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  #16  
Old 04-19-2019, 05:03 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gerardo1000 View Post
I hope that Joe is reading this thread.
I happen to know from speaking personally with him that Joe does read these threads - time permitting. He is a busy guy.
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  #17  
Old 04-19-2019, 06:07 PM
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Earl; Indeed, Joe pays attention. I've found him to be a bit of a philosopher--he thinks about things and this forum is one of those things.

Jon; Darn you, now I've got to go searching for a bamboo guitar.
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  #18  
Old 04-19-2019, 08:04 PM
tommyld tommyld is offline
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I've avoided posting about this, but Blackbird has transitioned their steel strings to bidirectional tops, a stronger fretboard material, and more robust internal bracing.
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  #19  
Old 04-20-2019, 07:48 AM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
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Originally Posted by tommyld View Post
I've avoided posting about this, but Blackbird has transitioned their steel strings to bidirectional tops, a stronger fretboard material, and more robust internal bracing.
And we've got no world war to keep track of the before and after...
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  #20  
Old 04-20-2019, 09:38 AM
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Jon;

I looked at the Yamaha bamboo guitar and also found Vogal bamboo guitars. The look perfectly acceptable to me. Bamboo is a hard structurally strong wood and a sustainable material. Like hemp, bamboo seems like a reasonable replacement for the exotic woods going out of existence.

Also, my experience in building guitars from local woods suggests that the notion of tone woods is somewhat overblown. Some woods sound warmer than others, but all woods have tone and the quality of that tone seems more related to the maker than the material. Just a thought.
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  #21  
Old 04-23-2019, 12:08 PM
shawnco999 shawnco999 is offline
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I “third” the suggestion to call and speak to Joe directly. He passionately stands behind his guitars and eKoa products, and makes things right if needed.

That said, all guitar manufacturers must have policies limiting the scope of their warranties if they want to stay in business. If they did not, we’d see things like neck resets being covered 30 years later, etc. The original owner policy is one that all guitar manufacturers seem to have currently.

Who knows, maybe the El Capitan spent the night in a backyard pool after a party and then the original owner decided to sell it immediately, just in case there were longer term effects of the incident...
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  #22  
Old 01-23-2020, 08:42 PM
marc_woods marc_woods is offline
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I whipped out my blackbird guitar for the first time in months today to see if the condition had improved at all...needless to say the warping below the bridge is even more severe than it was the last time I played it. I understand that the warranty is limited to the original buyer and that Blackbird have no legal obligation to fix the guitar, however, the fact that the guitar cost as much as it did and that it's marketed as being 'indestructible' does irritate me.

I've sent a few emails to Blackbird's service email - "[email protected]", the only response I've had from them is as below:

"Our apologies for not getting back to you sooner. Our technician believes your guitar needs a substantial rebuild. This would be an out of warranty work since you purchased it used, and would likely cost several hundred dollars, plus shipping both ways. We wish we could do better to support you. Please let us know if you have any questions."

I replied to their email with a few followup questions but was ignored.
If you know where I can contact Joe (either email or phone) it would be greatly appreciated.

Last edited by marc_woods; 01-23-2020 at 09:09 PM.
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  #23  
Old 01-23-2020, 11:47 PM
Tøf Tøf is offline
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Blackbird’s phone number is on their website.
I understand your frustration, but 3 posts only including a repost of your own message from April...
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  #24  
Old 02-02-2020, 08:35 PM
marc_woods marc_woods is offline
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Hi Tof,
Yes, I don't to check online forums very often. The main reason I even signed up to this website is to warn others about the issues I'm experiencing with my El Capitan. I've recently bought a dehumidifier for my apartment and it seems to have helped reduce the neck warping slightly. The area below the bridge is still quite severe though.
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  #25  
Old 02-02-2020, 09:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marc_woods View Post
Hi Tof,
Yes, I don't to check online forums very often. The main reason I even signed up to this website is to warn others about the issues I'm experiencing with my El Capitan. I've recently bought a dehumidifier for my apartment and it seems to have helped reduce the neck warping slightly. The area below the bridge is still quite severe though.
I'm assuming that you never followed up by calling. Would that be correct?

I understand that you want us to be invested in your current situation. I wish you were just as invested in possibly fixing it.

Really, if you want to build a narrative about the company not responding, you should give them the chance to do exactly that, then give the warning. Otherwise, that glaring lack of an attempt just becomes more obvious wirh each necrobump.
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  #26  
Old 02-03-2020, 01:25 AM
ac ac is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marc_woods View Post
Hi Tof,
Yes, I don't to check online forums very often. The main reason I even signed up to this website is to warn others about the issues I'm experiencing with my El Capitan. I've recently bought a dehumidifier for my apartment and it seems to have helped reduce the neck warping slightly. The area below the bridge is still quite severe though.
A dehumidifier? Something doesn't seem right to me. The composite material should be unaffected by moisture of any kind.

Is it possible you have a counterfeit guitar? Any guitar with a higher price point is potentially subject to counterfeiting in Asia.

You really need to take clear photos and send this issue to Blackbird and let them respond to you personally.

Can you post photos of the issues you are seeing? It's hard for me to imagine this happening to composite in any way. There have been no other reports that I can recall of any problems similar, so it's very strange.
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  #27  
Old 02-03-2020, 09:45 AM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
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Flax fiber will absorb water. I suppose if the fingerboard is phenolic resin based it might be the case that the neck back shrinks more than the fingerboard when the humidity is lowered. Micarta and Richlite properties are closer to the phenolic resin base (the filler fiber is used mostly to reduce cost). The epoxy used to make eKoa and CF composites is a great adhesive but the final properties of the composite are dominated by the fiber source. In eKoa's case, flax fiber, which is not as strong and not hydrophobic like CF.
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  #28  
Old 02-03-2020, 11:50 AM
ac ac is offline
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According to Blackbird's site eKoa is "humidity/temperature stable".

Elsewhere on their site:
"Clara ukulele and now our El Capitan composite guitar have all the mojo hithertofore only found in vintage instruments. It's actually made from Ekoa-brand high-performance, eco-friendly linen fiber composite for all the stability of carbon fiber but the look, feel and sound of wood."

Last edited by ac; 02-03-2020 at 11:56 AM.
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  #29  
Old 02-03-2020, 12:15 PM
Tøf Tøf is offline
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As Jon mentioned flax fiber has a tendancy to absorb moisture, and the relative humidity can have an impact on the fiber/matrix bonding. It’s the weak point of flax fiber composites according to papers available online.
eKoa is way less sensitive than wood to humidity variations, but I remember that Joe Luttwak said it was stable in a wide range of temperature/humidity but not completely impervious to water.
I would guess that in locations with crazy high humidity it would be wiser to stick to carbon fiber?
For where I live, I still want an El Capitan
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  #30  
Old 02-03-2020, 06:49 PM
Explorer Explorer is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ac View Post
Can you post photos of the issues you are seeing? It's hard for me to imagine this happening to composite in any way. There have been no other reports that I can recall of any problems similar, so it's very strange.
Yes, photos! I've searched for any other claimed cases of eKoa failure since this first claimed years ago in this topic, and I'm sure I'm not the only member who would love to see the actual problem.

Thanks!
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