My new travel companion by Journey Instruments

[Rosewood99]

Originally Posted by handers

And if the crew requires you to gate check the guitar? In a gig bag? I bought a Voyage Air because I didn't want to risk damage or loss of my other guitars. Also, my Froggy H12c in a decent case is not light and the VA guitar in a backpack case is so convenient. It is a decent real guitar, unlike most of the travel guitars out there.

hans

Hasn't happened to me in the last 10 trips. Delta, United and American. However I wouldn't do it with my more expensive guitars and certainly not with a Froggy but I don't mind taking the chance on a sub $500 guitar.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

...
Sure thing, I've had an Overhead here to play with since January and had plenty of time to compare it to a number of guitars including the VA and to my ear it more than holds it own against the much larger VA with a much fuller voice than the size would indicate.

You can see an A/B comparison with the GS Mini here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=013Lap-Gnhw and a few more with the Overhead on our YouTube page.

in this video i thought the gs mini sounded much better. it is bigger and much less portable, however.

Originally Posted by handers

I haven't played a Brunner but the only A/B comparison I could find with a Voyage Air favored the VA. This would be a really interesting shootout:

top of the line VA vs Brunner vs Journey

There is certainly room in the industry for all three. But I'd love to see how they compare. Acoustic Guitar Magazine?? Listening?

hans

i'd like a review as well.

[robailey]

Originally Posted by ac

For me, this is where the 100% carbon fiber version will especially shine. No major concern having a soft or hard shell case.

Plus, even for the wood versions, the size of the packed guitar is big enough that I doubt that anyone will have much weight that they can throw on top of it. The space left in the luggage compartment will be quite thin. Even a bag full of lead will have it's weight spread out over enough surface area that there shouldn't be cracking concerns.

Also, anything else that's extremely sharp shouldn't be allowed as carry on.

Prior to selling commercially, we've actually tested these bags for travel-sturdiness. I've taken my guitar on well over 50 commercial flights fully packed with laptop, ipad, pedals, and other gear for over a year now.

However, as we are working with carbon fiber and other composites, a hard case isn't out of the question on future models.

[LoMa]

Originally Posted by handers

I haven't played a Brunner but the only A/B comparison I could find with a Voyage Air favored the VA. This would be a really interesting shootout:

top of the line VA vs Brunner vs Journey

There is certainly room in the industry for all three. But I'd love to see how they compare. Acoustic Guitar Magazine?? Listening?

hans

I am in the process of comparing a Journey Overhead sapele lam with solid spruce top with my Brunner khaya mahogany lam with solid cedar top - I've already given first impressions in another post. Next week I'll also have the Journey rosewood lam model to compare - MacNichol's is smoothing down the neck for me first since the Journey necks are pretty rough textured if you play all up and down the fretboard like I do. But it will be shipping soon so I'll be able to give a good comparison.

[ac]

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

. . . You can see an A/B comparison with the GS Mini here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=013Lap-Gnhw and a few more with the Overhead on our YouTube page.

Listened again to the comparisons and can say I'm even more impressed after I looked up the specs for the GS Mini and the Journey. The GS Mini seems to have a slightly louder sound than the Journey, but not necessarily more balanced. Both have decent sound.

But when I compare specs for both guitars, I'm more impressed with the Journey for sure. The Journey is almost a full 2 inches smaller across the lower bout. That is significant!

When I factor that into the comparison, I become excited about the sound that the Journey is able to produce! It's a very, very small guitar with sound that I think is beyond what I would normally expect. 12.5 inch vs. almost 14.5 for a lower bout.

I can only hope the carbon will be similar in the quality of the sound--though I'm sure it will be different. As to sound volume, typically, carbon seems to produce more sound volume than wood for a given size guitar if the design is good--so not worried there.

I'm also really looking forward to hearing some A-B comparisons with various other small guitars. Maybe a much better comparison than this might be to A-B the "Baby Taylor" or Martin equivalent. The Baby Taylor has the same 12.5 inch lower bout also. (The "Big Baby" is a whopping 15 inches, bigger even than the GS Mini.)

