When Zachary Vokey and his family moved to Airdrie a year and a half ago, he had no idea that within a year he would be laid off from his job in construction. However, when it happened, he saw it as an opportunity. He got a business license and launched Vokey Guitars, a repair-and-build shop where he sells his own line of electric guitars.
“This is what I’ve been working towards my whole life because I’ve been doing it in a professional capacity in my spare time for years,” Vokey says.
Originally from Quebec, Vokey came from a family of golf course groundskeepers.
“On my dad’s side, the whole family is involved in that,” he says. “I grew up working for him on the golf course back home. I went to university, and I got my degree in that [Turfgrass Management, University of Guelph], and I was doing it, but I just didn’t love it.”
Vokey transferred his skills into construction, married and moved to Alberta, all the while growing his craft in guitar repair and building, but it was always a side gig.
As a child, he explains, his family didn’t have a lot of money, and there weren’t many shops where they lived, so building and fixing things was just something they did.
“I always had a guitar in my hands when I was a kid, and, if it broke, I fixed it, from changing pickups to painting, to hardware changes, and eventually getting into fully building,” says Vokey. “It’s been years and years of just coming to this place and making full-sized guitars from scratch.”
Vokey’s line of Dunham electric guitars is named after his grandfather’s farm in Dunham, Que., where he spent much of his childhood. It’s an instrument he’s been perfecting for several years.
“I’ve been refining and tweaking it and refining it. I officially called it the Dunham four years ago,” he says.
Vokey begins with his own 3D design, which he then uses to fashion the body out of alder wood and maple for the neck. He uses mostly Canadian wood and parts.
“Alberta’s one of the few provinces where alder grows,” he explains. “It’s easily machinable, and then I roast it to make the guitar super lightweight. I finish the maple necks with oil. They’re very cozy.”
Vokey offers two models: the Dunham Stageline, a production platform in three finishes with a 12-inch Radius Santos rosewood fretboard and Winnipeg-made PegCityPickups; and the Dunham Ultra, which is a fully customizable version.
“I essentially tell people they can do whatever they want with the Ultra,” he says, “The sky’s the limit.”
Business is going well, Vokey says, with his time divided between building guitars and doing acoustic and electric repairs for clients from as far away as the U.S.
“I service a lot of guys in Calgary, and so I’m starting to get to know people in the scene, and people are also starting to find out about me because I’m on social media,” says Vokey
His business plan when he got laid off was to always have two weeks’ worth of work in the shop, Vokey says. He has that and more, with some projects stretching over months.
“I’m aiming to go into building full time as a brand, but the repairs are what keeps food on the table,” he says.
A father of three young children, Vokey understands opening the shop has been a risk, but he’s optimistic.
“My father worked 36 years as a groundskeeper, and he doesn’t regret any decision he’s made about providing for his family. Now, he’s watching me make the decision to take a risk, and he’s really excited that that’s what I’ve chosen for myself,” he says.
Learn more at vokeyguitars.com
