#16
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So sorry to hear this. Joe and the team are great people to do business with and have amazing products. I hope this is not the end ... but a new beginning!
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#17
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Hopefully they are properly insured including business interruption insurance. |
#18
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There is no way they will replace a nylon Rider, even if the molds were still extant. I will need to find another used one, and I am actively looking. For me the worst part of it is that along with the neck relief fix (required of the early Riders), they were doing a custom modification to make the fingerboard into a true classical fingerboard. That is one of the reasons it was taking so long. Even if they are able to resume production, they will be even more pressed to recover, so that isn't going to happen again. There are pretty much no options if you want a classical guitar in carbon. European options have dried up, maybe Klos which has announced, but now delayed, a classical. |
#19
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A nylon Rider - that is an unfortunate loss. They have always been hard to come by, and Blackbird almost certainly won't replace it. They quit building Riders several years ago, and never even ported it over into ekoa (ditto for the Lucky 13). A carbon fiber classical guitar is a niche within a niche. Classical players are uber-traditional, even more so than us hidebound acoustic guitar players that are generally suspicious of alternate materials. Seriously, good luck finding a replacement! [fingers crossed]
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#20
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The really unfortunate thing is about a month ago I passed up one on Ebay, looked to be in fine condition and was a 2018 build so probably near end of production. I almost bought it but thought, why? I have one already.....
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#21
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It's a steel string, but bry just listed a Rider in the Classifieds. He's a good guy - I recently bought from him.
https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=677335 |
#22
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Steel string so not my thing. But that is quite a good deal for a steel string Rider.
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#23
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I just received this in an email from Blackbird.
“Hello Bryan, On October 28th 2023, there was a fire at the Blackbird premises which resulted in a total loss of all the contents in the building. We are very sorry for this bad news but promise to keep you informed as we work towards a resolution. We will be in touch in the next two weeks with further details once we are able to assess the situation along with our insurance company. Blackbird is committed to resolving this in an equitable manner for our customers. Best regards, Blackbird Guitar Team” |
#24
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That had to be gut-wrenching to write that letter. You seem to be handling it well, Bryan. Sorry for the loss of a special guitar... it makes my stomach twinge just reading about it.
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Some CF, some wood. |
#25
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I feel so bad for Joe and all his employees. Talking with Ted from LAGS he seems to think Joe will back up running soon.
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#26
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Best wishes for you in your Blackbird quest, and for Joe & Company as they recover.
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#27
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https://reverb.com/item/77450892-bla...r-carbon-fiber Might be worth making an offer...
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Emerald: X10 Slimline Nylon, X10, X5 Nylon Rainsong Flamenco Nylon (SN#120) Composite Acoustics 5iM-CE (GXi) Cordoba Stage Enya NexG 2, Mountain Guitar, Luna Tribal |
#28
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I've received an update from Blackbird, they are still hassling with their insurance company with a resolution promised for Q1 next year. I hope they get up and running again, but it won't help me much as they don't build that guitar anymore. Klos is now promising their classical for March next year. I've attempted to contact Leviora but only crickets - I don't think he is active. Not much choice in the carbon classical category. |
#29
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Sorry to hear it, DDW. I figured that it would take quite a while before they had a resolution,. Insurance companies just love to get premiums but are usually quite slow in paying anything back out. It's the nature of the insurance business, I guess. My fervent hope is that Blackbird can come back stronger than ever. To my knowledge, Leviora has been effectively out of business for a while. It's been maybe three years since anyone last reported contact with them here, IIRC.
Emerald can build nylon string guitars on any one of their bodies. It won't be a standard classical form factor, but they can do various neck profiles and widths. The top is thinned versus their steel string versions. I have not played a nylon Emerald, but several folks here (and former members) have reported positive experiences. Perhaps an X7 body would be a candidate. Try the 3D builder and see if you can come up with something you like. |
#30
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Emerald will make a crossover type neck, but not a classical neck. Widest neck is 50.5mm, classical is 52mm. They will now do a flat fingerboard. The price on that baby would be $4615, so quite an expensive experiment, and an expensive bit of gear to travel with. That's the X20, the X7 is a couple hundred cheaper but only 48mm neck and no flat option.
The Rider also has a 50mm neck, with a 16mm radius fingerboard. What Blackbird was doing for me when the shop burned was replacing the fingerboard with a new one, 52mm width, flat fingerboard. I might even get ambitious enough to try this on a replacement Rider. I think I have the equipment and probably the skill to do it, but no experience in fretwork. A Micarta fingerboard is only $20, so I could afford screw several up. Only challenging part would be removing the old one, a little heat and a lot of care I think, is the way they do it. |