A New Look for a Minimalist Acoustic Guitar

Today's post is a quick run-down of my experiment in refurbishing a cheap travel guitar found on an online auction. The end result will be a better looking and playing instrument. Travel guitars are scaled down versions of standard guitars but minimized for compactness. As the the name indicates these are guitars that are made to leave home with you. Great for a day in the park, the beach, hiking, camping etc. I named mine "Roadie". I like the design challenge that a travel guitar presents: How does one get the most guitar in the smallest possible package while still maintaining playability and a decent tone? The answer to that challenge results in some interesting designs. Prices range from $30-$300 depending upon the materials and quality of the build. My guitar is much closer to the $30 end of the spectrum and sounds like a guitar-meets-a banjo-meets-a-ukulele.

This particular travel guitar has high mileage on it. The frets are pretty worn down but I won't worry about that now. The original black paint was worn thin and had faded to a charcoal gray. Cheap guitars are often painted in order to cover up the lack of a nice wood grain. My goal was to do a re-finish and some small upgrades so I can have a knock-around guitar that won't take up much space in the house. Something that I don't have to handle carefully and is on hand and ready to play when the mood strikes me.

The hours upon hours of sanding required was made more bearable by watching good movies, listening to music and generally zoning out. Ultimately all of the featureless wood grain was revealed. No surprise there.

I did a bit of experimental staining using a coffee and tea mixture on the back. It took multiple coats and did not give me the results I was hoping for, but still better than the tired, old, black paint. In the end the only staining that remained was on the guitar top and head-stock. The rest was spray painted a dark burgundy.

All new tuners and a natural bone nut were installed. Roadie now stays in tune much better than before and the bone nut has tightened up and improved the sound a bit.

Nylon strings replaced the original steel strings, because I like the warm sound and comfortable feel. Also, less tension is required by nylon strings, and less tension is easier on the structure of this old guitar.

Total investment for materials and upgraded parts about $20. Roadie will be a good platform for future upgrades like a string tree, a piezo pick up and what will be my first attempt at a re-fretting job. More about that later.