Unpacking & Assembling Your Voyage-Air

Thank you for choosing a Voyage-Air guitar. We know that the ability to travel with your guitar will inspire you to practice, play and share your music with others for many years to come. Now, get ready to enjoy the “Future of Guitar Travel!” Follow these simple steps to make your Voyage-Air guitar ready for play: The Voyage-Air guitar is shipped inside a durable backpack-style case. Set this case on a stable surface (like a table) with the flat side down. Unzip and open the case. Do not remove the guitar just yet. The neck of the guitar has a hinge, lift the neck up and away from the guitar. The body of the guitar is secured in the case with a black nylon strap (the one with the pad for the neck). Undo this strap, while holding the neck of the guitar. Lift the guitar by the neck so the body of the guitar is nearly vertical. Keep the bottom of the guitar resting in the case. Place your palm on the back of the guitar, near the top of the guitar body, but below the neck hinge. With both hands, position the guitar slightly so the sound hole is pointing down towards the table surface. Being careful that your hands or fingers are not in the way as the hinge closes. Pull the neck of the guitar into the playing position. Tighten the hinge-locking thumbscrew to secure the guitar in the playing position. Just use your fingers to make the thumbscrew tight: no tools are necessary. Note: this thumbscrew also serves as the guitar’s strap-button. Tune the guitar. Play and enjoy. To fold and store the guitar in the backpack case reverse the steps listed above. click here for a printable pdf

This video gives an overview for unpacking and folding open a Voyage-Air guitar. It concludes with the steps for folding and packing your Voyage-Air Guitar.

To find out how you can get your own Voyage-Air Guitar see a dealer near you or contact us today!

Cleaning your Guitar

Wash your hands. Surprisingly, the number one tip for keeping your guitar clean is to wash your hands before you play the instrument. Not only does this remove any dirt and grime on your hands, it will also reduce the natural skin oils before you play. All of this helps keep the guitar clean.

Wipe down the guitar. Each time, after you play your guitar, you should wipe it down with a soft cloth. Dedicate this cloth to wiping down your guitar, and don't use it for anything else. Pay particular attention to the strings: you will find that the strings last much longer if you wipe them down at the end of each playing session. There are special 'guitar wipe down' cloth products that are specially treated to make this an easy task.

Get a paint brush for dust. Take a trip to your local hardware store, and purchase a soft-bristle paint brush. One that's about 2-inches wide is ideal. With this brush, you can whisk away dust that accumulates under the strings at the headstock, as well as under the strings near the bridge. Please, use a new paint brush for this task; don't try one that's been used for touching-up the baseboards around the house!

Guitar Polish. If your guitar already has smudges and grime from some period of practice and play, use any quality brand of Guitar Polish, such as the products from Martin, GHS, and Planet Waves. Dedicated guitar-polish products are specially formulated to clean and preserve the finish of your instrument, the can restore the "like new" sparkle of your guitar. Do not use any products that contain silicone (such as Armor-All).

Car wax and furniture polish. Simply stated: don't use this stuff on your guitar. These types of products can cause a wax buildup that is difficult to remove, and may cause long-term damage to the finish of your instrument.

Guitars and Heat

Heat is the Enemy of your guitar. In general, your guitar is safe and comfortable at the same temperatures that you are safe and comfortable. A guitar can withstand heat up to about 110-degrees (F).

Above that temperature, the glue that holds the instrument together begins to soften. In fact, luthiers who repair guitars use "heat guns" to heat glue joints and remove wooden parts for repair. Few realize the pressure that the strings exert on a guitar. If your Voyage-Air guitar is folded open to the playing position, the strings will exert a combined pull of more than 100 pounds on the bridge of the guitar - exactly the same as hanging a 100-pound weight from the bridge!

Now, imagine that 100-pound weight pulling on the bridge as its glue gets hot and begins to soften. The bridge can easily lift, or even pull from the top of the guitar. This is really bad. Heat is the enemy. Protect your guitar from heat.

Wood shrinks. When subjected to heat, the wood of your guitar suffers. The natural moisture-content is baked out of the wood, and the wood begins to shrink. Usually, the first sign that a guitar has been subjected to heat is the ends of the frets begin to protrude from the fretboard. Other signs are bulges and warps in the top of the guitar, or binding that has become loose or actually popped away from the edges of the tops and sides.

If your guitar must travel with you where it's warm (or downright hot), keep the guitar in its Voyage-Air carry case. All Voyage-Air cases have padded insulation that helps protect the instrument from heat. 

Never keep your guitar locked in your car on a hot day. The interior of a closed car can easily reach 170-degrees! On a hot day, never leave your guitar in the direct sun -even in its case.

Guitars and Temperature Extremes

Temperature change should be gradual. Optimally, you want to keep your guitar with you, and free from the hazards inherent in any temperature extremes. Of course, this isn't always possible, but temperature extremes are more likely when you're traveling with a Voyage-Air guitar!

In regards to temperature extremes, realize that a fine guitar is a collection of different kinds of wood - all glued together to produce the complete instrument. When heated, all woods expand slightly. This is normal, and taken into account when the instrument is designed.

The important point is that different woods absorb heat and expand at different rates. If a guitar is subjected to a sudden temperature change, some of the woods will expand or contract much more quickly than others. At best, this results in unnecessary stress to the instrument. At worst, things begin to fly apart.

