A smaller version of a Voyage-Air, by Harvey Leach!

[sachi]

Harvey Leach designed the Voyage-Air neck. I had one of the solid-top OMs and it was a great guitar, particularly when I added a bone saddle. I took it on a few trips as well, including a long jaunt to Paris and London. That experience showed me that even with Harvey's design, the guitar in its case was still too darned big and awkward for the sort of traveling I do. I'd commented a few times over on the AGF that I'd go for a parlor-sized Voyage-Air, so when Harvey emailed me to tell me that he was creating a new, middle-cost semi-custom line called the Trek and would offer a parlor, I jumped at the possibility.

After kicking it around with Harv I decided to go with a mix of Walnut and Adirondack, which Harv says is a nice combination. I've heard plenty of other good things about walnut guitars so that was not too hard a choice for me. Mine will be a fairly plain model – I didn't see any need to go for anything but the sound, especially for a travel guitar – but it should be a delight to the eyes anyway!

Here's a few pics from Harvey to whet your interest.


















I know this is kind of nuts having just bought that lovely Kolaya, but I've had a desire for a parlor sized Leach-designed travel guitar and when Harvey emailed me about it I had to jump at the opportunity!

[sachi]

I have more pictures from Harvey to share with you all.

The first batch shows the jigs for trimming the bracing.





Here are the braces, all trimmed and ready for gluing to the top and back:



Gluing the back bracing:



And here is something different, showing the neck and heel blocks:



Gluing in the back:

[CodeBlueEMT]

 "I know this is kind of nuts having just bought that lovely Kolaya..."

 I laughed out loud, twice. Somehow, I knew you were going to say that. 

 The build photos are awesome.

 

[sachi]

"I know this is kind of nuts having just bought that lovely Kolaya..."

 I laughed out loud, twice. Somehow, I knew you were going to say that. 

Yeah. I wouldn't have done it, but it was just too good an idea to pass up. Plus, I'll have one of the first!

And now, more pics for you. Harvey's moving quickly on this one – I hope to take it with me on a trip beginning on the 21st!

The first couple of pics show the rosette under construction.





The bracing is added to the top:





The body of the guitar is ready for the top:



And now, the top is added (there is a plain piece of wood over the actual top, to protect it):

[sachi]

Several new pics from Harvey showed up in my inbox last night!

The body is completed:



The groove for the neck is routed out:



The neck is a wee bit too wide at this point:



The inlay in the guitar's fanny is added (note my use of highly technical terminology):



And the inlay is glued in place:

[not darth]

Man, I just love seeing the jigs and rigs used in luthierie (sp?).  From the bent sticks used as press-clamps to the rubber bands used as tension clamps, it's all just very cool.

-K

[sachi]

n.d., Harv sent me quite a few more pics of jigs and setup. I can post those too, if you like, but I'm not quite sure how they are all used myself!

[not darth]

Sachi, I'd really like to see more pictures of the rigs and jigs, 
I'm kind of a mechanical nut!

-K

[CodeBlueEMT]

 Harvey, if this guitar building thing doesn't work out, you'd probably be a good orthopedic surgeon. 

[sachi]

Sachi, I'd really like to see more pictures of the rigs and jigs, 
I'm kind of a mechanical nut!

-K

Well, let's see then. Harvey used these to rout out the bindings. The dowel guides keep the router parallel to the side:



Here's the jig for routing the groove on the butt of the guitar:



This is a jig for cutting the neck tenon:



In this one, the body is clamped into the jig for cutting the mortise for the neck:



And here's a different, upright view showing the jig for the mortise:

[mgap]

That is a impressive set of jigs.   

[sachi]

The guitar just arrived! I'm busy packing and generally getting ready for our trip (we leave tomorrow morning but it looks great and plays very well. And it is a perfect travel size – in its case it seems about half the size of my old VAOM-06!

More later this weekend, after I have more of a chance to try it.

[sachi]

Well, I must say that this little guy is MUCH easier to travel with than the Voyage-Air VAOM-06 I previously had. It is lighter and uses a case that is probably 2/3 the size of the VAOM case. I've not had much time to play it – a few minutes here and there – but it sounds good, nice and clear, with not a lot of overtones. It seems tight still (not much of a surprise, I'm sure) and of course it's not the loudest guitar I've ever heard. Still, it is a superbly well-made little guitar.

[Terry]

Very cool! Thanks to you and Harvey for all the pics.

[sachi]

I took a few pics of the guitar and case here in the hotel room. I figured that showing it in its natural habitat would be best.

I hope this one gives you a good idea of how tiny the guitar and case are. It's just so easy to carry around!



As you can see, there's a fair bit of runout in the lower bout. The upper bout has very little though. There's also a couple little bearclaws.



The flash shows the grain of the walnut nicely. In "normal" indoors lighting, it is very dark. Still looks nice!