Charles Fox has introduced the Ergo Noir guitar at the Healdsburg Guitar Festival.

“The ergo noir is a high-performance ‘super guitar’ from the workshop of master luthier Charles Fox. The ergo is an instrument of unusual refinement and unlimited musical possibilities; a virtuoso guitar for exploring your most ambitious musical ideas and dreams. Besides sounding and playing like nothing else in the world, the ergo is also a compelling design object, an empowering musical partner, an inspiring creative muse, a player’s dream, a performer’s delight, a collector’s prize, a serious investment and a high end walk on the wild side.”

Ultra low-mass soundboard

Its unique braceless low-mass sound board* is the ergo’s most revolutionary feature. The sound board’s hollow-core wood plate weighs 40% less than its solid wood equivalent – less weight to damp the strings’ energy, less weight to impede acoustic power, less weight to block the subtlest harmonics. The parabolic sound board is so strong that it forgoes the heavy X braces that support conventional steel string guitar sound boards, reducing the sound board’s mass even further. The product of this unprecedented strength-to-weight ratio is the tremendous character and power of the ergo’s voice. *patent pending

Wedge-shaped body

The ergo’s distinctive wedge-shaped body tucks in beneath your right arm more comfortably than does a conventionally shaped guitar body. Instead of forcing you to reach out and over the body to play the front of the guitar, the ergo’s face leans inward toward you to optimize your right hand’s reach and playing ease. To compensate for the sound board’s inward tilt, the ergo finger board rotates outward away from you, maximizing your left hand’s playing comfort.

Elevated finger board

The ergo’s elevated finger board positions the strings at a steeper-than-usual angle to the sound board and bridge. Pulling on the bridge from this high angle is one source of the ergo’s tremendous power. Additionally, from such an angle the strings pull the sound board up into its intended shape rather than trying to distort it as when pulling from a conventional low angle. The elevated finger board also offers added access to the upper frets of a non-cutaway ergo.

Compound cutaway

Conventional cutaways leave an abrupt corner at the base of the heel protruding out into your left hand’s playing space. The ergo’s optional compound cutaway eliminates this minor obstruction by twisting the cutaway’s surface gently inward, away from your hand, coming flush to the edge of the tapered heel for the fastest, most unobstructed access to the upper frets.

Adjustable sound port

The optional adjustable sound port allows you to vary the ergo’s sound field by selectively opening or closing this second opening into the air chamber. Open the sound port to surround yourself with sound when playing for your own pleasure. Close it to focus the sound for full projection when performing and recording. Vary the ergo’s tone color by adjusting the sound port opening to shift the instrument’s resonance frequencies.

Materials

European spruce sound board

Brazilian rosewood back and sides

Honduras mahogony neck

Gaboon ebony fingerboard & bindings

Prices begin at 5,000

Visit the following websites for a load of pics:
http://www.ergoguitars.com
http://www.charlesfoxguitars.com