Fox V3 Amazona Clássico Deluxe Fox V3 Amazona Clássico Deluxe Huw Price seeks out any wily characteristic this Fox may exhibit in an attempt to blend some traditional design concepts with a tone for the modern ear of the discerning classical player. G iven the huge number of guitars that have poured out of the US and the Far East over the last few decades, it’s easy to overlook the fine tradition of guitar-making in Central and South America. In particular, Brazil’s luthiers have a reputation for crafting unusual and innovative acoustic instruments for both nylon and steel-string players. And let’s face it, their indigenous tonewoods would be the envy of any other country. In the mid 1990s Leo Gandra, who distributes Crafter Guitars in Brazil, started working with a luthier called Ademir Coelho de Sousa on a project to create a solid-body double bass. This proved to be the beginning of Fox Guitars, which are now made in the city of Belo Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais. Ademir Sousa comes from a family of woodworkers, and by the age of eight he was already helping his father and his older brothers in their furniture-making workshop. This is where he acquired his skills in woodworking and finishing, then later, as Sousa developed an interest in music, he began repairing instruments, which inevitably led him to build his own. Fox guitars started small but after only a year the company had to move to a bigger workshop and five extra employees were added to the team. Today the company has 25 employees making guitars and basses by hand. The concept behind this guitar is to create a solid-bodied instrument that sounds like a hollow body once it’s amplified. In some respects it’s not a million miles away from what Leo Fender might have come up with if he had ever tried to make a classical guitar, but Fender never used woods like these. Most of us will be aware of the endangered, and even illegal, status of many of Brazil’s most famous tone timbers. But fear not, all Fox instruments are made from non-restricted and sustainable species. The body has been carved from two blocks of Cedrela Fissilis Veli, aka Spanish cedar. This stuff bears no resemblance to the cedar we’re used to seeing on the top of regular acoustic guitars. In fact, the grain and the colour look most like mahogany. The same wood is used for the neck too, but it might surprise some people to learn that most of the US manufacturers, Brazil ‘Brazilian walnut’, but it’s not a true walnut. Although the crisply carved bridge and fingerboard look a lot like Brazilian rosewood, they’re actually made from nicely figured slabs of braúna. One item you won’t find at the Fox factory is a CNC routing machine. Every instrument is hand carved, and consequently our example has an appealing ‘human’ quality. The top covers over chambers that are routed into the two solid blocks that form the back and sides. The idea is to create enough resonance and response to work acoustically, while eliminating as much feedback as possible. “Every instrument is hand carved, and consequently our example has an appealing ‘human’ quality” including Martin, used Spanish cedar for necks up until steel strings became the norm. Although the body and neck on our example looked like mahogany, Spanish cedar can be as light as maple, but Fox reserve the paler timber for necks. The book-matched imbúia top is absolutely stunning, especially with the strip of sapwood running down the middle. It almost looks like a cross between burr walnut and spalted maple. Some people even call this timber from the south of Although solid and semi-solid nylon-string guitars are nothing new, the Clássico Deluxe feels as unique as it looks. The most striking departure from tradition is the bolton neck at the fourteenth fret, and a lot of thought has gone into this area of the guitar. The body itself is fairly deep, certainly deeper than a conventional solid-body electric, so the depth has been reduced by about 1cm in a sweeping arc around the four-bolt heel. There’s also a recessed Allen bolt that can be used to adjust the neck angle, thus raising or lowering the playing action. It works in exactly the same way as Fender’s micro-tilt mechanism of the 1970s. Fox V3 Amazona Clássico Deluxe 65 Fox V3 Amazona Clássico Deluxe Fox V3 Amazona Clássico Deluxe Model: V3 Amázona Clássico Deluxe Classical thin line electro nylon Price: £1,292.50 Manufacturer: Fox Built in: Brazil Body Size: Maximum body depth: 63 mm, Maximum Body width: 344 mm Woods used: Solid Spruce Rose wood/carbon fibre Top: Solid Brazilian Imbúia Back & sides: Solid Brazilian Cedar extensively chambered Neck: Solid Brazilian Cedar Fingerboard: Brazilian Braúna - legal rosewood equivalent. Frets (No. & size): Medium classical frets Tuners: Classical style with plastic buttons Nut Width & Scale Length: Plastic 43 mm / 648 mm Weight: 