Is there such a thing as a traveller mandolin?

[kurth83]

Sort of like a mandolin analog of this:

http://www.travelerguitar.com/guitar...em/ultra-light

Looking for something small, light, and bullet-proof that can go in a suitcase.

[billy_v]

Weber used to make the Sweet Pea, but it was spruce and maple. Google it. They seldom show up for sale used.

[MikeEdgerton]

The Martin Backpacker mandolin. They come up for sale now and again, I don't believe they are still made.

[Pittsburgh Bill]

Yes I have a Silverleaf Travolin that I purchased for a trip across Europe. I questioned my self as to whether or not I really wanted one as a mandolin is not extremely large or heavy and a travel mandolin's tone is not great, though they do play well up the neck with good action (at least mine does). I was glad I did purchase it. Any additional weight or especially size was a burden while juggling passports, tickets, luggage, etc. or while trying to fit it in overhead or underfoot storage on a plane, train, boat, or bus. Additionally it was dropped twice. Once by me and once a lady on a plane dropped it from an overhead onto a gentleman's head and then bounced onto the floor. Zero harm was done.
Now I ask myself what do I do with it. All my future travel will be in a RV where it will not be needed. They would do well for campfires, tent camping, and canoeing. Almost rugged enough to use as a paddle. If you do these things, then yes you might want one. For me it was a one time use.

[kurth83]

This thing looks like a possibility:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A328C2I/

I could check it in a hard case. Cheap enough to not cry if it gets mashed.

[kurth83]

I checked travolins, not available until next June, price?

[DavidKOS]

Pocket mandolins - there is a thread on them:

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...lin-Doug-Unger

Also



I used work for a company that sold a pocket mandolin from Musikalia:

http://www.musikalia.it/en/english2....ard.asp?ID=106



Then there is the travel uke:


I'm sure you could restring it to mandolin tuning.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Risa-Soprano.../dp/B0089M33P0

https://www.ukulele.de/shop4/en-RISA

About $416 US. A tad pricey, but hey.

[colorado_al]

How much smaller than a normal mandolin do you need to get? I think just having a bullet proof standard sized mandolin with a hard case is the way to go.
I have a Tacoma M2 that I use as a travel mandolin. I keep it in the original case, but mandolins are small enough to take as an easy carry on for plane trips, and small enough for car trips or walking. It is super solid and I have had no problems. Bolt on neck. I've had it for 16 years and it has gone from beach to snow without any issues. Sounds way better than a stick with strings on it too! I have no idea how many thousands of miles it's traveled, but countless trips to southern Baja, Washington Cascades, Montana.
They are no longer made, but easy to find. If you get one, I'd stay away from the M1. Satin finish and really picks up grime and dirt. M2 or M3 are gloss and easy to keep clean.
I'd offer $400 for this one:
https://reverb.com/item/975882-tacoma-m2-natural-gloss

You could go with a Big Muddy MM8, but way more fragile than the Tacoma M2.

[kurth83]

I guess I am a bit open about this, something safe (meaning cheap) to check in a hard case would work ok, something more solid, meaning I could throw in a suitcase, might be better. Travel instruments are usually quieter too, meaning can be played in a hotel room without complaints.

So kind of open so far, hearing lots of good ideas so far.

[Petrus]

A travel uke restrung in fifths as previously suggested might be a way to go, if you can live with four strings. The Kala pocket uke is one of the smallest / slimmest and under $200. You could also go for a solid-body like the Les Paul style electric uke.

http://www.amazon.com/Kala-KA-PU-SST.../dp/B00CHFQ5PK

[mandroid]

& there is the Fluke Ukes http://www.magicfluke.com/Firefly-Ba...flysoprano.htm
the banjo Uke version can be small and Loud enough to hold its own in Pub Sessions.

in the 80s I got a Leo made Pocket Mandolin
(you can see an add in the old Mandolin World news )

Denver company sold kits and finished instruments...

they even had one with the all important scroll ..

I've hauled mine on a Bunch of Bicycle tours the last one a pub crawl of western Ireland and Scotland..

[Pittsburgh Bill]

How much smaller than a normal mandolin do you need to get? I think just having a bullet proof standard sized mandolin with a hard case is the way to go.

.

Traveling as we did across Europe a harmonica could even become burdensome.

[allenhopkins]

If you want to spend $2-3K, and play in CGDA instead of GDAE (imagine your mandolin with a capo at the 5th fret), the Weber Sopranolin is small, beautifully made, and comes with a great fitted hard case.

I own one, and I'm totally impressed with the sound and crafts-person-ship. It's even better than shown on the Weber website (is that the "Webersite?"), because it now has a fully carved scroll rather than the partial scroll in the pic. I got mine discounted for a bit north of $2K at Bernunzio's, but that's still serious buxx to spend on an instrument occasionally used for travel.

