*Voyage Air Owner’s Club Note* Bob lives on a sailboat, is taking guitar lessons, and has an active Blog in the Seattle area. Recently, he discovered Voyage Air Guitar. When you live on a sailboat, space is tight. Bob was thrilled to find a full-size acoustic guitar that fits into a compact space, with a super backpack-style case. In fact, he ended up calling it “…the ideal boat guitar.”

Here’s his Blog post: 

I couldn’t resist.  I ordered an ideal boat guitar for myself.

It came in just under a week, shipped by FedEx in a huge box surrounded by lots of padding; it arrived in perfect condition.

Inside the box was the advertised backpack soft case containing the folded guitar.

First surprise:  it is light weight!

In fact it is amazingly light in weight compared to my Hohner and semi-hard case.  You (literally) can lift it with one finger.  Easily.

Second surprise: A quality backpack

This is not just a guitar case – it really is a quality backpack, designed from scratch to hold the guitar.  The surface that contacts your back when you don it has extra foam padding and is covered with breathable mesh.  For hand-carrying, there is a padded handle on both the top and on one side, should you prefer to carry it that way instead of wearing it on your back.  And there is a huge zipper pocket to hold music and easily your laptop as well.

Zip open the specially contoured top, and there is the guitar, perfectly happy but looking broken.  The strings are stuffed in the sound hole, and the neck rests on a specially formed padded support to prevent it from scratching the guitar top.

Remove it from the case and unfold it – the hinge goes slightly over-center so that it is not difficult to hold against the string tension.  While holding, tighten the thumbscrew.   The neck is a little floppy when it is folded, but once unfolded and locked down, it is as rigid as your guitar.  The hinge joint is almost invisible when the guitar is unfolded – a good design well executed.

The only other deviation from normal guitar design is that the nut is not simply notched to take the strings.  Instead it has bored holes to keep the strings from going too far astray when the guitar is folded.

Keeping in mind that this is intended for use on our boat, I bought the VAOM-02.  This is a little smaller than a full dreadnought (it’s an orchestra model), but it has a full sized 1-3/4″ bridge and 25 1/2″ neck.  What this means to me is that I won’t bang it into things as much while moving around the boat.

Next surprise: It is easy to play

I’m not sure why this might be, but I would swear that this guitar is easier to finger than my Hohner.  And I’m not talking about the action here – I mean it is as if the strings have less tension or something.  Regardless of the reason, this guitar is a pleasure to finger.

And it sounds good.   No, it sounds really good.  Of course it would sound even better if played by somebody who knows what they are doing, but then we can’t have everything, can we?

Final assessment (now based on actual physical appraisal):

This is the ideal boat guitar. 

Bob – Windborne in Puget Sound

I am happy to inform you that I just posted on my website a photo of my Voyage Air guitar in the Place des Vosges in Paris. Our friends in France loved the fact that we were able to share our music with them,

I am happy to inform you that I just posted on my website a photo of my Voyage-Air guitar in the Place des Vosges in Paris. Our friends in France loved the fact that we were able to share our music with them, and the case for the guitar not only protected my iPad nicely but really came into its own in being able to be split in two by unzipping. That allowed for stowage in even the stingiest of overhead baggage areas.

Thanks so much for making it possible for me to take my guitar to France.

Dan Gribbin,
on behalf of my wife, keyboardist and photographer, Martha Brandt. 

Jerry Kern talks about his VAD-06: I’ve been a bass player in rock bands for years from Northeastern Pennsylvania to Charleston, SC, Washington DC and South Florida. I had a bunch of fun and made lifelong friends in those bands, but have now decided that the rock band thing is over for me. I can’t, however, give up playing altogether.

I’ve always had an acoustic guitar around for writing, supplementing my bass playing or just for sitting around and playing songs for friends. When I moved to Florida, I discovered that some of my neighbors are very good musicians. Eventually, we got together and had a jam session and since then have been playing parties in the neighborhood and have been offered gigs at local venues (which may happen, but the party gigs are too fun to give up). We call ourselves the Black Flamingos. The concept is that anyone who sits in to jam with us in any capacity automatically becomes a band member.

I have a great career which includes some traveling and we fly to visit family and friends at least a few times a year, so I started looking for a travel guitar this year. I did some extensive research and found the options to be very limited, with most being mini guitars or guitar-like sticks with strings. I eventually played a Voyage Air and immediately ordered one. I was absolutely stunned by the sound and play-ability of this guitar, but there’s one more aspect of it that really made a difference for me. The Black Flamingos play a lot of acoustic versions of rock songs, and with a bunch of people with tambourines, gourd shakers, cowbells and all singing along, the guitars can be easily drowned out. Well, not my VAD-06; this thing projects like crazy! I really couldn’t be more satisfied with this instrument. There are a lot of parties in it’s future and trips to friends and family.

If any of you are ever in the West Palm Beach area – look us up, chances are there’s a party in the neighborhood. Check us out on facebook and let us know if you want to join us! http://www.facebook.com/theblackflamingos

Sincerely,
Jerry Kern