2.45 KG Strings Fitted (Gauge & Brand) Giannina Medium Tension Onboard Electronics: Piezo with Shadow T-Pro Preamp Left handers? In the future Gig Bag/Case Included: Padded Gig Bag A sunshine inlay - each piece is tidily fitted With such extravagant grain patterns there’s no point in gilding the lily, and Fox has shown suitable restraint. Besides the subtle pinstriping between the imbúia and the cedar, all you get is a stylised sun inlay at the twelfth fret. It’s done with an unidentified light wood, which contrasts superbly against the fingerboard. I’ve got to say that I like it a lot because it enhances the South American aura of the guitar so effectively. I’m not so sure about the engraved gold-plated tuners with their gear covers and faux marble (ie plastic) buttons. They look a bit ‘footballer’s bathroom’ to me. Between the (braúna?) peghead overlay and the cedar headstock there are three layers of light/dark/ light veneers. Smoothly rounded and angled notches at the top corners of the headstock reveal the layers to create an interesting and elegant feature. But despite all this exotic wood, there’s no avoiding the fact that this is essentially an electric guitar, or at least an acoustic guitar that is primarily designed for amplification. So let’s take a look at the Shadow SH T-Pro system. The side-mounted control panel houses a four-band equaliser, labelled ‘bass’, ‘mid’, ‘treble’ and ‘brilliance’, plus a chromatic tuner that mutes the output signal when it’s activated. The EQ controls are all sliders, with a centre null detent, and naturally there’s a volume pot. The EQ-shape switch turns the linear output frequency curve into a ‘V’ shape, boosting bass and treble while cutting the mid range, but the tone controls remain active, so you can still fine-tune your tone. The notch filter and phase invert switches are designed to keep feedback under control. When you turn the notch filter knob fully left, it’s deactivated. To access the 9v battery the entire preamp section slides out of the body. This proved interesting because I could see the solid wood block around the neck joint and feel the rough surface of the interior. So it does seem likely that this guitar has been hand carved rather than completely routed off a jig. Under the saddle there’s a Nanoflex pickup that’s designed to sense the vibrations of the strings and the vibrations of the body simultaneously. The pickup’s flexible sensor comprises seven layers of specially chosen materials with a ‘unique technology that amplifies and protects the sound signal directly on the pickup’. booms, bangs and squeaks as your hand makes contact with the top and the strings. With the Clássico Deluxe those noises are virtually non-existent save for a very slight low frequency thump if you hit the high strings with a plectrum. But this merely adds weight and power to the notes. As nylon-strung guitars go it’s extremely playable too. The wide fingerboard has a slight radius, so typical barre chords and jazz chords are much easier to finger than they might be on a regular classical guitar. The neck is also fairly shallow and it’s very rounded, which allows you to wrap your thumb over the top to make, or dampen, the bass notes. Contact Details Woodview Enterprises Ltd Tel: + 44 1236 824588 www.woodviewenterprises.com Email: foxguitars.com.br Sound Even unplugged it’s remarkable just how acoustic this guitar sounds. The tone is open and extremely resonant. The back vibrates against your body as a hollow body should, and the natural sustain slightly exceeds what you might expect from a regular acoustic instrument, especially in the bass. What’s more, it would be perfect for late-night practice sessions if you wanted to avoid waking up everybody else in your house. But let’s get down to business and plug in. The on-board controls are simple and intuitive to operate and the EQ is effective and powerful, without making the tone seem overtly processed. If you play a regular acoustic with an under-saddle pickup you’ll probably be well used to the way they capture all the What we think Pros: A practical and beautifully constructed hand-made instrument with stunning visual appeal and easy playability. Cons: Naff tuners. Overall: A compact and professional slim-line classical guitar that delivers a great tone. ACOUSTIC RATING OUT OF FIVE Verdict The manufacturer’s intention to convey an acoustic tone with a solid-body guitar has certainly been realised. The tone is even, natural and very ‘real’. In fact, it sounds more like a high-quality nylon-strung acoustic with a decent mic in front of it than most of the bona fide acoustics with under-saddle pickups that I have tried. This would be an eminently usable studio and stage guitar for classical, Latin and jazz players, and even latter day Chet Atkins pickers. Huw Price Acoustic Ratings Exceptional Excellent Good Average Poor 66