#1
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Have you been longing for a Voyage Air guitar?
I know that there have been a few threads asking about travel guitars (or complaining about airlines' treatment of full sized guitars) in recent months, and that there haven't been any new Voyage Air guitars available for some time. But I just got an email this morning saying that the are available for pre-order at the website: http://www.voyageairguitar.com . So if you have been waiting, here is a chance to get one. Of course, if you want to actually try one before buying, I imagine there will be some more delays before they are in stores for inspection.
I have had a VAOM-06 for several years, and think it is one of the better solutions for the challenges faced by those who do much traveling, and like to take a guitar along. |
#2
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Hi buddy:
I too got the same email from Voyage Air. I was not aware the guitars were not available for a while, so I was surprised to see their "relaunch" announcement. Do you know the reason why they stopped making them? |
#3
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The problem with the Voyage Air acoustics is that the cases are too big to meet the dimensions of carry ons for most / many airlines. I think they're great but I got tired of having to talk my way into taking (sneaking) the guitar onto the plane and on some smaller jets trying to shove it under the seat in front of me to keep it on the plane. It was too stressful to it became my car / campfire guitar and I bought a Journey Overhead for actual plane travel.
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#4
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Quote:
i had that same experience when i first got my voyage air with the softshell case it ships in. when I resesarched further, i found the hard shell option which cost another 150 but is significantly different in size, epecially with the zip pack left off. it is only the stripped down hard shell that I find will fit nicely in the overhead of most planes. At the time of purchase this infor wasn't something I'd found in my research, but the first time flying with it was an eye opener and only succeeded because I was on a jumbo jet with generous overhead bins. all that said, I'm finding more that I'm more often on the smaller planes and even the hard shell risks having to go in sideways, and take up more than alloted fair share of space. for this reason, i'm probably going to buy a journey to totally eliminate the issue. (i hope).
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amyFb Huss & Dalton CM McKnight MacNaught Breedlove Custom 000 Albert & Mueller S Martin LXE Voyage-Air VM04 Eastman AR605CE |
#5
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The Journey was the way to go for me. |
#6
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I've been traveling all over the U.S. and internationally with my VAD-1 for over 5 years without incidence. Sound like you've had more problems with yours than most people with full-size cases.
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#7
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Seems like their not offering the all solid wood guitars any more.
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David Webber Round-Body Furch D32-LM MJ Franks Lagacy OM Rainsong H-WS1000N2T Stonebridge OM33-SR DB Stonebridge D22-SRA Tacoma Papoose Voyage Air VAD-2 1980 Fender Strat A few Partscaster Strats MIC 60s Classic Vib Strat |
#8
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Why do you think that? They're still listed on their web site where they've always been. Just as the others, they show pre-order status.
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#9
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Interesting that this thread just popped up. I have been thinking about buying a guitar for air travel. I don't fly that often, but when I do I'd like to have a guitar that I know would be allowed on the plane. I know some forum members greatly prefer the voyage air, but I have guitars that I can easily take on a road trip. I'm seriously considering a Journey overhead.
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"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."-John Lennon 2015 Taylor 512ce 12 fret early 80's Ovation Ultra 1517 2011 Seagull Entourage Rustic 2011 Taylor Limited NS214ce 2010 Taylor 512c 2016 Ibanez AG75 2014 Taylor GS Mini Koa e 2018 Loar LH 301t 1998 Breedlove Fall Limited # 10 of 20 Redwood/Walnut |
#10
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Have you been longing for a Voyage Air guitar?
