Ciari founder Jonathan Spangler holds the original prototype for the company’s folding guitar.
because I wanted it,” says Jonathan Spangler, founder and CEO of Ciari Guitars, talking about the creation of his Ascender line of folding-neck electrics. As a musician and an attorney whose job mandated extensive travel, Spangler needed a full-sized guitar that could fit into the space afforded most airline passengers—under the seat. His solution was a stealthy, collapsible guitar worthy of MI5 technology, featuring a patented mid-neck hinge and a concealed actuator lever on the back that unlocks the hinge, loosens the strings to three pounds of tension and allows the guitar to fold in half. When ready for action, the neck is unfolded and the actuator lever solidly locks everything in place, with the strings fully tensioned and needing only some tuning tweaks to be readied for play.
