NGD - Rainsong C-HOM1000N2 Review

[BT55]

Thanks to the assistance and patience of CF Forum users I made the decision to purchase my first CF guitar. Check out my "Whats Up with CF Guitars" thread to see my journey. There were no Rainsong dealers in my area so I went by recommendations and demos on YouTube. I originally ordered a Rainsong CH-OM from MF, almost bought a used Emerald X20 OPUS (Reverb) and finally upgraded my order to a C-HOM1000N2. MF was running a 15% off sale and offered 0% financing. The reason for the upgrade from the CH-OM was due to a few things. After discounts the pricing was $350 more than the CH-OM. The C-HOM has a slightly longer scale, 21 vs 20 frets, fretboard fret markers, a soundhole rosette and upgraded Fishman electronics.

After unpacking the guitar it is as beautiful as it's pictures. It's cold in NY so I put the guitar on a stand and let it warm up to room temperature. I pick my guitar based on the tone I want for what I'm playing. Martin and Taylor KOA for deep tones, Taylor Sitka spruce for anything and Taylor Mahogany for a warm tone. I enjoy them all! It will be interesting to see where the Rainsong fits.

Setup
I was not impressed. The neck is thicker than my preference but I'm assuming that graphite requires more material than wood. The "U" neck profile is closer to my old Les Paul Studio than my Taylors. I'm a perfectionist in my guitars setup. I checked the neck and it had a bow. I used my neck radius gauge to confirm. Removed the truss rod cover (not easy - it's really a snug fit) and the adjustment nut was loose. Using the included truss rod wrench I tightened it 1/4 turn and let it sit for an hour. I noticed that the tuner nuts were loose so I tightened them. The Gotoh tuners are very smooth and precise. 5 0f 6 Tuner nuts were loose.

Bridge Saddle
As the string height was very high I took out my string gauge and the sixth string was over 0.100 at the 12th fret. My preference (same as my 520ce Taylor) is the bass side in the low 80's. After numerous standings the bridge saddle was 0.02 high on the treble side and 0.025 high on the bass side. Following the adjustment to the bridge saddle the guitar is night and day more playable.

Nut
String height at the nut was also high. I removed about 6 filings out of each string slot and that put the string height to specs.

Comfort
This model Rainsong has a slim body. It fits very well in your lap and is very comfortable to play.

Sound
I installed a strap, got comfortable and started playing. The guitars sound is great. Great highs, mids and unexpected bass response. I don't usually play with a pick and the volume was impressive. When finger picking each note rang clearly and resonated well. Everything I wanted and more. I wasn't sure that I would be impressed with a CF guitars tone but I am now.

Plugged In Sound.
This is the most sophisticated pickup system I have used. I dialed in the recommended "Strummer" settings and plugged into a Fishman Loudbox (setup with neutral EQ settings). I'm impressed, the sound reproduction is spot on. The onboard Fishman EQ is better than I expected and the adjustability is superb. I tested the onboard tuner against my Snark. The tuning matched exactly.

Capo
I use Shubb & G7 capos. I emailed Shubb with the Rainsongs model number and noted the 20" neck radius. The rep researched my info. He responded and recommended the Shubb C2K Capo Noir Black (or any of the other Nylon\Classic variants). I picked up one and it works perfectly all over the neck with the adjustment screw well lowered to give it clearance.

Conclusion
Absolutely beautiful guitar and more lightweight than expected. "U" style neck not my preference but I'll learn to live with it - regretfully no more thumb notes. The "out of the box" setup was awful and adjustments to the truss rod and bridge saddle were mandatory. The sound is impressive as all of the notes ring clearly with volume that exceeds the size of the guitars body. Rainsong convinced me how good CF guitars can be. I would say that this mid/upper priced guitar is well worth it's cost. Would I recommend this guitar - Absolutely!

UPDATE
I spoke to Dave at Rainsong. He generously offered to ship a bridge saddle in case I over trim my saddle. I asked about neck adjustments and he let me know that due to their strength there is minimal adjustability. Rainsongs customer service is very responsive and a pleasure to deal with.

