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View Poll Results: What is your take on the RainSong N2 neck
I love the N2 neck 27 44.26%
I adapt to all kinds of necks- never a problem for me 21 34.43%
The N2 neck is the weirdest/oddest neck I've ever played 13 21.31%
Voters: 61. You may not vote on this poll

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  #31  
Old 02-24-2021, 07:35 PM
steelvibe steelvibe is offline
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OP here and thought I'd tackle questions the best I can and based upon my own personal experience with RainSong. These are great observations and worth a the discussion in my view.

Quote:
Originally Posted by casualmusic View Post
** What are the chances of yet-another neck option ?

My guess is slim to none based upon all your observations below.

For those looking for a new neck design:
- What profile and taper will satisfy significantly more than 77%?

Doesn't this question kind of paint with a relatively broad brush? Okay, maybe it's true that 77% in the general populace are satisfied with the neck profiles of the guitars they own. I think some of that is adaptation (as indicated by option two in my poll), and some of that is just luck. How many guitars are sold because somebody loved many things about a guitar except for the neck? I bet the number is higher than manufacturers would like.

Also, my poll wasn't of the polarizing type (ie. is 80/20 superior to PB, yes or no?). I created the 3rd option on purpose because the NS/N2 neck really is an odd neck, and nearly 1/4 of all respondents agree. That's 1 in 4 RainSong buyers and that seems kind of high to me for an already niche market. Martin or Taylor might be able to afford losing 25% of it's customer base, but RainSong? Maybe if they restructure business as they have been- probably a very smart move. They are a great company with great leadership after all. At any rate, it looks like RainSong is paying attention; this is not feedback given from anyone with a marketing bias like a store or a magazine. This is raw feedback from actual customers, a discerning bunch who have voted with their wallets.


- Will it replace all necks (N2 long scale and NS mid scale, N1 long scale, N1 12-string long scale) or be yet another confusing option? Which neck will dealers offer as samples?

Adaptation was the second option in my poll and received the second highest amount of votes. What that tells us is that 1 in 3 RainSong buyers who responded are not typically sensitive to neck profiles. Add that to the "I love the NS/N2 crowd" and there is your 77%, thus highly unlikely RainSong changes their business model. But they did bring the N1 back! That should tell us something; that on some level RainSong is listening. But boy do I wish they would offer one in a 12 fret version and call it NS1- tell me that wouldn't be cool! Would I buy one? How will RainSong know unless they build it?

How will expensive new molds be funded? with the sale of more guitars?
?

- Will enough interested AGFers contribute enough for new molds? They will probably just pay up for a custom Emerald? ouch!
- Will à major vender(s) organize and commit sales the way that Ted at LAguitarsales did a decade ago for the NS molds that made the Shorty feasible? I think that Ted was the brain child behind that if I remember correctly, and that RainSong initially were reluctant. It took some smooth talking by Ted but I bet RainSong is glad they listened to him now.

Cheers
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  #32  
Old 02-24-2021, 07:45 PM
martingitdave martingitdave is offline
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One of the reasons I chose RainSong over others is that the neck is similar to the larger neck on my Martin. Others have been skinner and less to my liking.
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  #33  
Old 02-25-2021, 09:39 AM
boneuphtoner boneuphtoner is offline
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This is an older poll, and I just voted that I'm not particularly sensitive to necks as the N2 works as well for me as skinnier Martin modified low oval/Taylor necks - but I must say the N2 might be my favorite of all of them
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  #34  
Old 02-25-2021, 10:18 AM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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I have an older JM1000 with the original slim N1 neck - and if I could find a way to trim it down to 1.65" to match my '96 Taylor 420 (without screwing it - or the necessary machinery - up completely) I'd do it in a heartbeat...
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  #35  
Old 02-25-2021, 10:47 PM
casualmusic casualmusic is offline
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Onwards.

1. Changes to N2?

a. What minor changes would N2 rejectors like, that will not turn off N2 lovers and N2 acceptors?

b. If major changes are needed what should N3 look like? Is a consensus likely?

c. How should RainSong and it's dealers advertise the choice if different necks? Which neck should be the centrepiece?

.

Last edited by casualmusic; 02-25-2021 at 11:20 PM.
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  #36  
Old 02-25-2021, 11:04 PM
casualmusic casualmusic is offline
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2. How could a brave (foolhardy) person modify and improve an existing N2 or N1 neck? What is the cost/risk vs benefit?

• What is the internal structure and how much leeway is available to cut and splice the carbon fibre? Has/can anyone done an x-ray? Will the splice be strong and sound?

• What mods do you need? Is it major or minor?

• What skills, materials, jigs are needed? Careful hobbyist? Automobile body repairer? Boat repairer?

