Back at NAMM 2019, Nashville's Ciari Guitars launched an interesting travel guitar called the Ascender that featured a beautifully engineered folding mechanism which allowed players to transport the instrument in a backpack-sized case. Now the company is back with a P90-packing edition.
The Ascender P90 Solo is kind of like a Les Paul Junior, but with a neck that folds back behind the body for travel.
The nano-satin basswood body with an offset single cut is home to a single Seymour Duncan dog-ear P90 pickup at the bridge for "the brightness and clarity of a single-coil, but with the mid-range punch of a humbucker" plus master volume and tone controls.
Where many travel guitars sport short necks for ease of transport, the new Ascender's mahogany neck with a Plek-planed ebony fingerboard has a 24.75-inch scale length and features 22 medium jumbo frets for a full-size playing experience.
"When it’s time to hit the road, players engage the system, which combines an aircraft-grade mid-neck hinge, a translating locking strut to selectively immobilize the hinge, and a floating tailpiece to selectively tighten and loosen the strings," the company explained in a press statement. This allows the guitar's length to be reduced to 18.5 inches for packing into the supplied quilted gig bag or an optional backpack.
There's a Tune-o-Matic rolling bridge behind the pickup and custom locking tuners are mounted to the headstock in a 3+3 configuration. The strings are kept in place and under light tension when folded, and the system is designed such that "everything stays crisp and in tune when unfolded for play."
The Ascender P90 Solo guitar is available in five color options in left-hand or right-hand variants for US$1,599 each. Folks visiting the National Association of Music Merchants show at the Anaheim Convention Center this week can get a closer look at the Ascender guitars at the company's booth.
Product page: Ascender P90 Solo