We Build Guitars for Musicians Who Travel

Makeev Guitars is an independent team of luthiers and engineers based in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
We build full-scale foldable electric guitars and basses for musicians who travel, tour, work remotely and simply do not want to compromise on playability for the sake of portability.
Our goal was never to make a smaller guitar.
We wanted to build a real guitar that becomes smaller when you need to travel.

From Guitar Repair to Guitar Engineering
Makeev Guitars grew out of years of professional guitar repair and workshop experience.
Before developing our own instruments, our team worked with thousands of electric guitars, basses and acoustic instruments. We repaired broken necks, corrected geometry problems, replaced frets, rebuilt electronics and saw the same design weaknesses appear again and again. And we still do.
That experience changed the way we think about guitar design.
Instead of starting with appearance, we start with practical questions:
How will the neck behave after years of use?
Can the mechanism be serviced?
What happens when the guitar travels through different climates?
Can a musician find replacements and components anywhere in the world?
Will the guitar still feel familiar after unfolding it?
Easy Fold was developed around those questions.

Why We Built a Folding Guitar
Traditional travel guitars usually solve the problem of size by changing the instrument itself.
They use a shorter scale, a smaller body, unusual strings and almost in all cases completely different playing feel.
We wanted another approach.
Easy Fold guitars use a folding neck mechanism that allows a full-scale electric guitar or bass to become compact for transportation while preserving the familiar playing experience of a standard instrument.
The guitar folds in seconds and does not require additional tools.
All models use standard guitar or bass strings.
When unfolded, the instrument is designed to feel and function like a normal full-scale guitar becauuse of the neck shape, ergonomics and proper setup.
For us, portability should not require a musician to relearn the instrument.

Designed and Built in Almaty
Our instruments are built in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Woodworking, neck production, fretwork, finishing, assembly and final quality control are performed by our team controlled by the founder Ivan Makeev directly.
We combine traditional guitar building with CNC machining, CAD design and modern prototyping.
Some parts of a guitar are still shaped, fitted and checked by hand.
Other parts benefit from repeatable machining and precise digital design.
We use both.
The result is not a mass-produced travel accessory. It is a real musical instrument built in a small production environment by people who work with guitars every day.

The Easy Fold Mechanism
The folding mechanism is the central part of every Easy Fold instrument.
It was developed to make the guitar compact without requiring the player to remove the neck, loosen multiple bolts or use special tools.
The neck folds together with the strings.
Unfolding and preparing the guitar for playing takes only 10 seconds.
The system is designed around three priorities:
Stability
The neck must return to its playing position consistently.
Serviceability
A mechanical system used by touring musicians must be understandable and repairable in any environment by people with zero technical skills.
Familiar Playability
The design should not force the player to accept an unusual scale length, special strings or a radically different neck.
We continue to improve individual components as we receive long-term feedback from musicians around the world.

Built by People Who Repair Guitars
We believe guitar builders should understand how instruments fail. This is an aspect guitar making companies sometimes forget.
Our repair background has a direct influence on every Makeev guitar.
We pay particular attention to neck stability, fretwork, hardware installation, electronics access and parts that may require maintenance in the future. You should get a guitar that is not playable out of the box and does not require any luthier attention.
And a guitar is not finished when it leaves the workshop, we still have to consider several years of use.
It has to survive airports, hotels, stages, changing humidity and everyday playing.
That is the environment we design for.

Instruments for Real Musicians
Makeev guitars are used by touring musicians, working players, producers and guitarists who simply travel often.
Some customers need a guitar for international tours.
Others want to record while working abroad.
Some live between several countries.
And some simply want a full-size guitar that does not occupy half of an apartment.
Different musicians use Easy Fold differently, but the original idea remains the same:
A travel guitar should still be a guitar you actually want to play and compatibility should not be the only feature.

Independent by Design
We are a small independent guitar company.
This means our production volume is limited, but it also allows us to communicate directly with musicians and make changes quickly.
Customer feedback has influenced hardware choices, bass configurations, finishes and several details of the folding system.
We do not develop instruments in isolation from players.
Many of our best improvements started with a simple message from a customer who had taken an Easy Fold guitar somewhere we had never tested it before.

Makeev Guitars Around the World
Makeev instruments have been shipped to musicians in different countries across Europe, North and South America, Australia, Asia, Oceania and other regions.
We have presented our guitars at international industry events including NAMM and Guitar Summit.
For us, representing an independent guitar manufacturer from Kazakhstan on the international market is an important part of the Makeev Guitars story.
Almaty is where we build.
The world is where our guitars are played.

Our Approach
We do not believe a travel guitar should be a compromise guitar.
We believe it should be compact and reliable when you travel while being familiar when you play.
That idea continues to guide every instrument we build.
Explore our folding travel guitars and basses or contact our team to discuss your instrument.