deschutestrout
Well-known member
Well, a couple of days ago I received a new, special uke! A Blackbird Clara. I'd read so many favorable reviews, and when I saw one come up used in the UU Marketplace, my UAS got the best of me and I pulled the trigger. This is hands-down the most I've spent on a uke ... and I have no regrets.
I spend a LOT of time outdoors. Camping, river trips (I'm an outfitter on the Deschutes River in Oregon), we get very hot days in the summer (90-110F) and I'm often camping when it is cold (often below freezing, sometimes 15-30F at night). We're in the desert part of Oregon, so it is often very dry. I was looking for a good sounding, sturdy instrument that would withstand temperature extremes and lack of humidity. The Clara seemed to fit the bill.
Build / Finish - this uke is made entirely of man-made products (called Ekoa), i.e., no wood on this uke. I hadn't seen one of these first-hand, so really had no idea what to expect, except what I'd seen in photos. When I excitedly pulled Clara from the case, the top (at certain light angles) "appeared" to have a lot of long scratches. Held her sideways to get a better look, ran my hand over the top ... hmmm, these are not scratches. Called Joe at Blackbird (SUPER nice, informative guy) and he explained that the top is made of various woven fibers, and that as different color fibers get added to the mix, sometimes they appear as long strands, going either up or down (they're woven) on the body. Looked at a bunch of images on line, and found many examples that looked like what I was seeing on the top. And of course, I more carefully studied the top of mine. Once I understood more of how the top is constructed, and knew that these were NOT scratches, but part of the fibers, the appearance has started to grow on me. But, new buyers be aware that the initial look my have you scratching your head for a moment...it did me.
The back has a different, woven appearance, I like it!
She has a very comfortable neck, and I was unable to find info on what the fretboard is made of, but I love how it looks, and more importantly how it plays! Neck joins body at the 12th fret ... I wish it joined at the 14th, but I can live with that.
I spoke with Joe about temps and moisture. He said 0 - 120F temps are absolutely no problem. On very hot days, be careful leaving it in a car uncased, especially if temps in the car will exceed 150. Avoid laying it out in direct sunlight for extended periods, and avoid letting (especially the back of) the uke get soaked with water/rain. Pretty common sense stuff.
Sound, Playability, etc. This is where the Clara really shines. The volume, tone and sustain of this uke are impressive. She truly sings! I was impressed right out of the gate. Compared the volume to what was previously my loudest uke (a Kala with spruce top...that is loud) and yes, the Clara is significantly louder.
She has an unusually shaped soundport on the top, and the neck is hollow, with a soundport on the headstock...cool! It's kind of neat to hold the headstock close to your ear and hear sound coming from it! This adds to the volume and tone quality.
The tone is very pleasing, and one would think the uke is made of wood. I'm anxious to try various strings to dial in to what I believe is the best tone.
I absolutely love the fretboard! I tend to play a lot of lead, and the Clara does this better than any uke I've played. The fretboard is smooth, and "fast". Slides, hammers and bends are smooth as silk, and compare to a top quality ebony fretboard ... but feels even smoother.
The set up is awesome, I'm assuming this is done at the factory. Very comfortable action (just under 6/64" at the 12th fret).
Sounds great finger picking and strumming, both gently and robustly. She responds beautifully to variations. Sweet player!
Strings - She had Martin 600's on when I received her. I really liked how these played and sounded. But, I also enjoy experimenting with string. Curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to see how the sound would change and possibly improve with different strings.
Before changing, I threw a low G on ... she sounded awesome, but I was reminded quickly of how much I prefer the sound of re-entrant tuning. But, you low-G folks are gonna love her!
I put Oasis Bright High G's on, and quickly removed ... she'd lost fullness, and the tone was rather flat compared to the Martins (I know...the strings didn't have time to settle, but the negative change (to my ear) was drastic enough, that I pulled them. I then put Worth Brown mediums on and love them! The full, rich sound returned and I'll run these for a while. It's difficult to tell if the Worths sound better than the Martins, as they both sound incredible. It will be some time before I try a different string, as I am very pleased with how she sounds with the Worth BM.
