NGD UPDATE: RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Black Ice Dreadnought

SpruceTop · #1 02-05-2022, 03:06 PM

I just got this new 2021 RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Black Ice Dreadnought yesterday and I've been loving it since. The top is quite flat and even slightly convex behind the bridge and flat in front of the bridge to the neck joint, and that for me is a BIG PLUS and a clincher for buying this instrument--it's not unlike my Martin D18! The acoustic tone is very deep in the bass resonance, as it should be for a large-size dreadnought, and overall the guitar can get LOUD!

The acoustic-electric amplified tone sounds pretty much like the acoustic tone with the LR Baggs Stage Pro Element capturing the nuances and dynamics of the acoustic tone. Is it a perfect analog of the guitar's acoustic tone? No, but what system really is? Then again, it's a really decent-sounding system to use as a plug-and-play alternative to the endless fiddling that some aftermarket systems can induce in a player.

I thought about photographing my new RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Black Ice Dreadnought in the sunny outside, so its Black Ice top would really pop, and standing in a snowbank, in the current 15 ℉ temperature but thought it might give the all-solid-wood-only guitar folks a bit of a startle!

Anyway, after being RainSong-less for about seven years, this is a wonderful reintroduction to RainSong Guitars. I can now once again wear my RainSong T-shirts in good stead and have a use for my RainSong Gigbag!

Thanks For Looking In!

zeeway · #2 02-05-2022, 03:56 PM

Congrats, looks great. Now you have Methos all jealous.

steelvibe · #3 02-05-2022, 04:25 PM

Congrats! It's freakin' cool! I mean we've been talking about Black Ice here for days. Did you have it overnighted? See how we are?

SpruceTop · #4 02-05-2022, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steelvibe

Congrats! It's freakin' cool! I mean we've been talking about Black Ice here for days. Did you have it overnighted? See how we are?

My favorite local dealer got it in just before Christmas and I'd been wondering about it since then. I thought I'd moved on after owning a dozen RainSongs and not digging their sunken-top qualities. Finally, on Thursday, I succumbed to my curiosity and went in to see and play it. I was pleasantly surprised that this RainSong dreadnought has a Martin-like top geometry and it looked and sounded wonderful. Voila, I bought it! Maybe RainSong finally listened to me and others about their concave top geometry? Who Knows ...

SpruceTop · #5 02-05-2022, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeeway

Congrats, looks great. Now you have Methos all jealous.

Thank You!

As a longtime and many-guitar RainSong owner, I hope Methos will ask me what I think about various RainSong models.

jdinco · #6 02-05-2022, 05:54 PM

Congrats ! That is really cool, and the sharks top it off perfectly !

Methos1979 · #7 02-05-2022, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeeway

Congrats, looks great. Now you have Methos all jealous.

Methos is NOT jealous at all! Because - drum roll please - Methos pulled the trigger on his short scale Black Ice dread yesterday and will be getting it sometime mid-week next week!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

Thank You!

As a longtime and many-guitar RainSong owner, I hope Methos will ask me what I think about various RainSong models.

Methos is also a longtime owner of several RainSong guitars and still owns one of their very best! But I'm stoked to get the next one and compare and contrast our two very similar models with the only variation being the short vs long scales. AND I'm planning to grab a (discontinued) RainSong gig bag (I've got a source!) for it as well since I really hate hard cases!!

Is it weird that SpruceTop and I are in Rochester, NY and Rochester, NH, respectively? Great minds think - and geographically - think alike!!

David Eastwood · #8 02-05-2022, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Methos1979

Methos is NOT jealous at all! Because - drum roll please - Methos pulled the trigger on his short scale Black Ice dread yesterday and will be getting it sometime mid-week next week!!

I knew it

Methos1979 · #9 02-05-2022, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

I knew it

You goaded me into it. You practically DARED me. My wife would like a word with you...

David Eastwood · #10 02-05-2022, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Methos1979

You goaded me into it. You practically DARED me. My wife would like a word with you...

Oops. Does your wife have an expensive hobby? If not, may I suggest quilting?

jricc · #11 02-05-2022, 06:43 PM

Congrats Sprucetop! Looks amazing. Enjoy in good health.
Did I send you the Rainsong t shirt?

Methos1979 · #12 02-05-2022, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

Oops. Does your wife have an expensive hobby? If not, may I suggest quilting?

My wife's only hobby is spending as little money as possible. It's a great feature in a wife but it also has obvious drawbacks when the other half is the exact opposite. She was glaring pretty hard. I had to throw you under the bus to save myself...

SpruceTop · #13 02-06-2022, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jricc

Congrats Sprucetop! Looks amazing. Enjoy in good health.
Did I send you the Rainsong t shirt?

Yes, Joe, Thanks, I Got The Cool RainSong T-shirt! I wore it to Stutzman's Guitar Center on Friday when I bought my new RainSong BI-DR1000N2.

SpruceTop · #14 02-06-2022, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Methos1979

Methos is NOT jealous at all! Because - drum roll please - Methos pulled the trigger on his short scale Black Ice dread yesterday and will be getting it sometime mid-week next week!!

Methos is also a longtime owner of several RainSong guitars and still owns one of their very best! But I'm stoked to get the next one and compare and contrast our two very similar models with the only variation being the short vs long scales. AND I'm planning to grab a (discontinued) RainSong gig bag (I've got a source!) for it as well since I really hate hard cases!!

Is it weird that SpruceTop and I are in Rochester, NY and Rochester, NH, respectively? Great minds think - and geographically - think alike!!

Methos, Congratulations on your RainSong Black Ice acquisition!

The RainSong Gig Bag was designed for the WS models but I've used it with the RainSong dreadnoughts. It's a bit of a snug fit but the bag works well for the dreads too.

Yes, the two Rochesters Rock! When I was a kid we spent many summer vacations at York Beach, Maine, so I'm familiar with the Rochester and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, area. Also, Dave Guard of the original Kingston Trio spent the last several years of his life working on a horse farm near Rollinsford, New Hampshire, before succumbing to cancer in 1991. He was good friends with The Shaw Brothers, a name you're probably familiar with?

Anyway, I have a Kingston Trio fan website that has a lot of information and history on the group: The Kingston Trio Place

Play On!

Ken

SpruceTop · #15 02-06-2022, 10:06 AM

I've got to say that now that I've had a chance to play this guitar's N2 neck for a while I actually like its feel. Thumb-fretting of the E-6th-string is pretty easy on this guitar and that is always a consideration for me when deciding to buy a guitar. Frankly, I find the neck on my Emerald X20 a bear to play on when doing thumb-fretting as the neck-width and thickness flare too quickly as I go up the neck. I love everything else about my Emerald X20.