Flying With a Guitar Has Never Been Easier: A Review of Folding Guitars By Journey Instruments
- Maria DiCicco
- 4 hours ago
- 9 min read
I don't often buy myself nice things, but when a folding guitar built with travelers in mind crossed my radar, I had to get my hands on one.
The necks fold (along with the strings) to make for a compact solution for flying with a musical instrument. All the travel guitars come with gig bags, many of which fit in the overhead compartment as a carry-on and one that can even fit under your airline seat!
The suite of genius folding guitars by Journey Instruments are portable, lightweight, and excuse my French mom, but seriously badass.
Below learn about the acoustic folding guitar that I bought, and about the carbon fiber and other options Journey Instruments offers to travelers on the go.
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In a Hurry?This article features a product called the Solid Sitka / African Mahogany Puddle Jumper - PJ410N, a pint-sized guitar full of spunk for musicians on the road. Its top features include:
Read on for more details about the Sitka Travel Guitar, the other folding guitars by Journey Instruments, and common FAQs. Or, skip straight to browsing products here. |
Why Would Anyone Want a Folding Guitar?
Alright, I get it - the idea sounds completely gimmicky, right? A folding guitar? How would that even sound?
Here's the thing - just like any product I promote on my website, the Journey Instruments team comes from a place of heart and hard work, and they know the struggle of flying with musical instruments.
That's why they lobbied on Kickstarter for years to get their start (they are now veterans 15 years in the game!). They saw a problem and sought to fix it. And boy, did they.
In order to change the way you travel with musical instruments, they had to identify the issues:
Broken guitars in transit
Hefty airline fees for checking bags
Waiting for bags, eating into connecting time (or touring time!)
Lost luggage ruining a vacation or postponing a gig
and ultimately, the ANXIETY of flying with a guitar can be too much too bear, especially when yours costs well into the thousands of dollars.
Luckily, Journey Instruments has built a travel guitar that folds into a carry-on so you can slash all those bullets off this list, AND the price too.
At just over $400, my "Puddle Jumper" Sitka guitar stays with me in transit packing easily as a carry on or under seat bag.
Use the Sitka Folding Puddle Jumper guitar on:
Airplanes (even ones with small bag sizes like Norse Air or Ryan Air)
Cross-Country Trains like the Eurostar from London to Paris
Amtrak Trains across America
Hikes and camping
Small living (like tiny homes or RV rentals)
Let's learn a little about this base folding guitar model below and dive into some comparisons about the other offerings at Journey.
Journey Instruments' Folding Guitar Specs
Here's the basics on what you will find at the Journey Instruments store:
Travel guitar models
Options for all Carbon fiber or wood
Collapsible Acoustic Travel Guitars
Folding Electric Guitars for Travel
Removable neck system
Assembles in seconds without any tools
Even ukuleles!
Introducting Sitka: The Acoustic Travel Guitar That FITS UNDER YOUR SEAT
My new travel guitar, the Solid Sitka / African Mahogany Puddle Jumper - PJ410N, is such a fun little travel guitar. It is not a full-sized guitar, making it a joy to play with petite frames and smaller hands like mine.
Simply take the body of the guitar and the removable neck from your Puddle Jumper gig bag, and slide the neck into the grooves to snap into place. You will hear the strings 'warping' as you snap it into place. This is ok!
Once you've snapped the neck in, tighten the nut on the back of the guitar until secure.
Spend a moment tuning her up, and you're good to go!
For storage, you can keep it hung like any other guitar, or pack it back into the gig bag.
Puddle Jumpers like the Sitka have amazing little backpack bags perfect for a carry-on, too.
The puddle jumper bag measures 18.5" x 13" x 7".
Note that 18.5" works as a personal underseat bag on Southwest Airlines, allowing you to still bring a standard sized carry-on as well! Southwest is one of the only ones (many others max out at 18"), so the Puddle Jumper will technically count as a carry-on just about everywhere else.
You can, of course, be a risk taker and pop that bad boy under your seat regardless of the half inch and likely get away with it just fine. It only really matters if you are having to pay extra for anything more than a personal bag!
What to Expect from Journey Instruments' Overhead Series
Then, you also have the Overhead series. You've got Overhead, Overhead First Class, Parlor and GA. Some of these models come with collapsible handles and wheels so you can even roll your guitar through the train station.
In general, these bags are about 22" tall (which is the standard max height for any carry-on bag), sporting 14" wide and 9" thick. That's seriously thin.
The models taller than 22" I am sorry to say will likely not be riding in the airplane cabin with you, so keep that in mind. Don't fret though, they're great for traveling on the Amtrak train or wherever else the road may take you.
Lastly, there's also the Road Trip Bag.
My Personal Experience with the Sitka Folding Guitar
Let me tell you, if you have ever bought anything expensive (or perhaps held a newborn child) your first thought might be, dear God don't let me break this!
So as I'm assembling the guitar for the first time I hear a subtle hum of guitar strings as they snap closer into place and fear strikes in - am I about to bust this brand new guitar in the first two minutes?
The answer, thankfully, is nope! This guitar is so savvy it took me one minute to assemble, one minute to tune, and by the two minute mark I was already strumming away happily.
