Voyage-air Hits the (Rail)Road !

We just got this report from David Strong, who purchased one of our Voyage-air VAOM-2C guitars:

"I've been playing my new OM-2C for a while now and I absolutely love it! I was very impressed with the workmanship and quality of the woods and the tone is really amazing.

I work for a major railway and travel all the time. Now I can bring a full size acoustic to play in my spare time. This guitar has changed the way I play and practice! No more lugging around a travel guitar that doesn't feel like my regular guitar and isn't comfortable. I have always found something lacking in every other travel guitar I tried. They are always a compromise in some area.

The Voyage-Air is a no-nonsense, professional sounding instrument. It is now my main workhorse guitar AND my travel guitar. Everyone that has seen it and played it can't believe their eyes and ears!

Thanks again for the great customer service and working so hard to find me the perfect guitar."

David Strong

Oh yeah: the guitar that David sold to get the Voyage-air? A 2006 Martin OMC-28E, that retails for about $4,000. He ranks the Voyage-air as at least equal to that fine instrument.

Voyage-air in a Wheelchair

Okay, one of our shy customers, David, is confined to a wheelchair. A longtime guitar player who suffered a setback that landed him in a 'chair, David recently passed this along:

"Jim, you can't believe the difference that this Voyage-air Songwriter guitar will make. Like, if I wanted to play, someone would have to carry the guitar for me. The Voyage-air changed all that. Someone like me can just sling that backpack case over the back of the wheelchair and it goes wherever I go. That is so cool. It really changes everything. If you can, pass the word to other weelchair guitar players."

Wow. Will do, David. Thanks so much... and if and when, please send us a pic of you playing that guitar! More info about David's Voyage-air Songwriter guitar is here: http://www.takeyourguitar.com/entrySONG.html

Benefit Concert for the Family of Lance McCollum

Short notice, but friends and associates are putting on a benefit concert, with the proceeds going to Lance McCollum's widow and family. The list of performers is long and distinguished.

All this is happening in Colfax, CA. Sunday, March 1st, starting at 3pm. The $20 ticket price is a bargain.

More information is here.

Be there. Lance would have been.

In fond memory: Lance McCollum, Luthier

Lance McCollum, one of the absolute best independent luthiers, passed away unexpectedly this past Sunday. A zest for life, a loving father, and an eye for quality, Lance crafted some of the finest acoustic guitars ever made.

I first met Lance over 10 years ago, at a gathering of the RMMGA usenet group. He was showing off one of his Brazilian-Rosewood Dreadnought guitars that... well, he was bragging that he had finally built a guitar for himself. With such fine appointments and inlay work that he boasted "This guitar is for me, I'll always have it because... nobody can afford what I'd have to charge for it." That was about a week before someone with good taste, foresight, and deep pockets met his asking price.

Lance was always a big advocate of the Dovetail-joint 'set neck' design for acoustic guitars. Whether that's the best design is still open to opinion, but one thing is for sure: it is the hardest design to build, and absolutely the hardest design to build perfectly. And Lance always built his guitars to ... perfection.

In his final year, Lance was a key part of the Voyage-air success story, hand-fitting necks on prototype guitars, and doing meticulous quality-control work on the very first folding travel instruments offered by Voyage-air. In fact, I last saw Lance at the Voyage-air booth at the Winter NAMM 2009 show in Anaheim, just weeks before his passing. I introduced him to my fiancee, and pointed out to her that Lance was doing what he always did best: making sure everything was perfect.

You will be missed, Lance McCollum. Yes sir, you will.

Update:
With Lance's passing, the outpouring from the guitar community has been amazing. Hundreds have stepped up, as I have to offer their sentiments about a true gentleman, artist, artisan, craftsman, musician and true proponent of the art of the acoustic guitar. Here's a few links:

Voyage-air has a touching story written by one of Lance's friends, Harvey Leach. Worth a read.

Acoustic Guitar Magazine has a cool article here.

Luthier's Mercantile, supplier of woods and accessories to guitar builders, posted some touching comments.

Voyage-air in Mayapur, India (Dharma Forest)

Wow. When we said 'Travel" - we meant it! Here a pilgrim takes a Voyage-air to the United Religion Initiatives Global Assembly in Mayapur, India. Ideally suited for take-anywhere travel, the OM-cutaway model was a hit.

Reed from Guitar Center said...

Later that same night, with a gathering crowd and the Philosophy of Soul doing a motel-room Jam/Concert...

... Reed Williams, director of purchasing for Guitar Center took a spin with the Voyage-air Dreadnought guitar. His comment?

"You know, every year I go to this NAMM show, and when I get back, they always ask me, 'what did you see that was amazing?' And every year I have to say 'nothing, same old stuff.' Well, this year, I DID see something, this Voyage-air guitar. This guitar is amazing. You open it up and it's in tune, and ready to play. I'm blown away."

Couldn't have said it better ourselves. Thanks, Reed.

Philosophy of Soul and Voyage-air Guitar

Friday night, a chance to take a break from the NAMM show, and a group of us landed in the room of rock-empresario Mr. James Ames. As usual, talk centered around the Voyage-air guitar we'd brought to the show.

Not so usual was the appearance of the band Philosophy of Soul, and lead guitar Danny Avila, who was taken with the folding guitar. Danny grabbed the guitar and circled his band - right there in the room. The next 2 hours was the coolest informal jam of... "let's see what this folding guitar can do!"

Now in fairness, I'd spent a lot of time playing this guitar, and showing it around to folks in the industry... so I was pretty darn sure of the results.

But it's still always a rush when a professional musician has a chance to 'wring out' a Voyage-air for the first time.

And I'm here to tell you: put to the test, the Voyage-air screamed. It's the kind of instrument that makes you want to play and play and play... just to see how it handles different combinations of sounds. Killer guitar. Just ask Danny.