Carbon Fiber Guitar aesthetics and ergonomics

Concerning the aesthetics, I realize that I am going up against a very traditional market. Ours is a purely function driven design- the function being to maximize resonance in a small body instrument while also being comfortable to play. The absence of curves allows for greater volume in the soundbox as compared with the traditional double-O. The guitar would be considerably wider with curves added to the width. Likewise, the resonance chamber would have less air to excite if we were to keep the existing dimensions with curves removing from the overall form.

The reduction in width (and length) means that the Blackbird fits on the plane/car/bike/train/boat. The carbon fiber means that one doesn't need a hard case, in fact our gig bag manufacturer who makes composite cases as well says that our guitars are tougher than their carbon cases. This means a very low profile instrument to travel with. Incidentally because this guitar need not be babied it is generally out of the case and ready to play.

Regarding playing comfort, there are few things that I wanted to clarify given that ergonomics are a major concern for us. The width of the Blackbird Classical against the thigh when played in the standard position is the same as the waist of a typical classical guitar (around 10 inches). Given the lightweight of the Blackbird in general and the neck/head in particular (in comparison to a conventional neck/head) instead of the upper bout hooking on the thigh, friction and weight of the right arm keep the guitar balanced quite well. It does take a few hours to get used to but It is comfortable to play. Of course one really must try to believe. I am hoping to get into the GFA conference- we'll see if I can get in. Any suggestions?

Moving along, the above image shows the back of the instrument with the body side being curved and the thigh side having an edge. This keeps the instrument from rolling even though the bowl back is quite shallow anyway. It also means where one's chest meets the guitar is more ergonomic. The bottom of the guitar is also more comfortable than a standard guitar because of the soft edge that meets the right leg. The image also shows the body cutaway which meets at the 10th fret on the left (when facing front) and at the 14th on the right which allows the player to reach the 19th fret. We do use markers at the 12th and 15th to help locate.

While many players find this instrument comfortable, a leg rest such as the Ergoplay is also a possibility. The existence of such devices suggests the ergonomics of the conventional classical guitar could stand to be improved (most things can). To sum up my previous posts, I used composites to create small body classical guitar without compromise which translated into function over traditional form. In the future, should we be able to make a more 'traditional' classical, aside from tone improvements innate with the hollow neck, the moldablity of composites could improve ergonomics even further than what we did with the Blackbird Rider nylon string and certainly over a conventional classical.