The very worst case scenario is where a guitar is stored for some period in the ice-cold trunk of a car, and then immediately brought to play in a warm room. Well, even worse would be to immediately play it while sitting near a wood stove or a fireplace. The thin wood top of a quality guitar can actually crack from such stress.

If your guitar is ice-cold to the touch, give it some time to warm up to the room. Open the case an inch, and allow about 15-30 minutes for the instrument to gradually come to room temperature.

In general, a guitar may be safely frozen and thawed without damage. However, over time, continuous freezing-and-thawing cycles may result in "spider web" cracks in the finish of the guitar.

Guitars and Humidity

Keep the guitar in an environment with normal humidity. In the winter, with a furnace or radiators running much of the season, humidity is literally cooked out of the air.

Nature loves a balance. In an overly-dry environment, what happens is the woods of your guitar surrender their natural moisture content in a futile effort to humidify your room. And this is Really Bad for the guitar.

The guitar case offers a closed environment where you can easily control the humidity. You can also put a guitar humidifier inside the case. There are many humidifiers available, and any of them will do the trick. It is typically a sponge-type material encased in something like a plastic holder. You keep the sponge part moist and stored in the case along with your guitar.

Guitar Stands

Guitar stands are not for storing your guitar. When you own a beautiful instrument, it's a natural desire to want to display your prize and keep it within easy reach for play. This isn't the best idea, for a number of reasons.

Storing your guitar on a stand makes it susceptible to... everything. The guitar can be knocked over. Things can fall on your guitar. Your cat might mistake your pride-and-joy for a scratching post.

A guitar on a stand is also not protected from temperature and humidity extremes. For utmost protection, you should keep the guitar in its case at any time you are not actually playing the guitar.

If you use a guitar stand to keep your guitar handy, consider it as a place to hold the instrument while you take a break. 

Avoid stands with rubber pads. Over time, the chemistry of the guitar's finish interacts with the rubber pads. This usually results in an unsightly band or stripe at the contact point. At worst, the rubber can actually eat into the finish of the guitar. Very recent guitar stands have improved synthetic pads that are supposedly safe for the guitar's finish. If you want to use a stand like this, please double-check with its manufacturer to make sure that the stand won't harm the finish of your Voyage-Air guitar.

If you choose to keep your guitar on a stand for some period of time, make sure that the guitar is not exposed to direct sunlight. Sunlight can cause uneven heating of the instrument. Long term, it can also prematurely age or damage the finish of the guitar. 

String Tension

In most cases, the string tension is NOT released before loosening the strap button bolt and folding a Voyage-Air guitar. To ensure your safety, pay careful attention to the correct procedure for unfolding and folding your Voyage-Air guitar. We strongly recommend that you watch the demonstration on our HOW IT WORKS page (also included on DVD with every guitar). Also, please read the instructions provided with the instrument before you unfold and fold the guitar for the first time. There is a tendency for the guitar neck to spring outwards after the bolt is loosened, and this is perfectly normal. Be aware, and be prepared for this spring effect: it's the key to safe and proper folding/unfolding and storage of your guitar.

Related to String Tension is the relief (bow) or reverse curve (back-bow) of the guitar fingerboard. Every Voyage-Air guitar is equipped with an adjustable truss rod, installed within the neck. This truss rod can be adjusted from the peghead, using the wrench provided with each guitar.

For optimum playing performance we suggest that you let the guitar acclimate to the environment (temperature and humidity) in which it will be played. Then adjust the truss rod to set the action to the preferred height above the 12th fret. (NOTE, all Voyage-Air instruments are set-up and played prior to shipping. However, different climates and environmental conditions may affect the guitars playability. A second look, and personal adjustment in your specific environment, will insure the best performance from the instrument.)

After you're completely satisfied with the playability of your Voyage-Air guitar, we recommend that you leave it unfolded, with the guitar neck locked in the playing position. This allows your instrument to 'settle in.' While in the playing the position, the string tension on the neck will create the necessary relief (bow). When the neck is folded, the string tension will be released.

All Voyage-Air guitars are designed to be folded and unfolded as many times as your traveling needs require. There is no danger in folding and unfolding it constantly. However, removing tension from the neck may require some time for the neck relief to come back into the neck once in the playing position.

How To Adjust The Neck Of Your Voyage-Air Guitar
With Adjustatble Truss Rod

All Voyage-Air Guitars are equipped with adjustable truss rods. The purpose of a truss rod is to adjust the neck to counteract string tension. The reasons for truss rod adjustments vary and this both strengthens the neck and allows for adjustments of bowed or warped necks. Common reasons for this effect are climatic changes and changing the string gauge or tuning pitch. String tension changes can affect string height, also known as the action.

To adjust the truss rod, remove truss rod cover located on the headstock.

Sight DOWN the neck from the headstock in order to properly gauge the bow (pictured left above) or hump (pictured right above) the neck has taken.

Insert supplied Allen wrench (size: 5/32nds). If bowed, begin tightening (clockwise) or, if the neck has a hump, begin loosening (counterclockwise) the rod. Turn very gently at small increments and continue to check the neck as you proceed with each fraction of a turn.

Truss rod tension can also be measured by installing a capo on the first fret and holding the string at the fret where the neck joins the body. Insert a thickness gauge between the string and fret at the 8th fret. There should be about .010 clearance (app .254mm). This clearance is called “neck relief”. If there is too little neck relief, there will be fret buzzing, and too much relief can cause poor intonation and a high action. If buzzing continues after the neck is straightened, additional fret lowering or filing may be required.

Printable pdf version click here.