Strings for your Rainsong?

[sinbad767]

Hello everyone,
I have a new CO OM1000 N2 Rainsong which is really a remarkable guitar. I was wondering what kind of strings most Rainsong owners prefer?

Thanks

John

[CGChief]

I'm using Elixir #11052 Light Acoustic Guitar Strings on mine.

[Mr Fixit eh]

I bought an SWS1000N2 six months ago. I like it alot, but I found the 'chimey' trebles jarring. I changed out the Elixir 80/20 Nanowebs for Martin Traditional 80/20 Lights. After about a week of playing, they calmed down and I've been really enjoying the guitar.

Steve

[rwskaggs]

I just put DR 12 - 54 gauge Dragonskins on my H-DR1100 N2 and like the sound and feel very much - also have a giraffe bone saddle and it doesn't sound 'Chimey' as much as it just sounds like clear, carbon guitar notes... Good bass with the dread body, and good separation.

One man's meat is another man's poison.....

[JohnnyDes]

I've tried many a string combination on my Studio OM, but in the end I usually end up back with the stock Elixir Nano 80/20s (12-53). The trebles can indeed be a challenge, so I've tried two tricks. One is to replace the B 16 with a 17. The other is to replace both Elixir 12 and 16 with 12 and 16 plain steels from another brand (e.g. DR, GHS). I just buy the singles from juststrings.com.

Other strings I've tried that have promise include:

Thomastik-Infeld Spectrum Bronze (very good, but a little dark for my taste, and spendy!)
Pearse 80/20 (pretty good all-around, but just don't last as long)
GHS White Bronze (pretty interesting actually)
GHS Bright Bronze (my favorite tone-wise, but they die real quick)
Martin SP 80/20 (strong tone, slightly metallic, and intonation off on low E)

I tried a few PBs too, but in general they just sounded wrong to me.

have fun trying ...

JD

[Jamler]

I just scored a 2010 Rainsong WS1000 off ebay... Got an awesome deal.
I've done some of outside gigs this seems to be the goto axe for those.

Anyway...
Dealer sent me a set of Elixir Nano 12-53. But I put on my faves DR Sunbeams.

They're not wrapped, but they're round core, and feel at concert pitch to be
as if they're dropped a half step. Excellent feel and tone.

@JohnnyDes... Interested to hear why the unwrapped B-E strings are a
challenge... I've not experienced that, perhaps its something with the Carbon?

[Mr Fixit eh]

I believe the issue is that the non-wrapped strings oxidize far less. The oxidation and general build up of crud in the wrapped strings dulls the string, so in comparison, the non-wrapped strings are brighter and stay brighter longer.

Steve

[sinbad767]

Thanks everyone for your inputs. I put some Martin Lifespan SP's 13's on and seem to be working out well. Might look into a bone saddle as well.

Aloha!

[pandaroo]

Originally Posted by sinbad767

Hello everyone,
I have a new CO OM1000 N2 Rainsong which is really a remarkable guitar. I was wondering what kind of strings most Rainsong owners prefer?

Thanks

John

hi John,

I am also thinking about a rainsong, do you mind telling why you chose this particular Rainsong model as opposed to other Rainsong models? Sorry to hijack the initial intention of the thread.

Cheers

[3rd_harmonic]

when I bought my JM1000 Jumbo Rainsong, I don't know what it came with. But it sounded good. Still, for whatever reason, I replaced the strings with what I use on my wood guitars ... light and medium phosphor bronze, like EJ-16s. My heart sunk when I played it and I got a terrible feeling ... like I had bought a lemon. A few days later, I replaced the strings with 80/20 and ...... YES!!!! .... this is the sound I love! I now use either coated or uncoated 80/20s. I think I like coated better but I'm not so picky. I have uncoated on now and it's fine. I typically keep it tuned down a half step so I use mediums to keep the action about right without a new setup. My experience.... FWIW.