Blackbird Guitars Ukulele: All Carbon-Fiber Ukulele Rocks
Even though the Blackbird Guitars Ukulele has more of a rock and roll charm than the laid-back attitude of a Hawaiian vacation, its carbon-fiber construction and unique look actually make it more beach-friendly than the original wooden-type ukuleles with which we're familiar. Because of its no-wood design, the new Ukulele can be taken and played anywhere, even high-humidity environments, without warping or drastically changing tone.
According to the manufacturer, the instrument's carbon-fiber construction makes it acoustically efficient (more so than wooden instruments) and ideal for travel. The Blackbird Ukulele has a hollow-neck and sound port at the headstock, uni-body construction, and a large sound box with an offset sound hole that produces more bass, more mid-range frequencies, and more volume than one would expect from a tenor-sized ukulele.
On the exterior, the lightweight Ukulele has a high-gloss, super shiny black finish. Blackbird expects to ship it in the spring of 2010 for an estimated street price of $999 with electronics optional.
Environments
I'm pretty sure that conventional wood ukuleles are engineered for high-humidity environments already. Like Hawaii.
Blackbird Uke
Actually, any wooden instrument is incredibly sensitive to humidity and temperature, including ukuleles. (Read all the temperature and humidity disclaimers that wooden instrument manufacturers hand our with their instruments.) That's one of things that is exciting about carbon-fiber instrument. I play Composite Acoustic c-f guitars, and in the dry, cold Michigan winters and the hot, humid climate of Vietnam where I play and teach; they stay perfectly in tune and I don't worry about them drying out or getting too moist. (They sound great too; carbon-fiber has a wonderful, clear, natural resonance.) I am a uke player also and can't wait to check the Blackbirds out.
Post new comment