OT: Blackbird guitars

[Daryl Shawn <highhorse@mhorse.com>]

Since we've discussed portability a lot on the list, as well as the 
unrelated topic of guitar pickups that split the signal per string, I 
thought I'd mention my experience auditioning a Blackbird guitar 
yesterday. Blackbirds are small-bodied (but full-scale) carbon-fiber 
acoustic guitars, made by hand in San Francisco. I became aware of them 
just a few weeks ago through this video shot by Henry Kaiser of his 
Blackbird being played underwater in Antarctica (!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCPiPh2sWDk

Carbon fiber is incredibly stiff stuff, and survived this experience 
unscathed. (Yesterday, the maker was giving it direct full-force kicks 
to the body to show how tough it is, which almost made me lose my lunch, 
but it didn't show a mark). It's also incredibly light - the 
nylon-string I played weighs only three pounds. As a guitar, it's 
surprisingly loud, and though the body is about six inches shorter and 
four inches narrower than a regular guitar, it has a great bass 
response, as well as a really unique and clear high end. It's a very 
modern sound, which wouldn't be mistaken for a concert classical, but I 
kinda fell in love with it. Complex chords are really detailed, and the 
whole body vibrates, even the neck (which is hollow - there's a tiny 
soundhole where you'd expect a truss rod to be). I've tried out most of 
the travel guitar options, and this definitely is the one offering the 
best tone, and durability, plus a really cool look.

They offer the RMC pickup system with it, which has an individual 
saddle-mounted pickup for each string. That can be broken out 
separately, and used either in its analog form, or to drive MIDI. 
Especially given its nice acoustic clarity, I think it would work 
extremely well for individual string processing, like dropping the bass 
strings down an octave.

The guitar ain't cheap - with the RMC, about $2000 US - but if I'm lucky 
I may figure out a way to acquire one for my travels.

http://www.blackbirdguitar.com

gear on,

Daryl Shawn
www.swanwelder.com
www.chinapaintingmusic.com