Music

Fender outs folding neck travel acoustics

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The travel-friendly Fender VA acoustic guitars
The Fender CD-140S VA travel acoustic features a solid spruce top with quartersawn X bracing, and laminated mahogany back and sides
The Fender CD-60 VA travel acoustic
A Fender VA acoustic ready to play
A twist of the the chrome locking bolt releases the neck from the body
The neck is folded forward, and the strings tucked inside the body
The Fender VA acoustic guitar ready for travel
The travel-friendly Fender VA acoustic guitars
The new Fender VA travel acoustics will come supplied with a special travel bag
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Taking an acoustic guitar with you when you travel can be a lesson in compromises. You may have to make do with an odd-shaped instrument, a short necked model, or a cheap throw-away that produces poor sound. Wouldn't it be great if you could strap a full-sized Fender to your back, but still be able to meet commercial airline carry on luggage size restrictions? The iconic guitar maker has released two travel dreadnoughts with a Voyage-Air hinge mechanism that allows the instruments to fold in half.

In 2009, Voyage-Air CEO Jeff Cohen (and son Josh) appeared on the US television show Shark Tank to push a range of acoustic guitars featuring a patented hinge mechanism that allowed the instruments to collapse down to half size for ease of transport. The Sharks were impressed and offered to invest half a million dollars in the idea, in return for a controlling share of the company. The Cohens shocked the panel of billionaires by deciding to walk away from the deal and go it alone.

Voyage-Air Guitars subsequently added more acoustics to its catalog, successfully launched in the US, and created an electric guitar version. The father and son team took another (unaired) run at the Sharks in Season 3, resulting in an investment from Kevin O'Leary. This led to licensing talks with Fender last year, and now a test run of 150 VA dreadnoughts are being sold through select Fender dealers.

The Fender VA acoustic guitar ready for travel

The Fender CD-140S VA travel acoustic features a solid spruce top with quartersawn X bracing, and laminated mahogany back and sides. The guitar has a rosewood bridge, synthetic bone saddle, faux tortoiseshell pickguard, and chrome hardware.

The Voyage-Air hinge is positioned between the 13th and 14th frets of the 20-fret, 25.3-inch scale mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard. A twist of the chrome locking bolt releases the neck from the body and the neck is folded forward. The strings can be tucked inside the guitar's body, and the instrument placed in the included companion travel bag. This model carries a recommended retail of US$1,100.

The CD-60 VA guitar has similar specs to the 140S VA, but comes with a black pickguard and retails for $1,000.

The promo video below does appear to suggest that players will be able to strum away as soon as the neck is locked in place, which, if CNET's review of Voyage-Air's own acoustic guitar is anything to go by, is quite an achievement.

Product page: Fender travel acoustics

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7 comments
johnsh54
This really should be called the: Fender Bender
Tom Susala
Cool!! Now the airlines will really have to work in order to wreck the instrument
Mr E
I love acoustic guitar. I wish I could play. To be able to hear the audio on the video I had to pause a recording by Andres Segovia.
Maybe when I'm old and grey I'll learn to play. Oops, too late. But I can still enjoy.
dsiple
Sounded great to me but I wouldn't trust the soft case to the airlines, and the neck portion appears it would prevent it from fitting under the seat. As for the overhead bins - have you seen what passengers will do to cram their bags into those cubbies?
Anonymous756
When we traveled halfway around the world this past summer, my son simply disassembled the neck from the body of his electric guitar, packed it into two different suitcases (for space reasons), and he reassembled it when we'd settled into the resort. Easy peasy.
Are acoustic guitars all glued together?
James Smith
Mr. E. You are never too old. I had not played in over 20 years after having a CVA at age 49. At age 70, I decided to try again and am happily pickin' and grinnin' now for over a year.
Coincidentally, I use a Fender CD 60 CE. The acoustic/electric version of the folder shown in the video. Am I tempted to get one? Oh yeah!
windykites
I doubt very much if it stays in tune after being folded then re-opened. Also as the case is soft, it is very easy to knock the tuning pegs. I notice the heel of the neck sticks up a long way, so the guitar is not as compact.
As it is a travel guitar, why not settle for a smaller body?