NGD - RainSong

[RileyKendall]

I received my new RainSong H-WS1000N2 today. 

First observation is that I play just as badly and just as good. 
Second observation is that it’s not a Taylor. 

Even this soon into my guitar playing I have noticed subtle differences in the comfort of playing a guitar.  The RainSong is not as comfortable as my Taylors.  Second the difference between a glossy neck and a satin neck. 

My rosewood Taylor is the most comfortable.  My maple Taylor which has a glossy neck is second.  The RainSong is third.  Maybe it’s I am not used to the last two yet.

So I am not unhappy with the RainSong.  I like it.  I like it’s tone and lack of humidification requirements.   I do not have any buyers remorse and will be keeping the RainSong. It’s really cool looking.  It’s like it’s a futuristic guitar. 

But it will never replace my Taylors.

[Sprintbob]

Your Rainsong has a totally different neck profile than your Taylors and that is probably what you physically feel the most. Rainsongs have a degree of clarity to their overall tone that IMO is called out as being brighter but I do not believe my P12 is brighter than my Taylors. They are wonderful instruments. I hope you enjoy the difference in tonal signatures. Different spices is my analogy.

Plugged in, every Rainsong I have heard is awesome. I was at a Tommy Emmanuel guitar camp and a player with a Rainsong WS series did a duet with Tommy and I thought the WS sounded as good if not slightly better than Tommy’s Maton guitar. Maton is highly regarded for their acoustic onboard pickup systems.

Congrats!

[Mark Stone]

Hi Jeff! Congratulations on your new RS, they are certainly lookers. And they are different! Post some pix!!

I've never seen a Rainsong in the flesh, so I'm unaware of how different they feel. But I know from experience that guitarists can learn and adjust (to an extent). I look at neck shapes and guitar feel as different, not better or worse. I think she'll grow on you.

[TaylorGirl]

I tried out a couple RaingSongs last summer for the first time. I was impressed with their tone and the comfort was pretty good. I can see why people love them, especially with the no-worry CF.

Congrats on yours, we would love to see some pics.

[Frettingflyer]

Jeff,
My WS-1000N2 is shipping today! I have the Shorty though and have found that I now switch back and forth at ease. That has not always been the case as I had another brand of CF that initially felt “better” but I found caused hand pain if I played a lot in one day. On a trip the other week I found a dealer near my hotel with a good selection of Rainsong guitars and I played a total of 4 hours that day on my Shorty and the guitars in stock with no issues.
So the N2 neck is beefier but I find it works well and I notice the flatter fretboard more than the thickness, fwiw.
I have bought CF for travel, which I do weekly, but find I always keep one out on the stand for a quick play. That said, I love my Taylor’s and do not see them going away, especially the 812ce 12 fret which is still the “one” I grab in case of fire(after the wife, kids and dog are saved of course).
I have been blessed to be able to have my stable of Taylor’s, and to have trips take me to LA Guitars and try most all the CF instruments available at the time, as well as to Blackbirds San Francisco factory.
The wood provides a differn’t tone and I find it nice to have both wood and CF about. Hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine.
Pics, Pics and Pics please:)

[RileyKendall]

I do like it.  I played it again this morning.  It has not degraded my playing in any way.  So, the issues I noted are not deterrents or anything that would make me not like it.

And in the case of a fire, I would grab the Taylors first because its easier to reproduce the RainSong.  Once the wood burns, those specific wood panels are gone forever.

OK, pics granted. 

[cc7]

Congrats on a really nice guitar almost worry-free!
I've said elsewhere that my Rainsong HWS-1000-N2 is my main gigging steel string.
In my opinion, much of what is said about advantages of the new Taylor V bracing, (sustain, volume, intonation)
are being handled well by the Rainsong.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

I received my new RainSong H-WS1000N2 today. 

First observation is that I play just as badly and just as good. 
Second observation is that it’s not a Taylor. 

Even this soon into my guitar playing I have noticed subtle differences in the comfort of playing a guitar.  The RainSong is not as comfortable as my Taylors.  Second the difference between a glossy neck and a satin neck. 

My rosewood Taylor is the most comfortable.  My maple Taylor which has a glossy neck is second.  The RainSong is third.  Maybe it’s I am not used to the last two yet.

So I am not unhappy with the RainSong.  I like it.  I like it’s tone and lack of humidification requirements.   I do not have any buyers remorse and will be keeping the RainSong. It’s really cool looking.  It’s like it’s a futuristic guitar. 

But it will never replace my Taylors.

Congrats on the new Rainsong, Jeff.

My first CF was purchased back in 2000, shortly after we bought our vacation home in the local mountains where humidity can stay quite low all year. Not wanting to drag a guitar with me every time we decided to spend the weekend, I left one of my less expensive Martins up there. As fate would have it, one weekend I forgot to put the guitar back in it's case with the humidity pack, and two weeks later it developed a top crack, so off to GC I went to buy a "cabin guitar". Any excuse to buy another guitar, right?  At the time GC was a Rainsong dealer, and they had the guitar I was looking for, the OM1000. What I recall most about that purchase was how the kid ringing me up couldn't understand why I'm shelling out that much cash for a "plastic" guitar. I realized than that most people looking at this guitar have no idea why it exists.

Well as it turned out I didn't leave that Rainsong in the cabin, instead I left it in the back of my SUV so I can play it wherever we go. I soon learned how to play it, (yes, there is a learning curve to playing carbon fiber guitars) and I found I was playing that "plastic guitar" more than any of the other acoustic in my stable and I honestly can't recall when any of my wood guitars left the house last.

