Touring with a guitar

[floyd]

Has anyone toured with a guitar?  I know of a few musicians who have done musical bike tours but have not heard how they carried their instruments.  Is it possible without a trailer?

[denisegoldberg]

Take a look at Louis Little's journal at http://touringlouie.crazyguyonabike.com. He's currently on an extended tour, and somewhere along the line he picked up a guitar. I believe he is somewhere in Central America right now. Based on his photos, it looks like he's using panniers. He does answer questions posted in his journal guestbook, so you might want to shoot a question over to him.

 

http://www.denisegoldberg.com
Biking journals at http://denisegoldberg.crazyguyonabike.com

[TwoWheeledExplorer]

Back in 1997 I went on a missions trip to NW Russia for our church. We biked from village to village in Karelia, and one of our team carried his guitar on the rear rack, crossways, on top of his panniers. While we coasted down hills, Caleb had to pedal. He worked a lot harder than any of us. He tried securing it other ways, but they were not successful. When it was all over, he said he was going to buy a harmonica.

Good luck,
Hans

[Don]

Martin makes what they call a "backpacker guitar" that is smaller and easier to carry.  I've never heard one so I don't know how they sound though.  I play the mandolin myself so I start out way smaller.  But I did get a travel mandolin that fits in my bike friday suitcase/trailor to make it easier.  Some gig bags also have straps so you could carry it as a backpack.  Doesn't sound like much fun to me though.