Blackbird Guitars Debuts The Blackbird Rider Hollow-Neck, Small-Body Acoustic Guitar

Blackbird Guitars, a San Francisco-based guitar manufacturer, proudly unveils the Blackbird Rider, a hollow-neck, small-body acoustic guitar.

A highly portable uni-body guitar that offers a full and rich tone, the Blackbird Rider is perfect for the road, campsite or home. The name Rider derives from the guitar's road-worthiness: its virtually indestructible carbon-fiber body is less than two-thirds the size of a standard acoustic, but has nearly an equivalent voice- so guitarists no longer need to compromise tone for portability. A rich sounding, yet travel-worthy hybrid has never before been available in the market. In fact, until now, acoustic guitars with a wide frequency range, loudness and sustain were at odds with robust portability.

To achieve this hybrid, the founders retained some traditional guitar-making elements, but in general redefined the way guitars are made. This is reflected in Blackbird Rider's cutting-edge yet evocative design, which is clearly a showpiece of many new ideas. There is a great deal of innovation below the surface as well, in particular, Blackbird's patent-pending, one-piece, hollow body, neck, and head construction mark a major departure from traditional guitar design. This feature transforms the entire guitar into a sound box- enhancing loudness, frequency-range and sustain.

To further increase the air volume of the sound box, the guitar's right shoulder extends up to the tenth fret, dubbed the Soundscoop®. The Soundscoop® also serves as the ideal location for the primary sound hole, creating more surface area on the ultra-thin carbon-fiber sound board and increasing the already exemplary tonal response. The Stereo Sound Hole®(SSH), located at the end of the hollow neck, projects sound from the hollow neck and head. These innovations work in harmony to create a seemingly physics-defying voice.

"The bass is very present, and chords ring loud and full, while the sustain makes this a great guitar for slide, as well as soloing," said Chief Musical Officer Joe Luttwak who is a musician and recording engineer in his free-time.

The Blackbird Rider is imminently playable as well, with a full-scale length, fast narrow neck, access to the 16th fret, as well as a physically-balanced, and ergonomic form. Each Blackbird Rider is hand-made, with the carbon fiber expertly constructed to balance tone, weight and strength.

Drawing from their unconventional backgrounds as designers for the outdoor and automotive industries, the Blackbird team worked with traditional guitar makers to form a new kind of guitar. "Rider's radically new design grew from our desire to create a truly satisfying small-body instrument; every curve and hollow feature serves to coax as much volume, frequency-range and sustain as possible out of Rider's small body. This required a fluid form, so we turned to carbon fiber which also has great acoustic properties and unparalleled impact resistance," said head luthier Kyle Wolf.

Initial Launch

A limited release of Blackbird Riders will be available. MSRP $1599. Models with Pick-ups are also available.