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  #1  
Old 01-09-2017, 11:40 PM
steelvibe steelvibe is offline
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Default Since this gets asked a lot....

Seems like every couple weeks either a carbonated or non-carbonated fellow player asks the question, "What are the tonal differences between the full CF weave Rainsongs (the Classic Series) and the unidirectional top Concert Series guitars?".

I sub Dream Guitars youtube channel and Al went on a video upload rampage today- that guy was busy let me tell you! Well today he had a Classic series OM with the old N1 neck and a Concert WS with the N2- and while I understand the body sizes won't give the best interpretation of the tonal palettes, it will be close enough. With good headphones I can hear it.

Enjoy



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  #2  
Old 01-10-2017, 03:36 AM
Finger Stylish Finger Stylish is offline
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Sometimes I think I hear a difference, but not nothing stark. I'd say nuances which are slight even for nuances. A live demo would be interesting.
Thank you for the clips.
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  #3  
Old 01-10-2017, 09:56 AM
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Nice thread, subtle stuff.

It would be interesting to hear the two guitars at the same time playing the same music. Such play might well illustrate any differences. That's a guess on my part.
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Old 01-10-2017, 10:29 AM
Carbonius Carbonius is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EvanB View Post
Nice thread, subtle stuff.

It would be interesting to hear the two guitars at the same time playing the same music. Such play might well illustrate any differences. That's a guess on my part.
I did that once with the audio of similar videos. I was comparing a Rosewood to a Mahogany of the exact same guitar. I imported the audio of both videos into Audacity and started editing. I first tried panning one all the way left and one all the way right. It actually didn't work very well. First, nobody plays a piece EXACTLY the same every time, so one side was often out of sync. Second, nobody has the exact same hearing in both ears, so you can't be sure about what you are hearing. So I tried something different.

I left the audio stereo and separated it into short musical sections, part 1, part 2, etc. I would then simply alternate the 2 audio portions. The test was effective. The shortness of each section allows you to somewhat hold in your head what you just heard and compare it to the next section. It allowed me to hear the differences between the 2 guitars, which I couldn't really hear when I just A/B'ed the videos.

If I have time in the next couple of day, I will try the same thing with these videos. I am one that has asked that question in the past, so it interests me.

On a side note, I don't really like the shark inlays. But that CO-WS1000N2T is so gorgeous that it just doesn't matter!

EDIT: I just read in Ted's comments about the different body sizes, I thought they were both WS. I won't bother doing all that work on this one then.

Last edited by Carbonius; 01-10-2017 at 10:58 AM.
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  #5  
Old 01-10-2017, 10:50 AM
Ted @ LA Guitar Sales Ted @ LA Guitar Sales is offline
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Sean, the body size would make a bigger difference than the top material, so not a good comparison. In addition, I will always be skeptical of recording not done at the same time, and definitely skeptical of recording featuring any special effects.

In my experience, the unidirectional top tends to mute, or soften some of the high on a Rainsong. This effect is rather subtle, so hard to record capture, but it is there.
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Old 01-10-2017, 11:58 AM
steelvibe steelvibe is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales View Post
Sean, the body size would make a bigger difference than the top material, so not a good comparison. In addition, I will always be skeptical of recording not done at the same time, and definitely skeptical of recording featuring any special effects.

In my experience, the unidirectional top tends to mute, or soften some of the high on a Rainsong. This effect is rather subtle, so hard to record capture, but it is there.
Ted, you certainly have more hands-on experience with these guitars!. I thought it would be at least a good comparison since they are both in the same room and using the same mic(s), and I doubt Al really changes the mix much if at all.- he recorded probably 20 videos yesterday. I think simply tuning them up and uploading them would have taken most of his time. I can't discern any special effects either and I have a good ear for that stuff being a former electric player.

And if what you say is true about the unidirectional tops inherent on the Concert models and the Shorty models, Rainsong's advertising claims are spot on with both of our observations.
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Last edited by steelvibe; 01-10-2017 at 01:03 PM.
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  #7  
Old 01-22-2017, 07:59 AM
billder99 billder99 is offline
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I own a Rainsong WS-1000 and a Blackbird Lucky 13. I've played a bunch of CF guitars (thanks Ted!). To my ears...
  • There are real differences between makers of CF guitars that you can hear and feel (I prefer Rainsong tone and N2 playability... didn't care for the McPherson... each to his or her own).
  • There are very real tonal differences between body sizes (my WS-1000 is sonically huge, my L13 is sonically sweet).
  • I don't detect much difference in tone with different CF/FG materials and layment... some, but not nearly as much as Maker and body size..
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Now back living in Baja Sur where I started my carbon fiber journey... Bend OR was too cold!
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