Erlewine Chiquita Travel Guitar

Erlewine Chiquita

In 1970, luthier/repairman Mark Erlewine began building guitars and basses with his cousin, Dan Erlewine, in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In 1973, Mark moved to Austin, Texas where he owns and operates Erlewine Guitars. In 1979 he developed the Chiquita Travel Guitar with some design input from Billy Gibbons (of Texas' own ZZ Top). The Chiquita is the original mini-electric and came to international attention when it appeared in the opening sequence of the movie "Back to the Future", in which Michael J. Fox uses a Chiquita to destroy a huge (60 inch) speaker.

The Chiquita is small, a full foot shorter than a normal Stratocaster. The total length is 27 inches, with 23 frets and 19 inches of string between the bridge and the nut. The weight is about four and a quarter pounds. The price of a new one in 1998 was $565 list w/o a case or gig bag. The recommended string guages are .013, .017, .024, .036, .046 and .056.

The standard electronics package of the Chiquita includes a single humbucking pickup with a volume control.

Mark also builds two lines of full-size electric guitars and some of the most beautiful custom-built guitars that you will ever see.

The Erlewine Lazer guitars are headless guitars with angular bodies. Johnny Winter is just one of the owners and players of the Lazer.

The Erlewine Automatic guitars were also designed with input from Billy Gibbons and combine the best features of a Gibson Les Paul and Fender Telecaster.

Mark also builds custom guitars that combine a carved-top Stratocaster-like body, carved from exotic tone woods, with a set-neck and ebony fretboard. Custom pickup configurations and wood selections are available on all custom-ordered guitars.

For more information, contact: Erlewine Guitars 4402 Burnet Road Austin, Texas 78756 The phone number there is (512)302-1225.

Looking for an electric guitar that will fit in your carry-on luggage? Maybe what you really want is a headless Steinberger GT-Pro.