NUD: Blackbird Farallon

good_uke_boy

good_uke_boy

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Yesterday I received one of Blackbird's new Ekoa tenors, Farallon. I've been a huge fan of Blackbird's concert-scale Clara and was excited to order their new tenor to enable worry-free use in various settings (like playing outdoors, at the beach, while traveling, etc.). I hoped Farallon would have playability and tone at least as nice as Clara's.

So far, Farallon does not disappoint. To me, Farallon's tone has Clara's warmth but is deeper, more resonant, and more precise sounding, probably because of Farallon's longer scale, larger/deeper body, and greater string tension.

One note -- in this post:
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...6-anybody-taking-Amtrak&p=1838973#post1838973
UU member oregonuke mentioned s/he saw a production Farallon with a "protective finish [that] appears to be a bit rough - sort of an orange peel look/feel". The finish on my Farallon is the same as Clara's -- smooth satin.

I'll add more comments later as time permits, but in the meantime below are links to a sound sample and photos. Both compare Clara and Farallon side by side, which I thought might be of interest to current Clara owners.

Pictures:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6cwfjeqx06affu5/AACNAcBwxfCKK9v65MAGhooka?dl=0

Sound sample:
https://soundcloud.com/user-706114832/blackbirds
Sound sample is unedited and was recorded straight through -- sorry for the background noise and goofs...
 
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Oh boy oh boy oh boy. Your sound sample is going to sell a lot of Farallons. That was "Seriously" beautiful sounding, great job playing as well. If I closed my eyes I could envision a very high priced custom koa ukulele.

Very very bad raging UAS at the moment. Thank you so much and congratulations. First kid on the block is massive fun
 
Yes the tenor has more warmth and a mellower tone.
The Clara sounds great too. Just a slightly fuller deeper tone on the Farallon to me.

Nice to have both.
 
Oh man, now I neeeeeeeeeed one :)
Beautiful- congrats!
 
Congrats on the new Farallon. Your sound sample does a good job of showcasing the beautiful voice of this ukulele. I was the one that commented on them from the Reno show so glad to hear that Joe opted to go for the same finish as the Clara, which makes sense. I loved everything about the Farallon and hope to have one to be a companion to my Blackbird BTU.
 
Thanks for posting this thread. I own a Blackbird BTU and was curious how the new Farallon and BTU compared. As expected, the Farallon is more mellow to the BTU's being more crisp, at least to my ears. In the world of wood ukes, I guess it would be like comparing mahogany (eKoa) to koa or spruce (carbon fibre).

Congrats on your new Blackbird!
 
Thanks for the thread- enjoy your new tenor; it sounds great with your fine playing!
 
Impressive! I played a Clara at a shop in Minn. a year a year ago and it did not make me want to buy it, but I keep thinking about them. After listening to your ekoa uses, now I want one! Thanks for pleasure of listening.
 
Congratulations on your Blackbird family! I own a Clara and I got to play a Farallon at the Reno Ukulele Festival. They're both sweet instruments.
 
Oh very nice!
 
Both sound incredible! What types of strings are on the Farallon and what recording device are you using?
 
Littlegman said:
Both sound incredible! What types of strings are on the Farallon and what recording device are you using?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I believe Farallon's strings are Oasis warms, which Blackbird lists on its website as the "Recommended" set. The recording device was an Apogee MiC connected to an Apple MacBook Pro; the recording software was Apple QuickTime Player.

PS: Go Leicester!
 
What kind of strings do you have on the Clara?

To my ear, the Farallon had an edge in the picked portion, but the Clara blended a little better in the strumming. Playing both do you find one a little more suited to the strumming?
 
PTOEguy said:
What kind of strings do you have on the Clara?

To my ear, the Farallon had an edge in the picked portion, but the Clara blended a little better in the strumming. Playing both do you find one a little more suited to the strumming?
Click to expand...

Good questions. The Clara also has Oasis warms for C, E, and A strings, but it has Fremont soloist for the low-G. So far, I favor Farallon both for finger picking and for strumming. When I made the recording, I had the Farallon for less than 24 hours, and I'm much more used to playing the Clara (and concert scale ukes in general). The more I play the Farallon the more I'm able to get out of the instrument.
 
I appreciate this update! I had a Clara and loved the tone, but found the shape awkward and ultimately kind of uncomfortable to play. The Farallon's more traditional shape is much more inviting.
 
Oh goodness - how wonderful!!!! I would love to get a Farallon for my husband, who plays tenor scale. I love my Clara to the moon and back!
 
Your sound samples are wonderful as well!!! Can't go wrong with Blackbird, in my opinion!!!
 
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