Traveler Guitar: A blend of Art & Science

I am on my second Travelers Guitar and wanted to share this best keep secret of high-quality, portable instruments for mobile musicians.

Inventor Leon Cox conceived and built the very first Traveler Guitar in his garage workshop in Redlands, California in October of 1992. Cox, whose wife worked as a nurse, was inspired to install the diaphragm of a stethoscope in the body of his prototype to provide the player with a battery-free, private listening experience.

Cox had no idea that his invention would blossom into a brand, leading to the production and purchase of more than 85,000 instruments in 30 countries worldwide over the next two decades. After a year of trial-and-error, the first Traveler Guitar was sold on July 23rd, 1993 at Redlands Guitar Shop in Redlands, CA—the town Traveler Guitar still calls home. During the next three years, more than three hundred of “The Traveler” guitars were produced, both in Cox’s garage and at an outside shop. Then, in the summer of 1995, Corey Oliver walked into Redlands Guitar Shop, and the fate of Traveler Guitar took a twist. Oliver was fascinated by the unique instruments and offered to take the entire inventory on a sales road trip. Cox agreed. So, Oliver and then-partner Carey Nordstrand (of Nordstrand Basses and Nordstrand Pickups fame), piled the guitars into an ’89 Bronco and called on music stores all over California and Arizona. When they returned two weeks later, the back of the Bronco was empty.

Thanks to the expertise and focus of Corey Oliver and his team, Traveler Guitar has transformed the travel guitar from a novelty into a real guitar category. Traveler Guitar remains the industry’s premier manufacturer of full-scale travel guitars, available in hundreds of retail locations in the US and 30 countries worldwide.