The Ascender™ is the only full-size premium foldable electric guitar on the market, perfect for hassle-free travel. It can slip easily into a standard size backpack and fit in any airlines overhead bin or underneath the seat in front of you. Your instrument will never leave your side and you no longer have to worry if it will be lost or damaged on an airline! 

The Ascender™ premium foldable guitar contains a concealed lever which when deployed unlocks the hinge and releases the tension on the strings so that they gently follow the fold and remain safely in their individual grooves during transit. When ready to play, just unfold the guitar and lock the hinge back in place and you are ready to rock! Our patented folding system keeps only slight tension on the strings when folded for elegant string management over the hinge, and brings the strings back to full tension with the throw of a lever once unfolded so after a quick “top off tune” you are ready to go! 

String management. First, the V-grooves keep the strings securely yet gently in place over the hinge when folded. Second, they provide a smooth string path over the hinge to ensure kink-free string performance. The result: amazing playability, unparalleled convenience, and elegant string management to optimize string life and resonance. 

No. The strings ride the frets during string bending. They aren’t pushed down far enough to actually touch the fingerboard, so the V-grooves have no impact on string bending. 

No. When you release the lever, the string tension drops from 118 lbs. down to just 3 lbs. When folding the neck, the strings all neatly into the V-grooves. The light tension of the strings allows them to rest gently in the V-grooves, which provide a smooth string path to ensure kink-free string performance. 

As a full-size, 22-fret, 24 ¾” scale guitar, the Ascender is 36.5" long and folds to just 18.5". The Ascender Custom weighs 8.5 lbs., which is a typical weight of many premium electric guitars, and the Ascender Standard weighs 7.5 lbs.

The Ascender Custom boasts independently adjustable controls for both the bridge pick-up and the neck pick-up, including stacked tone and volume controls and a coil-split switch for each pick-up.

The Ascender Standard features master tone and volume controls with a pick up selector in the upper bout. All built around quality pick-ups, such as Seymour Duncan ‘59s, the setup of the Ascender offers a wide variety of tonal options making it a true workhorse guitar to cover all of your gigging or playing needs!

Our two Ascender models differ in body types, headstocks, electronics, and actuators. Click here to view a helpful infographic.

The Plek system is a specialized CNC that planes the fingerboard and mills the frets during manufacture of each Ascender to ensure optimal string action for premium playability. The Plek system is state-of-the-art technology that is embraced by increasing numbers of guitar manufacturers, from high-end boutique guitars to some of the biggest names in the business.

Yes. The Ascender is available exclusively online at ciariguitars.com.

The Ascender Standard is $1,799. The Ascender Custom starts at $2,999. Financing is available.

Yes, you can order a leftie model of both the Custom and the Ascender.

With the exception of custom requests, most models ship within 6-8 weeks but could be longer due to demand and order flow. Inquire here if you have a question about the lead-time for a particular Ascender model and finish.

Yes and yes! We have amazing plans for the future… you can expect big things from Ciari!