There are other features that can be matched up, I know, but this seems to me a reasonable starting point for hearing apples to apples.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Originally Posted by ac

...I'm also really looking forward to hearing some A-B comparisons with various other small guitars. Maybe a much better comparison than this might be to A-B the "Baby Taylor" or Martin equivalent. The Baby Taylor has the same 12.5 inch lower bout also...

Here you go ac...

LA Guitar Sales BY REQUEST - Baby Taylor and Journey Travel guitar

Don't have an LX but I will see hat I can do.

[ac]

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

Here you go ac...

LA Guitar Sales BY REQUEST - Baby Taylor and Journey Travel guitar

Don't have an LX but I will see hat I can do.

Thanks much and really interesting to hear.

My personal taste between these two "same size" guitars would easily go with the Journey. Lovely sound for the size. Can't wait to hear the carbon version when it's finished.

[robailey]

Please delete post

[dkoloff]

Originally Posted by paulzoom

I would be curious if someone has played both the Journey and the Voyage air to get a comparison.

I have both the Journey with the Spruce/Mahogany and the same wood combo in the VA VAOM 1C.....to me the VA has a little richer fuller sound but not as disparate as you might think. If you were to compare the sound of the Journey compared to the laminate sided and back VA I would go with the Journey, both are winners and I am looking forward to trying the carbon Journey as well as an all solid wood Journey.

[Oldguy64]

This is a guitar that I'd like to have.
I try to NEVER fly anywhere. I've grown to not really like airplanes after experiencing turbulence akin to the hulk trying to whip crack the dust out of a picnic blanket.
We travel in a rather large SUV. But with six to eight people and their gear inside the truck, there isn't room for a full size guitar. A Voyage-Aire or Journey would fit.
There are challenges other than overhead bins on airlines. I've been avle to lay hands on a Voyage-Aire, and while it would do, I wasn't terribly enamored with its sound. I only played it for a short while, and I'm pretty sure it was an all laminate model.
I often go a few days without playing. But a two week vacation is a long time to be away from a guitar...
I'd very much like to get a journey in the Kansas City metro to try out.

[Steely Glen]

Great review! I've owned a GS Mini but sold it due to how cramped the neck felt. I got a Voyage Air VAOM-04 and have been really pleased ever since. It's been with me on several trips including Hawaii, Yosemite, Haiti, and even Afghanistan.

I will be interested to A/B the Journey Travel Guitar when I get the chance. The Voyage Air OM really performs well. One thing I did notice, however, is that the Journey is $600. That's around 33-50% more than I what I paid for my GS Mini and VAOM-04. It does appear to have some nice upgrades (pickup, bone saddle/nut, ebony bridge pins) so you do get some extra value out of the extra expense....and the manzer wedge has me intruiged. I still think I'd opt for the Voyage Air because I like an OM a lot better than a 00, but the Journey seems like a great addition to this niche market.

[shamelessli]

great review!


what are the prices?

[Chicago Sandy]

Originally Posted by paulzoom

Personally, I have never seen the need for fold up guitars. I have traveled with both a parlor and OM and since the overhead storage bins are long and narrow they have always fit for me as long as I put it in a gig bag. That includes smaller regional jets.

I've been lucky the few times I've flown with a full-size guitar in a gig bag, but there's always a first time. Inevitably, someone's gonna run up against an obstinate flight attendant who ignores the latest FAA/AFM policy agreement and whose captain will ratify his/her decision; and that someone's gig-bagged guitar is gonna get checked & trashed by baggage handlers. And that someone ain't gonna be me. Here's why:

I flew to & from Des Moines on United back in '04 (in those halcyon days when everyone got to check two pieces of luggage for free). The flight from O'Hare was on a full-size 727, and I was able to check my 414RCE in its hard case and carry on my dulcimer in a padded gig bag, along with my computer tote into which I'd stuffed my purse. But on the way home, the plane was a puddle-jumper; at the plane door I was told I'd have to gate-check either the computer tote (with purse) or the dulcimer--they refused to allow one carryon plus one personal item. Knowing my mom had her laptop trashed when she checked it in a well-padded case, and not wanting to surrender my purse as well, I reluctantly gate-checked the dulcimer and was assured it'd be handed back to me on the jetway at O'Hare.

