Charles Fox introduces 'ergo noir' at Healdsburg Festival

A premium luxury instrument hand-crafted by Charles Fox for a few discriminating customers around the world, the new ergo noir embodies departures from traditional lutherie and sets new standards for acoustic guitar making. Introduced at the Healdsburg Guitar Festival in Sonoma Valley north of San Francisco (August 19 - 21st, 2005), a festival Fox co-founded in 1996, ergo is a one-of-a-kind 'super guitar' for high-end collectors, leading professional musicians and serious investors. With a starting price of $15,000 without options, ergo embodies a wealth of new ideas, the finest tone woods and hours of exacting hand-crafting by master luthier Fox. Ergo goes beyond the simple category of guitar to exist as "a compelling design object, empowering musical partner, inspiring creative muse, player's dream, performer's delight, collector's prize, a serious investment and a high end walk on the wild side." The instrument's most compelling feature is the brace-less, ultra low-mass soundboard. The soundboard's hollow-core wood plate weighs 40% less than its solid wood equivalent. Which means less mass to damp the energy of the strings, impede acoustic power and block the subtlest harmonics. Ergo's distinctive wedge-shaped body tucks in beneath the player's right arm more snugly and comfortably than a conventionally shaped guitar body. To compensate for the soundboard's inward tilt, the ergo fingerboard rotates outward away from the player, maximizing left hand playing comfort. Elevated Fingerboard ergo's elevated fingerboard positions the strings at a steeper-than-usual angle to the soundboard and bridge. The pull on the bridge from this high angle is one source of the ergo's extraordinary power. The elevated fingerboard also offers added access to the upper frets of the non-cutaway ergo. The ergo's optional compound cutaway eliminates the abrupt corner left by conventional cutaways by twisting its surface gently inward, away from your hand, coming flush to the edge of the tapered heel for seamless access to the upper frets. Adjustable sound port The optional adjustable sound port allows users to vary the ergo's sound field by selectively opening or closing this second opening into the air chamber. The sound port can be opened to surround the player with sound when playing for pleasure. Or closed to focus the sound for full projection when performing and recording. Materials Typical for a premier Fox instrument, ergo incorporates a top quality European spruce soundboard, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, Honduras mahogany neck and Gaboon ebony fingerboard and bindings.