Just a few years ago, Jonathan Spangler, a patent attorney and musician who frequently found himself on the road, had a problem – a problem that many traveling musicians share: he didn’t like the sound of typical travel guitars and the guitars he really wanted to play were left home or put at risk with the airlines.
When his exhaustive search for a great-playing travel guitar failed, Spangler invented his own: the Ascender, a folding guitar. It’s an amazing, quality instrument from Ciari Guitars that can change the game for travelers.
He recalls, “I would frequently tell clients that if they could solve the friction in their own lives, they could do it for others, too. So, I finally took my own advice.”
There are many remarkable features of the Ascender, but paramount among them is the guitar’s ability to fold up cleanly into an 18.5” package and quickly reshape into a full 22-fret premium electric guitar.
Ciari Guitars describes the design as “Nashville craftsmanship meets medical-grade engineering”.
At the heart of the world’s first professional folding guitar is a patented folding mechanism that coordinates a mid-neck hinge, translating truss rods, and a floating bridge. The design is complex, but for the player unlocking and folding up the instrument is simple.
Here’s how the folding mechanism works: A concealed lever loosens the strings to carefully calculated three lbs of tension and unlocks an aircraft-grade aluminum alloy hinge that enables the guitar to fold symmetrically in half.
While folded, the strings are held in place and protected in V-grooves located before the 12th and 14th frets. When the neck is unfolded and the lever is returned to its concealed location, the strings revert to their fully tensioned state of approximately 118 lbs of tension. With just a quick touch-up tuning, you’re ready to rock.
As amazing and convenient as the idea of a precision folding guitar is, it wouldn’t be worth traveling with if it didn’t play well. As a player himself, Spangler knew this and became committed to building quality into the Ascender.
He and his team at Ciari painstakingly designed and extensively tested features, playability and durability to be sure that the Ascender would provide players with an inspiring playing experience.
To that end, the Mahogany neck of the Ascender, with its familiar, modern “soft-C” shape, is fitted with medium 22 nickel frets and offers a comfortable 12″ radius with a 1.7” nut width.
To ensure top quality, each neck is manufactured using a Plek system (a state-of-the-art computer-controlled fingerboard planing and fret leveling tool) to ensure perfect action for optimal playability. With that kind attention to detail, each Ascender is built to live up the company’s description: “It’s not a great travel guitar, it’s a great guitar that travels”.
The Ascender currently comes in five foldable models: the Ascender Standard, Ascender Standard+, Ascender Custom, Ascender P90 Solo, and Ascender P90 Duo each offering a range of wood, finish, and electronics choices to meet every player’s needs.
Each Ascender comes with a free quilted gig bag, that fits conveniently inside a Ciari Backpack (sold separately) with compartments to handle all your other travel essentials such as a laptop, pedalboard or mini-amp.
Ascender models are priced starting at $1,599. Check out the Ciari story and pick your Ascender model and features at Ciari Guitars.
