Blackbird electro ukes battery re-charge?

Sorry if this has been covered in another thread, but I didn’t find anything about this.

I am considering buying a Blackbird Clara with the rechargeable pickup.

The specs from various sources are pretty good, only I miss info about one matter.

As I get it, the recharge happens via the endpin jack. That would take a charger different from anything I know. Does this specialty charger follow the Clara, when bought from a dealer?

Klaus

Yes, it comes with it. Charges it in about a minute, too.

Thank you!

Would you happen to know a link for an illustration of this charger?

Klaus

The charger that came with my Blackbird looks like what's depicted here (click on "more views"):
http://www.elderly.com/mi-si-acoustic-trio-ukulele-system.htm

Thanks for the link! I don’t remember having seen this device before through my searches about the Blackbird ukes (I already was fascinated by the first black tenor, but they aren’t easy to get in Europe).

Just looked through the videos at the Blackbird site, which made one more question come up:

The Clara may be ordered directly with a low G or with a high G. Is that just a matter of the strings mounted or are there different saddles and bridges for the two versions? (I prefer the high G tuning for close 4-part chords)

The Clara has come in at least 2 editions with different tuners. Does the most recent edition have a radius fingerboard?

Klaus

The early versions had different tuners but then they switched to Gotoh UPT's, which is now standard though you can choose black or white.
Radius fretboard has been an option on several offered via The Ukulele Site. [EDIT:] I confirmed with the company that Blackbird does not currently offer a radius option in their direct sales but may in the future.

You order set up for high G or low G. If you later switch your tuning it's not a problem since they don't have a compensated saddle (for ukes that do, you would need another saddle that is either uncompensated for compensated for the tuning you're switching to).

imperialbari said:

Thanks for the link! I don’t remember having seen this device before through my searches about the Blackbird ukes (I already was fascinated by the first black tenor, but they aren’t easy to get in Europe).

Just looked through the videos at the Blackbird site, which made one more question come up:

The Clara may be ordered directly with a low G or with a high G. Is that just a matter of the strings mounted or are there different saddles and bridges for the two versions? (I prefer the high G tuning for close 4-part chords)

The Clara has come in at least 2 editions with different tuners. Does the most recent edition have a radius fingerboard?

Klaus

Click to expand...

Asked Blackbird (per the form on their site) about the Clara and the Farallon. About differences in the set-up of high and low G versions. And about radius fretboards.

Today I received this reply from Joseph Luttwak, the bald guy in their videos:

Hi Klaus,
The only change we make with High G versus low G is very minor at the nut slot. Some folks what (I guess this should be ’want’. Ed. by Klaus) the string height changed too and so the saddle can be adjusted too or replaced. The radius option is available (but not yet on the site) for $215 with a radius'd fretboard, bridge and saddle. Please let me know if you have any other questions
Best,
Joe

imperialbari said:

Sorry if this has been covered in another thread, but I didn’t find anything about this.

I am considering buying a Blackbird Clara with the rechargeable pickup.

The specs from various sources are pretty good, only I miss info about one matter.

As I get it, the recharge happens via the endpin jack. That would take a charger different from anything I know. Does this specialty charger follow the Clara, when bought from a dealer?

Klaus

Click to expand...

You might find the useful info and links to the Mi-Si pickup along with a link to the Mi-Si owners manual helpful, which I posted here in this other thread about the Blackbird Farallon tenor eKoa uke:

http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?121913-NUD-Blackbird-Farallon-Tenor-Ukelele

imperialbari said:

...Today I received this reply from Joseph Luttwak, the bald guy in their videos...

Click to expand...

Maybe you do not realize how special this email reply truly is, but Joe Luttwak is the FOUNDER and CEO of Blackbird, and he responded to your inquiry PERSONALLY.

Not many companies have that level of intimacy with their customers, whether pre- or post-sales questions and/or support.

They are a pretty great company if you ask me.

I already knew from some of their videos that Joe Luttwak really is engaged in the instruments his company makes, so I wasn’t too surprised that he gave me good answers, which I then found very relevant to relay to this forum.

Choosing between the Clara and the Farallon will be the next difficult step in my thinking. No doubt that the overtone pattern of the Clara really got my attention after having considered the original Blackbird tenor, which is good in its own right. But the Clara has this special beauty to its projection. And then the Farallon enters with its own special warmth of sound. (Not to speak of the new fantastic guitar looking somewhat like the Farallon).

Unfortunately these Blackbirds are hard to come by here in Europe. I had ordered the black tenor from a German dealer after asking some questions, but they didn’t respond to the order, which I didn’t find too trustworthy.

The Clara may be had from a UK dealer, whereas I haven’t seen the Farallon presented in Europe yet.

Klaus

If it helps, The Music Emporium in Boston MA USA seems to have Claras and Farallons in stock, both with and without electronics. I don't know whether they'll ship to Europe, though.

I have imported several instruments from the US over the years, but there is so much red tape and there are so many fixed costs to each transaction, so that I rather like to buy from EU dealers if at all possible.

Which is exactly what has happened. I bought the Farallon from Southern Ukulele Store in the UK.

The resonance of the low G string betrays the size of the Farallon. It is just so big and warm. Yet, my self-made chord patterns for Maj9, Maj13, half diminished (vii7), Min11, plus the dominant 9, or 13 chords sound odd, if one of the upper tension notes sits on the low G string. So I have put on a high G string.

Most of my ukes are packed down due to a rebuild of the house that takes more time than planned for.

The intonation of the Farallon is better by dimensions than that of the Epiphone Les Paul concert that I have had access to recently. And the tenor scale fits my big hand better for chords, where the fingers are very close like Cm7b5, where all fingers except the index (2nd fret on the E string) are in the 3rd fret.

Of course I have a maybe odd question:

I often practice while watching the news. I use the Peterson iStrobo soft tuner on my iPhone, which is easily distracted by irrelevant sounds. My not so practical remedy has been about plugging in the earphones and place their microphone near the strings or even down the sound hole.

I have looked at microphones to be plugged into the Lightning port of the iPhone, but they all look a bit big for the purpose.

Is there a cable that will connect the Lightning port with the female Jack port of ukuleles with active and passive pick-up’s? Or will an active pick-up fry the phone?

Klaus

The solution for connecting the Farallon with the iPhone wasn’t cheap, but it will also allow for recording on iPhone or on iPad.

I bought an Apogee Jam 96K, which is not battery powered, but which draws power from the iPhone-

Together with the Peterson iStrobo tuner this litte Apogee box allows for very exact tuning, which makes sense on the very in-tune-with-itself Farallon.

The Jam 96K also works with guitar. It even connects my digital piano to the iPhone.

Klaus