http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003YOT54G/?tag=imwan-20

I just ordered this "portable" guitar that gets high marks from Voyage Guitars and was featured on the Shark Tank. I sit in a car for 12 hours a day and figure this will be great for a half hour of practice a day when I take my meal.

That's cool.

You can also play tricks on people. "Hey man you broke my guitar!"

Chris might fall for that trick!

Chris would fall for pretty much any trick

Got my portable Voyage Guitar today from Amazon and man is this a sweet acoustic guitar! They also make electric guitars but this is perfect for practicing outside the house. Really well made and has a fantastic tone (as good as any I've heard at this price point). Just needed slight tuning up with my Snark tuner (surprisingly in tune except for the low E string), the quality is good enough you could play this at a gig.
When it is in the proper position you'd never know it folds and goes in a sturdy case (supplied).
A win win. They do make even more expensive versions (up to $1200) but this suffices for my purposes.
I'll buy a Taylor or a Martin if I'm going beyond the $1K margin.

That's the case behind it right? Nice! I don't need one but considered picking up something small and portable for my vacation this summer. I hate the thought of not getting any practice in for 2 weeks, but there's no way I can lug an electric and my resonator is kind of bulky. I don't have a case or gig bag for it anyway.

Something like this:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Martin-Stee ... 1167432.gc

...but again, I decided I've spent enough on gear for the time being.

No the case is actually much smaller than a standard case. Since the guitar folds, the case resembles a hefty backpack. Most backpacker type guitars might be good for practicing scales and chord shapes but sound bad. This one actually sounds fine and no one would realize its portable.
For $399, it's a great buy.

I meant what it was leaning on, but looking closer I realize that's an amp.

Yes I grabbed an amp to take the pic. That's a Monoprice 40W amp another great buy.

I have a Backpacker. It's pretty nice, but yeah, the thin sound is pretty unavoidable considering the size and shape.

Here's how the Voyage Air guitar looks like in its backpack which will also hold a laptop when you travel.

I am finally getting the hang of chords. It was baffling to me until I found Justin Guitar. Now I've learned 3 chords and better still how to shift between them with minimal effort. I'm slow, of course, but it's not feeling out of my league anymore. I was really getting frustrated, to where I didn't think I was ever going to figure it out at all. I'm still using Rock Prodigy as my primary learning tool, but shifting to Justin for half my daily routine now. He's a fantastic teacher.

I'm also working on fretboard learning exercises using a method I found from another source which has been recommended several places since I found it. Before I was sort of mindlessly following tabs without thinking about what note I was playing, and getting by...but it really stifles your ability to move forward without knowing the fretboard. I'm sure most of you are far more advanced than me (if not all of you), but here's the video instruction I am following, in case anyone is interested. Please ignore his very odd accent.

I have a few of Justin's tab books available at his site. Good stuff. And I also subscribe to his YouTube feed.
Marty Schwartz is another good guy to follow.

Yes, I've spent time on his site too, and have it bookmarked. There's good info there too. It's amazing how much there is out there to learn from, all free. I don't think I could have done this pre-internet, with lessons and so many fewer resources for practice.

The internet guys get you playing simple songs pretty quickly and that is what it's all about, playing songs and having a good time.
Once you know about 10 open chords, you can play almost any pop song. G Major is a big one as is the more difficult F chord.
C, D, A and E are pretty easy. B isn't used much except Stones songs.

Fender shut down their New Bedford, Conn. factory on Monday. It's the place where Hamers were built, along with Guild US and Ovation US guitars. Lots of speculation, few answers - most of the guesses focus on the Guitar Center debt situation. The New Bedford facility was very highly regarded, and by all accounts, the guys who worked there were very caring about what they produced, and outstanding at their work. I have two Hamers, both used, and they're very solid.

That is a shame. I have a Charvel that was made in their new facility in Mexico. At least Fender American Standards are still made in the USA.

A GuitarFest in Freeport NY this weekend. The Gibson rolling RV will be there. I have a Gibson Les Paul Custom so it would be neat to see the latest and greatest.
Also interested in acoustics as I really need an upgrade from my Fender and Yamaha's.
Btw....the Voyage-Air portable guitar is doing great and stays in tune very nicely. I brought it to work one day and set it up for a friend and he liked it. It was in tune right out of the backpack despite being folded.
Artists who promote the Voyage-Air include Steve Miller and John Oates (of Hall & Oates).

That guy is really great! Have you ever seen the Guitar Grimoire books? Adam Kadmon writes them, and the 'Beginning Guitar' one was of great help to me, as it has two DVD's with it where he explains what he's doing and so on. It just covers basic stuff, so you can learn to change between chords and so on, and get into the basics of how different keys work and stuff. He does a whole bunch of them, but it all gets pretty esoteric - but that first one is such a great book, I highly recommend it.

Full disclosure....Adam dresses as a wizard in the DVD.

Even so....just ignore that, and you'll learn a lot.

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Grimoire-B ... 1423482999

Oh, and I got my guitar back today from the guitar tech who was repairing it.

He put American Standard tuners on it (the Schaller locking ones had gone wrong somehow - the first string one was broken), and changed the gauge back to 9 - 42's. He also gave it a fret dress and lowered the action, as well as totally blocking off the tremolo. It's now effectively a hardtail (this is my 2006 Highway One Strat). He lowered the action by a fair margin, which is great.

I have to have carpal tunnel surgery next week, so I'll have to play it while I can. Hopefully, I'll still be able to play once I've had the surgery.