Rainsong OM model curiosity

[gwandsh]

Not that I have GAS...
Curious about the 2 OM body models that were offered by Rainsong. In particular the Concert style 12 fret with the offset sound hole vs the standard 12 fret OM, both short scale. Anybody played both and have feedback about the relative tone/volume on these models when played unplugged?
Cheers

[Earl49]

I have only seen an offeset sound hole Rainsong (1100 series model numbers) in person once, probably at Rainbow Music in Tucson, and did not get to play it. I cannot really comment on tone comparisons. Their offset sound hole version never seemed to be all that popular.

BTW, your Lucky 13 is from October 2016 when it was finished and sent to me. I had ordered from Joe it back in May of that year, so it took a while. The year isn't super obvious, but "2016" is part of the serial number on the label. I hope it is working out well for you. They stopped making them in about 2018 when they switched from carbon fiber in favor of all ekoa. And since the factory burned, so it is unlikely that any Lucky 13's will ever be made again. I had lobbied a bit to have one made in ekoa, but that ship has sailed. The Savoy is (was?) their preference for a smaller guitar, but I think that an ekoa Lucky would be cool.

[AZLiberty]

Originally Posted by Earl49

I have only seen an offeset sound hole Rainsong (1100 series model numbers) in person once, probably at Rainbow Music in Tucson, and did not get to play it.

I too have only ever seen an offset sound hole Rainsong once. A WS model. And it was most assuredly at Rainbow Music in Tucson.

(was in Tucson 2 months ago, Rainbow is now semi-closed, and open only by appointment )

I played it side by side with a normal WS, and thought that the offset version was brighter, and biased a bit more towards treble. This was opposite my expectations, as the physics of resonators would indicate that offset soundholes should bias towards bass.

[Earl49]

I visited Tucson last May but had a full schedule that day. "By appointment only" makes it tough to spontaneously visit a store when traveling, and it was three visits ago -- maybe seven years -- that we were last able to just walk in.

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by gwandsh

...Curious about the 2 OM body models that were offered by Rainsong. In particular the Concert style 12 fret with the offset sound hole vs the standard 12 fret OM, both short scale. Anybody played both and have feedback about the relative tone/volume on these models when played unplugged?
Cheers

To your original question, since you visited I now own an APSE which is a center sound hole 12-fret, 24.9" scale OM body. It sounds really good and is very comfortable to play. I have never seen the two models side by side in one place.

[Melt in the Sun]

I played that same guitar at Rainbow. They also had an APSE, CH-WS, and CH-OM at the time (and I brought in my X20 to compare). The offset hole RAinsong sounded worst, by a huge margin. It was honky and plastic sounding - not so much from the player's perspective, but when I stood out front while my dad played it was striking.

With my eyes closed I couldn't tell a difference between the CH-OM and the APSE. If I was buying today I'd be going for the former - both good guitars (as was the CH-WS). All were much brighter than the X20, for better or worse.

[AZLiberty]

Originally Posted by Earl49

I visited Tucson last May but had a full schedule that day. "By appointment only" makes it tough to spontaneously visit a store when traveling, and it was three visits ago -- maybe seven years -- that we were last able to just walk in.

Yeah, it surprised me as well. I was in Tucson in November, had a wad of $100s in my pocket...

Guy who owns the Folk Shop across the street said that Rainbow started "appointment only" during Covid, and is continuing it to save money on paying employees (since at this point he doesn't have any)

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by AZLiberty

...Guy who owns the Folk Shop across the street said that Rainbow started "appointment only" during Covid, and is continuing it to save money on paying employees (since at this point he doesn't have any).

I can see that. Many shops were forced into the online-only business model during the plague and have stayed with it since (assuming that they survived). My next trip to AZ will likely be in late April after Cactus League season. If I get down to Tucson it is highly unlikely that I'll be in the market for anything, so I won't bother him. Apologies for the thread drift, as we've gotten pretty off track from gwandsh's question.

Gwandsh, if you find yourself coming through Boise again with the Lucky 13, you are welcome to stop by and compare it to the APSE.

[gwandsh]

Many thanks, Earl. The Lucky 13 is still working great for me, I have bonded well with it. The only future addition to the fleet I might consider would be something like the APSE - I had scanned for them when we were exchanging emails before. Leave it to you to find and aquire one 😉.
As for a Boise stop - one never knows. Our intent at this point is to head from NM to WA in late May or so. Route unknown at this point. Will certainly connect with you privately if a visit looks doable.
And thanks for the details on the guitar's history. Good info.

[seannx]

Bought my RainSong Concert Hybrid Orchestra Model 12 Fret at Rainbow Music, when we last sold at the Tucson gem show in 2020, right before the pandemic hit. Have visited a couple of times since. They still have employees, and you can make appointments to demo specific guitars. Was told the guitars live in their cases, and most sales are online.
Played two other OMs when I got mine. Don’t remember if one had an offset sound hole, but my 12 fret sounded and played the best. Sent it back to RainSong as I wasn’t happy with the fingerboard fall off at the sound hole. Came back with better upper fret action, and is the lowest action, easiest, and most comfortable playing acoustic I have. Very sensitive to the lightest touch with headroom for days.