[casualmusic]

*revisit*


Excuse me please: slow day, cabin fever from COVID restrictions, new comment from Blue4now, and I now have an H-DR/T with N2 neck.


** À couple years ago ago I was worried by comments by AGFers who called the N2 neck clunky. Yikes.

So I went back to the local RainSong dealer to measure them and compare to other similar price guitars. CH-WS, CH-OM, CH-PA vs Gibson J-15, Martin D16, Taylor 3xx.

To me they *all* felt good and about the same. The width, thickness, and circumference measured same enough to make no difference, and were similar to dimensions noted Ted of LAguitarsales in another discussion. So decided that NS and N2 necks are no problem for me.


** Then this poll popped up. I'm relieved that I'm amongst the 77% who are OK with the N2. And sympathy for the 23% who can't adapt.

The 77% seems pretty decent judging from discussions on the main forum about rejecting necks vis wide/narrow, thick/thin, flatter/rounder, C-shapes D-shapes V-shapes, tapers, thumb-frettable, etc.


** So last year I got an H-DR/T with N2 neck

My fret hand is wide with short fingers (had to wear size small cold weather guitarist gloves).

The N2 neck is comfortable for me. There was a five minute hiccup when I discovered the shoulder spots. Made a note to not place the thumb on the shoulders - it's now automatic and not noticed at all.


** And recently RainSong reintroduced the thin N1 neck **

N1 6-string and N1 12-string necks are available again and may be a solution for some folks.


** What are the chances of yet-another neck option ?

Contra:
- RainSong is a small company that needs to be very careful
- They are producing and selling their full production capacity of 1000+ guitars to the 77% who are OK with N2. This means that there isn't any real financial penalty from potential customers who dislike N2.
- They sell through dealers who order from the factory, and are wary about proliferation of options that cause customer paralysis. (examples: offer the same price for different sizes; reduced the variation from multiple series to a few series; obscured availability of neck options, obscured availability of sound hole option, obscured availability of tobacco burst and marine burst)


For those looking for a new neck design:
- What profile and taper will satisfy significantly more than 77%?
- Will it replace all necks (N2 long scale and NS mid scale, N1 long scale, N1 12-string long scale) or be yet another confusing option? Which neck will dealers offer as samples?

How will expensive new molds be funded?
- Will enough interested AGFers contribute enough for new molds?
- Will à major vender(s) organize and commit sales the way that Ted at LAguitarsales did a decade ago for the NS molds that made the Shorty feasible?


Cheers
.