Blackbird Lucky 13 sound?

[Finn Bjerke]

Cheers

My Bozo guitar should not leave my house again, its getting old and needs care. So I wonder If Lucky 13 is a good choice for gigging and outddor playing ? I read got reviews about it being "bluesy and vintage" however the videos I find have compressed sound. The guitar to me sounds very nice but there is something missing, something I cant really define - Lack of overtones in the midrange perhaps? I gather there are two generations of this black carbon guitar.

My taste:
I play bass and I want guitars to a good distinct bassrange and not over emphasizing the treble. Im also in the habit of playing slide guitar (on N. Resophonics and electrics) and ukulele is also a lot of fun. The carbon monster should be allround guitar for singing Rock, Folk, Blues, Jazz ballads maybe even bossa novas (?)

Oh Finn! You are about to be inundated by info. What you are looking for is in a lot of places in the carbon fiber world. Enjoy the search..........

[sirwhale]

Hi Finn, I see you have commented on my videos. My lucky 13 is for sale and on ebay. If you are interested, let me know. Mine is the 2013 version meaning that it doesn't have a sound port or a bridge plate. I did a review of comparing it to a Rainsong Smokey here:

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=444873

I have recently transitioned to flamenco guitars; I live in Spain after all

Now, I'd love a future flamenco guitar in ekoa, one has to dream.

[Finn Bjerke]

THanks for the message here Im def. interested in that guitar, I live in Norway where the climate is rough to my old vintage legs and fingers. The thing about guitars demos on youtube is they compress the sound terribly Id love to get this one for live situations and parkjams and carefree transportation.

What do you mean no soundhole ?

Ekoa will probably be the future I guess. They sound better than most wood and better than carbon. Now its expensive but Blackbird Saoy will get competition.

PS: In this day and time everything is googled. "Blackbird + savoy" = Beatles. How nerdy are these Blackbird guitar ppl really. THe project was: "make a travel guitar" 15 yrs later they found out that a travel guitar for very practical ppl is a ukulele..

[Finn Bjerke]

soundport is the extra hole on the side of the guitar .... I hav ethat on my favorit uke, I think I really want that. Anyway can I find a demo of the sound which is not compresssed by youtube, just bandcamp or something

[ac]

You can always add a sound port yourself. Others here have done it in the past or had someone knowledgeable do it for them.

[mot]

Hi Finn,

I have a 2014 version (with the side port sound hole). It's a great little guitar. I played a lot of wood and some carbon fiber (CF) varieties looking for the perfect blues guitar in my quest. I didn't choose the Lucky 13 because it was CF, but I knew to look as I found out about CF possibilities from stumbling across CF violins and by 2014 I already had another CF guitar that had surprised me in just how good a CF instrument can sound.

The Lucky 13 has a distinctive sound, but I don't know that I could pick it out from a half dozen other great wood guitars that I could name in a blind listening test. I am pretty sure I could pick it out from a blind playing test because I know the feel of that guitar and also the three sound ports give it a haunting quality to the sound I hear while holding and playing the guitar (when it's not too noisy) that doesn't really carry to the audience as far as I can tell. I chose to go without a built in pick up and have only used it for street busking and a few times with a mic to amplify the sound. Mostly I play it at the house or in small groups. It holds its own pretty well.

I was a little worried about the fixed neck and in my research I found that there is some variation in neck relief amongst different Lucky 13s, so I chose a shallower relief (and I can still slide a bit without problems though I don't use a slide much) and even dropped the saddle down a little too to the point that it's got some buzz if I try moderate to hard strumming.

Some CF guitars have left me a little flat because I didn't like the sound. Of course more wood guitars didn't sound good enough to my ear than CF if we talk sheer numbers or percentage wise. CF guitars that I have had the chance to play more than one of a certain model are so close in sound and feel that I can't tell them apart. This is not as true with wood guitars. I find that online recordings tend to be more a testament to the recording equipment than to the guitar, so I like in person interviews the best. I think that pretty much all the overtones and such that people rave about get washed away in loud settings or when amplified for an audience, but that's not my gig so I might be wrong.

The big difference between CF and wood is in maintenance and tuning. I spend several minutes tuning my violin EVERY TIME I play it and the same goes for my wood guitars (which rarely get play time these days except for the electrics) and my mando and ukes. I have played a CF guitar in changing environmental conditions without having to tune it before or during the playing where before I had to tune my wood guitar in a similar settings. The CF guitar has given me more time to play music as I spend less time fussing over it. I intended to get a high end Taylor (think 614 to 814 area) a few years ago, but grabbed that first CF as a stop gap until I could safely leave a nice guitar out around the house. It played so well that I changed my mind and haven't bothered getting the 'nice' Taylor.

[sirwhale]

Here's a recording I did on audacity and uploaded to soundcloud, with brand new strings (Newtone double wound nickel). I think it got compressed, but I have no idea. Just one take so mistakes and all are here:

[Mkel12]

Finn

I have attached a link to an unpolished recording I made of my 2014 Lucky 13 for another AGF member a few months back... no effects, Rode NT4 mic. The full recording was a comparison of the Kevin Michael Touring guitar and the Blackbird Lucky 13.. this is an excerpt of the Lucky 13 only. For my taste, the Lucky 13 has the best combination of tone and playability available in the CF/eKoa market. I have purchased and compared Rainsong Shorty/APSE, Emerald X7, Kevin Michael Touring, and Blackbird Savoy. All the rest are sold or returned, and my Lucky 13 remains. I hope you find the recording beneficial to your research. ~ Mike

https://soundcloud.com/mike-kelly-4/...ngerstyle-demo

[sirwhale]

Mike, great playing, great song and great recording. I seem to be pants at recording, I never seem to get it right. I use a audio-tecnica AT2020 USB mic and need to read up some stuff on how to record.

[Captain Jim]

Sirwhale and Mike: nice recordings, both... sound and playing are great!

[Mkel12]

Originally Posted by sirwhale

Mike, great playing, great song and great recording. I seem to be pants at recording, I never seem to get it right. I use a audio-tecnica AT2020 USB mic and need to read up some stuff on how to record.

Thanks Sirwhale. I thought yours sounded very good! I think we posted almost simultaneously. Best of luck on your sale.

[sirwhale]

Here's another, mistakes and all (just one take):



I'll add it above too.

My wife is away and it's roasting outside, so happy to make recordings today

[mot]

Originally Posted by Mkel12

I have purchased and compared Rainsong Shorty/APSE, Emerald X7, Kevin Michael Touring, and Blackbird Savoy. All the rest are sold or returned, and my Lucky 13 remains.

Don't look at the Emerald X20. It's my go to guitar for everything, but my Lucky 13, while it's pretty good at most everything too, is better for my poor attempts at blues and various finger pickings.

[steelvibe]

Love the sound clips Sir and Mkel12! Great playing and The Lucky is a sweet sounding instrument