[allowishish]

seems to me that the new seagull would fit the bill

[billy_v]

Oh man, the Sopranolin! "Now comes with full scroll"! Makes one giddy! Eleven inch scale! I have a closet full of short scale guitars from a previous obsession (genuine Fender MIJ 19" scale paisley Tele, anybody?), but i aint never seen nothing quite like this! How adorable!

[Neoclinus]

DavidKOS beat me to it, but if you want to drool over some crazy mandolin eye candy you should check out the Unger pocket-mandolin thread. I couldn't say that I'd want to use anything made by Doug Unger as a travel instrument, and I couldn't guess what those little beauties cost. But they're fun and I'm glad he's making them. Would love to play one in person, Doug's work is always extraordinary.

[Neoclinus]

Oh man, the Sopranolin! "Now comes with full scroll"! Makes one giddy! Eleven inch scale! I have a closet full of short scale guitars from a previous obsession (genuine Fender MIJ 19" scale paisley Tele, anybody?), but i aint never seen nothing quite like this! How adorable!

I too have a thing for tiny instruments, I don't know why exactly... The one I've been lusting after for awhile now is Joseph Campanella's piccolo mandolin:http://www.campanellastrings.com/piccolo-mandolin/ The fiddle/tiny mando cross just makes it irresistible. Not to mention being a gorgeous instrument in its own right.

[Explorer]

I have a McNally Ukulele Strumstick strung as a mandola, and use the Planet Waves Banjo Capo at the fifth fret to play as a mandolin with more frets capoed than the Pocket Mandolin.

[darrylicshon]

I like the Weber Sopranolin , one day i will buy one probably many years as i have so many others ahead of it

[Dave Greenspoon]

<<I think just having a bullet proof standard sized mandolin with a hard case is the way to go.>>

If you're at all interested in a real mandolin with a hard case that you can take worry-free wherever your song-line leads you, my former "Jethro" (Washburn M6SW) is up for sale by Andrew Jerman. I bought it as a festival/travel instrument from the Classifieds about 8 or 9 years ago; it is a great sub-"pro level" instrument that is a perfect "travel" instrument. For the record, NFI on my part.

[Bertram Henze]

I have one of those ultralight guitars, tweaked into a tenor guitar. But then, I practise for an OM, not a mandolin.
Since mandolins are basically small enough for a suitcase (well padded in the middle with the underwear, I even travelled to India once with mine and it survived), the main factor is hotel room quietness, which brings in electrics. I guess any electric 4-stringed thingy you can tune GDAE will do. What you need then is a pair of earphones and a headphone amp, such as the Vox Amplug AC30:

[Petrus]

I too have a thing for tiny instruments, I don't know why exactly... The one I've been lusting after for awhile now is Joseph Campanella's piccolo mandolin:http://www.campanellastrings.com/piccolo-mandolin/ The fiddle/tiny mando cross just makes it irresistible. Not to mention being a gorgeous instrument in its own right.

That looks awesome. I tried to do something like this with an old violin (I just put on a flat bridge, didn't change the fingerboard; it works so-so.) I wonder how much that one costs.

[Dagger Gordon]

I've always thought that one of the great advantages of a mandolin is exactly that it is an easy instrument to travel with.

If you want to travel ultra light, you can get a gig bag and pack a few things in with the mandolin and that works as hand luggage.
I bought a Granite gig bag last year. Three quite good pockets where you can store books, papers etc and enough room in the bag itself for some small pieces of clothing.

I have also got a cheap and cheerful mandolin called an Encore which in fact plays and sounds quite well, and I have travelled with it packed in the middle of a checked-in bag. If it's right in the middle and wrapped up in all your clothes I think you would be pretty unlucky if it got broken. I admit I wouldn't want to travel with a really expensive instrument like that, but still.

[peliot]

I once had the chance to play one of these travel cellos - http://travelcello.net/ - and I have always wondered if the same idea could be applied to a mandolin. The key features are (1) wooden attachments wherever the instrument normally touches your body so you can hold it naturally (you can see the "wing" where the top of the cello body would normally rest against your chest and the similar wings where it meets your legs), (2) bolt-on neck that can be removed, and (3) body is a box that the rest fits in.
While it has no sound projection, it's great for travelling and practicing quietly.
A mandolin is small enough to go as carry-on already so I see there is less need for a travel version, but if you could approach a mandolin with a similar design (possibly even reversing the strings and taking the headstock off and putting tuners below the bridge, and using only four strings), it could really be stuffed into a carry-on bag instead of being a separate item. That would be cool.

[Steve Sorensen]

All mandolins should be considered traveling mandolins.

Take it with you and enjoy it now, 'cause you won't be able to enjoy it when you're gone.

Steve