Maybe a KLOS carbon fiber ukulele in the works?

besley

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There is a carbon fiber travel guitar made by a company called KLOS. It's a pretty neat and affordable option too. Well the company has a Ukulele page where they have posted:

"We listen......to what our customers want. If enough people express interest in a ukulele, then we'll begin prototyping and developing a carbon fiber ukulele to meet your needs!"

So, if you have any interest, stop by their web site and let them know.

https://www.klosguitars.com/ukulele
 
I just got an end of the year email from Klos Guitars, in which they mention "Looking forward to 2018, we have the carbon fiber ukulele coming out in late March". Considering that their base model carbon fiber travel guitar sells for $600, I'm hoping that their carbon fiber uke will sell for a similar price. Should be interesting.
 
I just got an end of the year email from Klos Guitars, in which they mention "Looking forward to 2018, we have the carbon fiber ukulele coming out in late March". Considering that their base model carbon fiber travel guitar sells for $600, I'm hoping that their carbon fiber uke will sell for a similar price. Should be interesting.

Hey Besley thanks so much for sharing this. I signed up to show my interest in a ukulele. If any other members are interested they are should sign up as well, obviously there is no obligation. As a point of interest click on the guitar header and watch the youtube review done by Tony Policastro. He is a high respected guitar player and reviewer, I have watched tons of his reviews and he tells it like it is. He liked it
 
I still don't know what size they're considering, but I sure hope it's a tenor. And based on their carbon fiber guitars I'm pretty sure the neck and fretboard will probably still be wood.
 
I still don't know what size they're considering, but I sure hope it's a tenor. And based on their carbon fiber guitars I'm pretty sure the neck and fretboard will probably still be wood.
To me, that would be a deal breaker. If I'm buying carbon fiber, I want the whole instrument to be carbon fiber. I've played on quite a few carbon fiber guitars over the years (Emerald, CA, Rainsong) and one of the original carbon fiber Blackbird tenors (I got to play on the road trip one that Michael had at MacNichol). The main reason for having one for me would be less maintenance and worry over humidity and temperature issues, durability in general. Emerald was my favorite design, by far, with the molded in bridge and overall comfort. Alistair's harp uke is surely more involved than a standard uke. It's interesting he has that in the lineup and not a regular uke. It seems a regular uke would sell more.
That reminds me, the only exception to what I said above would be Emerald's wood veneer bonded with fiber tops that are just as durable apparently. I really like the look of those.

It'd make more sense to me if Klos did something with the wood like Orca is doing:
http://www.orcaukuleles.com/
Edit: Looks like he's considering carbon fiber in the necks now too...I missed that when I first skimmed the page.

All that said, I can be perfectly happy with the Outdoor Ukulele at a fraction of the cost. That's just me though. I know there is definitely a market for expensive carbon fiber instruments...I used to be an occasional buyer in that market myself.
 
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I'm thinking of buying a Carbon Fibre guitar by Composite. It's a few years old and the owner bought years ago when they were like 800.00. He's going to Hawaii in Feb and will give me first crack at it when he gets back. Has anyone played a guitar from Composite? He's a luthier and has set it up really nice.
 
To me, that would be a deal breaker. If I'm buying carbon fiber, I want the whole instrument to be carbon fiber. I've played on quite a few carbon fiber guitars over the years (Emerald, CA, Rainsong) and one of the original carbon fiber Blackbird tenors (I got to play on the road trip one that Michael had at MacNichol). The main reason for having one for me would be less maintenance and worry over humidity and temperature issues, durability in general. Emerald was my favorite design, by far, with the molded in bridge and overall comfort. Alistair's harp uke is surely more involved than a standard uke. It's interesting he has that in the lineup and not a regular uke. It seems a regular uke would sell more.
That reminds me, the only exception to what I said above would be Emerald's wood veneer bonded with fiber tops that are just as durable apparently. I really like the look of those.