Imagine my chagrin upon landing when we were told to go out via portable stairs to the tarmac and fetch ALL checked items, including those gate-checked, and haul all of them across the tarmac, up another flight of stairs, and through TWO terminals to ground transport! As if that wasn't bad enough, we watched in horror as the bags exited the plane's belly via conveyor belt and were allowed to DROP or be THROWN on to the waiting carts for us to claim. I was lucky enough to be able to snatch my dulcimer off the belt before it could become a projectile.

And again, I was "snakebit" last year flying Porter Air between Midway & Toronto. Its turboprops turned out to have overheads too small to fit a Voyage-Air even with the computer compartment unzipped (and I knew in advance too short to fit a dulcimer). So I'd put the dulcimer into not its own gig bag but a thin "giveaway" guitar gig bag in which I'd planned to carry around the unfolded Voyage-Air during the Folk Alliance conference. The dulcimer wouldn't have fit into the guitar bag had it been first encased in its own padded gig bag, so I wrapped it in bubble wrap and filled the spaces with socks & underwear, and checked it (something that had worked twice previously on other airlines). As for the guitar portion of the Voyage-Air, it was taken from me as I watched it carefully stuffed into the belly of the plane and just as carefully handed back as I exited in Toronto. When I arrived at my hotel, I was chagrined to discover the scroll on the peghead of my dulcimer had snapped off when the padding had shifted in-flight. Immediately sent a photo to Porter, which denied responsibility (as well they could, since it was not in a hard case) and also refused to refund the baggage fee it had charged. Duct tape & a shoelace held it together and it was playable throughout the conference. The hotel said it would pad and pack it in a suitable box and ship it back to the maker for repair, but never did come up with said box, just wrapped it in padded mailers and then bubble-wrapped the gig bag--they swore they FedEx'ed instruments "this way all the time." The factory e-mailed me photos when they got it: the back was completely stove in and it was now irreparable. The hotel not only refused to pay anything but actually tried to charge me extra (over & above what I'd already paid) for a customs fee that US Customs eventually deemed unnecessary. When I threatened to sue, the shipping was comped and I was sent a voucher for a free night at a future stay at that chain. As if....

But the Voyage-Air? Not a scratch.

As for dulcimers, I now pack them first in form-fitting McSpadden bags and then into separate halves of a thickly padded double dulcimer bag the size & shape of a golf bag. (If carrying just one dulcimer, conference swag or laundry goes in the other half). SW counts it as one of my two free checked bags. And all airlines thus far have handled it with kid gloves...thinking it held golf clubs, which apparently draw more respect than musical instruments. (I'd buy a hardshell golf bag, but I've yet to find one that'll hold a full-length dulcimer, much less two).

Or I just drive.

[jeanray1113]

I've never flown with a guitar, and I don't really fly all that often. When I do, I usually have a bunch of photo gear that has to be in a carry on, so I've never thought taking a guitar was an option. (And photo trips are so jam-packed, there would be very little if any time to play anyway). But, I do think that what may be a very able travel guitar for road trip travel may not be all that great for flying. From reading this forum, I've seen the wide range of experiences people have in being allowed to carry on even small guitars in a gig bag. For me, that uncertainty would just be way too stressful. I'd much rather have a VA or Journey travel guitar for flying.

[jeanray1113]

I've never flown with a guitar, and I don't really fly all that often. When I do, I usually have a bunch of photo gear that has to be in a carry on, so I've never thought taking a guitar was an option. (And photo trips are so jam-packed, there would be very little if any time to play anyway). But, I do think that what may be a very able travel guitar for road trip travel may not be all that great for flying. From reading this forum, I've seen the wide range of experiences people have in being allowed to carry on even small guitars in a gig bag. For me, that uncertainty would just be way too stressful. I'd much rather have a VA or Journey travel guitar for flying.