Some other things - as a casual guitarist like myself, you may be scared off opening some of the zippers.
There was a hex key, a bone saddle, and a shim kit - all things I took out and looked at like a monkey examining a banana.
As I understand it you can have a high or low action guitar, meaning the strings are closer or further from the frets. This allows for heavy strumming or lighter picking. These tools I guess help with that.
Being completely unsure on what to do with those items, I set them aside for a rainy day when they seem more relevant to me as a basic campfire/sing along songs type of guitar player.
As for the rest of the package, the backpack for the Puddle Jumper is genius and super slim. I'm really impressed.
There are pockets for additional carry-on items, including a laptop or tablet, but heed the warnings that you should always place your Puddle Jumper bag face down if there are objects inside other than the guitar. This is to protect the guitar from forceful impacts if there were turbulence on a plane, for instance.
The size of the guitar is perfect for me at a stature of 5' 2" and is honestly more comfortable to play than my full sized guitars. Check out the size comparisons here: you can tell that the Sitka Puddle Jumper is extremely petite!
All in all, the Sitka folding guitar is compact, easy to transport, and super fun to play. I can't wait to bring it on my adventures abroad for a road test!
Folding Travel Guitar FAQs
Do Folding Guitars Actually Sound Good?
The only way to be sure is to pick one up yourself, or watch my Instagram reel for an idea of how it sounds in action. I went on good faith that Journey knows what they are doing and I was very impressed with the sound quality.
Do I Need to Tune the Guitar Every Time I Assemble It?
Yes, it is necessary to tune the guitar after assembling the neck and base, if even just a little bit for tweaking. You'll get the hang of it quickly. It took me about 1 minute to tune right out of the box.
For more technical notes from Journey Instruments directly: "For our collapsible steel string acoustic and electric guitars, there’s no need to detune before disassembly or assembly. However, for nylon stringed guitars (like OC660M or OC520), we recommend you tune down at least two semitones so that the tension is reduced before disassembly. This increases string life and reduces unnecessary wear on the nylon strings where they contact the nut and saddle."
I'm Traveling Soon, How Long Does It Take To Arrive Once I Order It?
Orders ship from Texas within 3 days, so if you have travel plans you can bank on your guitar arriving in as little as a week, maybe two at most.
Shipments usually arrive within 4-5 business days of shipment date.
What is the Best Travel Guitar by Journey Instruments?
If you ask me, it's the Sitka PJ410N Puddle Jumper! It's super fun to play, lightweight, portable for trains, planes and wherever you want to go, and it sounds great too.
You don't need to be a pro to use this guitar!
At an approachable price point it's worth giving it a try and adding it to your collection and you can't beat the convenience and safety of having it tuck away under your airline seat or in the overhead compartment.
Can I Pack More Into my Gig Bag or Does it Just Fit the Guitar?
If you read my website frequently, you know I'm big on packing hacks. I'll try all sorts of products that let me pack smaller and more lightweight. From stuffable neck pillows to the many-pocketed ScottEVest products, there's tons of fun products for cheating the system.
And with Journey Instruments, it feels like a cheat too.
I watched a reviewer video on YouTube where the guy was pulling all sorts of stuff out of his Puddle Jumper bag. He had salami, cigars, underwear and socks (shoved into the gut of the guitar!) and a number of other personal bag essentials. It was pretty humorous, really. We all want to save space and cheat the baggage system.
And with these gig bags, you totally can. You may not want to shove your laptop in there (but you can - the zippered laptop compartments on the front of the Overhead, First Class, and Puddle Jumper cases easily fit a standard 14″ laptop), and there's plenty of little pockets and crevices to shove extra padding from clean tshirts to tomorrows change of socks and underwear. Why not?
Which Travel Guitar Counts as an Underseat Bag?
Southwest Airlines is one of the only domestic airlines that cities an underseat dimension limit of 18.5", which is perfect for the Sitka PJ410N Puddle Jumper. Most other airlines max out at 18", so you can probably get away with it, unless your flight crew takes the ruler out!
Which Journey Models Count as Carry-On Bags?
The Overhead series models that max out at 22" can all typically be carried on to the airplane without fuss.
Carry-On Size Models Include:
Collapsible Acoustic Travel Guitars
Collapsible Carbon Fiber Guitars OF660 Models
These models come in multiple color top mattes!
Black
Blue
Burgundy
Orange
Pearl
Navy
Green
White
There's even a whole bunch of electric travel guitars and bass guitars too.
Basically, there's a lot to choose from!
My advice is to consult the spec sheet to be sure of the sizes.
Some budget airlines require smaller carry-on bags. In this case, the Sitka Puddle Jumper still wins every time!
Is My Guitar OK to Go Through TSA Security Points?
Yes, all models come with a TSA-Compliant carry-on backpack. Your instrument may be subject to physical screening but nothing out of the ordinary. Read more about the FAQs of flying with musical instruments here.
Is a Journey Travel Guitar Worth It?
Absolutely. If you are a frequent traveler, whether by train, airplane or campervan, the portability and functionality of having a folding guitar is hands down worth the price tag. Investing in a travel guitar allows travelers peace of mind when flying with a guitar, and can often save time and money when in transit.
