RainSong, Case or Out, Storage, Carbon Fiber, Sound Port, etc

[Robbypad]

Hi Peterm,

Regarding your wondering if RainSong made an OM1105N2, pure acoustic with the offset sound hole, no they did not make one.

I am a lover of RainSong guitars and until the sad announcement was aired, I had two at one time, very rare pure acoustics. Once I consolidated into one home, I sold the WS-1100 cutaway, N1, with sharks. It was 1 of 39. I kept the OM-1100 with N1 neck, sharks, cutaway which is 1 of 6 and 1 of 3 with grey CF, the other three being red.

RainSong made just over 13,000 guitars prior to switching to the N2 neck, a strategy I questioned as I find the N1 perfect and it's carbon fiber. Why would you need a truss rod? Seemed silly, but I get it as the truss rod adjustment capability allowed the player to dial in and set it, forever. Also, it became clear it was a good move as the market responded with increased sales over its N1 predecessor.

However, keeping the N1 unavailable for so many years was not wise as the company turned off a share of their devotees.

It is my contention that everyone should have a carbon fiber guitar and or ukulele, if for no other reason than for safe, worry free travel. That is why I bought my first and then second so I could maintain one at both homes in order to always have a RainSong available for travel.

RainSong and most of its dealer network did not use this strategy and advice to sell more instruments.

There are those wood purists, of which I was and am, but I want a guitar that I can leave in a hot or freezing vehicle, one that I can not worry about when it is excessively humid or arid and one that a little rain or bump won't cause tears and diminished value.

I've owned 9 Olsons, 3 Somogyi's, 5 Ryan's, 5 Froggys, 5 Sexauers, 3 Michauds and pretty much at least one of every top tier builder. I have a lot to choose from still and yet I would never travel without a RainSong. I do bring wood guitars to share with friends when I travel by car, but it's a pain to unload and load at every stopover, sometimes having to bring a guitar or two into a restaurant because of heat or cold.

I keep all my guitars on Hercules wall hangers except for a National 14 fret cutaway resonator (very cool with cutaway and 14 frets....National sent it to me overnight when I needed it for the recording studio in mid 2020 while making my 3rd cd, Red Rose)....and my RainSong which gets picked up and played, as it's in the living room. Both the resonator and RainSong OM-1100 are on floor stands.

That answers one question floating on AGF about cases or out of cases on stands and or wall hangers.

Another AGF question out there is what to do with cases when you have no more room in the home. I had them in closets, under beds that added leg risers to, to accommodate the depth of thick guitar cases like Caltons. I built 24" wide shelves, 8' long, two on each side of my larger, taller garage. I now have all the cases and shipping boxes on the garage shelves, except for my RainSong OM-1100 case which stays in the house for quick packing for trips.

If I fly, it’s with the Rainsong, especially if to humid Hawaii.

Now for the fun RainSong acquisitions the past two weeks, and soon to come NGDs. With the sad closure announcement by RainSong, I started the RainSong Pure Acoustic Collection (no barn door electronics for sure....yuck... but a couple have K & K pickups as does my original OM-1100). Already in house are the very last OM-1100 Stars and Stripes with the awesome sound port. The sound port makes the OM sound fuller, sweeter and louder, comparing to a WS body. You are thinking, "he sold his WS-1100". Yes, but also in house this week is the last Black Ice pure acoustic WS, BI-WS1100N2.

Got to say, although differently shaped, the N2 neck is just fine. I like both the N1& N2 necks.

Incoming are a pure acoustic 12 string, N-JM-3100, Baritone Black Ice with K & K BI-JM-4000N2K, pure acoustic Dreadnought V-DR-1100N2, pure acoustic Jumbo N-JM-1100N2, pure acoustic parlor V-PA-1100NS, rare WS-1100N1, another rare OM-1100N1 ..... and one very rare, non acoustic jazz model, a JZ-1000.

Lastly, thank you RainSong and especially Dave Coram, RainSong Sales Manager, for always being available to answer questions, utmost professionalism, friendly demeanor, knowledge of the products and for me being the classy face of the company.

I hope some savvy, guitar loving investor buys the company and markets it in ways not seen nor implemented.

Every guitar owner needs a carbon fiber guitar. RainSong guitars play easily with their superb necks, sound great and are safe for travel. Why wouldn't you want a carbon fiber guitar?

Robbypad

[RP]

Originally Posted by Robbypad

Hi Peterm,

Regarding your wondering if RainSong made an OM1105N2, pure acoustic with the offset sound hole, no they did not make one....Robbypad

A very well-kept Rainsong secret was the options that one could order. I learned about options through Ted at LA Guitar Sales. I don't know if Rainsong made an OM1105NS2 pure acoustic, but I suspect that one could have ordered such a configuration when they actually had a dealership network...

[Robbypad]

RP and all

You said:
A very well-kept Rainsong secret was the options that one could order. I learned about options through Ted at LA Guitar Sales. I don't know if Rainsong made an OM1105NS2 pure acoustic, but I suspect that one could have ordered such a configuration when they actually had a dealership network...

You are absolutely correct. You could have ordered a pure acoustic OM-1105NS2 with offset sound hole..........special order. In my quest to collect the non barn door models this last week, RainSong's Dave Coram verified that.

Only chance now is if someone buys the company...........then I will definitely order one..............and if they do restart, sound port, sound port, sound port as an option.........

Robbypad

[RP]

I'm obviously not privy to the business interworking at Rainsong, but do believe that the company would have benefitted by publicizing what was possible to order. Lord knows, that's one of the things that has led to Emerald's strong sales...

[Robbypad]

RP,

Agreed. Great product and many of us have ideas on how we wish things were done, but we weren't there and don't know all the intangibles affecting the business decisions. They did what they thought best and it is always easy to be an armchair quarterback..............after the fact especially.

I played the OM-1105 25th Anniversary...........offset sound hole, but with barn door electronics. It was very, very nice for the player.

How about offset sound hole and sound port? Interesting to ponder.

Every guitar player should own a safe to travel with CF.

Robbypad

[mikealpine]

I’d have owned an H dread with a cutaway, had that been an option. Love my H-OM, and I have never minded the barn door pickup.