A/B Testing
I compared the Rainsong C-HOM to my Taylor 520ce mahogany dred. We all hear differently so this is my impression. Both guitars are very comparable as far as resonance but there is clearly a difference in tone. The Taylor is deeper, more resonant and has a more full sound. The Rainsong has excellent tone but that tone is different - not in a bad way but the Taylor’s sound is definitely more rich.

[kramster]

Great story! Glad it all worked out so well.... where in NY are you?

[BT55]

Originally Posted by kramster

Great story! Glad it all worked out so well.... where in NY are you?

I'm in Peekskill - about an hour north of NYC

[kramster]

Originally Posted by BT55

I'm in Peekskill - about an hour north of NYC

I was born in Warwick... not too far away.

[Captain Jim]

Congrats on the new RainSong! A Shorty was my first carbon fiber guitar, and I had to lower the saddle a couple of times to get it close to the playability of my Taylors. The N2 neck is chunky feeling to me, which made the high action feel even more pronounced. Hope you get it dialed in to your satisfaction.

RainSong's previous neck (N1) didn't have a truss rod, but was more comfortable to me. I don't think the neck had to be thicker to accommodate the truss rod, but I recall reading here it was choice RainSong made, based on customer preference.

Glad to hear you like the tone. Come for the ease of care, stay for the CF tone!

Enjoy!

[Frettingflyer]

Congrats on a great purchase. I use my G7th performance 2 capo on my shorty, seems better than any other I have. After a while I stopped noticing the “chunkier” neck and actually find it comfortable. I play a lot of thumb over the top and flesh fingerstyle. The Thumb over you can adjust to quickly, my hands aren’t that big, but the edge of the fretboard can feel a bit “sharp” under your thumb at first.
As with any wood guitar, you will find some songs perfectly suited to this guitars sound, then need to get other CF guitars for those other sounds
Enjoy.

[jonfields45]

In my hand, the 12 fret NS neck feels slimmer than the older 14 fret N2. It seems RainSong reacted to feedback on the N2 and thinned the profile slightly for the NS. I imagine their tooling expenses make redoing the N2 not practical for them. There should be nothing about the materials that dictate neck thickness, it was a design choice.

[JerryM]

I just received a new shorty from Ted about a week or so ago, great service and people, and knew in advance what to expect when I ordered it. Just a strummer most likely would not notice that much if they play in the first position most of the time, but if you utilize the whole neck and play single string and moving chord voicing you certainly will. The string height on mine was almost unplayable at the 12th fret, like playing on rubber bands!
This is my third, had a parlor for a short time but it was too small for my taste and then a APLE for about a year. That one I set up with new saddle and had the frets leveled and it played perfect after that work but I felt it should not have been needed on a new guitar. All in all though a great guitar, should have kept it but didn't love the color orange and after summer festival season decided to sell it and try something different.
Rainsong is still my favorite for size, scale, and more traditional looking in the price range I wanted, and made in the USA, but I knew it would need setup. Also the Elixer strings they ship with are awful sounding on this guitar, Way To Bright and metallic sounding, first thing I removed and installed a set of Retro's which are good but a bit dull sounding on this, then went to a set of SC Low Tensions and now it's perfect, cuts the brightness and gives it a very mellow bottom. Also much easier on the hands and last for months.
I gave the truss a good quarter turn to take out the relief which was way too much and then took down the saddle by quite a bit to lower the action, one note, if you need a new saddle at any point a std. Taylor is the same.
So like you I am very satisfied with my shorty now but they need adjustment when you get them for sure. As far as acclimating?? for what? these need no kind of warming or acclimation of any kind. Not affected by cold at all.
Another Capo option is the Paige which works perfect on the flat radius and cost about 18.00, can be left on the neck in the case as well.
The N2 neck is fine, after getting used to it I have no problem with it at all, my Martin has a Low Profile high performance which I have found to be the Perfect neck profile for me over any guitar I have owned. Easiest on the hand, I played for four hours straight this past Saturday at mostly high tempos doing fiddle tune leads in my trio, and no hand pain, but this past summer had similar results with the Rainsong. Played consecutive days at a guitar camp and then jams at a Festival and no ill affect. I have in the past had hand pain after long sets with really slim necks on some makes.
One thing of note, when you get the guitar to the feel you want, it's set, will not move again and no more adjustment will be needed. Takes me about 2 hours to set up with string change, truss adjustment, saddle work, check fret level, etc. I take the truss rod cover off and leave it off for a few days, that way if while playing in all positions on the neck I detect a buzz or any other sound that doesn't belong I can just move the truss to give or take some relief. VERY little movement is required, then when all is good I put it back on and forget it. Right now I am at three thousands relief and 5/64" on the sixth string at the 12th fret and no problems. Frets on this one are level, checked with my rocker, so all is good....Hope this helps.
Great guitar once it's set up,,,unfortunately not everyone out there in guitar land does this kind of work nor wants to so many I am sure get sold off due to poor playability out of the box. This is one area where Martin, Taylor, SCGC, Collings, Bourgeois, shine, they use Plek and the actions are set at a factory std of 3/32 which is a good all around starting point so not much is required if at all to play well.
The electronics though I seldom use them work very well and imo sound pretty darn good. I am not a fan of trapdoors but after a while I forget it's even there so it's not a deal. Handy to have if you find you need to plug in to the sound system, which I did experience this past summer.
These are just my honest opinions and observations others may vary.