Cheers.
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  #37  
Old 02-25-2021, 11:16 PM
casualmusic casualmusic is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by steelvibe View Post
OP here and thought I'd tackle questions the best I can and based upon my own personal experience with RainSong. These are great observations and worth a the discussion in my view.
Hi Sean.


I should have begun by thanking you for a really excellent poll.

It gave an clear overview of N2 lovers, acceptors and rejectors.

I'm a happy accepter.

And curious about what minor or major changes would satisfy rejectors?

Cheers

.

Last edited by casualmusic; 02-25-2021 at 11:21 PM.
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  #38  
Old 02-25-2021, 11:35 PM
steelvibe steelvibe is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by casualmusic View Post
Hi Sean.


I should have begun by thanking you for a really excellent poll.

It gave an clear overview of N2 lovers, acceptors and rejectors.

I'm a happy accepter.

And curious about what minor or major changes would satisfy rejectors?

Cheers

.
Welcome! I'm a fan of CF guitars and of RainSong, but these questions are far too complicated for me. My solution? Just buy a different CF guitar.

It's good that we have so many choices, and if RainSong were the only kid on the block that's who I would play with.
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  #39  
Old 02-26-2021, 06:34 AM
mountainmaster mountainmaster is offline
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I could not pick an option. I have the NS neck on my Rainsong Smokey which AFAIK is the shortscale version of the N2. So far so good.

But while its profile does not bother me I cannot say that I love it. The sharp edge of the fret board feels uncomfortable to me.

I never noticed anyone else complain about this so I wonder... Is it just the Smokey where they did not slightly round off this edge? Or do you all have manual labor hands with big calluses which are not limited to the fingertips?
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  #40  
Old 02-26-2021, 08:46 AM
blue4now blue4now is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mountainmaster View Post
I could not pick an option. I have the NS neck on my Rainsong Smokey which AFAIK is the shortscale version of the N2. So far so good.

But while its profile does not bother me I cannot say that I love it. The sharp edge of the fret board feels uncomfortable to me.

I never noticed anyone else complain about this so I wonder... Is it just the Smokey where they did not slightly round off this edge? Or do you all have manual labor hands with big calluses which are not limited to the fingertips?
all the N2/NS necks are like that, its the very flat fingerboard radius.
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  #41  
Old 02-26-2021, 08:48 AM
blue4now blue4now is offline
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I think the perfect option would be an N2 with less shoulder, so more of a medium C, throw in more radius to the fingerboard and that would be perfect for me. But the NS is working. It really was a matter of just spending some time with it. Feels pretty natural now.
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Last edited by blue4now; 02-26-2021 at 10:29 AM.
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  #42  
Old 02-26-2021, 09:55 AM
rpmguitar rpmguitar is offline
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The Thalia capo site says that the fretboard radius of most Rainsong guitars is 20", which is very flat as has been mentioned. Is that for the N2/NS only, or is the older N1 fretboard radius also that flat?
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  #43  
Old 02-28-2021, 06:46 PM
varmonter varmonter is offline
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i like the neck on my shorty.
Rainsong really needs to work
on their setups before shipping.
Or i guess i should say they need
to do setups on their guitars
before they leave the shop.
mine was awful. took me all
of an hr to fix it. one would think
they would want repeat customers.
oh well. i like the neck just fine.
but i have large hands long fingers.
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  #44  
Old 04-07-2021, 12:07 PM
rpmguitar rpmguitar is offline
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So my 3 week comparison of the N1 and N2 necks is over. I have a slight preference of the N2 over the N1. I voted for the second choice in the poll, because I wouldn't quite say I love the N2 neck. If I had the choice, I would prefer that it were a little bit less beefy and with the fingerboard edges rounded a bit. Being 6'4" with long fingers, I prefer having more meat to the neck than the N1 has. In the end, I would have been completely happy with either neck, but the feel of the N2 neck was slightly better to me than the N1, so I am returning the N1 because I also prefer the aesthetics of the Black Ice over the Classic and the sound of the Baggs Element over the Fishman Prefix. I just found myself grabbing the Black Ice one more frequently.

Rick
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  #45  
Old 04-08-2021, 07:46 PM
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Methos1979 Methos1979 is offline
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I'm about two weeks into my Rainsong CH-OM1000NS. Do I love the NS neck? No. Do I hate it? No. I like it. A lot. Thing is, these days I'm finding that I'm WAY less concerned about neck shape. Except for very thin necks. If too thin I find my hand tends to cramp especially on bar chords. I just need some beef to create space, if that makes sense. The NS does that. It probably also helps a lot that since December I've been playing the heck out of my Froggy Bottom H12 which has a very flat fingerboard which is remarkably similar to the NS.
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