Klos

Marshall · #1 06-30-2023, 11:52 AM

Anyone played the Klos min-dread? Looks interesting. 24.8 scale (which I like).

Earl49 · #2 06-30-2023, 12:54 PM

I've played two or three Klos ukulele, and they are nice. But I've never seen one of their guitars in the flesh. I too like shorter scale lengths these days. While I can still play 25.5" OK, shorter is better for aging hands.

djwalsh55 · #3 07-06-2023, 04:36 PM

Hi...I owned a Klos Mini dred for a couple years. It was a nice little travel guitar. It played and sounded very nice, but couldn't compete with the Emerald X7 that I replaced it with. That said, I still believe that the Klos is the best choice in it's price range. Good luck.

Marshall · #4 07-06-2023, 10:32 PM

Oh, I'm just exploring like I often do.

I did find a dealer in Chicago that has a mini-dread for sale. Drove in to play it. It was OK. You're right, it's a mini-dread. More like a Baby-Taylor in sound than a full bodied dread. Nice, but kinda thin.

It has a 24.75 scale which I like. The neck was thinner than others I like, but it was quite comfortable. It played nice. But there wasn't enough acoustic fullness for me to really like it. It didn't have as much sustain as my RainSong, which has more sustain and less punchiness than my wooden guitars. I like punchiness.

The one I saw had a wood neck and bridge on the CF body. It was priced at only $1,375, which is under the Klos website prices.

Klos is also tauting a new model that is more like a Grand Concert. They call it the Grand Cutaway. Don't know anything about it other than facebook popups.

Carry on.

Aspiring · #5 07-09-2023, 09:56 AM

I have the wood neck variant.

Some observations:

It is way more sensitive to dead strings than most guitars. It sounds a lot more plinky / thin on older strings.

That said I like the Enya x4 better for a lower price as far as sound goes. The neck on the Klos and portability and lightness is hard to beat though.

For sound, mine has a k&k in it and when I use that with a Spark Go set so the volume blends with the guitar itself it fills it in quite nicely.

Marshall · #6 08-21-2023, 07:38 PM

Well, in the never ending battle for truth and justice, I decided to try a Klos full sized dread. I can order one from Amazon, and it's free returns (again) if I don't like it. (Like I did with the Joytar ). My rationale at the moment is if it sounds good enough, I can work with that. The scale length is good. The fretboard radius is good. And, because it's a bolt on (removable) neck, I could even have a luthier friend make a new neck for it to my specs, if I have issues with the shape. I did that on my Eastman E1SS and it worked out great.

So I ordered one. It should come on Friday. And we'll see how that tickles my fancy or not.

Problem with carbon fiber instruments and the modern world, is you can't walk into a shop and try one out. The middle-man retail stores are being cut out of the equation. I suppose that lowers the price, maybe. But it means you actually have to plunk down an "order" before you ever get to try something out.

As luck would have it, I'm going to the Fretboard Summit at OTSFM in Chicago on Saturday. I fully expect to run into my luthier friend, Bruce Roper there. He doesn't exhibit with the expensive custom luthier booths. But he does the repairwork for OTSFM Store, and he usually hangs out there with a couple of his guitars for sale. He's the guy who did the work on the Eastman.

bostosh · #7 08-22-2023, 01:33 PM

Carbon fiber is more damping 0f sound.

fpuhan · #8 08-24-2023, 01:47 PM

I thought I'd replied to this thread, but my post isn't here, so either I'm imagining it, or the Internet Gremlins have been at it again.

I own a KLŌS mini dread hybrid. I love it! For what it is, of course.

I purchased mine when KLŌS was still being crowdfunded, and their offerings were quite slim. They didn't then offer a full CF travel guitar, and now I'm not sure I'd want to go that route, anyway. So mine has the removable mahogany neck (with CF truss rod).

Does it sound like a big-bodied wood guitar? Not at all. But for what it is, it's remarkably playable, if a little "tinny" on the sound. But I bought it for traveling, and it excels at that. The only guitar that's easier to remove the neck from is my Furch Little Jane (which I bought only recently). Five minutes to pack and five minutes to unpack.

What I really like is that when I travel, it fits into my suitcase and I can stuff the body with socks, t-shirts, toiletries, etc., and sacrifice little space. Then, I can check my suitcase and not worry about what the baggage handlers might do. It's traveled with me overseas, across the country, and in hotel rooms, ship cabins and retreats in the woods, it's been a great companion.

No regrets.

Marshall · #9 08-24-2023, 09:37 PM

Nice to hear.

