Its like a Carbon Guitar, Only Smaller...

[Steve Christens]

I too own a Farallon by Blackbird, used to own their carbon fiber model, and also own a Klos carbon fiber tenor uke.

[Kerbie]

Thread restored... and edited to comply with the rules.

Best of luck, Simon!

[sgavy]

Originally Posted by Earl49

Simon, this is really exciting and cool! Ukulele is my second instrument (I founded and led a ukulele club for 12 years). I have gone through many wooden ukes. My favorite player for the past couple of years is a Blackbird Farallon tenor, built with ekoa linen fiber composite.

Originally Posted by Steve Christens

I too own a Farallon by Blackbird, used to own their carbon fiber model, and also own a Klos carbon fiber tenor uke.

Id love to try a blackbird. They are onto something pretty cool with their use of linen. To be honest, there are lots of materials that have equivalent or even more favourable properties than carbon fibre; but then carbon fibre has a lot more established processes behind it and has an association with high end products. I dont think having a fiberglass guitar would just appeal the same! :P Although, my supplier is going to send me some new materials to mess about with. Ill share the results here if i have any success.

I've actually seen a Klos guitar in person (played by someone else). It had a lovely tone, and their pricing seems to be very attractive all things considered!

Originally Posted by Kerbie

Thread restored... and edited to comply with the rules.

Best of luck, Simon!

Thanks Kerbs!

[Aspiring]

Simon very cool. You mention two layers of carbon no gel coat.

Does UV become a relevant issue then? Or are you looking to finish with a top coat that provides enough protection?

[sgavy]

Originally Posted by Aspiring

Simon very cool. You mention two layers of carbon no gel coat.

Does UV become a relevant issue then? Or are you looking to finish with a top coat that provides enough protection?

I think a lot of manufacturers use gel coat to give either the final finish, or a finish which paint can adhere to better. I do know of some cheaper epoxy resins having issues with going "milky" with UV over time, but that's more an issue with the epoxy not being made to be exposed. But in this case, I found a clear coat that adheres perfectly, and my resin is extremely high quality (and very high resistance to UV). In fact its designed so that the part that comes out of the mould and that it ready for the application. A lot of manufactures claim their carbon is the same as used in F1 cars or aero space, but this actually is the same grade material from the same manufacturer, used in similar processes.

My surface finish whilst being good, isn't perfect so that's something I'm working on next. I wanted to experimenting with airbrushing fades, and then applied a clear coat over that. On the last few instruments I tried keeping the clearcoat as thin as possible, however next I want to focus on achieving a higher quality finish with a thicker coat; and then compare how this impacts the sound.

It would also be fun to finish an instrument with no coating at all, however the moulding process would have to be perfect as any surface imperfections would then have nowhere to hide! :P Worth noting, the material I have used only came onto the market inside the last 2 years, so many manufactures haven't tried it yet. I'm a mechanical engineer by trade, and have pulled some good connections to get some "trial" quantities. :P

[Explorer]

Simon, my main instrument is actually 8-string 17"-scale-length mandola. My ears perked up when you mentioned steel-string tenor guitar, as the original tenor is tuned CGDA like mandola. If you wind up in that territory, I'm in....

[sgavy]

Originally Posted by Explorer

Simon, my main instrument is actually 8-string 17"-scale-length mandola. My ears perked up when you mentioned steel-string tenor guitar, as the original tenor is tuned CGDA like mandola. If you wind up in that territory, I'm in....

Mandolin is something I've had little exposure to, but I've always loved the sound of the unison strings... I was considering a mandolin when I found out 8 string ukes were a thing and thought that would make more sense for me! :P

Sounds interesting. The lines between instruments really do blur when you begin looking at them! :P

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by sgavy

The lines between instruments really do blur when you begin looking at them!

That is what I tell people all the time. Once you have some ability developed on one fretted instrument, it becomes fairly easy to add to that and learn a second. Ukulele is a subset of guitar (four treble strings just tuned higher), as is the bass (four bass strings). Mandolin, banjo, mandola, tenor banjo, etc mostly just require tuning to different intervals and learning different chord shapes. Of course, each is played in slightly different ways too. If you listen to me play the banjo it is pretty clear that I approach it as a variant of guitar.