Pulling trigger: Rainsong A-WS

[Doubleneck]

It would be cool to get an A-B on Rainsong and CA. My experience was years ago and there is no dealer even close around here. I bought my CA used on Ebay just because of my experience playing the CA's in the one music shop a while ago. I have the CA X parlor and am sold on composites, next would like to look at a jumbo or 12 string. Let us know what are your impressions when you go on your trip. Though confusing we are lucky we have some choices for composites.
Steve

[jastevens]

I have a WS1000 and simply can't say enough good things about it.
-never goes out of tune unless the strings are shot
-isn't effected by temp / humidity
-don't have to baby it.
-projects like crazy unplugged
-sounds great plugged in to (mine is the later version w/ the LR Baggs p/u)

if something were to happen to it, i would immediately replace it with the same thing.

it's pretty much the only guitar i play these days.
since i don't have to worry about temp/humidity, it is the one that stays on the stand in my apt.... always at the ready. and it's the one i always take for gigs for all the same reasons.

that all being said...
you mentioned the A-WS1000
this is not the same animal
not a bad instrument per-se, but here are some observations:
-the A-WS1000 is quite a bit heaver
-the soundboard is much thicker
-not nearly as loud unplugged
-the neck is bolt-on as opposed to glued (seems to effect sustain negatively)
-only comes with a gig-bag instead of a hard case
-fit and finish not as nice

on rainsong vs ca guitars:
i did have a chance to do a full a/b on a few CAs and RSs a while back (before CA's plant retooling)
as a general observation i would have to say that the Rainsongs have a more modern, clear, crisp (think taylor) sound, while the CAs seem to have a darker, more vintage sound.
while neither guitar sounded just like wood, i would say the CAs sounded more like wood than the RS.

i would love to try out one of the new CA GX performer models... i'm thinking it might end up replacing my 414

[Doubleneck]

I would agree that the CA - GX could be the brand new guitar that may be the one all will be compared to. I know that they had a couple at NAMM this year but I am not seeing them in the online stores yet. I say this not really knowing but I have the X which is the parlor version of this larger guitar. I just have to believe this one with take it to the next level. Also had an Adamas guitar lover who was at NAMM, say that it was very good and he really does not like CA.
Steve

[Rascalcurve]

Great..someone is inducing a GAS attack on me.

Anyone have a link to the guitars? I'll do a search but just wondered if there are any direct links?

[tholmes]

Originally Posted by JoeInLex

HELP!!!!

Anyone out there have either Composite Acoustics or Rainsong guitars?? PLEASE tell me your experience with them. There's just something about the crisp sound, level of technology, playability, and the absolute lack of worry with respect to temperature and humidity, that has drawn me to them. Yes they aren't wood and they do sound 'different' but they sound good though. Only reason for selecting a Rainsong model A-WS is that I can get one for a Very good price from a dealer friend of mine.

I'd highly appreciate any feedback.

Joe- I have the exact model that you're looking at - Rainsong A-ws1000. My wife bought it for me last year on my birthday . I honestly had some misgivings upon receiving the guitar, it was sorta muted sounding and didn't really ring out like I expected. The first thing I did was dump the Elixir strings and put on a set of uncoated PBs. WOW! What a difference! All the clear, bell-like sounds I'd been hearing about came through loud and clear.

The advantages of a composite guitar when travelling are obvious. No worries about humidity and cold temps. Although I wouldn't subject it to extreme heat, mine survived an 8 hr. trip in the trunk of the car wrapped in a blanket with zero ill effects. And this was in a Kansas summer. It's also the guitar that stays out on a stand at home.

It's also become my main stage guitar. Plugged in sound is great and the electronics are versatile and easy to use. I especially appreciate the built-in tuner and notch filter.

Tom

[SongwriterFan]

Originally Posted by Rascalcurve

Great..someone is inducing a GAS attack on me.

Anyone have a link to the guitars? I'll do a search but just wondered if there are any direct links?

http://www.compositeacoustics.com

[grantgsc]

I owned a dreadnaught. It was a tremendous guitar. Huge sound. I lusted after a jumbo for quite a while... Almost completely care free. I travel from school to school and teach, and I never worried in the winter about carrying it in the cold, or leaving it in my trunk. The heat of summer was another story. I wouldn't subject any guitar to car level heat. Like a dough-head, I sold it. It was a cool conversation piece, and sounded great unplugged and plugged in. I would definately buy another one---someday.

[PTL]

I may just have to sell off one of my acoustics for one of these.....

Anyways, can anyone PM me as to which CA vendor is most aggressive in pricing?

Thanks,
PTL

[JoeInLex]

Heck, if you find out......... tell me...... Always willing to save a few bucks.....


