Question on Rainsong Shorty insides?

[Archemi]

Hi there,

I just bought a pre-owned Shorty from Reverb but had some questions about what I see looking inside the guitar. Though this is the non-electric model, there are a series of wires by the bridge. Also, the sides look ‘wrinkled’ for lack of a better word, almost like the appearance of duct tape that hasn’t been smoothed out.

This is my first carbon fiber guitar so I honestly have no idea how it’s supposed to be. I’m hoping one of you guys can help.

Here are some pictures:

https://ibb.co/dfYn5pX
https://ibb.co/tYJfFVL
https://ibb.co/pQHqM9s

Thanks in advance!

[BlueStarfish]

The first picture looks like somebody installed a K&K passive pickup on an aftermarket basis.

[casualmusic]

Originally Posted by Archemi

Also, the sides look ‘wrinkled’ for lack of a better word, almost like the appearance of duct tape that hasn’t been smoothed out.

https://ibb.co/tYJfFVL

Hi Archemi

The Shorty is a very nice guitar.

My newly arrived 2018 Rainsong H-DR/T has the same wrinkly unevenly applied layer on the insides. Wish it were tidier but not a big deal.

I'm guessing that in our H Series guitars it's the fibreglass layer. H indicates carbon/fibreglass hybrid, and the Shorty was later renamed CH-OM (alongside CH-DR, CH-WS and CH-PA).

Cheers.

[Archemi]

Great, thank you both for the responses - I appreciate the help!

[jonfields45]

The wrinkles are where the vacuum bag compressed the CF fabric and glue against the mold during curing (one sided mold). It is inevitable in this type of manufacture.

Take a look at the insides of an Ovation or McPherson and you will see perfection because it is a two sided mold using a chopped fiber (not fabric) to fortify the glue. That is a perfectly valid way to build what will be a heavier instrument and depending on what you hear, could be better or worse.

Martin taught the guitar buying public to look inside their guitars for perfection. My 70's Martins back in the day only had the glue squeeze out sanded off where you could see it directly from the sound hole. Today's guitars are all minimally glued to eliminate squeeze out in the first place (to cost effectively compete with Martin).

It would have been much more practical for people not to look and I suspect some loose braces have their origins in this minimum glue assembly.

[moondoggie999]

my shorty looks the same inside

[Captain Jim]

A bit like wanting to know how the sausage was made. I must be weird - I don't spend time looking in my guitars or smelling them.

Yes, I know: my weirdness is far beyond the above.

[Archemi]

@jonFields45 - That’s very interesting, I did not know that!

@CaptainJim - I’m not one to look at a sausage either, haha. I just wanted to make sure there was nothing wrong with the guitar since it was not a cheap investment!

[AZLiberty]

As others have said, the wrinkled appearance is from the technology.

These are made in an aluminum mold with a vacuum bag. The outside (against the mold) is smooth, but the inside is usually wrinkly.

My Shorty and Parlor both look the same.

[jonfields45]

I live near the Martin factory and have taken the tour many times. On one tour I remember watching a person assembling sides and applying glue to the neck block before it went in the tooling that held everything together at that stage of construction. It was clear she missed a large section of the block when applying glue from a roller dispenser.

A bit of glue squeeze out ignored by the final owner strikes me as a better way to go, but marketing has taken that off the table.