If a guitar player wants to change their tone, typically they’ll need to tote around several guitars to achieve the sound that they want. However, thanks to Industrial Design SCAD graduate and local luthier Ian Reddick, musicians no longer have that headache.
Debuting in 2021, Reddick’s Voyager modular guitar allows players to change their pickup setup in seconds, tool-free, without having to mute their amplifier. According to Reddick, who is a musician that has been working with wood for more than half of his life, he designed the guitar as a way to make life on the road easier for gigging musicians.
“I’ve been working in manufacturing facilities since I was 16 and before I came to SCAD, I actually apprenticed under some professional luthiers so I’ve been working with wood more than half of my life,” Reddick said. “I’m actually in a gigging band here myself and we play a lot of cover stuff so having that flexibility to where I can change the sound of my guitar between songs or even in the middle of my songs is a really powerful asset.”
Another powerful asset of Reddick’s Voyager model - tool-free swapping.
“It’s also designed to be entirely tool-free swapping,” Reddick added. “There are videos on my website that demonstrate how quickly it happens…it literally takes five seconds to swap pickups.”
Although Reddick’s modular guitar may be designed for gigging musicians, he says those aren’t the only people he had in mind.
“It’s a really great instrument not just for people who are gigging or studio musicians, but also for people who are doing the van life thing or for travel nurses,” he noted. “It’s really ideal for people who do not have access to large living spaces.”
For the past year, Reddick says he took the time to work on a second generation of the Voyager with the feedback that he received, and his newest model is set to release on Wed., June 22.
“I’ve added in a couple new models with some new features and a couple of other little improvements here and there,” he explained. “It’s still fundamentally the same instrument, but I’ve just increased the number of options available and made this an even more polished looking instrument.”
The second generation Voyager model comes in several different finishes.
“I’ve split them into two models,” Reddick said. “The standard model has an ash body and a selection of colorful finishes. Right now I have a crimson red and a black finish that still shows off the wood grain of the material so it still gets to highlight the beauty of that natural material but gives a little bit more visual appeal. “The Voyager custom is basically what the original Voyager’s become…I’m still using those wood tones but I’m changing those options and how those bodies are assembled to create an even more bold visual statement that’s a little more in line with the current state of custom guitars and how those are put together.”
Reddick, who hand-makes all of his guitars, says that although he does have his set models, customizing them is also an option.
“I’m building these by hand so when somebody wants something special it’s not a super significant inconvenience to go and present something different that’s more in line with somebody’s personalized taste,” he said. “The way I have sort of this setup is still very flexible to where I can be implementing new changes or trying out new changes or things like that.”
What’s next for Reddick?
“I have all sorts of other ideas about different ways that this technology can be leveraged that I haven’t gotten to explore yet,” he said. “There is a lot of potential here that I’m just sort of scraping the surface now and I’m just really excited to be doing what I’m doing. My ultimate goal would be to have a few people working with me to help me build these guitars so I can build more and more!”
To learn more about the Voyager modular guitar or to stay up to date with Reddick, visit reddickguitars.com
