#1
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KLOS?
Is anyone familiar with KLOS at all? I am contemplating one of there hybrid ukuleles after having ads pop up for them on my Facebook feed, but wanted to get a general feel of them.
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#2
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I've handled the KLOS ukulele with the wood neck. I liked the sound. As I did not need another uke at the time I did not buy. Overall quality seemed good. Cost has gone up since I handled the one I did. Not sure the All carbon price is something I would pay. At that price I would move up to a Blackbird Farallon.
Looks like KLOS has made some changes to the bridge. I remember hearing complaints about the bride being part of the carbon fiber top. Current website photos show separate bridge material. $20 for low g set up---they gotta be kidding-- I certainly wouldn't go for any of their extra's----added costs with low return..... |
#3
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I have the traveller guitar.
I added a sound port myself and I think it helped the tone. I find mine very fun to play they did seem to get the setup right although the spacing is a little tighter than I prefer. Tone wise it is definitely small guitar but decent for what it is. I've heard people really like the tone of the uke though. |
#4
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I like it and I once posted a review for it: https://youtu.be/Xi9kF5Rlgco
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#5
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Quote:
I later ordered one of their all carbon ukes on Kickstarter, and unfortunately this one also arrived with what I considered a poor neck angle. But I wasn't willing to try and sand down a composite bridge, so I sent it back. Last edited by Steve Christens; 01-20-2022 at 06:29 PM. |
#6
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Ah, for a second there I thought you were bringing up the radio station in LA, 95.5 lol
__________________
1980 Guild D25 1982 Guild D46 BLD 1996 Martin DM 1998 Guild F4ce 2005 Guild D55 |
#7
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Quote:
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#8
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I'm going to update my comments on the setup and add a comment on the neck angle.
I forgot everything I did for mine after I received it. It was fun to play to start but I did a fair bit of changes. 1) neck angle. It's an easy two bolt neck that is detachable. Not sure about the uke but the guitars are. This means that the neck angle can get messed up while travelling and you need to loosen the neck bolts and reset it (pretty easy). Also if it does need adjusting it's fairly easy to do with a little shimming. 2) setup. I ditched the stock bridge pins reslotted the pins and holes for a better break angle over the saddle adjusted nut slots made a new bone saddle up replaced the stock tuners with graphtec ratios put my own sound port in adjusted the relief and relevelled mutltiple frets (probably about 15 )(Not a huge amount but enough). I also moved to bluegrass gauge to get more bass. After all that I quite like it although it's a bit boxy for sure and it is very sensitive to old strings. The strings decay gradually so it's a bit hard to tell. I tell myself wow this thing doesn't sound very good. Put new strings on and go wow ok that was what it is supposed to sound like. |
#9
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The necks on the ukes are glued in place, so if the neck angle is off (as mine was) all you can do is sand down the saddle and bridge. If you do get a Klos Hybrid uke I would highly recommend spending extra to get the carbon fiber reinforcing rods for the neck - since there is no truss rod.
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#10
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Has anybody else seen this review yet?
Checking the Klos site, I see that Twin Town Guitars, a local shop here in the Twin Cities is a dealer and they do show it on their site. However, they don't indicate whether it is really in stock or just available to order. I am curious enough about these, based on JP Cormier's unabashed praise of these instruments, to give them a call and check one out. I am not sure when I can get over there yet though or even if they actually stock it. Edit: Having just called Twin Town, they do have several of these Klos guitars in stock and I can go there tomorrow and check them out in person. Tony
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“The guitar is a wonderful thing which is understood by few.” — Franz Schubert "Alexa, where's my stuff?" - Anxiously waiting... Last edited by tbeltrans; 02-05-2022 at 03:08 PM. |
#11
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Quote:
Last edited by Steve Christens; 02-06-2022 at 09:37 PM. |
#12
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Quote:
I didn't get over there today, but hope to maybe tomorrow. Tony
__________________
“The guitar is a wonderful thing which is understood by few.” — Franz Schubert "Alexa, where's my stuff?" - Anxiously waiting... |
#13
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I've been pronouncing Klos wrong all this time.....learn something everyday.
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John |
#14
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I was close but no cigar
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Don't chase tone. Make tone. |
#15
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Today I went to Twin Town Guitars and played the Klos. Though they had both the hybrid (wood and CF) and the all CF models, I only played the all CF model. To me, mixing wood and CF defeats what I feel is the primary advantage of CF - being completely (not partially as adding wood might do) impervious to changing environment conditions.
Anyway, my initial impression of the guitar was surprisingly favorable. I had to agree with JP Cormier that it is loud and resonant. The action seemed too high to me, that could easily be adjusted. I wonder if the guitar might lose some tone in the process though. If the guitar had at least a 1 3/4" nut, I would likely have been sorely tempted to buy it. The 1 11/16" nut and whatever the saddle string spacing was did seem to have enough room to play fingerstyle. The frets are low and fat, which I think worked quite well. As for JP Cormier's comment that he felt this model sounded better than other CF guitars, I think that is a matter of personal taste. I would think those who own another maker's CF guitar are probably used to that sound and would likely prefer it over this model. Somebody coming from a wood guitar would probably like this model because it has a resonance and fullness that not all CF guitar makers seem to aim for. The guitar itself is very plain - no bling and the entire body is carbon weave. The top appears to have three different layers sandwiched together. The guitar is light, quite a bit lighter than either my McPhersons or Cargos. This guitar has a short scale like my Huss & Dalton (probably 24.9 or close to that, rather than like my McPherson Touring and Cargo which are around 22"). The neck is full, sort of like a club for somebody such as myself who is used to Taylor and McPherson necks. It is comfortable though, and I had no problem adjusting to it. My own sense is that my McPhersons seem more refined, both in sound and appearance. But then I believe there is close to $1k difference in price between the Klos and the Touring. The shape of this guitar is like that of a dreadnaught. I don't care for that look and seeing people playing a dreadnaught with the picking hand elbow sticking way up in the air looks awfully uncomfortable. However, the Klos, being a small guitar (maybe between the size of an 00 and a 000) is comfortable and actually easier to sit on my knee without having to use a strap. So its shape works quite well in my opinion. Overall, it is a decent guitar and at approx. $1,999 (essentially $2k) seems to be a the lower end of the decent CF spectrum. I would expect Klos to produce follow-on models and typically we might see various improvements as that happens. If so, I think Klos could very well give everybody else a real run for their money. As an aside for those living around the Twin Cities area, there was no hint of a threat for being car jacked. I parked right on Lyndale close to the shop and had no trouble at all. I have not been into the city itself since COVID, so it was good to be around the area once again. If you do go in, remember that Minneapolis has pretty strict guidelines about masks and distancing, and at Twin Town, they will politely ask you to put on a mask upon entering. Everybody in the shop when I was there had one on. They really have expanded their acoustic offerings since I was last there pre-COVID. Lots of Taylors and Martins and I saw some Seagull guitars (not birds). Also lots of Telecasters, Strats, and especially Gretsch, and of course, lots of really cool pedals. Not good for GAS! What is still weird for me going into Twin Town is that years ago, that was Roger Benedict's shop. He custom built guitars and basses. He built one classical guitar and I owned it for a number of years. I got to know him and his wife fairly well. Sadly, he died all too soon of Leukemia, and sometime after that, Twin Town came in. When I walk in there, I still expect to see Roger come out of his shop in the back, wiping his hands of the dust from his latest build. I will probably never get over that. Tony
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“The guitar is a wonderful thing which is understood by few.” — Franz Schubert "Alexa, where's my stuff?" - Anxiously waiting... |