BTW, your H series features Rainsongs Hybrid, glass/carbon construction so tonally they are more mellow with more mids than the standard models. The H series are actually closer to a Martin than a Taylor tonally. Folks looking to get closer to a Taylor should probably look to the Standard, or Concert series models. Regarding the N2 neck, it's a bit fuller, but a lot of thought went in to the design and I actually find it more comfortable for extended practice sessions than the original slimmer N1 neck. In fact I ended up selling my original OM1000 because I prefer the new neck.

Bottom line, your new Rainsong is no Taylor, and in some ways that's a good thing. IMO, no guitar stable should be without at least one good CF guitar. 

[RileyKendall]

I have been practicing all week with the RainSong. Thanks for describing how the tone compares. I didn’t play every brand before my initial Taylor purchase. I didn’t have the ear to discern the difference either.   I am developing that ability as I expose myself to more guitars.

I am planning to do a guitar rotation and practice on the RainSong on weekdays and the Taylors on the weekends.   One on Saturday and the other one on Sunday.

Describe your learning curve and how you play it different?  I am just doing chords and strumming so that seems to be the same other than adapting to neck difference. 

[Frettingflyer]

Jeff- I don’t want to speak for Ted, who can answer way better but I will chime in with my own experiences.
By the time I went to CF for travel and semi-retired my GS-Mini with 1 million plus air miles, I had gotten into fingerstyle and found the scale length on the mini too short for some of what I wanted to do. I had the good fortune to pass through LA and visit Ted and play many CF offerings. I bought the Shorty. To me the difference in playing the Shorty (later joined by my Lucky 13 and an Emerald X20 that I sold on) was the same as switching between any 2 Taylor models. I need to pluck the strings in varying degree’s of volume based on if it is a melody note or harmony/bass. Just because a guitar has more or less bass doesn’t mean I want the song to sound different, so I adjust to the instrument as best I can. Just as with my Taylor’s, certain songs sound better suited to one guitar over another.
My favorite guitar is my 812, but some songs sound way better on my 522 or my 414 etc...same goes for my Shorty vs. Lucky13. I even have found some sound better on CF(please don’t eject me from the Taylor forum, see previous sentence).
Now, for where you are, strumming and developing your ear, I would say that when I do strum CF vs Taylor I find it can be a bit “harsh” depending on the pick etc...so I sometimes use the more rounded side of the pick which I don’t typically do on wood guitars. Just to give you another rabbit hole to go down, you won’t believe how differn’t your sound will be just by trying a variety of picks. Heavier vs. lighter and various materials. Much cheaper way to change sound than buying guitars!
I know it is the weekend, so enjoy those fine Taylor’s and you will hear the differences from your weekday Rainsong routine, nothing good or bad, but just variety-the spice of life.

[RileyKendall]

Jeff- I don’t want to speak for Ted, who can answer way better but I will chime in with my own experiences.
By the time I went to CF for travel and semi-retired my GS-Mini with 1 million plus air miles, I had gotten into fingerstyle and found the scale length on the mini too short for some of what I wanted to do. I had the good fortune to pass through LA and visit Ted and play many CF offerings. I bought the Shorty. To me the difference in playing the Shorty (later joined by my Lucky 13 and an Emerald X20 that I sold on) was the same as switching between any 2 Taylor models. I need to pluck the strings in varying degree’s of volume based on if it is a melody note or harmony/bass. Just because a guitar has more or less bass doesn’t mean I want the song to sound different, so I adjust to the instrument as best I can. Just as with my Taylor’s, certain songs sound better suited to one guitar over another.
My favorite guitar is my 812, but some songs sound way better on my 522 or my 414 etc...same goes for my Shorty vs. Lucky13. I even have found some sound better on CF(please don’t eject me from the Taylor forum, see previous sentence).
Now, for where you are, strumming and developing your ear, I would say that when I do strum CF vs Taylor I find it can be a bit “harsh” depending on the pick etc...so I sometimes use the more rounded side of the pick which I don’t typically do on wood guitars. Just to give you another rabbit hole to go down, you won’t believe how differn’t your sound will be just by trying a variety of picks. Heavier vs. lighter and various materials. Much cheaper way to change sound than buying guitars!
I know it is the weekend, so enjoy those fine Taylor’s and you will hear the differences from your weekday Rainsong routine, nothing good or bad, but just variety-the spice of life.

Regarding picks.  I know what you are saying.  I purchased a sampler pack of picks and discovered how different it can sound just based on pick alone. 

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Hi Jeff,

One of the things I noticed back then was that my new Rainsong was extremely responsive. This is a good thing, but it does take some getting used to. Your hybrid model is actually closer to wood as far as how it responds, but you should still experiment with the level of your attack, and even the picks you use. For instance while I like my nylon Herco picks for my Martins, I tend to prefer Ultex, or Bluechip picks with their softer edges for my CF guitars.

BTW, while Rainsongs are definitely quite responsive, they also have tons of headroom, which is a rare combination, as we generally have to choose one or the other.

[RileyKendall]

I have had the RainSong for a couple weeks now.  I still prefer the Taylor neck.  It’s a tad bit more comfortable to play.  I still like my Taylors more. 

[Earl]

Congrats on the Rainsong, Jeff.  I have a WS-1000 that was built in 2001 with the original (slimmer) neck and I love it.  I can play the fuller N2 neck too, but prefer the N1.  The thing about neck "feel" is that is a complex mix of nut width, neck shape, fret board radius, the "hardness" of the fret board edges, and the set-up.

I have been moving over to carbon fiber steadily and will eventually only have the wood Taylor 424-LTD (all koa) as my last wooden guitar.  I will also keep one all-koa ukulele, but I have a Blackbird ekoa composite uke now too.