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  #16  
Old 10-31-2019, 07:03 PM
kramster kramster is offline
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Sorta like when the Camaro stopped... and then years later started up... new design ... or Ram Warlock truck
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  #17  
Old 10-31-2019, 07:22 PM
Captain Jim Captain Jim is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jonfields45 View Post
Assuming this isn't a Halloween Prank...

I doubt substituting a small amount of CF with fiberglass, some plastic or a decal in place of Ablam, or a bit of satin finish for gloss really made much difference in their cost of manufacture. But that is the art of marketing...

The unidirectional and random CF shard tops were the best looking prior to the spruce laminate. Maybe their future as shown to them by Emerald is more wood laminate and less pure CF. In which case just sell the best lookers.

Or maybe they've decided to simplify around the stuff that can be sold at a profit.
That makes the most sense. A bunch of similar models, with minor changes, is less streamlined for production. Focus on what sells best. Make them great. Give good customer service. Seems like a good recipe for success.

Guitar makers come in all business models. Small production makers can be profitable. Then, there are the Taylors and Martins. I've seen discussion on this sub-forum about who makes the most CF guitars... as a guitar buyer, I am more interested in who makes the guitar that is best for me rather than who makes the most. And, it's good if that maker is profitable, so they will be around when I'm ready for another guitar.

I don't see this as "a sign" of anything at RainSong, other than a business decision. I have to say when they came out with their lower price line a while back, my first thought was: as a small manufacturer, there is a limit to how many guitars they can produce... and if the less expensive models cannibalize sales from the more expensive models, well that can't be good.

Unlike a manufacturer like Taylor, who is making more guitars in a week than CF makers make in a year (I don't know the numbers, that may be an exaggeration), we can't expect CF makers to have enough staff and resources to run a dozen concurrent lines.

We've seen RainSong drop the Shorty (a good seller) for the CH-OM (pretty much the same thing), so changes happen. I wish them well.
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  #18  
Old 10-31-2019, 08:39 PM
Frettingflyer Frettingflyer is offline
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I was on the site recently and my machine must have stored the page for me, didn’t have discontinued in my tab, but did when I used your link. I considering another Rainsong after selling one or both of mine but will wait to see what shakes out.
Thank you for the links.
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  #19  
Old 11-01-2019, 03:12 AM
ac ac is offline
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Is a direct link to click on for the Rainsong Parlor?

I really couldn't find it. I then did a google "site" search through the entire site and there is a dedicated page for the Parlor, but I still couldn't find a link on the home page or other.

I just thought they would have a link for that on their home page right along with other models. I supposed it was one of their bigger seller--but then again, I don't really know.
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  #20  
Old 11-01-2019, 06:37 AM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
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The big Internet retailers have all the discontinued models in-stock for Black Friday. Musicians Friend still has the no pickup, gig bag, parlor in-stock at the old price (remember CA Cargos for $800???). Time to buy if you were thinking about it.

Back in the 70s Martin narrowed production to the D-18, D-28 and D-35 for a while. This has been done before.

If RainSong was production constrained building low priced instruments at a loss if all fixed costs were fully absorbed, then this makes sense.

I think the Hybrid back and sides offered some unique production problems that the all CF version did not (fiberglass fabric can transmit light from a pin hole in the CF in some strange ways, the original hybrid sides used fiberglass for the neck joint reinforcement that was switched to CF).
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  #21  
Old 11-02-2019, 07:25 AM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
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I'm getting that feeling that a 12-fret natural spruce top dreadnought is in my future. I'll try to suppress that urge while others buy the beta production models :~).
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  #22  
Old 11-02-2019, 07:31 AM
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That sounds like a great combination, Jon. The natural top, aka Vintage, dread also appeals to me and, I really like my 12-fret H-DR1100N2T. With all the changes going on at Rainsong, I wonder when they’ll be ready to start taking special orders...
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Last edited by RP; 11-02-2019 at 07:37 AM.
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