SoloEtte Almost emasculate Travel/Practice Guitar Solid, unbreakable. Disassembles quickly into a small carry-on case. Full size body. Full scale length. Silent practice. Headphones plug directly in. To my great delight, someone finally created a brilliant device that is even better than the portable electronic keyboard that pianists use. It’s called the SoloEtte Travel Guitar, and when disassembled for traveling, it’s only 33 inches long and no wider than a guitar neck. In less than a minute, you pop on three aluminum tubes designed to recreate the shape of an actual guitar. Your friends can’t hear you practice, but you can by plugging earphones into a jack powered by a nine-volt battery. Since the nylon strings are tuned to pitch and the neck is identical to that of a real instrument, you can practice anything and experience the physical sensation of an actual guitar. It even plugs into an amplifier or sound system should you need to play a few gigs in between hikes. My first stop with the SoloEtte? I brought it to the Galapagos Islands and the Ecuadorian rain forest, and I am pleased to report that it worked wonderfully, surviving the rigors of dugout canoe travel, high humidity, and ravenous insects. It even works well in outer space. A SoloEtte was launched in the space shuttle Atlantis in November 1995 and presented (along with my American Landscapes CD) to the Russian cosmonauts as a gift during Atlantis’ rendezvous with the Russian space station Mir. Sharon Isbin A Practical Solution to a Classical Problem The SoloEtte is a solid-construction, nylon string guitar. It plugs directly into stereo headphones or standard amplification equipment. The frame comes apart and fits into a small carrying case. The features of silent practice and portability combine with amplification capabilities to offer a bright, new innovative concept for the serious musician. Features Headphones plug directly into the guitar for full stereo sound. Guitar plugs directly...