Ramble On

Furch's travel guitar folds down so you can transport it in its own custom backpack and, the company claims, it returns to pitch when you reassemble it. Innovation or gimmick?

- David Mead

Here at Guitarist we're used to instruments arriving at our door in guitar-shaped cases. And so when Furch's Little Jane turned up in something that closely resembled a hiker's backpack it became the talking point of the afternoon.

A guitar that folds down into three separate parts? It sounded a little like a dark 'some assembly required' nightmare. As it happens, we were in for a pleasant surprise.

Travel guitars are far from being a new concept. Possibly the first commercially successful model was Martin's Backpacker, which appeared on the radar in the early 1990s and enjoyed a trip to space on NASA's Space Shuttle in 1994, as well as subsequently journeying up Mount Everest- and you can't get any more well travelled than that. The only downside to the Backpacker was its unusual shape, resembling a lacrosse racket more than a regular acoustic, and it's quite possible that this aesthetic limited its appeal for some.

A travel-friendly alternative, of course, would be the many mini guitars on today's market, such as the Wee Lowden, Baby Taylor and the Little Martin - easy to take on a camping trip or hiking around the Lake District but still a tad bulkier than it would need to be to qualify for the holiday essentials list.

On the face of it, Furch’s Little Jane manages to combine the portability of a Martin Backpacker with the charm of a mini acoustic, and goes one stage further in that it comes with its own set of luggage.

Our review model is kitted out with a Sitka spruce top and mahogany back and sides, but if that isn’t to your liking the Little Jane is available in all-mahogany, Sitka and rosewood, cedar and mahogany, and a special edition made with Sitka and cocobolo. Quite a lot of choice, then.