I own both the Voyage Air and the Journey Overhead Carbon. I cannot recommend the Journey over the Voyage Air enough. I fly hundreds of thousands of miles a year and there is no way the Voyage Air can compete.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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- Shane Taylor 526ce Taylor T5X Taylor 150e Journey Carbon 0F660 Composite Acoustics Cargo Voyage Air VAOM-04 Ibanez AM93 Epiphone Les Paul Custom Pro |
#11
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Hi Rich…
I've been using a VAOM-06 for about 7 years, and it's been on planes, in the RV, cars, buses etc. It's not as small as other travel guitars, and the reason I've kept it is it sounds and works like a guitar whenever I pull it out of the case (and I own both a hard and soft cases, but it actually lives in the soft case). My choice of Voyage-Air as a travel guitar instead of one of the 'smaller' travel guitars boiled down how I use it. Whenever I play guitar, I want something which when I play it has a full-scale neck, similar neck profile to my main guitars, solid responsiveness and good sustain. This is an all-the-time requirement for me, not just when I'm at home. The 1¾" nut, 25.5" scale, shallow C neck profile, OM sized body, and solid top go the VAOM-06 (and the VAOM-04) add up to a quality instrument which has not been matched by other undersized travel guitars I've auditioned. In fact, those really little travel guitars do not fulfill most of these requirements. And I'm not willing to yield on any of my basic requirements…which is why I own the Voyage-Air. To express it another way, the neck profile, the action, and the sound qualities closely match those of my day-to-day guitars. It is a great sounding and nice playing (very good action). So when I'm practicing I'm actually practicing. It also has a K&K dual source (pickup plus internal microphone) installed in it which sounds very guitar-like plugged in. I primarily use it when we travel, and I keep it strung with my normal weight of strings (Elixir Nano Phosphor Bronze .012). They last at least 18 months for me since it's only used about 6-8 trips a year, and I wipe them down every time before de-tensioning them. When I use it to gig, it sounds/feels 'normal' to me, and to the audience. So I'm playing music without having to adjust-to/wrestle-with a different scale, neck width/profile, and underpowered sound package. I can just focus on music. When I use it, I don't make a deal out of the novelty of the folding neck. I want people to experience music no be distracted by novelty. I've never had issues with overhead bins. It's in the soft-bag and it's stowed heel toward the aisle. I wrap the heel with a cotton terrycloth bar towel for stability and protection. I've not had heel issues, it's just my precaution. I want/need a full-sized acoustic guitar of high build quality, durability, and a highly playable neck with great acoustic properties which can travel, not an undersized instrument to mess around with when traveling. Hope this adds to the discussion. |
#12
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Hi Chrom
I don't think it's actually a competition, just a choice people make. The Voyage Air competes well in the areas of price (it's half the price of the Journey), full scale (as opposed to short-scale of the Journey which is important in dropped tunings), and acoustic properties (the Voyage-Air solid tops do not sound boxy). I like the fact the Journey has options for a 1¾" nut. If the price of the Journey were lower it might have been a consideration, but it's twice the price of Voyage-Air for a few centimeters of difference in size, and the one I heard was boxy sounding and lacked sustain (which may have been dead strings). So while the Journey is smaller, I think the Voyage-Air surpasses it in other areas. |
#13
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I've owned my Voyage-Air VAD-04 for 3 years now and have traveled often with it on commercial flights. It's been a pleasure having a full-sized guitar to take along while traveling. As Larry mentioned there are few if any compromises involved with Voyage-Air guitars.
FWIW-I have the standard soft-sided case and have never had an issue fitting it in overhead bins of the aircraft I've traveled in. Those planes have included Airbus A319, Airbus A320 and Boeing 737. Those are all medium size commercial aircraft.
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AKA 'Screamin' Tooth Parker' You can listen to Walt's award winning songs with his acoustic band The Porch Pickers @ the Dixie Moon album or rock out electrically with Rock 'n' Roll Reliquary Bourgeois AT Mahogany D Gibson Hummingbird Martin J-15 Voyage Air VAD-04 Martin 000X1AE Squier Classic Vibe 50s Stratocaster Squier Classic Vibe Custom Telecaster PRS SE Standard 24 |
#14
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Thankfully I haven't had to fly much the past few years, so fitting in an overhead bin wasn't an issue for me.
Like LJ said above (paraphrasing), my VAD-04 is a nice guitar that just happens to have a hinge in the middle. I added a pickup. The soft case is perfect for the tablet, strings/tuner/capo/picks, strap, & cord for gigs and jams. Since there's not a lot of money involved, it's my go-to gig/jam guitar. I've got a cheap 3/4 scale travel guitar that lives in my locker at work for lunchtime picking. |
#15
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Quote:
I've only had a chance to touch a Journey, and it was so horribly set up that it was unplayable and no one at the store could do a set up at the time i was there. Last night I was leaning towards a carbon fiber model , but today i want to try both carbon fiber and solid wood models. I'm headed to sponsor section to see if anyone carries them and maybe is within reasonable driving distance.
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amyFb Huss & Dalton CM McKnight MacNaught Breedlove Custom 000 Albert & Mueller S Martin LXE Voyage-Air VM04 Eastman AR605CE |