A Travel Guitar that's full-sized: The Journey Instruments First Class

Journey Instruments, makers of high-end wood and carbon fiber guitars designed for travelers by travelers, is introducing its new First Class Overhead line of guitars through a unique Kickstarter campaign. Early supporters of the campaign will benefit from substantial savings on the first full- size, collapsible guitars with their own carry-on roller bag.

The new First Class line will be available in three models: Grand Auditorium Acoustic, 12-Fret Parlor Acoustic and Performance Classical. Consumers will have their choice by pre-ordering until Dec 20th. Retail prices range from $769.99 to $949.99, but during the Kickstarter campaign, early supporters can save up to $330 and receive bonuses.

The First Class Overhead line of guitars starts with all the high-end features demanded by musicians including:

• Full sized body
• Bone nut and saddle
• Full 25.5" scale
• Solid mahogany neck
• Elixir® strings
• Grover® 18:1 tuners
• Solid soundboard and back with cut-away
• Ebony bridge pins and a pickup

To make these guitars comfortable to play, they have included an asymmetrical body design that reduces stress on shoulder and wrist joints by angling the guitar toward the player. In addition, there are armrest bevels. The custom roll-on case is perfect for the frequent flyer and converts to a backpack with rain cover – perfect for the backpacker or motorcyclist.

According to Rob Bailey, founder of Journey Instruments, "Our new First Class line allows you to carry-on a great sounding, full-sized guitar in a roll-on bag designed to fit in the overhead compartment." A patented stainless steel neck connection system assembles in less than 10 seconds with no tools and has been road-tested for 6 years in the market. On top of all that, it is guaranteed for life.

James Brawner, partner at Journey Instruments, who has a background in Aerospace Engineering explains, "We reverse-engineered the problem by starting with the airline's carry-on dimensions and worked backwards to create the best sounding, best feeling guitar that is guaranteed to fit." In addition to being carry-on sized, the roll-on bag includes a TSA-approved 15" laptop compartment, telescoping handle and wheels, zippered compartments for books, headphones, guitar accessories and even a change of clothes.

Journey travel guitars have been the go-to instrument for musicians, business travelers and vacationers since 2012 when they launched the first Overhead Guitar. Now, they're upgrading customers to "First Class."

For more information visit JourneyInstruments.com, Kickstarter.com or watch the YouTube Video Overview.

About Journey InstrumentsJourney Instruments began back in 2011 by Rob Bailey who ran a supply chain management company called Convergent Sourcing. At that time, he was practicing guitar daily, but had to travel frequently for consulting. Turns out traveling with a full-sized guitar on consulting trips got old fast.  After spending 300+ hours of market research on guitar forums, Rob worked with his team of in-house mechanical and carbon fiber engineers to design and patent the Overhead collapsible travel guitar system. James Brawner, his good friend from college, joined the project as a partner in late 2012 and they brought the product to market at NAMM in 2013. We're a small team, but passionate about bringing fellow musicians the best travel instrument solutions possible. Over the years, we've created collapsible steel string guitars in wood and all carbon, collapsible classical wood guitars, collapsible bass guitars, ergonomic small body guitars, and great instrument cases.