Review of the Rainsong Shorty Steel String - Page 2

J.R. Rogers · #16 12-30-2012, 12:37 PM

I still play my Rainsong Shorty nearly every day... Have written several songs songs on it too. I just love this guitar. I even took it to an AGF gathering earlier in the year to show off the future of guitars.

JR

Doubleneck · #17 12-30-2012, 06:19 PM

Very cool. Do you have any Utubes? Just saw one with the Razo, cool.

riorider · #18 12-30-2012, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J.R. Rogers

I still play my Rainsong Shorty nearly every day... Have written several songs songs on it too. I just love this guitar. I even took it to an AGF gathering earlier in the year to show off the future of guitars.

JR

I can attest to that gathering appearance of the shorty! It was great hearing JRs songs on it.

JR - I will be trying to find time to (finally) post some thoughts and reviews / comments of the Gathering - partly to celebrate but partly to broaden the invitation for next year! Perhaps we'll have a few more CF guitars there.

Cheers,

Phil

frankencat · #19 03-02-2013, 07:12 PM

Man I just played one of these and it blew my socks off. Great feel, amazing sound. I made my best offer but it was too low.....for now. I can definitely see one of these in my future. What a great guitar. I am wondering if they make a full scale version of this?

Doubleneck · #20 03-02-2013, 07:51 PM

If you mean a 14 fret version, its called the OM 1000.

jgillard · #21 03-02-2013, 08:24 PM

Quote:

If you mean a 14 fret version, its called the OM 1000.

Not exactly. The shorty has the hybrid back and sides with the concert top. The om1000 would have the N1 neck with standard back and sides. You would need to special order a shorty with an N2 neck. (to get the same back & side with top combination and neck profile.

ChunkyB · #22 03-03-2013, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgillard

Not exactly. The shorty has the hybrid back and sides with the concert top. The om1000 would have the N1 neck with standard back and sides. You would need to special order a shorty with an N2 neck. (to get the same back & side with top combination and neck profile.

Just as a point of clarification, Rainsong currently offers 3 necks, all of which can be ordered on all of their standard guitars.

-N1 neck, which is a shallower profile without a truss rod, and has a scale length of 25.4", and joins the body at the 14th fret.
-N2 neck, which is a deeper "D" profile, and has a truss rod this is available with the same 25.4" scale length. This neck joins the body at the 14th fret.
-N2 neck with a short scale. This is the same N2 neck, but has a scale length of 24.875", and joins the body at the 12th fret.

As you pointed out, the Shorty has a hybrid back and sides, but the unidirectional top also featured on the Concert series. The only models that Rainsong offers with a hybrid back/sides and unidirectional top is the Shorty and the Parlor. So, it depends on what feature of the Shorty you're after. There are a couple options.

-H-OM1000, this would be a completely hybrid body (top, back, and sides) and would have the original N1 neck (full scale).
-H-OM1000N2, again, completely hybrid body with an N2 neck. This could be ordered with the same neck profile in either a full scale or short scale version.
-C-OM1000, this would have the same unidirectional top, but would have full carbon back and sides instead of hybrid carbon/fiber back and sides.
-C-OM1000N2, same as above with N2 neck (full or short scale).
-P14, 14-fret Parlor. Same Hybrid back/sides, unidirectional top featured on the Shorty, slightly smaller body, little bit less bottom end (in my opinion), but an amazing guitar. This also has a full scale.

The hybrid series is significantly cheaper than the concert series, and the Shorty and Parlor fall in the middle cost-wise.

If you're looking for something similar to the Shorty that will cost a bit less and have a full scale, I'd check out the H-OM1000 or the H-OM1000N2. However, the tone is quite a bit different, because of the top materials.

Doubleneck · #23 03-03-2013, 09:58 AM

I am assuming the top and neck length that makes the most difference in sound. Pure carbon vs hybrid to me is more price than sonic? I have the straight carbon OM 1000 awesome guitar, hard to justify a parlor with this already in the sable.

ChunkyB · #24 03-03-2013, 10:21 AM

I agree that top and neck joint (12 or 14 fret) have the biggest effect on tone. The hybrid material is much cheaper to manufacture than full carbon, so it's not a coincidence that the last 2 models introduced (parlor and shorty) have the hybrid back and sides. The unidirectional top is very well regarded, so they chose this top, even though it is more expensive to make, as the top is more important than back and sides. These 2 new models are still not cheap, but they have made compromises in areas where they will have less effect on tone, in my opinion, which helps keep the cost lower than it could otherwise be.

Ted @ LA Guitar Sales · #25 03-03-2013, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankencat

Man I just played one of these and it blew my socks off. Great feel, amazing sound. I made my best offer but it was too low.....for now. I can definitely see one of these in my future. What a great guitar. I am wondering if they make a full scale version of this?

FYI our limited run LA1-LE which pre dated the Shorty did have a hybrid body, unidirectional top and long scale 14-fret neck, and it was an amazing guitar, but it is not an option from Rainsong. You can however order the CO-OM1000 with any neck option which is also quite an amazing guitar.

For fun here is our LA1-LE:

http://laguitarsales.com/pages/4408/Rainsong_LA1-LE.htm

And here is a CO-OM1000 with N2 neck:

http://laguitarsales.com/pages/4253/...000N2_3195.htm

Tubevalvemaniac · #26 01-09-2014, 11:06 AM

Shorty is indeed cool sounding guitar.
I love other Rain Song guitars, as well and above all their 'standard' 6-string jumbo and and 12-strings (two that I kept, after trying all). The distinction between CF and wooden guitars is quite large and that's what I like about them.
Shorty is bridge between CF and wood (soundwise, as it is still CF guitar) and part of 'classic' CF magic is lost to benefit wooden sonic character.
I would probably pick Shorty as only one guitar to play, but as I have dozen of good wooden instruments, Rain Song provides me with that ringing, nice and clear sonics of original CF guitars.
IMO Rain Song is the king of CF guitars.