fact, this body-thing looks more like the upper and lower sides of a usual classic guitar - very life-like indeed, creating the feel and touch of a real guitar: the playing position isn't different from what you'd meet in usual conditions.
The CFX-200 Miranda comes with included headphones; otherwise playing it would resemble very much playing an un-amplified electric guitar: hear only the slight buzz of the strings. The Output jack, though, will let you connect your travel guitar to amps and sound processors so here we have a perfectly-working piece of gear.
The aluminum rods which will hold the "body" in place are of course detachable, as the tapping pads are as well. This modular construction allows the "packed" guitar to occupy just a little more room than would a trumpet do: as a matter of fact, the CFX-200's case is some 3 to 4 times smaller and easier (weight-wise and carrying-wise).
It reaches playing status in just minutes and the sound is the same (except that it will require amps or headsets). The cost is somewhere to a low-end Larrivee acoustic guitar so the money is rather the same. If you were to buy a guitar yet still travel and want one on the go, what would you choose: the $1,200 "classic" guitar or the $1,195 Miranda? If you're yet undecided, here are some samples.