It'd make more sense to me if Klos did something with the wood like Orca is doing:
http://www.orcaukuleles.com/
Edit: Looks like he's considering carbon fiber in the necks now too...I missed that when I first skimmed the page.

All that said, I can be perfectly happy with the Outdoor Ukulele at a fraction of the cost. That's just me though. I know there is definitely a market for expensive carbon fiber instruments...I used to be an occasional buyer in that market myself.

Well I hear you, and I agree all carbon fiber is the way to go. But I also think there's value to being able to develop it at such a low price as they currently do with their CF guitar that has a CF body but a traditional wood neck. I enjoy the worry free aspect of all carbon, but if the price is right I'm willing to make an exception for the neck, as it's easy to handle the effects of low humidity on the fret ends.
 
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I'm thinking of buying a Carbon Fibre guitar by Composite. It's a few years old and the owner bought years ago when they were like 800.00. He's going to Hawaii in Feb and will give me first crack at it when he gets back. Has anyone played a guitar from Composite? He's a luthier and has set it up really nice.

You probably mean Composite Acoustics, also known as CA, formerly on its own, now bought out by Peavey. You should head over to the carbon fiber forum at the Acoustics Guitar site and ask the question there. But of course, they will want to know which model it is, and to see pictures and so forth. At that price it sounds as if it was the Cargo model, which is a really great guitar, IF you like the 22.75" scale length that is.

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=48
 
I’m all for experimentation. I’m ok with carbon fibre and wood. A neck and fretboard in wood would be easy to humidified. It’s all about feel and sound. Price point would be great just like Orca I think Farallon is well priced for what you get. More ukuleles, yes please . More innovation, yes what not. I signed up to support the ukulele. Cool add choirguy.
 
This popped up into my feed today. Maybe the ukulele version would make a better replacement for an iron.

https://youtu.be/4bCmBki6TsU

I REALLY doubt that hitting golf balls with your musical instrument is the best way to get people to buy them. On the other hand, the founder of Composite Acoustics used to demonstrate the durability of his guitars by laying one on the floor and standing on it (with the top down). I own one of those (a GX), and it does indeed feel like a tank. If I hit something with it like a door jam, the door jam looses.
 
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Black is a colour that absorbs heat. I would like to see some cool white, or other non-energy absorbing colour, carbon fibre guitars which wont get hot in the sun.
Also canvas is a carbon fibre, rice paper is a carbon fibre, silk and polyester are carbon fibres. Is it possible to get some resin onto a low cost carbon fibre material to make hard rigid and tonally nice sheets to make musical instruments? Do we need to be paying a fortune for a licenced patented fabric that makes the instruments expensive to make? The news says it is cold in North America today, if you work with carbon fibre and are stuck indoors and are bored, maybe find an old polyester business shirt and a piece of canvas and a a piece of rice paper or cotton rag watercolour paper and dump it in some resin to see what happens. If you can use a fabric which is much cheaper and easier to get than Carbon Fibre, you may be able to make instruments at a lower price with more profit. I have made some panels with resin and rice paper which are rigid, I have no idea how strong they are.

Most carbon fiber instruments are black because that is the natural color. And part of the appeal to many is to see the carbon fiber. It also saves money, in that you don't even have to finish them, as the resin itself is a great finish just as it comes out of the mold. Though many are painted or given a fancy gloss coating. I've played my black GX carbon fiber guitar out in the sun, and yes, it does get too hot to touch in places.

As for using a different fiber, that's exactly what the Farallon tenor uke is made of. It's a composite instrument made of a linen and resin composite called Ekoa. Someday that might be as inexpensive as regular old fiberglass, but for now the small volume production of Ekoa keeps the price pretty high. That, and the fact that only Blackbird Guitars gets to use it.
 
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Well I hear you, and I agree all carbon fiber is the way to go. But I also think there's value to being able to develop it at such a low price as they currently do with their CF guitar that has a CF body but a traditional wood neck. I enjoy the worry free aspect of all carbon, but if the price is right I'm willing to make an exception for the neck, as it's easy to handle the effects of low humidity on the fret ends.
Good points. I can definitely see where you're coming from there.

