Travel-size PRS acoustic (SE or S2)

[shinksma]

Recently I saw a Facebook posting for a Taylor mini GS acoustic guitar. It reminded me that I would like to have a smaller-bodied acoustic for traveling, especially via air. It would also potentially be a back-up for gigs that are acoustic-centric.

The Taylor did not have a cutaway - not sure that is a make-or-break, but I'd prefer one.

Anyway, it occurred to me that a smaller-bodied acoustic would be a possible market for PRS, probably SE but maybe S2.

I'd also want a pickup (piezo), but that can be done aftermarket - although I do like the ones PRS use.

The Taylor comes in three "styles" or wood builds: Rosewood body with Spruce top, Sapele body with Mahogany or Spruce Top, and Koa+Koa.

Those offerings are interesting, and I am tempted to find a GC or similar to go play some.

But I really like my PRSi, and really like my SE Angelus Custom, so I'd like to stick to the PRS brand.

So, what are your thoughts, fellow PRS-forumites? Is PRS likely to venture into "mini-acoustics" or travel guitars anytime soon, or will they remain focused on slightly-larger than "000"/Auditorium sized guitars?

 

[veinbuster]

It might sound silly, but I use a hollowbody as a small 'acoustic' for travelling.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

I would love this idea. It can even be 3/4 or 1/2 scale, since I would use it primarily for practice.

 

[László]

My son has the Taylor GS Mini that he travels with, and in fact, he left it with me when he was here and I'm supposed to send it off to him in CA soon.

It's...not a very good guitar, as guitars go. I'd hate to see PRS put out (to me) kinda junky stuff like these little Taylors.

What's the point?

Why reinvent the wheel? Just to have it say PRS on the headstock instead of Taylor?

I don't get the need for it. PRS acoustics are amazing guitars, at least the USA ones (I've got one, and had another). The SE acoustics are excellent value for money, and give lots of other USA guitars a run for their money.

The baby Taylors and GS Minis are not amazing guitars. They can't be. They're little thingies to travel with, they're inherently compromised and they're made nothing like a PRS acoustic.

Plus Taylor had long established themselves as a good brand of acoustic guitar, and had very little to lose regarding their reputation, compared to PRS, a newer entry in the acoustic guitar market.

 

[shinksma]

Les, thanks for the comments regarding the Taylor Mini. I figured it would be a compromise to "downsize" for travel, but it sounds like it is a huge compromise.

But as to your question about "What's the point?" For me, the point would be PRS finding a way, through their magic of guitar building, of making a travel-sized guitar that sounds better than everyone else's equivalent product.

But yeah, maybe it is just not feasible: the smaller size will always be a compromise, and no matter how well PRS executes on the neck, the tuners, the tuning stability, it will always sound "small" compared to a full-sized guitar, and PRSh is very much about tone.

Maybe I should look at a 3/4 size electric, and use a Rockman-like device with headphones, for when I travel by air. But I'd never take that camping...hmm...

 

[Tosca]

I already have one....(a private stock)

 

[László]

Les, thanks for the comments regarding the Taylor Mini. I figured it would be a compromise to "downsize" for travel, but it sounds like it is a huge compromise..

Here's the weird thing about the GS Mini (to me). It's not all that small. I really don't see much of an advantage over any other acoustic in a gig bag.

However, it is a very tonally compromised guitar, and cheaply constructed.

On the other hand, my son really likes his, and has written lots of songs on it. He has a habit of leaving it with me when he flies back to LA so he doesn't have to carry it; I think I've spent more money shipping it to him over the past few years than it cost in the first place!

Oh well.

 

[rugerpc]

I already have one....(a private stock)

I have one just like that* hanging in my office...


*without the added badging.

 

[Tosca]

I have one just like that* hanging in my office...


*without the added badging.

Great minds think alike...the black beauty above (I call her Xena..."the road warrior princess"...has been with me all over the place) used to be my office guitar...replaced by this one about a year ago...

 

[shinksma]

Great minds think alike...the black beauty above (I call her Xena..."the road warrior princess"...has been with me all over the place) used to be my office guitar...replaced by this one about a year ago...

That's a really nice Spalted ZM. Looks a lot like mine - I put covers on the stock pups, I seem to recall you put in a different set?

Anyway, while that would be cool to have at the office, the travel guitar you also posted (ha ha, PS!!) is one option for actual air travel for me.

It just isn't "acoustic", which was the initial thought process. Maybe I should just take my mandolin if I want a travel instrument, it is small and overhead-bin-size friendly.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

But as to your question about "What's the point?" For me, the point would be PRS finding a way, through their magic of guitar building, of making a travel-sized guitar that sounds better than everyone else's equivalent product.

This was my hope, too.

I have a Steinberger and a Kiesel Vader, so I'll stick with those, and might eventually get a Yamaha silent (all of which are the opposite of a travel acoustic, but I'm a headphone guy so I'm alright with it), but I remain open to the idea of PRS making something for easy travel.

 

[DHW]

My daughter quickly outgrew the 3/4 size yamaha she started on when she was 6 and I bought her a gs mini after that as she wasn't quite able to get her arms around and all the way up a full size. It was a great compromise and it certainly is a better guitar than the 3/4 yamaha. The volume is pretty good for the size and it set up well, was able to have heavier strings at lower tension, and has been incredibly stable with it's setup and tuning. It's not as full sounding as a full size but it's a not that far off a 100 series taylor really. All things considered for the conditions it was bought under in our household I feel it was worth the $500. It was a taylor and at the time that was a big inspiration for her and kept her playing a lot more. She still plays it quite a bit.

 

[Cassandra May L. Navera]

Can anyone wants to help me about my guitar brand?

 

[rugerpc]

Can anyone wants to help me about my guitar brand?

Not sure what you are asking here...

 

[Tosca]

That's a really nice Spalted ZM. Looks a lot like mine - I put covers on the stock pups, I seem to recall you put in a different set....
It just isn't "acoustic", which was the initial thought process.

Thanks. They are a set of #7's that I pulled from my McCarty PS. They were too "spikey" and higher gain than I wanted for that guitar...but perfect in the ZM (and also coil tap sounds are excellent).

The company that made my "PS travel guitar" also makes an "acoustic" model, it's just solid maple w an acoustic piezo bridge though. I have found that guitar to be ultraportable for travel...add a small iOS interface and you're good to go for practicing w tracks/amp modeling and even recording on the go...right inside your carry on.

 

[shinksma]

I wandered into a Sam Ash late last week and tried a couple of the travel or small acoustic guitars. The Taylor I played (a mini, I think) had a wider neck than my PRS (not surprising, but it did throw me off). Nothing spoke to me the way PRSi usually do.

The main reason I want a "small acoustic" guitar for traveling, instead of just a small "practice guitar", is to use it while camping, or for random jam sessions that may pop up whilst on the road. Bringing a full size acoustic for camping or other true road-trips (that actually involve driving on the road and not flying) is possible, of course, but the smaller guitar would be more likely to make the trip and would also be viable for fly-away travel.

I'll keep looking/playing. Maybe something will eventually appeal to me...

btw, the Sam Ash looked very, um, "Kmart-like". And not the Kmart of the 70s, the ones of today that look like no-one bothered to restock in the past month and stuff is scattered helter skelter. I was in that same store last Fall and it looked far better then.