#1
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High action on Rainsong.
I have a new to me Rainsong OM1000. I picked it up used the other day as a guitar for camping and travel. The action is what i would call medium high.. .130 on the bottom E and .110 0n the top E. I could bring the saddle down some but I worry about loosing volume in a guitar that isn’t exactly loud. How hard is a neck reset on these… the fretboard looks dead straight so even if it had a truss rod it wouldn’t help.
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#2
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I prefer low action and I lowered the saddles on most of my acoustics including my Rainsong. Never noticed any volume loss when I did that.
I also like to switch to lower string gauges. I noticed that this has more effect on the volume than lowering the saddle height.
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Emerald X30 Emerald X20 Nylon Emerald X7 Nylon Rainsong Smokey SMH Outdoor Guitalele Taylor 522e 12-fret ✝ Gitane DG-560 nylon ✝ Alhambra 3C CW Eastman AR910CE Recording King RM-991 tricone resonator Recording King RK-G25 6-string banjo Thomann Irish Bouzouki M1089 |
#3
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The RainSong Shorty I had came with uncomfortably high action (for me). The solution for me was a bone saddle (from Michael at McNichols), sanded down. I didn't notice any reduction in volume.
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Some CF, some wood. |
#4
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The good news is that necks on carbon guitars basically can’t move. If it was correct when it left the maker, it will be correct forever.
The bad news is that the necks can’t really be reset. So if it wasn’t right when it can from the maker then it’s an unfixable warranty issue. With the measurements you gave, I would call that action so high to be unplayable. I have come to prefer actions on the high side myself, and spec my guitars to about 0.105 / 0.085. I pretty only much play rhythm and flatpick — players that prefer finger style typically like an action 0.010 or even 0.020 lower. Does the guitar have an after market UST pickup in it? If so, then it’s possible that it came from the maker with no pickup and an action set for that. Previous owner put in a pickup and didn’t adjust the action for the UST. So now it’s high. Just a guess as to how the guitar ended up with such a high action. If it were me, I’d buy a replacement bone saddle from McNichol and put it in, then sand it down to get to the action I prefer. Most likely will fix the issue, and reversible if not. If it doesn’t fix the issue, next step is a call to Rainsong. |
#5
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My shorty also had action that was a bit high.
I bought a bone saddle from McNichol that was pure garbage so have been sanding down the original tusq saddle. I cannot get the action how I like it so it is going to my luthier next. I did not notice any loss of volume with the sanding...took close to 2/64 off ( at the 12ft fret) |
#6
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I had one other thought for you. Perhaps the guitar shipped from the maker just fine, but the previous owner decided for some reason to put add relief and cranked the truss rod. A small change in relief can make for a big change in action. Anyways, before you do anything to the saddle, check the relief. It may be that by putting the neck back to factory spec on relief, the action gets back to playable too. Good luck with the guitar, hope you get it sorted out.
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#7
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I ordered a new saddle from McNichol that I will fit as needed. if that doesn’t work I will try sanding down the old tusk saddle, assuming there is nothing under it. I just changed the strings but didn’t look under the saddle when I did so I’m not sure if there is a pezo or anything under there. This OM1000 has the N1 neck so It’s my under standing there is no truss rod. Looking down the neck closely it looks to have a very small/ about perfect amount of relief. Even if it had a truss rod it would just mess this up and it’s not the root cause of the high action.
On a semi related note… I wouldn’t mind adding some brightness to the bass end of things. When I bought the guitar it had very old monel strings on it and it sounded pretty dead. That was encouraging to me as I was worried it would be two bright and jangly. I put on some DeAddario EJ-16’s and it helped a lot, but still, the bass end of things still sounds sort of lifeless and thudy. I was reading about Obbligato saddle’s and other carbon saddles helping in that dependent…. Any thoughts on that here?….. do they even exist any more? |
#8
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So I received the new saddle and installed It to good effect. Besides action height, the issue I was having with the guitar was feeling like I wasn’t getting particularly good tone out of the guitar. To my ears, the notes were sort of dead sounding… Even with new EJ 16 on it, it did add some jangle and brightness but the notes were still sort of lifeless. Just lacking nuance and texture, the base notes just seemed sort of thumpy and round with little texture, sort of one dimensional. Some might call this warm, but to my ear without any texture to go with it it’s just dead, like really, really old strings.
About half way towards sanding down the bone saddle to fit I decided I would take out the UST as I will likely never plug it in and have never liked the idea of them under there anyway. But as luck would have it I had already sanded it down enough to make that not an option any more. So I ordered another one and decided to use this one to see just how low I could go before it became an issue plus a good reference for the next saddle and maximizing playability. The relief in the neck look about perfect for some pretty low action so that was my goal. I was removing and reinstalling the same strings so it was a good reference for sound changes. In the end I brought the action waaaaa down. Just a touch too low on the low E but it only rattles a little if I’m playing aggressively. Now it feels like an electric guitar with stiff strings… lol. As for tone, the bone saddle helped quit a bit really. It added a lot of texture in the bottom end and mids, the notes are quite a bit more ‘alive’ and nuanced. It added a bit of brightness but over all its a much more organic sound and less one demential for lack of a better term. I bought a pack of Elixer nano web 80-20’s on recommendation but I’m thinking I might stick with the D’Addario Ej16’s now. As for the treble/unwound strings.. they are a touch brighter now but everything else sounds noticeably better so they don’t seem so notable any more. (Warning, bad analogy ahead)….. it’s like beers that are too hoppy. If there’re too hop forward that’s all I can taste, but if the rest of the beer has enough body, depth and malt to balance it out….I don’t mind the hoppieness. Anyway, it’s a better sounding and playing guitar now and I hope soon to be a touch better with loosing the UST .. |
#9
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Out of all the guitars I have the Rainsong has the lowest action, with no loss of volume or tone. It’s almost to low for my tastes, and I’m a finger picker.
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David Webber Round-Body Furch D32-LM MJ Franks Lagacy OM Rainsong H-WS1000N2T Stonebridge OM33-SR DB Stonebridge D22-SRA Tacoma Papoose Voyage Air VAD-2 1980 Fender Strat A few Partscaster Strats MIC 60s Classic Vib Strat |
#10
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Quote:
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#11
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Quote:
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Albi Past: 2015 --- Maton S60 2016 --- Mini Maton EM6 ft. AP5 Original 2017 --- Cole Clark CCAN2EC-SR ft. 3-way pickup 2017 --- Cole Clark CCLL1RM Current: 2017 --- Anuenue M200 2018 --- Emerald X20 Opus ft. satin neck + LR Baggs Element |
#12
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Quote:
On my Emerald X30 I have a set of 13-56, because a big guitar needs to have a big sound. I did tune it down to D though. So the tension is not that high.
__________________
Emerald X30 Emerald X20 Nylon Emerald X7 Nylon Rainsong Smokey SMH Outdoor Guitalele Taylor 522e 12-fret ✝ Gitane DG-560 nylon ✝ Alhambra 3C CW Eastman AR910CE Recording King RM-991 tricone resonator Recording King RK-G25 6-string banjo Thomann Irish Bouzouki M1089 |