In 'lovely' Los Angeles this week and will be visiting a few vendors tomorrow through Thursday. I look forward to this like I can not begin to describe. Thank you folks for making my thoughts about buying a graphite guitar feel like the correct thing to do.

Take care folks.

[SongwriterFan]

Originally Posted by PTL

I may just have to sell off one of my acoustics for one of these.....

Anyways, can anyone PM me as to which CA vendor is most aggressive in pricing?

I don't know who's got the best prices, but you can't buy from a nicer guy than Danny at AcousticProMusician. I think you'll find his prices very competitive, though.

http://acousticpromusician.com/ca_inv.htm

http://acousticpromusician.com/PDF%2...PRICE_LIST.pdf

[Doubleneck]

From the post above, this is the first price I have seen on the new GX. My fears are realized, around three grand. Bought my used X for $1250. Looks like I will be playing it a while longer.
Steve

[Doubleneck]

Wasn't someone going to go on a business trip and do an A - B with Rainsong and CA?
Steve

[JoeInLex]

Doh!!!

Just got home about a couple of hours ago. Got online and read the last message. Whoops!!

Here goes:

I had the honor and the privilege of testing the wonderful options available in the composite guitar world this week. In all, I probably spent about 5 - 6 hours trying guitars out. First and foremost let me mention something that I heard from a sales guy concerning Composite Acoustics. Supposedly they last year (previous year?) brought in a consulting company to help them make guitars more efficiently and with even better quality. You know the old story, bring in experts, hope to make everything better, wind up making things worse. Well, getting to the point, the company was nearly at the point of bankruptcy as a result of changes not working as expected and several issues. They significantly raised the prices on their guitars to a point where the Rain Song guitars look like a bargain to me. Also the hurricane that hit the Gulf Coast region supposedly had a significant effect on them and their getting their material needs satisfied. If anyone has the correct or more info concerning the situation, please post....

Getting onto the test drives:

CA models:

X - Smallish guitar along the lines of an OM / folk size guitar with much more slim a depth. It's like half the depth of a normal acoustic. Unplugged, you can probably imagine, was not significantly loud. Playing fingerstyle, the crispness / clarity of the sound was terrific albeit a little unique from the standpoint of sounding more metallic from the strings. Playing softly or plucking the guitar responded quite well. The depth of the guitar took some getting used to since I am more used to throwing my arm over a guitar as opposed to laying it on the guitar. Played it in a classical position and had a wonderful time with it. Flatpicking and strumming, no matter how hard, the guitar withstood it without any issue. The overall sound was VERY balanced to my ear ala Larrivee OM. I'd get the guitar. Plugged in sound was incredible. Closing your eyes and just listening, you'd never know that its not a wooden guitar. Their modeling of a wood sound is great. From the standpoint of looks, the guitar is very unique looking in that the cutaway is very unique. You can tell that the guitar is very sturdy. My only disappointment was with the way the fretboard looked in that it looked like it was well used and somewhat worn in varied locations. The rest of the guitar didn't show the slightest bit of not being totally new. These guitars are light, sturdy, and in my opinion, beautiful in their uniqueness. The neck is very fast and feels great to me moving quickly from place to place. It's a narrow V shape that feels great in my hand. I don't remember whether there was any significant neck radius present. Nut width was 1.75" and the bridge string spacing was 2.25". Tusq everything. Elixir nanos sound great. Yet, probably any decent set of strings couldn't hurt the sound.

Vintage and Legacy - General - Were also beautifully made instruments and a lot of what I wrote above holds true here. The differences mainly were in size and shape. Of course, these two models are their versions of dreadnoughts.

Vintage - Sounds more like a bluegrass guitar / Martin-esque D-28 sound to me having very noticeable base in comparison to the Legacy. The Legacy excelled at balance in sound with the midrange being the best that I have heard in a dreadnought. Enjoyed the Vintage more in that it reminded me of an older Martin from the mid-20th century. Although that written, the Legacy seemed to be the more versatile sounding guitar in that I felt it could sound better in more types of play than the vintage. Would I buy either........... if I have another dread have major issues again, probably. It has LR Baggs I mix electronics.

Legacy - Has Fishman electronics and like I wrote, a more balanced plugged sound.


RainSong:

General comments......... I like the look and feel of the Composite Acoustic models more. They seem to me at least to be better thought out and worth the money. The Rain Song models seem more brash and average. Their models look like normal guitar shapes (although with very unique colors - almost too Art & Lutherie for my taste). The comment concerning the fretboard does not hold true to the extent witnessed on the CA's. Wonder why...... The necks are also 1.75" but their scale is just a little shorter at 25.4(?).... I enjoyed the sound of the LR Baggs units and their simplicity in changing the sound to where you want. Tusq nut, saddle, bridgepins (as above). All the Rain Song guitars also show exceptional attention to detail / quality.