So, overall I'm very pleased with the Clara, and rather blown-away by her tone and playability.
Here are some photos.
I spend a LOT of time outdoors. Camping, river trips (I'm an outfitter on the Deschutes River in Oregon), we get very hot days in the summer (90-110F) and I'm often camping when it is cold (often below freezing, sometimes 15-30F at night). We're in the desert part of Oregon, so it is often very dry. I was looking for a good sounding, sturdy instrument that would withstand temperature extremes and lack of humidity. The Clara seemed to fit the bill.
Build / Finish - this uke is made entirely of man-made products (called Ekoa), i.e., no wood on this uke. I hadn't seen one of these first-hand, so really had no idea what to expect, except what I'd seen in photos. When I excitedly pulled Clara from the case, the top (at certain light angles) "appeared" to have a lot of long scratches. Held her sideways to get a better look, ran my hand over the top ... hmmm, these are not scratches. Called Joe at Blackbird (SUPER nice, informative guy) and he explained that the top is made of various woven fibers, and that as different color fibers get added to the mix, sometimes they appear as long strands, going either up or down (they're woven) on the body. Looked at a bunch of images on line, and found many examples that looked like what I was seeing on the top. And of course, I more carefully studied the top of mine. Once I understood more of how the top is constructed, and knew that these were NOT scratches, but part of the fibers, the appearance has started to grow on me. But, new buyers be aware that the initial look my have you scratching your head for a moment...it did me.
The back has a different, woven appearance, I like it!
She has a very comfortable neck, and I was unable to find info on what the fretboard is made of, but I love how it looks, and more importantly how it plays! Neck joins body at the 12th fret ... I wish it joined at the 14th, but I can live with that.
I spoke with Joe about temps and moisture. He said 0 - 120F temps are absolutely no problem. On very hot days, be careful leaving it in a car uncased, especially if temps in the car will exceed 150. Avoid laying it out in direct sunlight for extended periods, and avoid letting (especially the back of) the uke get soaked with water/rain. Pretty common sense stuff.
Sound, Playability, etc. This is where the Clara really shines. The volume, tone and sustain of this uke are impressive. She truly sings! I was impressed right out of the gate. Compared the volume to what was previously my loudest uke (a Kala with spruce top...that is loud) and yes, the Clara is significantly louder.
She has an unusually shaped soundport on the top, and the neck is hollow, with a soundport on the headstock...cool! It's kind of neat to hold the headstock close to your ear and hear sound coming from it! This adds to the volume and tone quality.
The tone is very pleasing, and one would think the uke is made of wood. I'm anxious to try various strings to dial in to what I believe is the best tone.
I absolutely love the fretboard! I tend to play a lot of lead, and the Clara does this better than any uke I've played. The fretboard is smooth, and "fast". Slides, hammers and bends are smooth as silk, and compare to a top quality ebony fretboard ... but feels even smoother.
The set up is awesome, I'm assuming this is done at the factory. Very comfortable action (just under 6/64" at the 12th fret).
Sounds great finger picking and strumming, both gently and robustly. She responds beautifully to variations. Sweet player!
Strings - She had Martin 600's on when I received her. I really liked how these played and sounded. But, I also enjoy experimenting with string. Curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to see how the sound would change and possibly improve with different strings.
Before changing, I threw a low G on ... she sounded awesome, but I was reminded quickly of how much I prefer the sound of re-entrant tuning. But, you low-G folks are gonna love her!
I put Oasis Bright High G's on, and quickly removed ... she'd lost fullness, and the tone was rather flat compared to the Martins (I know...the strings didn't have time to settle, but the negative change (to my ear) was drastic enough, that I pulled them. I then put Worth Brown mediums on and love them! The full, rich sound returned and I'll run these for a while. It's difficult to tell if the Worths sound better than the Martins, as they both sound incredible. It will be some time before I try a different string, as I am very pleased with how she sounds with the Worth BM.
So, overall I'm very pleased with the Clara, and rather blown-away by her tone and playability.
Here are some photos.