[NoodleFingers]

Originally Posted by BT55

I'll be following up with Rainsong to request a replacement Bridge Saddle in case I lower the original too much.

I have the "Concert" version of your guitar, and I love it.

In case RainSong won't send you another saddle, you can buy as many as you want. They use the stock "Taylor" Tusq saddle by GraphTech. You can get it at Sweetwater, MF, Amazon and straight from GraphTech for < $12.

[AZLiberty]

Originally Posted by BT55

Capo
I use Shubb & G7 capos. I emailed Shubb with the Rainsongs model number and noted the 20" neck radius. The rep researched my info. He responded and recommended the Shubb C2K Capo Noir Black (or any of the other Nylon\Classic variants). I picked up one and it works perfectly all over the neck with the adjustment screw well lowered to give it clearance.

Odd, I have never had a problem with the regular Shubb or Kyser which are made for 16" radius on my Shorty. 6-strings are pretty forgiving.

My WS on the other hand is a 12-string. Shubb actually custom bent one to 20" for me and it's still not quite right.

I just bought a Shubb L2 (classical but aluminum for weight) and it barely closes enough to clamp the strings.

[MiG50]

I'm glad everything worked out for you! It's always tough to buy a guitar sight-unseen and unplayed, but at least the return policies are easy enough that the gamble is small. Did you end up with a Concert series, rather than the Concert Hybrid?

[BT55]

Originally Posted by MiG50

I'm glad everything worked out for you! It's always tough to buy a guitar sight-unseen and unplayed, but at least the return policies are easy enough that the gamble is small. Did you end up with a Concert series, rather than the Concert Hybrid?

I shaved the bridge saddle again [emoji82] and the action is really close. I haven’t measured the nut but I have a feeling that it will also need to have the slots cut. Just for grins I replaced the OEM Elixir 80/20 12-53 strings with a set of D’Addario EJ15 10-47 phosphor bronze strings. What a difference!!! The playability vastly improved. No loss of tone and only a small loss of volume which is definitely not a problem. It looks like these will be my go to strings for the Rainsong.

[Earl49]

I’ve never tried anything as light as 47-10, but CF guitars seem to not care so much about string gauge in terms of tone. Alloy can make much bigger differences on carbon fiber than on wood guitars, but the volume difference between light 54-12, lights down-tuned, and medium 56-13 is minimal to my ear.

[Song]

Originally Posted by BT55

I shaved the bridge saddle again [emoji82] and the action is really close. I haven’t measured the nut but I have a feeling that it will also need to have the slots cut. Just for grins I replaced the OEM Elixir 80/20 12-53 strings with a set of D’Addario EJ15 10-47 phosphor bronze strings. What a difference!!! The playability vastly improved. No loss of tone and only a small loss of volume which is definitely not a problem. It looks like these will be my go to strings for the Rainsong.

Congratulations on your new guitar and strings!

[shadow714]

Maybe we can meet at Lou's corner store on rt6 for a jam!