Electric Guitar Design: When You Can't Hold 'Em, Fold 'Em

by Tom Watson.

The recent music industry trade show, Musikmesse, held in Frankfurt Germany, saw the introduction of the Centerfold model guitar from the DeVillain Guitar Company. The Centerfold (photo below) is a full-sized electric guitar with a neck that folds forward over the body so that the instrument can be placed in a case or gig bag that will fit under the seat of an airplane and remain in tune when unfolded.

The guitar is the result of Swedish SAS pilot Fredrik Johansson's desire for an instrument that can be carried on a plane, easily stowed, and quickly made playable on arrival, meaning the neck doesn't have to be detached nor the strings removed. According to the DeVillain Guitar Company (website), founded by Johansson, it can be unfolded and ready to play in 20 seconds. The suggested retail price of the Centerfold is $3,370 USD, which includes international shipping and taxes.

Although advertised at Musikmesse as the "world's first foldable guitar", Johansson says, "We are not claiming that we were the first to have made a foldable guitar, only the first company to mass-produce and sell foldable guitars to the public," a qualifying statement that should sit well with guitarist and inventor Roger Field who received his foldable electric guitar patent from the U.S. Patent Office in 1978.

Chet Atkins fans might recognize the name Roger Field - Atkins owned three of Field's folding guitars, one of which is featured in the book Chet Atkins: Me and My Guitars (Hal Leonard; 1st edition, May, 2003). A photo of one also appears on the website of long-time Atkins associate Paul Yandell to whom Atkins gave one of the Field foldables. In fact, it was Atkins who inspired Roger Field to create the instrument, which, opposite the Centerfold, features a neck that folds to the back of the guitar body. According to Yandell, "It stays in perfect tune when you fold and unfold it."

In 1976, French guitarist Marcel Didi introduced Field to Atkins who dared Field (at that time a design engineer with Airbus) to produce a full-sized electric guitar that could be folded, unfolded, and remain in tune. Field took the challenge, the result of which was Field's 1978 patent and the production of fully working prototypes.

While Field hasn't earnestly pursued manufacture of the instrument (yet), over the years the inventor has gotten it into the hands of a number of notable players who, Field says, have received it with a great deal of enthusiasm.

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