Hi, I’m so excited to be going on two long vacation trips this year. I want to bring a bass that I can fit in my suitcase. I’m considering buying an older Traveler. Has anyone ever tried one?
Traveler Guitar Original Escape Bass - First Article
Maybe I am all wrong thinking I can take off the neck and mount it when I arrive, but that’s what I plan to do. Hehe, can’t go three weeks without practicing. 
I’m a huge fan of the Kala U-bass.
Full disclosure - they are friends of mine and I’ve done work for them and their site… but I do it because I love their basses.
Their acoustic Ubasses are really fun to play.
They don’t make enough sound acoustically to work in a jam session or anything, but they work great for solo practice and noodling while traveling.
Tnx for the tips @Gio . I was hoping to get full scale and normal strings, but U-bass could be a solution if the idea of taking of the neck is just stupid.
I mean, if you want full scale, go for it.
I had to travel and tour with an upright bass and had to take the neck and strings off every night / every travel day / every rehearsal.
You do whatcha gotta do!
I’m more than happy with my wee lil’ basses when it’s travel time.
See also:
Maybe this could be a good alternative? Höfner Shorty Bass BK – Thomann United States (thomannmusic.com)
This is my Travel Bass
It fits in an overheard storage bin on an airplane and I take it everywhere. It has a built in headphone amp and aux input for playing along with a backing track. You can also plug it into an amp if you wish. Very satisfied with it and I believe that there are others here on the forum who have one of these.
Hope this helps.
Assuming you’re traveling with a significant other, I would highly recommend not doing this. Focus on your SO. The bass will be there when you get back. And you wont miss a beat.
That is a good piece of advice, and I understand the logic.
We have been together for 30 years and married for 25, so one or two hours a day when I put on the headset and give us both some “alone” time could also be wise.
I feel like I lose so much strength and my fingers get all “soft” if it goes more than a week, but that might just be me and a bad excuse to bring the bass along.
Thank you, I think this is a newer version of the Traveler original, so it will probably be much the same. It’s still too large to fit in the suitcase, so I have to take off the neck. Emirates won’t allow basses in the cabin unless I buy a seat, and that’s about $1,600 USD.
The Hofner shorty’s quite nice to play and very light (and quite inexpensive) - definitely worth consideration IMO. If you want to spend a bit more, you could try a Steinberger, as modelled here by @Justin3 …
Although I think it needs special double-ended strings
I have a Blackstar Carry-On travel bass. Not travelled with it yet but it is a compact full-on proper bass! I use it mainly when I am sitting playing stuff from the laptop (tabs, bass course content etc).
Thank you, @Ed, the Shorty is one to consider. I have concluded that I need to take off the neck no matter what I land on. So any headless bass would fit, and now it’s just to find the best value.
Looks nice, and I would like to own one. Great price as well, I think, but it still won’t fit in a suitcase.
Blackstar wonderful Bowie album btw… nice little bass
Probably right. Overall length is about 84 cm.
Total instrument length 33.25”
$349 USD
I use a heavily modified Blackstar Travel Bass - and I LOVE it!
The bottle to the right is for size reference…
Note that I remove the neck when travelling by plane, due to stupid luggage rules in Europe.
That is a very good alternative. As you say still needs to remove neck, but that is a nice travelbass.
