NUD: Blackbird Clara Sunburst

tjien

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Thornhill, Ontario, Canada
I just picked it up today from DHL, Blackbird Clara Sunburst.

I was looking for "Low Humidity Proof" Uke, that I can leave it in the car during winter time.

I narrowed down my choice on Blackbird, but could not decide between Farallon or Clara. After countless time watching comparison video from HMS, finally, I called HMS and talk with Corey two weeks ago.

As a newbie, I mostly strum, already owned Koaloha Tenor. Corey suggested Clara, but at that time there was none listed on the web site. To my surprise, actually they have one in the store but not listed on the web site. I ordered the uke that day.

The uke is very loud, with very nice tone. It sounds much louder
than other Blackbird Clara that I had a chance to test it locally. I was fortunate to be able to test two different Blackbird Clara, with High G and Low G.

Mine come with Fremont soloist low G, I will keep it for a week or two. Currently I have Oasis High G, Worth Brown, Aquila Red and Seaguar Premier fishing line that I will be testing with.

Any suggestion from current/past Clara owner for strings ?



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Congrats! Would love to hear it if you get a chance.
 
Congrats on a beauty! I had Acquila Carbonblacks on my last Clara and liked them quite a bit. On a prior Clara I had Acquila Reds that I thought sounded great. However, it seems to me they kept changing the string formula and I stopped using them.
 
congrats on your new Clara..i saw and played this uke while it was at The Ukulele Site Kaka'ako you have a great sounding uke with a perfect finish....the store does have some high end ukes that are not listed on their website..so always safe to call and check on certain models...

this Clara uke sounds good with a LowG...they all come from Blackbird with lowG and Oasis stings...but I can see why you may want to try other strings good luck finding the tone for you
 
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Congratulations, lovely instrument and a great story to go along with it!
 
Congrats on a beauty! I had Acquila Carbonblacks on my last Clara and liked them quite a bit. On a prior Clara I had Acquila Reds that I thought sounded great. However, it seems to me they kept changing the string formula and I stopped using them.

Aquila Carbon Black is difficult to get hold on, I think they discontinued this model. I ordered one from Uke Republic, but not sure how much longer they will carry this model. Currently I have Aquila Red with new formula on my soprano uke, actually I really like the new version.
 
Congratulations I particularly like that sunburst finish. I hope you bring it to the Jam on Monday. That is the nicest "car uke" I have ever seen. I had an Ono 16" concert that I used as a car-uke but never left it there, Tim will be impressed
 
congrats on your new Clara..i saw and played this uke while it was at The Ukulele Site Kaka'ako you have a great sounding uke with a perfect finish....the store does have some high end ukes that are not listed on their website..so always safe to call and check on certain models...

this Clara uke sounds good with a LowG...they all come from Blackbird with lowG and Oasis stings...but I can see why you may want to try other strings good luck finding the tone for you

Thank you, yes, Blackbird Clara is one of the most balanced sounding Low G uke, I really like the low g sound on this uke. For me, trying different string is part of the fun, I have Fremont soloist and a set of Oasis string ready as a backup. I may, at the end back with with original set. I also have Thomastik flt wound CF30 and CF27 on the way, it will be interesting to find out the sound with wound C string.
 
Thank you, yes, Blackbird Clara is one of the most balanced sounding Low G uke, I really like the low g sound on this uke. For me, trying different string is part of the fun, I have Fremont soloist and a set of Oasis string ready as a backup. I may, at the end back with with original set. I also have Thomastik flt wound CF30 and CF27 on the way, it will be interesting to find out the sound with wound C string.

Congratulations tjen. I thought the factory installed strings were Oasis. Did Corey change the strings before shipping?
 
the TI G and C are my favorite wound strings....Chuck likes them the best also and Andrew Likes the Soloist LowG and the TI C string combination
 
Congrats, I usually don't care for the sunburst look, but you have one fine looking uke. Do you have any trouble playing that glossy neck?
 
No problem with the glossy neck, the feel is similar to my Koaloha tenor which has gloss finish, but the neck profile is chunkier than Koaloha. The neck profile is more like D than C, less rounded, easier to push for barre chord. The feel is very comfortable but not as fast as Koaloha or Kanilea with thinner profile. My hand is relatively dry, if you have sweaty hand, your experience maybe different.
 
Aquila has discontinued the Carbonblack series but has a different version out now, co-branded with Martin as Martin Premiums. (They're now the standard strings on many Martin ukes.) I have them on three ukes and really like them. I was mainly a fan of Seaguar fishing line or other fluorocarbon, but the Martins are very nice. If you like the Carbonblacks you may love the Martin Premiums.
 
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