Newport Guitar Festival Brings Top Guitar Players, Aficionados and Guitar-Makers from Around the Globe, Blackbird Presents Carbon-fiber, Hollow-Neck, Instruments

The Newport Guitar Festival, an invitational guitar show that brings together players, performers and world renowned guitar-makers. Among the nearly 100 mostly traditional wood guitars at this year's festival, a line of carbon fiber instruments from Blackbird stands out. Sans old-growth wood, the ultra-light construction of Blackbird's carbon fiber guitars feature a high performance and technology approach to increasing guitar responsiveness as well as unmatched resiliency.

The Newport Guitar Festival is a great place to see and hear hundreds of exceptional instruments at the pinnacle of craftsmanship and tone. "Having long admired the work of the many great guitar-makers in attendance, we are thrilled to be participating in this year's festival. Our avant-guarde carbon fiber guitars evoke master-built wooden acoustics as far as responsiveness- like many of the guitars being shown but owning a Blackbird means you can leave your delicate acoustic safely in its humidified case and have an exceptional worry-free instrument always at arm's length instead", says founder Joe Luttwak. The founders' non-traditional player-centric CAD-driven product development approach resulted in new thinking to maximizing resonance in acoustic instruments exemplified by the hollow neck and head-port, carbon fiber uni-body. All Blackbirds feature sculpted backs to enhance the playing experience. These heirlooms offer a lifetime of worry-free playing and inspiration thanks to the carbon fiber uni-body construction.

Blackbird Guitars are made in San Francisco by a small team of luthiers by the bay. The Blackbird family includes four models: the Super OM (Orchestra Model), Rider steel-string, Rider nylon and the recently launched tenor ukulele- the world's first made of carbon fiber. The Blackbird Rider models are professional-level guitars that are compact enough to be a carry-on for travel, but with a uncanny full-size sound from a small body. As Michael Ross from GuitarPlayer magazine put it in the August issue, 'a highly portable and efficient acoustic for gigs, practice, or sessions, the Rider...a small miracle.' The Super-OM, a full-size acoustic, adds to the design innovation of its smaller siblings with a resonance-boosting asymmetric design and is amongst the loudest and lightest out their with a voice reminiscent of the larger dreadnought. Blackbird Super-OM with high-gloss carbon fiber finish starts at $1899 with ultra-light case. The world's best travel guitars, the Rider steel and Rider Nylon now start at $1599. The Ukulele starts at $1100. Blackbird is thrilled to have composer and fingerstyle guitarist Mark Hamre performing on a Blackbird Super OM throughout the festival. See him play the Super OM now above right

Exceptional Carbon Fiber strength and environmental stability
Hollow neck with Stereo Sound Port® in head of the guitar
Asymmetric Acoustic Design® with off-set sound-hole
Ultralight for enhanced tone, comfort and balance
Ergonomically 3D sculpted back for comfort, access and strength
Optional electronics for a superior acoustic/electric experience.

• Exceptional Carbon Fiber strength and environmental stability
• Hollow neck with Stereo Sound Port® in head of the guitar
• Asymmetric Acoustic Design® with off-set sound-hole 
• Ultralight for enhanced tone, comfort and balance
• Ergonomically 3D sculpted back for comfort, access and strength
• Optional electronics for a superior acoustic/electric experience

For more info, contact:
Joe Luttwak
415-706-0632

For more on the Newport Guitar Festival see www.newportguitarfestival.com