NUD - Farallon
 

New Uke Day

https://i.imgur.com/ZsWFbET.jpg

Ordered on Black Friday. Standard Farallon with High-G tuning, and the MiSi pickup.

The 6 week lead time was due to the High-G tuning. Apparently Ted normally only stocks them in a Low-G configuration, so Blackbird had to build one from scratch.

I know Earl has one of these, but I cannot recall if his is set up for high or low G. Earl?

Very nice! Congrats!!

Hmmm...do you know your new guitar is very small and only has 4 strings? :D

Very nice!

It's the wife's "guitar". We better not tell her 'eh? Maybe she won't notice.

Congrats... Great instrument... I ordered mine with low g, sound port, K&K and sound hole rosette (To match my Captain & Savoy) and it took 4 months... but worth the wait!!! Ted is great to work with...

Love my eKoa family :-)

Enjoy!!!

Yup. Ted is always a pleasure to work with.

Ted only had Low-G ukes in stock. We considered having a new nut cut, but decided to wait for a factory one.

Blackbird offered to convert one that was in process to save some time, but that one had aluminum fret-markers. I see no need for fretmarkers on the fingerboard, and really prefer the look of a clean fretboard.

Helena also called when it was ready to ship, to make sure we weren't on vacation and would be home when it got to us, which I think is a very nice bit of personal service as well.

Mark

Congratulations on a nice new Uke.
I keep thinking about getting one of these. High G would be my choice as well. Any chance of a sound sample?

Congrats! My Farallon has become my daily player, displacing all of the other ones. I did not get the pickup when I bought it from Ted and Helene, although they had both in stock at that time last December.

Mine is Low G, which I prefer for my ukulele, because I can do a "boom-chuck" kind of thing with it that just doesn't work as well with High G. Finger picking patterns are fuller too, and you can sorta do an alternating bass. But I still keep one or two ukes in High G configuration, to visit with the alternatives once in a while. (Re-entrant High G tuning is considered the "traditional" ukulele sound, with Low G being a new variant).

Coincidentally, we sold our best wood ukulele this morning, a Mya Moe hand built from flamed mahogany. It was my wife's #1 but she doesn't play the uke all that seriously. One of our club members (and an occasional intermediate student) just fell in love with it when she was shopping. She ended up with a Clara concert sized pineapple shape because she camps a lot in the summers and needed something durable and compact. When she mentioned recently that she would still be interested if we ever decided to sell, Alice surprised me by saying she could part with it. Of course her backup is my Farallon, which is very comparable in tone and playability - but slightly different.

For those considering the Blackbird Farallon, it takes an exceptional example of a similarly priced hand-made boutique instrument to be competitive. And even then the differences are pretty subtle. Not better or worse, just different.

Thanks Earl. Jennifer liked your's and I couldn't recall which tuning it was set up as. Her other ukes are high-g though. (plus if she ever changes her mind, it's easier to widen a nut slot than narrow one)

I always suggest starting with a low G. It is usually not necessary to change the slot if you go with a high G later. It's only a couple of thousandths difference in string diameter. It depends on what string you choose for low G. Fluorocarbon and Aquila Red low G's are not wound, so they fit nicely in the narrower slot. But a wound string (like the D string from a classical guitar set) might need the slot to be widened a bit. I've never had any issue using high G in a low G nut.

My problems are usually the "nut" behind the ukulele, not the one on it. :D