OM1000 - Similar to the X. Funny how different they sound from one another. These are very crisp as well but sound even more defined. You can hear a clarity in each note that is better then the X. The body size is somewhat bigger than the X and sounds louder unplugged. Felt it to be a more well rounded small guitar yet didn't really appreciate it. Something about its look and feel didn't make me as comfortable as with the X. I guess that I just couldn't justify the guitar cost in my mind. Can't really say anything else 'bad'.

WS-1000 - Didn't feel like a Dreadnought nor a Grand Auditorium; somewhere in between. Feels great. This, in my opinion, is their versatile model. Just sounded great for most everything I threw at it. Wish that I was a better player at each type of play so as to properly put the guitar through its paces. It was definitely a better guitar than I am a player (as can be written about the Legacy as well). Very loud guitar with excellent bass response to match its terrific trebles. For a "GA", the clarity of the notes was exceptional. RainSong did a great job with this guitar.

A-WS1000 - Cheaper version of the WS1000. Very much like the above although the sound was a little less refined. Changed the strings......... wasn't the strings. Again, very nice as per the WS-1000. These guys have a truss rod while everything else doesn't. Maybe they saved some money by doing this and thus provided a more approachable guitar. Very light. Bolt on neck as opposed to a solid body. Sound was a little less loud overall. Comes with gig bag. Horrible looks for the ones other the the "black". This was the best looking of their guitars in my opinion. Yes sound is the most important thing but man, you need to enjoy the look of the guitar as well. Cheaper electronics; Fishman; don't feel that it suited the guitar any near as well as the Baggs.

JM1000 - Hold on to something when you play this thing. Otherwise you may be vibrated right off of your chair. L-O-U-D!! Very comfortable. Very nice. Huge size. Almost too big. If you want to compete against a jet again exhaust, you'd win. Fun to play though. Kept having people turn and look at me. Didn't do anything than strum and flatpick the hell out of it. Left tired. FUN. FUN. Wouldn't get it though, just to limiting a sound.

DR1000 - Their dreadnought!!! BIG. LOUD. POWERFUL. CLEAR. Felt that it competes admirably with all my present guitars as well as most every other guitar that I have played (exception: Bourgeois Vintage). Buy it for performing. Felt like this thing could withstand a bomb blast and still be one of the most playable guitars.

Hopefully I haven't butchered any of the details / comments. Tried to take some notes. Overall, graphite guitars are what I will next purchase. I enjoyed the feeling of having something substantial in my hands. These guitars all felt sturdy and like they would last. The feeling of being able to just put the darn thing on a guitar stand and letting the rain nail it or letting it out in a desert (albeit out of the sun) WITHOUT any issues was a relief. A friend of mine has a few very expensive guitars. He collect vintage models. He loves those things. YET you can feel / see his fear periodically concerning how the guitars are. With these darn guitars, short of a flame thrower or laying the things on a burner, you wouldn't have to worry. Yes the sound IS NOT WOOD, yet the sound is very enjoyable and unique. Just like there is a "Martin" and a "Taylor" signature sound, these guys have their own. From the standpoint of which manufacturer makes the better products, I felt CA does. I like their designs because they match the newness of the materials. The RainSongs are the more traditional (except for the crazy colors)

So which am I going to buy......... I'm going for the A-WS1000 Black. Felt like it was a great bang for the buck. I play mostly unplugged. This guitar will be my newest travel model while on business. Assuming I continue to enjoy the sound / feel / etc. I'll probably get the DR1000 or the Legacy within one or two years. Lean towards the Legacy because of the looks and more vintage sound but man that DR1000 is nice.

My fingers are tired............ good night...

[Doubleneck]

Thank you Joe, what an awesome job of bringing back a comparison. Your comments on the CA fretboard is interesting. I have the old factory version and have not had that issue. They told me that they did changed the fingerboard composite that they used on the newer version. They shut down the factory for well over a year, I was assuming that something beyond retooling was going on. The financial strain of a year down would be amazing. I just hope that they continue and they don't price themselves out of the market. There new GX which is the deeper bowl version of the X is just starting to get be made. But the street price is close to 3 g's.
Steve

[laughingskunk]

Thanks for the reviews, Joe. I also wondered what was going on with CA as a company. Especially with them closing down for such a period to retool. Things have definitely changed. When I purchased my CA Bluegrass it was over $600 less than what they are charging now. In fact they used to have prices posted on their website which it appeared all the dealers paid attention too. Mine was bought through Elderly. Mine also had locking tuners, which makes changing strings a breeze. I guess made they went to Gotohs for the more traditional look. Now Rainsong and CA are very similar in price. That is except for the advanced series Rainsongs. It was interesting that you gave them thumbs up. I have been thinking about checking them out due to the smaller body size and lower price. It nice to see the various players in the composite market, now including Emerald. Patrick