Elderly doesn't carry anymore the full Rainsong line

[gerardo1000]

I noticed a few weeks that there are no Rainsong guitars on sale in the Elderly web site. I e-mailed them asking why, and they told me that the volume of sales was too low for them to continue to carry Rainsong guitars in stock.
I also went on line on the Rainsong web site and I noticed that Elderly is not listed any more as a dealer.
Is it a problem of sales ? I thought Rainsong guitars were quite popular. I personally owned three of them and I find them excellent.
Or is it a problem with graphite guitars ? Is the "carbon fiber" trend slowing down ?
Or it is the competition of Composite Acoustics, with their new affordable line of guitars ?
I just hope that Rainsong is not a brand in trouble. They make wonderful instruments and they are great people which provide
outstanding customer service.

Gerardo1000

[darylcrisp]

I tried some of the Rainsongs once, I thought they felt heavy, the tone didn't do it for me, and I just could not get that intimate feel(or smell) that you have with solid wood.

Now the premise of them being able to travel well and not distort and such made some sense, but I do think in the end a lot of folks who play music have a deep internal feeling for wood-and that unmistaken wood sound that eminates from lightly built, handsome wood instruments. Its something "earthy" that composites just miss.

I'm not turning my nose up at Carbonfiber, I ride roadbikes almost daily and use to race. I've went thru the process of the "natural flex" of steel frames, then the outright power of aluminum, then the comfort and power of Titanium and most recently, the comfort, the stiffness, and the light weight of Carbonfiber. But, my bikes are tools, instruments of hard use, ridden in rain/sleet/snow/mud/heat/cold. I on every so often clean them off but do not have nowhere the care or feeling for them I have when I pick up my Taylor GC7, Huss & Dalton Fingerstyle, or my recent Navarro Flamenco.

I would guess most folks who would buy a carbonfiber guitar pretty much have, and the sales have slumped drastically. Whereas the sales of nice sounding, nice made, wood guitars continue to carry on.

For me, a carbon fiber guitar would never be a heirloom instrument I would figure to give to that special person, a nice wooden guitar would be.

just my 2c
Daryl

[banpreso]

i love hte MJ (or is it JM?) 1000 raingsong i tired! i was a lowden o shape jumbo with a ton of tone fingerpicked. everyone at GC was capitivated by the sound while i played it. if i have a need for a alternative material guitar, that'd be something i'd look into first

[Tsckey]

Originally Posted by darylcrisp

I tried some of the Rainsongs once, I thought they felt heavy, the tone didn't do it for me, and I just could not get that intimate feel(or smell) that you have with solid wood.

Now the premise of them being able to travel well and not distort and such made some sense, but I do think in the end a lot of folks who play music have a deep internal feeling for wood-and that unmistaken wood sound that eminates from lightly built, handsome wood instruments. Its something "earthy" that composites just miss.

I'm not turning my nose up at Carbonfiber, I ride roadbikes almost daily and use to race. I've went thru the process of the "natural flex" of steel frames, then the outright power of aluminum, then the comfort and power of Titanium and most recently, the comfort, the stiffness, and the light weight of Carbonfiber. But, my bikes are tools, instruments of hard use, ridden in rain/sleet/snow/mud/heat/cold. I on every so often clean them off but do not have nowhere the care or feeling for them I have when I pick up my Taylor GC7, Huss & Dalton Fingerstyle, or my recent Navarro Flamenco.

I would guess most folks who would buy a carbonfiber guitar pretty much have, and the sales have slumped drastically. Whereas the sales of nice sounding, nice made, wood guitars continue to carry on.

For me, a carbon fiber guitar would never be a heirloom instrument I would figure to give to that special person, a nice wooden guitar would be.

just my 2c
Daryl

I think there is a lot of truth in Daryl's observations. Maybe everyone should read "Violin Dreams" by Arnold Steinhardt and his life long quest for his dream violin. There is just something in the union of the luthier's arts and nature's materials that imbues a wooden instrument with a spirit that seems to be missing from carbon instruments. So, I can understand why some folks just can't warm up to CA and Rainsong guitars. But, and I've said this over and over, considered as musical instruments alone, the differences shrink away to very small nuances and personal taste. I never thought I would ever find a guitar whose tone I liked as well---let alone better than---my beloved D-35. This is a guitar I selected after months of searching and after playing hundreds ofother instruments. I have worshiped it for over thirty years. Yet, I think my CA Vintager Performer sounds better. It has the rich, D-35 bass tones, but still rings with a clear, articulate treble range that the beautiful boomer cannot match. The Martin stirs my soul, but when I want to play, I reach for the CA.

TC