Well the Full bodied Kos came today. I put it together pretty easily. A little trouble getting one of the long screws to find it's hole through all the thickness of body. One strange thing when i strung it up the strings were buzzing awful. I looked up the neck and it was bowed backwards slightly. - Strange - I had to tweak the truss rod negatively quite a bit to get the neck to assume a normal relief. But that seemed to do the trick.

Sound is decent. Not spectacular. But acceptable. It comes with lighter uncoated strings I think. I'm used Elixir nanowebs. The neck scale is great for me (24.9). Fretboard radius is normal. The neck shape is a thinner oval than I'm used to. But I think it's quite playable for almost all people. I can probably work with it.

I've compared it side-by-side with 2 woodies and my RS. It sounded more punchy than the RS. Not as warm as the wood guitars.

As an aside, I decided to remove the vinyl covering from my RainSong. It was a fun visual exercise having it on the guitar. But I decided that the vinyl must be damping the RS response to a muted level I was no longer happy with. Good news is the vinyl pealed right off with minimal effort. And there's no glue residue on the top whatsoever. Looks as clean as new. And yes, removing the vinyl improved the acoustic response of the unamplified guitar. Made it more punchy and pronounced. (Duh ?)

So I've got a couple days to decide what I'm going to do next. Options are:
1 - Return the Klos and keep the RS
2 - Keep the Klos as is, and sell the RS
3 - Sell the RS and have a new thicker neck made for the Klos to my specs.

I really want just one un-wood guitar for inclement conditions. But I want to pick it up and play it with no playability difference.

Marshall · #10 08-24-2023, 09:43 PM

PS - Removing and installing the neck is too much of a pain in the butt for me. If I travel with a guitar it's my GS-Mini. I won't ever pack the Klos in a suitcase. It'd be simple enough to do, but that's not what I'm interested in doing. A big part of what drew me to the Klos is that the neck could easily be replaced with a new neck to my specifications. All other CF guitars are fixed for life with what neck profile comes out of the factory.

Marshall · #11 08-24-2023, 09:48 PM

PSPS - I looked inside with a mirror. There's a wood bridge plate glued to the underside of the CF soundboard. (I got the basic model with a wood neck and wood bridge). No bracing. Just a rectangular piece of plywood the bridge pins penetrate. Should be easy to mount a SBT, if it comes to that.

Marshall · #12 08-25-2023, 01:20 PM

OK, after some consternation, I decided to return the Klos. It was nice. but not appreciably better sounding than the RainSong. And going through the laborious work of having a different neck made for it seemed like too much work for marginal difference.

The RainSong plays nicely. Acoustically it's OK. the neck is pretty good, (except for the 20" radius thing). And the way I have it set up with a pickup, it sounds GREAT amplified. Which is the only way I'll play it out. So, for now, I'll stick with it as my inclement guitar. It sounds better without the vinyl covering, which came off perfectly clean. It's not as "pretty" now, but it works.

Marshall · #13 08-25-2023, 01:23 PM

PS again - A side irk on the Klos is the headstock. It's so tiny and the tuners are crammed together so you can't use a winder on the knobs. It's even hard to fit your fingers in there to tune it up. For a guitar that is meant to be disassembled and re-put-together quickly that was a pain.

albirw · #14 03-19-2024, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marshall

OK, after some consternation, I decided to return the Klos. It was nice. but not appreciably better sounding than the RainSong. And going through the laborious work of having a different neck made for it seemed like too much work for marginal difference.

The RainSong plays nicely. Acoustically it's OK. the neck is pretty good, (except for the 20" radius thing). And the way I have it set up with a pickup, it sounds GREAT amplified. Which is the only way I'll play it out. So, for now, I'll stick with it as my inclement guitar. It sounds better without the vinyl covering, which came off perfectly clean. It's not as "pretty" now, but it works.

I just wanted to say.. I am glad that you have kept your Rainsong as they are out of business now.

Marshall · #15 03-24-2024, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by albirw

I just wanted to say.. I am glad that you have kept your Rainsong as they are out of business now.

HA, ha, ha. It's hard to keep up with my guitar comings and goings. I have since sold the RainSong.

My big issue (in my mind) with the RainSong is the 20" radius fingerboard. That's all they make (made). Its much flatter than 12" & 16" radii on my other guitars. I was really having a hard time adjusting. So much so that I rarely played it. And I had to practice on it for a few days before I prepared to take it out for a gig. Just too much annoying bother. - Plus it was worth too much to just sit in the closet. So, I sold it.

I now have an Enya X3 Mini as a backup carbon fibre guitar. It's not really a better guitar, but it works more comfortably for me and it's WAY cheaper.