I'm thinking of buying a Carbon Fibre guitar by Composite. It's a few years old and the owner bought years ago when they were like 800.00. He's going to Hawaii in Feb and will give me first crack at it when he gets back. Has anyone played a guitar from Composite? He's a luthier and has set it up really nice.
I agree with Besley. That sounds like the Composite Acoustics, aka CA Guitars, Cargo 3/4 size (Best to make sure though as he could've gotten special pricing on another model or something). It is a really good instrument. It's the only one I remember ever being $800. They started them at $600 then jumped up to $800...but they still weren't turning that much of a profit when all was said and done apparently. The sound is way bigger than the size of the instrument. Out of the carbon fiber guitars, I'd say the CA are usually the warmest sounding. I've played on both the original CA and some Peavey made ones, and they were all good. To me, they seemed built more heavily and they had more weight to them...yet they still produced good sounds to my ears. Those Cargos go for about $1600 new now I think...


I think it was Bill who mentioned colors. There are painted carbon fiber guitars out there...even sunbursts. CA used to make some white guitars. Emerald will paint whatever color you want if you want to pay for custom paint. Some cover up the fiber completely and others are colored yet still expose the carbon fiber weave. I painted a carbon guitar I had years ago myself. It takes paint (at least the kind meant to bond to metal and plastic) quite well.
 
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Sweet...

Hmm this reminds me of RainSong, maybe we can get them to make a carbon fiber Uke too... :)
 
…..Every natural fibre is made out of hydrocarbons, so cotton, linen, silk, wool are actually all carbon fibre materials. Polyesters and nylons are also carbon fibres. They can be printed and dyed all sorts of colours so that the weave is not the only decorative effect. Look at any fashion show to see the weave take a back seat to colours, prints and the cut of the cloth. And they can be spun and woven into very strong low cost fabrics. Polyesters and nylons in particular are also very low cost. If a company like KLOS wants to grab some big market share, when it makes a ukulele it could move out of the esoteric world of expensive CF and find a way to use the lower cost fabrics, with some nice decorations, to market a true outdoor rated uke at a price to compete with mid-range Kala and Ohana wooden ukes. If you read ukulele bulletin boards a holy grail for uke owners is to get a low cost uke that has a great sound, this is a strong market force. The experience with CITES and rosewood is already causing some buyers to be wary of various woods, the market might start to accept low cost alternative which sound good, they have to sound good.

Well it’s a little more complicated than that. The properties of a composite depend on both the resin and the fiber. Carbon fiber composites work as well as they do because the carbon fibers are so strong themselves that a very thin layer provides great strength. So you can build a panel that is strong enough to support the instrument, but thin enough to still resonate. If you could achieve the same thing with polyester or cotton composites I’m pretty sure Rainsong would have tried it by now.

And not to get too pedantic about it, but while natural fibers all contain the element carbon, none of them are hydrocarbons. And a fiber containing carbon is not the same as carbon fiber.
 
Just heard back from Adam at KLOS marketing. Their carbon fiber uke will indeed be a tenor size.

That's just plain bad news.........

........that's my scale.......

...&, I'd just got over my UAS......

.....must resist.....

.....perhaps it will be just too expensive.....

.....especially by the time it gets to the UK. :biglaugh:
 
That's just plain bad news.........

........that's my scale.......

...&, I'd just got over my UAS......

.....must resist.....

.....perhaps it will be just too expensive.....

.....especially by the time it gets to the UK. :biglaugh:

Don't forget that there's supposed to be a carbon fiber tenor coming from Orca too!

http://www.orcaukuleles.com/

orca1_3.JPG
 
Orca sound sample was posted in 2015 on the website? It's been two years so maybe we shouldn't hold our breathe for it?

I'm hoping the Klos Uke pans out. I would love to have a carbon fiber Uke under $500 considering the Klos guitar is $599...
 
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