JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #104 - April/May 2016 - 16

music

Collapsible carbon fibre travel guitar

Journey Instruments, the creator of the Overhead
series of collapsible travel guitars, introduces a
new series of coloured-top carbon fibre models to
its line of collapsible travel guitars. These models
are designed to meet carry-on luggage size and
weight requirements from various airlines.

arbon fibre has found
applications in guitars
for a while now, thanks
to the rigid and highly durable aspects it offers, as well as
the ultra-high performance it
provides to the instrument.

The use of carbon
fibre in guitars
For guitar players, the crucial
point is, of course, the quality
of sound these carbon models
are capable of offering, and
so far the results have been

stellar. With a clear, resonant
sound that is louder than
that of wood-made guitars,
even the most critical players
will recognize the quality. Of
course, there are some disadvantages, mainly the cost,
both in manufacturing time
and actual prices due to the
expensiveness of the material.
However, thanks to the fact
that CFRP is incomparably
more resistant than wood,
carbon fibre also makes for
guitars that won't be damaged
by scratches or cracks from
impacts, and will thus last

Journey Instruments products are brought to life with the help of
American and European designers and engineers in cooperation with
road warrior musicians who test and evaluate the gear based on
musical performance, ergonomics, and durability. The company began
as a subsidiary of Convergent Sourcing Limited, an American owned
and managed sourcing and supply chain management company with
offices in Hong Kong and China. Convergent Sourcing has a long history
of sourcing and supply chain management expertise and has consultednumerous Fortune 500 companies in product development, supply
chain management and global logistics. Journey Instruments leverages
Convergent Sourcing's expertise and resources to maximize efficiencies
in product development, procurement, production, and logistics.

16 jec composites magazine / No104 April - May 2016

longer, compensating for
Their high price. Carbon fibre
also enables the instrument
to be much lighter and easier
to transport. In this case, the
soundboard is made of unidirectional carbon fibre with
a gloss finish while the back
and sides use carbon fibre
twill with a gloss finish.
This is particularly important
when travel is considered,
Which leads to Journey
Instruments' model: the
carbon fibre Overhead. Musicians are brought to travel all
around the world depending
on where they play, and Journey Instruments' innovation
consists in allowing players to
bring their guitar in the overhead compartment thanks
to the neck system. Indeed,
it enables the guitar to be
collapsible and thus fit into a
travel bag.

A worthy solution
for travelling
The Overhead guitar has
many interesting properties,
such as its high resistance to
heat, humidity and pressure
as well as its strength and
clear, resonant tone, making
it not only a solution for
travelling musicians but also
a quality instrument for any
professional player.
Guitar Adventures, which
frequently reviews guitar
models in depth, had the

Carbon fibre collapsible Overhead
guitar model

opportunity to try out two
versions of the Overhead
guitar: a solid-top wood
guitar and a carbon fibre
model. The main challenge
of these guitars is to preserve
a quality sound in spite of
having a modified structured
that allows the neck to be
collapsible. Journey Instruments' carbon fibre model
in particular was considered
very successful at combining
carbon fibre's outstanding
properties and an easy to
transport guitar, without
sacrificing any of the tone or
resonance. n
More information:
www.journeyinstruments.com
www.guitaradventures.com

http://www.journeyinstruments.com http://www.guitaradventures.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #104 - April/May 2016