Excellent comparison. I’ve handled both of them, but never at the same time. Both are super cool. In my mind, it seems like the Klōs is more rugged. Do you think my thinking is wrong?
I think they are both just as rugged; due to the price point, I think there is a touch more mental “headroom” about taking the Klōs to a gig or camping than a Blackbird that can cost $500 to $1500 more.
The Klōs is gloss, the Blackbird satin. The materials themselves don’t really make for a different feel beyond the finish as the gloss is more slippery.
Wow - I knew you really liked the Klos Full Carbon Concert, but I didn't think you would find it to be the equal of your beloved Clara! Like you I love the carbon fiber/Ekoa instruments, and just wish they hadn't gotten quite so expensive.
I’ll never get rid of the Clara. But now the Klōs might be the model I have a high and low G model of. Maybe even a DGBE Baby Baritone? But I have to win Friday’s MegaMillions lottery first.
The Blackbird is 12 to the body and the Kloss is 14 to the body. My preference is 12 to the body. This is likely because my main player is a 12 to the body concert. I also play soprano more often than tenor which is also 12 to the body. Thanks for your review. Still hard for me to decide. However, after my experience of buying a Martin OXK Concert new online See my comment on that review). I wouldn't buy either without physically playing and inspecting what I am buying first. Unfortunately, I cannot do that where I live in Australia. I will make do with my cheap Kala (Low G) concert and my more expensive Maton (High G) until I travel to a country where I could find one in a store. Thankyou Sir. I should add that Kloss did offer a 30 day money back guarantee, but I would really like to compare them. One other point is how maintenance and repairable these ukuleles are for experienced luthiers. Currently, they aren't.
My own playing isn't really impacted by the number of frets to the body or even if there is a cutaway; knowing that many sopranos only have 12 frets, when I arrange music, I try to keep my arrangements within the first twelve frets, though I am very aware of arrangements that require 15. You have a good point with luthiers--is reparability/adjustment a concern (other than adjusting the saddle)? If you need serious work, you'll have to return it to the manufacturer, where, in theory, any luthier that does good work could repair a wooden ukulele (not so sure about laminate). I think part of what you buy with these is the idea that you won't need those other luthier services, as they should come perfectly set up and be resilient to any condition, other than complete destruction of the body or neck, which would necessitate the replacement of the entire instrument. And then perhaps some kind of instrument insurance is a good idea? But even at the cost of these instruments, they're still less than "equivalent" guitars by thousands of dollars. I'm not saying they are low cost purchases...but relatively speaking, it is amazing what we can buy for far less than many other instruments.
An interesting review. To my ear too the Klos sounded richer, the Clara brighter with more presence. The Klos sound is like a koa K brand of a comparable price. Can’t see why the Clara is so costly. At the $3000 level it fits between the lower priced K brands and the much higher priced custom brands where there is much less competition. At its base level it is solidly in the midst of some very nice models from very reputable brands that I think sound better. A real life demo might prove me wrong but I doubt it. Thanks for the review.
I agree with your summary. The Blackbird likely costs more as the material is proprietary, whereas carbon fiber is not…and they also have the market cornered…not to mention being located in California where it seems twice as expensive to just live. I don’t know how the majority of people survive there!
If you like the Clara, you'd better snap one up because the Blackbird factory burned down last October. Everything was lost. We don't know if Joe Luttwak is going to rebuild or not.
Excellent comparison.
I’ve handled both of them, but never at the same time. Both are super cool.
In my mind, it seems like the Klōs is more rugged. Do you think my thinking is wrong?
I think they are both just as rugged; due to the price point, I think there is a touch more mental “headroom” about taking the Klōs to a gig or camping than a Blackbird that can cost $500 to $1500 more.
@@UkeStuff thanks for the info!
Thank you for this comparison! Would you be willing to talk about the feel of the two different materials, especially the texture of the necks?
The Klōs is gloss, the Blackbird satin. The materials themselves don’t really make for a different feel beyond the finish as the gloss is more slippery.
@@UkeStuff Thank you!
Totally agree. I also play guitar. High quality ukuleles are cheap relative to other instruments. Thankyou.
Wow - I knew you really liked the Klos Full Carbon Concert, but I didn't think you would find it to be the equal of your beloved Clara! Like you I love the carbon fiber/Ekoa instruments, and just wish they hadn't gotten quite so expensive.
I’ll never get rid of the Clara. But now the Klōs might be the model I have a high and low G model of. Maybe even a DGBE Baby Baritone?
But I have to win Friday’s MegaMillions lottery first.
Thankyou. Great review. Do you have any thoughts about where the neck joins the body?
For which model?
The Blackbird is 12 to the body and the Kloss is 14 to the body. My preference is 12 to the body. This is likely because my main player is a 12 to the body concert. I also play soprano more often than tenor which is also 12 to the body. Thanks for your review. Still hard for me to decide. However, after my experience of buying a Martin OXK Concert new online See my comment on that review). I wouldn't buy either without physically playing and inspecting what I am buying first. Unfortunately, I cannot do that where I live in Australia. I will make do with my cheap Kala (Low G) concert and my more expensive Maton (High G) until I travel to a country where I could find one in a store. Thankyou Sir. I should add that Kloss did offer a 30 day money back guarantee, but I would really like to compare them. One other point is how maintenance and repairable these ukuleles are for experienced luthiers. Currently, they aren't.
My own playing isn't really impacted by the number of frets to the body or even if there is a cutaway; knowing that many sopranos only have 12 frets, when I arrange music, I try to keep my arrangements within the first twelve frets, though I am very aware of arrangements that require 15.
You have a good point with luthiers--is reparability/adjustment a concern (other than adjusting the saddle)? If you need serious work, you'll have to return it to the manufacturer, where, in theory, any luthier that does good work could repair a wooden ukulele (not so sure about laminate). I think part of what you buy with these is the idea that you won't need those other luthier services, as they should come perfectly set up and be resilient to any condition, other than complete destruction of the body or neck, which would necessitate the replacement of the entire instrument.
And then perhaps some kind of instrument insurance is a good idea?
But even at the cost of these instruments, they're still less than "equivalent" guitars by thousands of dollars. I'm not saying they are low cost purchases...but relatively speaking, it is amazing what we can buy for far less than many other instruments.
An interesting review. To my ear too the Klos sounded richer, the Clara brighter with more presence. The Klos sound is like a koa K brand of a comparable price. Can’t see why the Clara is so costly. At the $3000 level it fits between the lower priced K brands and the much higher priced custom brands where there is much less competition. At its base level it is solidly in the midst of some very nice models from very reputable brands that I think sound better. A real life demo might prove me wrong but I doubt it. Thanks for the review.
I agree with your summary. The Blackbird likely costs more as the material is proprietary, whereas carbon fiber is not…and they also have the market cornered…not to mention being located in California where it seems twice as expensive to just live. I don’t know how the majority of people survive there!
If you like the Clara, you'd better snap one up because the Blackbird factory burned down last October. Everything was lost. We don't know if Joe Luttwak is going to rebuild or not.
I was looking for more information, but they seem to still be taking orders for instruments.